In Philadelphia an 11-year-old child cannot take an Aspirin in school without a letter from his/her parent and supervision by the school nurse. The same 11-year-old child can, however, receive free condoms shipped to his/her home from the city health department at taxpayer expense. Another example o...

When I was a senior officer in the Air Force, we received periodic ethics briefings that included extensive discussions and guidance on conflicts of interest. The bottom line was we were expected to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. There is definitely the appearance of an actual ...

What you are about to read is alarming and dumbfounding. “Monkey” jokes and “monkey” cartoons abound in South Carolina. The South Carolina legislature refuses to take down the Confederate flag flying over the state capital....

A recent letter supporting marriage legislation “for propagation” included an unproven conclusion. It was cleverly constructed using this half-truth quoted from a website: “Stable, loving households will more frequently nurture children who become accomplished human beings and free responsible...

Over the next few days, Gov. Mark Dayton and state legislators will work to reach agreement on a plan to address our $5 billion budget deficit. As part of their “all cuts” plan, Republicans have proposed the deepest cuts in state history to higher education. If enacted, funding for public colleg...

I live along County No. 77, where construction has been underway since May 1. The construction company is Anderson Bros. of Brainerd. I had an appointment at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning and they were at work at the 371 stoplight. At 8:30, when I returned, I had to wait to join the one-way route back to...

On May 16, Gov. Dayton offered his budget compromise offer: half cuts, half revenue. The governor modified his tax proposal and now the proposed fourth tier bracket would go from $85,000 in taxable income for singles to $150,000 and from $150,000 in taxable income for couples to $250,000. Now Gov. D...

On Monday in Tornstrom after the annual Brainerd High School Senior Recognition program, a proud parent remarked “Look at all these givers!  They’re givers, not takers.  Look at all these givers!” The parent was referring to the presenters and the scholarships they represented. It fe...

April showers bring May flowers. This year it has been many showers but I haven’t seen flowers. Next Friday and Saturday, May 20 and 21, a very important flower will appear in the area of Brainerd-Baxter businesses. Our Veterans of Foreign Wars, also known as the VFW members, will be popping up ne...

Xcel Energy Inc. has canceled plans to fund EnXco Inc. to build the $400 million, 150 MW Merricourt wind farm in southeastern North Dakota. Xcel noted that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service expressed concern that two endangered bird species were at risk from the turbines.  Xcel has another g...