THUMBS DOWN

New Ulm’s Happy Joe’s abruptly closes

Last Saturday, residents of New Ulm were shocked and disappointed to learn Happy Joe’s closed. A simple hand written note was placed inside the front door, citing unforeseen circumstances. The Happy Joe’s franchise has been part of the community for decades and many people were upset by the sudden closure, with no real explanation. The only silver lining is the closure might only be temporary. A few days after the closure, The Happy Joe’s support center posted on social media that they hope to reopen the restaurant in the future, possibly with new owners. However, it is unclear how long New Ulm will need to wait. It could be quite a while before New Ulm dines at Happy Joe’s again.

THUMBS UP

100 Women Who Care wonderful program

Sunday, New Ulm’s 100 Women Who Care will again gather at the New Ulm Country Club to award one worthy nonprofit with nearly $10,000. Members get together twice a year to nominate area nonprofits to receive a donation. During the meeting, three nonprofits are randomly selected for consideration. Each chosen organization has five minutes to explain how the money raised would benefit their mission. Members then vote to decide the winner. One a winner is selected, each of the 100 women attending writes a check for $100 for the nonprofit. This is a wonderful program that not only benefits local charities, it helps raise awareness about organizations.

THUMBS DOWN

Tariff’s enacted, stock market drops

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump followed through with promises to enact tariffs on countries in which the U.S. has a trade deficit. This is part of some larger effort to win a global trade war. It’s not clear why the country needs to be involved in a trade war or how the tariffs will help. Few if any economic experts seem to support this decision. It is still too early to say for certain what the local impact of these tariff’s will be, but if the massive drop in the stock market in any indication, the country is in for some economic hardship.