opinion

By Drew Johnson, Eugene, Ore. I spent most of June back in Worthington, visiting family and friends and reconnecting with business contacts. The weather was near perfect to spend a significant time outdoors and, like so many, I walked and biked multiple times around the lake. I...

WASHINGTON — How did the Supreme Court manage to agree unanimously that police must obtain a warrant before searching cellphones, yet split on whether employers must offer contraception as part of their health care plans? My explanation, slightly crude but perhaps compelling: All...

By Earl K. Halverson, Fulda A small gopher was trying to dart across Highway 59, but was swallowed up by a deep tar cavern. He was never to be seen again, forever and ever.

By Mary Henkels, Worthington I differ with Mike Bogle in how I understand creationism and evolutionism. In Genesis, a day means a period of time — a year, a hundred years, a thousand years etc. Man designated 24 hours as a day, not God. Our knowledge of our universe is much...

By Michael Ten Haken, Pease Having grown up in Worthington, I get the opportunity to come back once in a while as my parents still live there. During my most recent visit I had my bicycle with me and decided to take a ride around the lake. I was expecting to have ride on the road...

By Gwen Sturrock, Acting President, Marshall-Lyon County Library, Marshall At a special meeting June 30, the Marshall-Lyon County Library Board (MLCL) voted to rescind its earlier decision accepting terms that would have allowed the library to continue as a member of the Plum Creek...

By Linden Olson, Worthington There has been a lot of discussion and a fair amount of ink lately about the serious water situation in southwest Minnesota and the Worthington area in particular, including the relationship of Lakes Ocheda and Okabena to the Lake Bella wellfield that...

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney said it, and on Monday the Supreme Court upheld it: Corporations are people, my friend. The 2012 Republican presidential nominee was jeered when he made the claim in 2011 at the Iowa State Fair. But somewhere, perhaps in his $55,000 car elevator in La Jolla,...

WASHINGTON — Dear Secretary Clinton, Please consider this in the nature of a friendly intervention. You have a money problem. It’s time to deal with it before it gets worse. Actually, you have two money problems. The first is how you talk about it. The second is how you collect...

AUSTIN, Texas — From 1776 forward, Americans have opposed having soldiers do police work on our soil. But in recent years, Pentagon chiefs have teamed up with police chiefs to circumvent that prohibition. How? By militarizing police departments. Through the little-known “military...

By Lisa Kremer, Project Coordinator, Familias Juntas, Worthington In the past few days, there have been several opinions expressed about our premiere event for the documentary “Abrazos” June 20 here in Worthington. The discussion, unfortunately, hasn’t been so much about...

WASHINGTON — When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., went to the Senate floor Thursday after-noon to announce the death of Howard Baker, his words recalled not just his revered predecessor but an earlier, worthier cohort of American politicians. “Sen. Baker truly...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court this week admonished the Environmental Protection Agency for overreaching in regulating greenhouse gases. The Clean Air Act covers polluters that emit 250 tons per year (or in some cases, 100  tons). This standard makes no sense if applied to...

WASHINGTON — Republicans, after years of squabbling with President Obama, have decided to resolve their differences with him according to a time-honored American tradition. They are going to sue him. “What we’ve seen clearly over the last five years is an effort to erode the...

BETHESDA, Md. — From her perch as head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Nora Volkow watches anxiously as the country embarks on what she sees as a risky social experiment in legalizing marijuana. For those who argue that marijuana is no more dangerous than tobacco and alcohol,...