State and local taxes and spending KSTP: Stearns County officials explain how their 5.2% property tax hike will work Alexandria Echo Press: Alexandria’s lodging tax yields big impact Marshall Independent:…
At 4:00 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, the USS Ward, crewed by men of the 47th Naval Reserve Division of the 11th Battalion, 9th Naval District from St. Paul, was…
American Experiment Update: Center events, initiatives, and policy work Summer tour American Experiment’s summer tour returned this year in June and July. The “Minnesota DOGE: Cut the waste, save the…
In summer 1945, Japan’s war in China — which had consumed an estimated 20 million Chinese lives since 1937, the true beginning of World War Two — raged on. So…
Governor Walz made news last week traveling around the Midwest holding tightly controlled town meetings in front of friendly audiences. It feels like he’s searching for the meaning of life…
On the surface, the Minnesota Student Survey administered through school districts since 1989 by the Minnesota Department of Health sounds innocuous enough. The Minnesota Student Survey shares insight into things…
Another group of Mayo Clinic Health System nurses has voted to terminate a decades-old association with their union. Registered nurses at Mayo Clinic Health in Fairmont voted this week to…
Baxter has become at least the fourth Minnesota city to prohibit homeless encampments on public property this year. The Crow Wing County city followed through on a summer work shop…
Woman succumbs to gunshot injuries from last week — becomes the 8th murder victim in the past 10 months at or around a Minneapolis homeless encampment Last week we reported…
Education Minnesota’s local chapter in Brainerd stuffed campaign flyers into staff mailboxes at the district urging staff to check out their “Pro-Educator” voter guide. While not necessarily illegal, it is…
Silly season has officially begun in the 2024 school board elections with candidates, voters and interest groups going to great lengths to support their candidates, even if it means breaking…
The effort to eliminate homeless camps on public property, while directing the occupants to shelters and public services, continues to gain momentum across Minnesota. The city of Minneapolis just cleared…
Minnesota appears to have hit the jackpot again in the quest for strategic resources and minerals increasingly in demand for electronics, laptops, phones, batteries and defense industry. Less than a…
The U.S. Supreme Court last week provided local governments the latitude many have been waiting for to help cope with the thorny issue of homelessness. The high court ruled that…
It’s taken years but school administrators finally appear to be learning the hard way that cellphones do not belong in the classroom. Good thing because Minnesota public schools now face…
Photo: Brainerd Police Department, Facebook Brainerd to the list of cities nervously agreeing to reassign police officers to local schools, following a backlash over controversial legislation micromanaging officers’ options in…
Complaints about the increasing unreliability of mail service in some areas have been surfacing around the state and nation for weeks. It’s not just a matter of getting Christmas cards…
Customer service at the post office has always had a bad rap. Yet at least citizens could look forward to and rely on their cards, letters and packages being in…
The $500,000 MnDOT grant came to Brainerd packaged under an innocuous enough sounding state program called “Safe Routes to School.” SRS funds construction for sidewalks and crossings near schools to…
Eight Minnesota schools were recently recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2022. The state is allotted eight nominations based on the number of…
I will be giving a presentation in Brainerd next Monday explaining how liberal energy policies are making energy more expensive and less reliable. If you’re in the area, please RSVP…
It’s probably a miracle the ban on Congressional earmarks ushered in by the GOP in 2011 lasted as long as it did. From the looks of it, members of Congress…
Little did the 1,100 Minnesota National Guard troops deployed to the Middle East in March realize they would end up at the Kabul airport assigned to Operation Allies Rescue to…
I detected a certain candor in the political mutiny in which Susan Kent (D-Woodbury) dethroned Tom Bakk (D-Cook) last month to become the Democrat leader of the Minnesota Senate. In…