7:15 p.m. The center atrium at the mall. A large, temporary structure houses “The North Pole”, an ad-hoc collection of holiday lights and fake snow. Rob weaves his way past a “Closed” sign, through the short maze where a line usually forms, and pokes his head behind the curtain.
(Editor’s note: Our state legislators have organized Town Hall meetings in several communities, including Redwood Falls, on Dec. 14. This is your chance to communicate with them about issues of importance to you prior to the Minnesota Legislative Session, which begins on Jan. 3.) State Senator Gary Dahms (R – Redwood Falls) and State Representative Paul Torkelson (R – Hanska) invite District 16B residents to attend their joint town hall meetings on Wednesday, Dec. 14:
Clean Up the River Environment CURE (Clean Up the River Environment), a Montevideo-based rural organization, along with partner organizations in Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, are calling on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to advise states not to permit any new CO2 pipelines until regulations for high pressure hazardous liquid CO2 pipelines from PHMSA are complete. Due to the unknowns around CO2 pipelines, CURE and Upper Midwest partner organizations, also request that PHMSA hold a public meeting on both the research questions and knowledge gaps that need to be addressed for a rigorous CO2 rulemaking and what CO2 regulations should contain.
In America, every four years the word “football” is surprisingly unclear. Americans know the word “football” to mean a sport played with an oblong ball and very little foot. In the rest of the world, the word “football” refers to a sport that is played almost exclusively with a foot. Hence the name of the sport. Why do Americans refer to this sport as soccer? Because the word football was already taken by a sport largely independent of the foot. Go figure.
Question: How do you determine if your tires are unsafe for winter driving? Answer: Over the years, I have investigated numerous crashes where worn tires were a contributing factor. Tires with inadequate tread depth may cause your vehicle to skid or slide out of control on a slippery or wet road surface. It is important to remember that unsafe tires can hydroplane on both wet and snow covered roadways. When losing control of your vehicle, you can easily go off the road and into the ditch, or into oncoming traffic, possibly causing serious injury or death.
While I am quite fond of the Vince Guaraldi, the solo artist and his trio, there are limits to my affection. I happen to dislike Christmas songs. Yes, each and every one of them. Even the ones by the Vince Guaraldi and his trio.
On the quest to raising good humans, I realize that most people tend to use the holidays as a teachable time for kids. We encourage the need to do good for others who might have less than we do as we donate food, toys, money and help in our communities and beyond. We do this on overdrive in November and December because these months are within the “season of giving.” And while I wish this was more of a yearround notion; I still jump on board with my own three kids to embrace the season as a time to do for others with no expectation of gain. Many of the best ways to help others costs nothing at all, aside from some time and effort.
I heard on TV the State Patrol responded to over 1,300 crashes and 5 fatal crashes the last several days. Do you have any tips for winter driving? Answer: Snow and ice can make driving a bit more challenging, even if you grew up here.
To the editor: The mainstream media are who? Certain radio stations, TV Channels, Internet, Newspapers, Magazines and Facebook are examples of mainstream media. Are they telling the truth in what they report or do they have a political bias which affects what and who they report about..
On Nov. 17, across Minnesota and nationwide, we celebrated National Rural Health Day.