A recent report by Education Minnesota laid out teachers’ views of what it would take to fully fund public education. Gov. Tim Walz has put forward a school budget proposal that would provide significantly more funding for the next two years than provided in past years.
During my 33 years as a newspaper editor I sometimes heard this lament: "There's nothing in the paper this week." Or someone might say. "Why didn't they cover such and such?" Or, there were various other criticisms. After the first few years, when I often reacted more strongly to such remark…
Currently, our local legislators are in the middle of the 2019 Legislative session. I recently visited the capitol to thank these legislators for their service and express my concerns as they relate to public school funding. Now, I invite you to take advantage of a fantastic opportunity to b…
Several big questions come from the budget proposals in education that Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan presented on Feb. 19.
For seven months back in 1918 during World War I, the United States had Daylight Saving Time, something Germany had been doing for two years (and, little known, some places in Canada tried it in 1908). The idea back then was to minimize the use of artificial light during the war.
Two robins, either lost, unable to tell when the seasons change, or more hardy than their brethren, appeared in my back yard on Friday morning last week and were still there a day later, searching for food. They were gone on Sunday when those gusty winds took over the landscape and made driv…
I sat there for two hours last Sunday might, mesmerized as NBC brought to television one of the best music programs I have ever seen. It was a 50th anniversary show of the 1968 comeback special of a leather-clad Elvis Presley.
Seven decades ago, millions of soldiers returned home from World War II and ignited an American boom.
A recent remodeling of the McDonald's restaurant in Princeton prompted a question from someone about how long the restaurant had been in town. I took a look and found that it was 25 years ago.
I first want to thank our outgoing Patrol Sergeant Richard Dukowitz for his years of service and dedication as a patrol Sergeant to the Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office. I want to wish him well in his retirement. With that said, I want to congratulate Mille Lacs County Deputy Kyle Burton f…
There is an old moral philosophy that is gaining a new popularity here in America and it is growing among millennials and generation Zs at an alarming rate. This old philosophy with a modern face is called Atheism.
I am disappointed with the Union-Times, specifically the Thursday, Feb. 7 edition. My disappointment stems from an article that was tucked way back on Page 15. I’m referring to the “First National Bank of Milaca honored for it’s community involvement” piece.
Kudos to our local Princeton Public Utilities for the great job they did during the extreme cold spell. We in Princeton are so fortunate to have a generation plant that can keep its residents safe and warm in the winter and if need be, cool in the summer. Because of the excellent management …
It's pretty hard for the kids of the last few decades to identify with radio as it was BT (Before Television), or BSM (Before Social Media).
I have been concerned for some time now about an unsafe intersection in downtown Milaca. I am referring to the corner of Central Avenue and Fifth Street. On the east side of the intersection, there is a chiropractic clinic and on the west side of the intersection is where Hobnetti’s Pizza is…
Now that Gov. Tim Walz and the 2019 Legislature have begun work, we believe their agenda must include correcting a serious breach of constitutional authority that includes an ill-conceived financial scheme. This 2018 legislation thwarts the will of Minnesota voters and compounds the costs of…
Now that Gov. Tim Walz and the 2019 Legislature have begun work, we believe their agenda must include correcting a serious breach of constitutional authority that includes an ill-conceived financial scheme. This 2018 legislation thwarts the will of Minnesota voters and compounds the costs of…
Many years ago a few of us, most of them much younger than me, were sitting around relating our stories of Minnesota winters. When it came my turn the first time, I brought up a winter from the early 1950s in a small town in southwestern Minnesota.
In October, we opined that Tim Walz had the ability to “pull us together and move Minnesota forward as a vibrant state, a place we are proud to call home.”
Many working and low-income parents with infants or preschool children face tough decisions, whether they live in Milaca or Minnetonka, Princeton or Prior Lake.
Some people refer to the present time as the post-Christian era, and for sure many people are leaving the Church. It’s happened before. I figure what ever occurs, it happens under God, so few things really change.
With the recent discussion over whether it’s time for America to pull its troops out of Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, this all reminded me of events surrounding America’s involvement in Vietnam. Looking back on it now over 40 years later, it is very hard not to make a comparison. The comparis…
Remember penny postcards? Remember when we had air mail stamps that you used when you wanted to get a letter to California or New York a little faster? Heck, remember when a first class stamp cost only 15 cents just 40 years ago?
I was listening to WCCO Radio the other day, a station I have listened to for nearly 70 years and a station I enjoy, when the hosts that were on at that time made an assumption that lots of people make, as did the hosts the night before.
Ever since Election Day, I’ve been thinking about our newly elected officials and considering they can be real people, too.
