letters

The Feb. 15 Minneapolis Star Tribune carried a must-read essay by commentary editor Doug Tice. Responding to a New York Magazine essay by liberal commentator Jonathan Chait, Mr. Tice noted a “spirit of intolerance among some on the left - the hypersensitivity to any hint of racism,...

I remember when there was a self-imposed limit on public officeholders’ speech that might knowingly misrepresent and, worse, impugn the integrity of their opponents. The last election cycle we had the indignant-sounding Republicans beating to death the $90 million state office...

I see Willmar’s school board wants to spend $50-plus million for new schools, upgrades and field houses. Isn’t this the same district that couldn’t afford to feed a couple of students when their lunch tickets expired? Ed Mickelson Atwater

The recent Willmar City Council election campaign cast light on one of this community’s uglier features. I am referring to an egregious attack on Willmar’s Somalis by City Council candidate Bob Enos and the seeming indifference to the attack by the other candidates and the community...

I was just reading in the West Central Tribune about Marlyn Marquardt’s proposal to build a veterans cemetery on his property being refused by the Planning Commission in Kandiyohi County. He said he wants to provide a cemetery for veterans who “don’t have a place” to be buried....

I wish I could forget how inarticulate I was when, in my younger years, a distant relative reproached me about the newfound annual observance to honor the life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr.

Perhaps a better and less costly answer for Renville County West schools would be to bring the Sacred Heart building up to code for a lesser cost than putting millions of dollars into adding on to an already very old Renville building. Can we be certain the school will...

Speech is always debatable unless you are talking to yourself. Therefore, not discussing anything (being silent) will not lead to debate, controversy, bad press or solving an issue to form a plan of direction to resolve a problem. True leadership is shown when an issue of...

First off, for Bob Enos to arrive in Willmar in 2008 and to think he knows the inhabitants and the culture of Willmar is absurd. To write a whole website of propaganda is a step backwards for our community; to even think the Willmar community (or any community) can even think to elect...

The Minnesota Public Radio story reprinted in the West Central Tribune is just plain wrong when it claims BNSF Railway’s statements on our service challenges are inconsistent. There is no inconsistency. BNSF has been communicating directly and often with our customers about what...

The fire of the burning cross in the night illuminated the white-sheeted cowards around it with light from hell. On Oct. 28, I attended the debate between candidates for the Willmar City Council. It was an eye-opener for even my rather jaded eyes. When the candidates were...

I had to chuckle over the West Central Tribune’s editorial in the Thanksgiving Eve edition. Leave it to Jennie-O’s newspaper of record to gush how thankful we should be for having the company in our midst this holiday season. The paper ceremoniously reported Jennie-O’s...

This letter is in answer to Bob Enos’s letter, “Explaining my own quote.” First, I want to thank Ward 3 residents for not voting Mr. Enos into any kind of office as your argument shows that you are biased against a specific ethnic group or immigrants as a whole, do not embrace...

First, many thanks to the Ward 3 voting bloc (as high as 45 percent by precinct) that expressed its confidence in me. Though losing is humbling, the outcome was still encouraging to this six-year Willmarite; and energizing! Readers of my blog How Willmar Works have asked me to explain...