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E-15 is fueling America’s future

Community Voices

For too long, a common-sense solution to lower gas prices and support American energy independence has been tied up in red tape. Families and farmers in Western Minnesota and across the country have been subjected to frustrating, outdated, and unnecessary regulations. The House of Representatives has taken a major step toward cutting that tape by passing H.R. 1346, the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, which included my language for permanent, nationwide, year-round E15. I was proud to lead the efforts through my seat on the Rules Committee for this bipartisan bill, ...

Renewable resources should be vital to nation’s energy strategy

Community Voices

Thirty years ago some of the most important topics I covered for the Independent involved renewable energy and rural development. The 1990s were an exciting time for it in the Marshall area and throughout the Upper Midwest. One reason was Minnesota Corn Processors, which became the world’s second largest producer of ethanol fuel. MCP branched out from Marshall to establish a second plant in Columbus, Nebraska, in the early 1990s. It then undertook a major expansion in the area of corn based sweeteners. MCP fell on hard times in 1996 due to high corn prices, which led to a 30 ...

God fills our world with color

Community Voices

If our worth is to be measured by our lawns, I am in trouble. You’ve seen those perfectly manicured lawns in the nice parts of town. Then there are farmyards that look like the cover of Country Living magazine. Our lawn is there because something needs to grow between the buildings and the fields. Some of it was seeded to lawn grasses in a distant past. Some of it’s just what grew there. All that said, in my simple-minded way, the yard looked spectacular this spring. Everything greened up as winter withdrew. A two-inch rain lushed it up. Amid the vivid green were bright ...

Leadership Academy grads make a difference

Community Voices

The headline I wrote for the May 8 edition of the Independent: Klobuchar listens to child care needs. The U.S. senator paid a visit to Marshall on May 7 and held a roundtable discussion with local leaders and business people to discuss child care needs. “Housing and day care are our ...

On the Porch

Local Columns

The temporary exhibit, “Organizations of Lyon County” is open on the 2nd floor of the Lyon County Museum. The exhibit will close in 2027. The exhibit features objects, photographs, and documents from the Lyon County Museum’s collection related to organizations in Lyon County. Examples ...

A Vesta Boy – Dave Hansvick – Family beginnings

Local Columns

We have begun learning about Marshall’s David Hansvick, the second of three children born to Dottie (Penske) Hansvick and John Hansvick. Dave grew up in the small town of Vesta. Like most of us in southwest Minnesota, Dave’s ancestors came from overseas. “I have a family tree for the ...