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Editorials

THUMBS UP New Ulm named Minnesota Retail Community of the Year Back in July, New Ulm was named the 2026-27 Minnesota Retail Community of the Year by the Minnesota Retailer Association. This is an impressive achievement that deserves to be recognized. New Ulm received the award in part thanks to a submitted nomination that described New Ulm as a community that intentionally invests in retail success through collaboration, promotion and year-round community engagement. This is an accurate description of the New Ulm community. It does seem like every other weekend New Ulm is hosting some ...

It’s time to go but not completely

Columns

After more than 26 years at The Journal and passing what many consider retirement age, it’s time to move on at least to a degree. After working five or six days a week and holding one full-time job and up to three part-time jobs at the same time, it’s not easy to just cut loose from it ...

Enjoying Toast

Columns

My wife, my sister Jane, and I recently got toasted. It had nothing to do with overconsumption of alcohol or being feted at a festive gathering. This toast had to do with bread. Sort of. The music group Bread flooded the AM airwaves with hit tunes during the 1970s. Bread essentially created ...

The spending spree must stop

Letters

nment, controlled by the allegedly fiscally responsible Republicans, going to quit sitting impotently on the sidelines while the resident in what’s-left-of-the-White House spends obscene amounts of money to satisfy his Midas-like lust for all things to be gold? It’s worth noting that in the president’s oath in taking the reins a second time, he did choose to say, “I do solemnly ‘swear...’” rather than using the verb “affirm,” and he concluded the oath by saying, “So help me God,” an addendum that, I’m sure, was artfully uttered to ingratiate himself further with ...

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Editorials

THUMBS UP Hanska celebrates quasquicentennial The town of Hanska was founded in 1901, making this year its quasquicentennial, or 125th anniversary. The celebration will include the unveiling of new historical displays at Hanska’s community center, which is the first step in the community establishing its own museum. The exhibit opened Friday, but will be open throughout the weekend. Other special events are planned throughout the weekend including a community parade at 5 p.m. Saturday with a fireworks display at 9:30 p.m. Special driving history tours will be held Sunday from noon ...

Empty buildings now just ghosts

Columns

For 90 years, summers in Sleepy Eye followed the rhythms of the Del Monte factory on the west end of town. Sights, sounds, and smells that everyone knew ebbed and flowed through the pea and sweet corn canning seasons. Now the lot that saw trucks and employees busily crisscrossing sits empty. Weeds grow from the cracks. The conveyors that carried ears of corn into the plant sit quiet, rusting. It’s still weird to drive by, even though it’s been six years since there were piles of sweet corn. Depending which way you go through town, Del Monte is the first or last of three prominent ...