If my time enlisted in the U.S. Army has taught me anything, it is two things: The first is that you should expect to get comfortable at being uncomfortable. The Army trains its soldiers to endure difficult circumstances in stressful environments all while maintaining military bearings.
I did, as did some of the big-time media people in the Twin Cities.
A recent documentary on Mao Zedong’s communist China era re-education camps called, “Dead Souls,” has just been released. It is well worth watching. It is a story Americans could learn from, especially today.
“Feeling like you are sitting in a long, slow and often completely stopped traffic jam, going nowhere.” That’s the kind of frustration Dr. Julia Roberts, a Kentucky University professor, recently cited to help explain what many gifted and talented students feel as they sit in class.
I've done many columns in past years that listed things I hoped might get done in the New Year. Included were wishes for Princeton, the state of Minnesota, and the nation. One of those this Dec. 28, as 2019 nears, is that the president of the United States acts more a president, although tha…
During this season of caring and sharing, Minnesotans can be proud of praise that our education system has received this year — Minnesota’s education funding system received a big compliment.
Every Saturday morning, not just on holidays, a group from the Knights of Columbus gives a “gift” to hospitalized veterans at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis.
As the administration of Gov. Tim Walz prepares to lead Minnesota for the next four years, the former congressman from Mankato will certainly face hurdles and challenges. One thing is certain for the new governor: Minnesota is much better off today than it was eight years ago.
A few months back, I was writing about fall fashion trends. According to Harper’s Bazaar, classic patterns such as herringbone and houndstooth were in. They even anticipated a return to 1980s fashion, with lots of leather and padded shoulders. While I have seen some thigh-high boots as they …
As Christmas neared, the young boy searched many hiding places around the large house for his present.
One of the most important things adults — families and educators — can do is help youngsters match their skills, talents and interests with good jobs. Of course, we want schools to do much more than help youngsters develop skills and knowledge for employment. But this is one of the most impo…
On behalf of Pearl Crisis Center, and the Mille Lacs County Family Violence Coordinating Council we want to thank the Mille Lacs County Board of Commissioners for supporting the mission of the Mille Lacs County Domestic Violence Court for dangerous repeat felony offenders. The DV Court began…
PBS has produced, alongside documentarian Ken Burns, a wonderful two hour history of the Mayo Clinic. It is called, “The Mayo Clinic: Faith, Hope and Science.” If you’re a Minnesotan this is a must see program. Just as Tom Brokaw says in his cameo appearance, the story of the Mayo Clinic is …
It's OK to be sentimental when you write about Christmas, isn"t it?
Earlier this year, Shane McAllister grew worried when his 9-month-old son, Andrew, developed a 102 degree fever. Shane is a Minnesota doctor, but even with his medical training, he was surprised to see his son quickly lose his cheerful energy and spirit. It scared him, so he rushed Andrew to…
Ever since Gene Johnson was “clinically dead” for four minutes due to a sudden cardiac arrest, he is telling older, white men, in particular, how to avoid what he went through 16 years ago.
I was recently talking with a friend about how news outlets are constantly being questioned about the accuracy and integrity in their reporting of the news. The question was: Are news outlets purposely biased? Do they have an agenda? (It is clear our President certainly thinks so.) In the fa…
I was in my 40s before I finally worked up the courage one Christmas in the 1980s to inform my mother, then in her 70s, that I was no longer going to eat the lutefisk she always prepared at that time of year.
When knee-high bushes that line the sidewalk to our home go up in flames, I’m blaming the Chinese.
About that Christmas story. Many cherished, Christmas notions exist, I suspect, based on children’s Christmas pageants. Because of them, many are convinced that the wise men followed the star they saw in the east, west, curious in itself. But Matthew never said they did.
As an era and the year come to an end, I felt the need to say thanks to the people of Mille Lacs County and the community of Princeton. It’s been a pleasure being your transit driver the last few years and I thank each and every one of you. I want to send a special thank you to my buddy T-Bo…
Trust is a powerful thing. Think about how many times a day you trust someone – many times a person you’ve never met – to protect you and keep you safe.
Finally, someone mentioned the other day, Social Security is going to go up in 2019. What that person meant was that the COLA (cost-of-living-adjustment) for 2019 will be 2.8 percent, the largest raise in seven years. That will mean an average raise of $39 per person, or $468 a year. The est…
The latest struggle to appoint a Supreme Court Justice has brought out a dilemma our entire society is caught up in. How do we balance the highly-charged, sexualized nature of the world we live in with the sexual abuse that is often the direct result of it?
This month two men who changed the world for millions died within one sunset of each other: Stan Lee, the superhero creator, and Minnesota’s Richard Proudfit, the champion of malnourished children.
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