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On the Porch

Local Columns

For this column, I often share social news or the gossip columns from the old newspapers. The social news is always fascinating to read and a lot can be learned of local people and events from the communities in Lyon County. For this article, I’m going to share the classifieds from one of the newspapers. The classifieds are interesting to read as well. Here are a few from the News-Messenger of Lyon County on Dec. 20, 1918: FOR SALE-160 Acre farm being S.W. ¼ of Section 30, Township 110, Range 42, Lyon county, Minnesota. Located on State road, 1 mile south of village of Russell. For ...

Somalian residents should be respected as true Americans

Community Voices

In the past several weeks Minnesota’s Somalians have come under political attack originating in our nation’s highest office. President Trump and his radical conservative supporters have asserted that Somalians defraud the government and send money to terrorists. He’s called them garbage. He’s said they should be sent back to Somalia. He’s acted on his rhetoric by dispatching federal agents to their Minneapolis neighborhood to check on immigration status. He’s done that even though local and state officials haven’t asked for federal help. Minnesota Republican ...

Thinking about food

Community Voices

My wife Pam says that I think about food a lot. Once I get this column started, I plan to eat a pumpkin muffin that is out in the kitchen. I’m looking forward to that. At various times in my life, I’ve been chunky to a tad overweight. You don’t get to be that way without thinking about food. There are some cookies in the cupboard in case that muffin isn’t enough. Speaking of thinking about food, we are midway between the two big dinners of the year: Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was thinking about those. Of course. You could rank Easter dinner up there. But I’d put it ...

Country School Kids – Lois Paine Widmark – WWII service in the WAVES

Local Columns

We have been learning about Ivanhoe’s Lois Paine Widmark and her early life in western South Dakota and how the Great Depression and Dust Bowl drove her family back to her father’s home community of Lyons, Nebraska. Lois graduated from high school in Lyons, Nebraska, in 1941 and found employment in Lincoln with family help. “My Aunt Sadie was a big shot in the Republican Party. Through her, I got a job working at the state Capitol in Lincoln. Six of us changed the Health Department and the Motor Vehicle Department to a different filing system. After that, we had to find work ...

Minnesota politicians face belt-tightening decisions

Editorials

The State of Minnesota’s November Budget and Economic Forecast was released last week. According to the Minnesota Management and Budget, the budget for fiscal year 2026-27 includes a $2.465 billion surplus. However, in 2028-29, the state is projected to have a $2.96 billion deficit. Depending on who you talk to, there’s plenty of optimism. There is also warnings of doom and gloom. And of course, finger pointing. “Despite the president’s tariff and destabilization of health care costs, Minnesota’s annual budget forecast has improved in both the short and long term thanks to ...

Challenging the ‘single story’ of Somali immigrants

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: When President Trump labeled Somali immigrants “garbage,” he weaponized presidential power to diminish an entire community. As novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie warned in her TED Talk “The Danger of a Single Story,” power lies not only in the ability to tell another person’s story, but to make it the definitive story of that person. Yes, some Somali Americans in Minnesota have been implicated in financial fraud. That fact should be reported, but it should never become the sole lens through which we view an entire community— thousands of Somali families ...