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By Southwest Journal readers
Vote for Anderson Kelliher
The stakes in the 2010 Minnesota Governor’s race could not be higher this primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 10.
DFL-endorsed candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher provides a sharp contrast to the divisive course set by Tim Pawlenty and the Republicans. The eight year Pawlenty legacy of cutting education, health care, hospitals, nursing homes, and public transportation, while driving property taxes ever higher cannot be sustained. It is time for the bold, new leadership that Speaker Anderson Kelliher has shown — the ability to get the job done, with toughness leavened by inclusiveness and civility.
We chair our chambers’ transit committees and have worked diligently to develop a comprehensive transportation system in our region. Three times we passed a visionary transportation bill, only to be vetoed by Pawlenty — even in the aftermath of the I-35W bridge collapse.
It was Margaret’s leadership that brought together Republicans and Democrats, labor and business, urban and rural, local and state leaders, to overcome the Governor’s veto. Minnesota now has $6 billion to invest in crumbling bridges, farm to market county roads, and a robust transit system — a boost to growing jobs in Minnesota.
Having grown up on a dairy farm, raising two kids attending public schools, being a hockey mom, Margaret can uniquely connect with Minnesotans.
Margaret has an inspiring grassroots campaign, fueled by hundreds of volunteers. Hers is the only campaign personally reaching thousands of voters. We encourage you to cast your vote for Margaret Anderson Kelliher in the primary on Aug. 10.
Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-60) and Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-60B)
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Skeptical about plug-ins
I noticed the article on plug-in electric cars in the most recent edition of the Southwest Journal.
You might also be interested in an article in the July 2010 edition of Scientific American. This article shows that operating a plug-in electric car in the upper Midwest actually results in a worse carbon footprint than a regular or hybrid car. The worsening results from the fact that most of the upper Midwest’s electricity results from burning coal (a very dirty fuel).
The article points out that the same situation does not apply in, for example, the Pacific Northwest, where electricity is derived mostly cleaner sources.
Robert Hunter, Fulton
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Thanks for the traffic light
Thanks to the City of Minneapolis for installing a blinking yellow light and new crosswalk at 49th and Upton.
The block is abuzz with how safe this crossing now is.
Formerly, drivers speeding down Upton rarely stopped, if even slowed, for pedestrians in this crosswalk. However, after some requests from residents, the city deemed the intersection in need of an upgrade, and now, hopefully, residents and students from nearby Lake Harriet School have a much safer place to cross.
To whomever at the City carried out this request, please accept a heartfelt thanks from Upton residents.
Jason Walker, Fulton
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Letters to the editor
By Southwest Journal readers
Praise for the ‘A Lake Harriet Legend’As a regular member of the Lake Harriet early morning walkers community, I want to thank Nick Halter for the wonderful article he wrote about “A Lake Harriet Legend.” Having been a walker since August 1985, I have seen many changes in the “community,” but the warm camaraderie among the walkers has never changed. Many years ago one of the dog walkers had a birthday party for her 12 year-old dog at the bandshell — a real social event. Then one year a regular walker, Don Olson, who knew everybody, had a heart attack while on vacation in Maui, Hawaii. The word got around and he was sent many cards. One walker even called him in Honolulu at the hospital. Don
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Gearing up for another school year
By Bernadeia Johnson
We are busy preparing to welcome students in grades 1–12 back to school on Aug. 30 and welcome our new kindergarten students on Sept. 1. Families often ask me what they can do to help their children do their very best. Families play a critical role in their child’s academic progress. You can help your child prepare to learn each day. Help your child get ready in the morning so he or she arrives on time and ready to learn. Ask your child what he or she learns in school each day. Set aside time each night to help your child with his or her homework. Visit the open house at your child’s school before the first day. Your child will come to school confident and eager to succeed. We are working hard to make
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A vacation state of mind
By Terre Thomas
I envisioned one or two long luxurious and/or adventure packed weeks of vacation for this summer. Since I’m no longer to busy with the storefront Fairy Godmother, and my online store can be run virtually (figuratively and literally) from anywhere, I planned to go to South Dakota, spending a week mining for rose quartz and enjoying the Black Hills with my high school daughter and her best friend, then later in the summer heading up to Cross Lake with the whole family to play cards and splash-paddleball and luxuriate with a book in a lawn chair firmly planted out in the sandy edge of the lake with lapping waves splashing my feet. But conflicting work schedules, tight family finances with an unexpected $3,000 transmission repair bill for our minivan, and a
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Crickets in the night
By Jim Walsh
The crickets were loud over the lakes neighborhoods of South Minneapolis Saturday night-Sunday morning, knowing as they do that their lives are short, three months to be exact, so as the summer goes on, those desperate little crickets beat their legs faster and faster, raging against the dying cricket light, which is the sound we hear when we hear that heated whistling chorus that whirls everywhere after dark these hot August nights. The sound of death, in other words, but also of a life spent singing all the way to the grave. The sun came up over 46th and Grand at 6 a.m. Sunday morning. Paul Douglas assured nothing but blue skies all day, the universe was cooperating; people were nervous and excited. Kings owners Molly and Sam ate breakfast with their kids and boyfriends in
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