editorials

Here’s one more reason to shop local this holiday season: There are $8,000 in prizes available through the Merry Christmas Card campaign, which is spearheaded by this newspaper. Of that prize money, $5,000 came from five local banks — Midwest, Bell State, First Security,...

Given all the words and images devoted to the midterm elections over the past few weeks, you’d think the results had told us something vital about the future of the country. In reality, they were just a curtain-raiser. It’s the next few weeks and months that really matter. The...

Halloween is far behind us, but opponents of frac sand mining are still trying to scare people in Wisconsin and other parts of the Upper Midwest by producing one-sided studies based on unscientific, anecdotal evidence (which is subject to cherry-picking and other biases) to back their...

Minnesotans are a generous group, especially around Christmastime. But it just makes sense to make sure your hard-earned money goes to a legitimate charity that gives you the most bang for your buck. So before you donate, do your homework. These organizations have made it easy...

When writing out thank-you cards following the election, Minnesota House Republicans had better include Greater Minnesota on their list. There is no doubt that the Republicans owe their majority to rural Minnesota. Of the 11 seats they picked up last week, 10 are from outside the...

Voters have spoken and now the real work begins. This editorial ran in our sister newspaper, the Alexandria Echo Press: Those who were elected – the newcomers and those who have been in office awhile – face the challenge of making good on their campaign promises and representing...

Cheers to Team Industries, which has received a $174,900 grant from the Minnesota Job Creation Fund to help with a $7.8 million expansion at its production facility in Detroit Lakes. Team Industries specializes in manufacturing drivetrains and other components for vehicles, and...

Because of its power to influence public affairs, the press has long been known as “the Fourth Estate.” But I think the media may have been displaced. These days, it’s lobbyists who seem to carry the most clout in Washington. Here’s a case in point. When Congress closed...

Think immigrants are bad for Minnesota? You may want to think again. Consider this: Forty percent of Minnesota’s Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. In 2014, the state was home to 18 Fortune 500 companies, placing it in the top 10 states with...

Cities in Minnesota, including Detroit Lakes, are having a tough time finding a consistent source of funding for street maintenance projects like seal coating and overlays. Those maintenance projects can essentially double the life cycle of city streets, making them last 50 to 60...

Cheers to Gordon Schafer of Detroit Lakes, who is recovering at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester after his vehicle was struck by a train at the Hidden Hills Road crossing. He’ll be celebrating his 80th birthday on Wednesday, and his family and church friends are hoping people will...

This is an unusual election year, especially for Becker County, which has three department head positions on the ballot, all without incumbents. Also unusual is that we aren’t going to endorse candidates this time around. Most of the candidates for county office have lived and...

In less than two weeks, voters will be heading to the polls and choosing candidates for city councils, school boards, county offices, state offices and Congress. Who serves in those offices makes a difference. The choices that voters make will impact the future direction of their...

“No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” Edmond Burke, 1775 British statesman and scholar. In his argument before Parliament, Burke sought to temper the Imperial power of King George III and end the standoff with the American...

No wonder it seems like Democrats and Republicans are living in different worlds sometimes. When it comes to where they get their news, they are living in different worlds. A new survey by the Pew Research Center found that conservatives and liberals not only have different political...