Last weekend I held a listening session for members of the community and advocates on the issue of affordable insulin. I want to thank everyone that came to share experiences and frustrations about affording insulin and managing life with diabetes. I thought one of the people who attended su…
I am often asked my opinion on the best workout routine for losing weight. People ask me about high reps verses low reps, light weight vs. heavy weight, and isolation exercises vs. compound exercises. If you watch TV, browse the internet, or talk with other human beings chances are you find …
Beginning next school year, our district will have new attendance areas for our middle schools. So what does that mean for you? If you have a student who will be in sixth, seventh or eighth grade in the fall of 2020, they may attend a new school. This week, the Shakopee School Board voted to…
Food is my friend. Food is my enemy. I am comforted by food. I feel like I’m being attacked by food advertising at every turn. Food is how I show love. Food is how we celebrate. I’m a foodie. All I ever think about is food. I avoid food as long as I can until I break and eat everything in sight.
Earlier this year, when I met with leaders from several southern Minnesota rural electric cooperatives, their communities were still reeling from the devastating blizzards and high winds that knocked out hundreds of power lines across the region and left thousands of families and businesses …
Grievously, we lost a very spirited and sincere man, Joe Vaughan. Mr. Vaughan was a kind, warm-hearted person who brought caring-ness to others, including me. Who was Joe Vaughan to me and others? Mr. Vaughan was the CEO of CAP Agency, a loving friend, a rock solid mentor, a gracious helper,…
Shakopee High School has a great opportunity for businesses to help prepare students for college and/or career. 2018-19 marks the second year for the Academies of Shakopee, and we couldn’t be more excited.
As a former public school teacher and a dad, the back-to-school season is a meaningful time of year for me. This year, it’s also full of change. My daughter, Hope, starts her first year of college at the University of Minnesota, and my son, Gus, heads back to middle school. This will also be…
Homelessness is an utmost need within our state and Scott County. There are over 7,000 homeless people in the state each day with over 16,550 public school students homeless at some point each school year, according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
Back in “the day,” servers at restaurants made enough money to survive on their wage. Not only could they survive, but many people could afford to have kids, pets and a home of their own. Tipping 10 percent, or even $1 per person dining was acceptable. Servers didn’t need more than that. Unf…
The first year of college can be challenging for many students. The transition from high school to college can be daunting to some students. It’s a new routine with different expectations. It might possibly be a new environment in a different state.
There seems to be a small but loud chorus of folks decrying legislation for licensing undocumented immigrants as a “slippery slope.”
It is without question that our individual liberties have been slowly eroding away for generations. We as a nation and as a people have gradually accepted, tolerated and some of us even embraced the same type of tyranny our ancestors fought against during the Revolutionary War.
When there’s good news to be shared, we collaborate. When a reporter has a question about a story, needs information verified or requests a comment for a story, we respond. However, most recently, we did not receive the same opportunity as we have in the past. We want to be treated in a fair…
After 68 years in existence, the Shakopee Public Utilities Commission has been under attack by the Shakopee City Council since its December meeting.
The science is clear: Carbon emissions sent into the atmosphere from a variety of human sources threaten to upend our economy, our health, our national security and our very way of life.
I agree with Drew Johnson (“Electric vehicle subsidies don’t help the environment”) that government subsidies may not be the best way to encourage progress. And that “Any CO2 emissions reduction... is welcome.”
The phrase you never want to hear as much as our family has in the last couple months.
B eginning on June 24, members of our community may receive a phone call asking them to participate in a survey about Shakopee Public Schools.
You’ve been hearing about them for years. Many people are saying electric vehicles are the future. Nearly every major manufacturer either has at least one electric model available or has made an announcement about producing one or more in the near future. If you’re thinking about purchasing …
Imagine taxing middle-class families to help rich folks buy luxury cars. Doesn’t sound very fair, does it?
Our community is a strong supporter of our schools. As school board members, we’ve seen this support in many ways. We have a strong volunteer program. We have community members and parents who serve on committees and councils. We have huge participation at our fine arts and sporting events. …
Hot take: I love mathematics. From basic addition to multivariable calculus, learning and discovering the intricacies of how math works is absolutely fascinating. My late grandmother was a mathematics professor in Turkey, and so I was taught to admire and respect numbers from a young age. No…
May 30, 1868 was the first official Decoration Day. The day was declared by General John A. Logan and observed at Arlington National Cemetery. Volunteers that day decorated the graves of more the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers.
The latest story about Rod Thompson should not be the end of the questioning by the newspaper.
I’m writing our neighbors here in Shakopee to alert everyone about the insane moves by Brad Tabke since he was elected to the Legislature.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The purpose of the month is to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness. Through research, it is known that mental illnesses come from genetic, biological, psychological and/or environmental factors. It is not a personal choice or a charac…
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon is actually correct, but deceptive, when he says Minnesota lags behind other states in doing what is necessary to protect elections. Forty-seven other states have what Minnesota does not: provisional ballots.
I’ve learned the lessons of depression the hard way. It’s something I experienced first in my late teens and then again in my 30s.
Shakopee Police Chief Jeff Tate and His Support of HF 1500: Driver’s Licenses for Non-Licensed Illegal Immigrants
Air is all around us. We feel this air in everything we do, and it’s moving right now through your nose, into your lungs and back out. This air makes up the skin of our planet. Our planet’s skin is thinner comparatively than the skin of an apple. From your backyard, it may look infinite, but…
A budget can serve as a roadmap to a person’s values and priorities.
At a recent rally on the steps of the state capitol, dozens of Minnesotans braved freezing winter temperatures to speak out for themselves and for the millions of other Americans with diabetes who find themselves in a life-and-death struggle to afford insulin, the only medicine that keeps th…
It’s that time of year again when valleys flood, bridges close, and Highway 169 becomes the main vein across the Minnesota River for many commuters in our region, if it wasn’t already.
On March 28, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to approve additional funding for the state’s disaster contingency account. This account is critical to making it possible for the state to act quickly when natural disasters strike — providing aid to local communities in the event of…
There is growing awareness that sexual exploitation and trafficking is a tragic reality in our society.
I have been working in the recovery community, with addicts for the past four years, and run two meetings in the Minneapolis metro area.
Tonight, I had the opportunity to watch something rather wonderful. I wasn’t alone, we all viewed what represents the identity of who we are, how we represent, what is truly special about our school district.
Being a newer resident to Shakopee I wasn’t here to vote for our state representative last November. Frankly I was completely unaware as to what type of person Representative Tabke was.
I have seen some government officials fighting President Trump on border security and I didn’t understand why right away. Now the blurry southern border is starting to make sense to me. I know Congress voted on border security for the last three presidents. They are all on video also saying …
Nearly 200 scientific organizations and national academies of science acknowledge the climate is changing, that humans are responsible and that some form of action should be taken to address the risks to people and the planet, by NASA’s count.
Gov. Tim Walz was clear when he asked me to be the chair of the Metropolitan Council — he wanted a mayor for the job.
Gov. Tim Walz recently released a two-year budget proposal that reflects the message he carried throughout his campaign: We are One Minnesota and no matter where they live, everyone should have access to opportunities to build a better life for their families.
Last week, the Education Finance Committee took a road trip to Windom High School for an official field hearing.
The Star Tribune recently ran an opinion piece by James Lefestey, who advocated for an increase in the gas tax to finance infrastructure improvements and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but cautioned lawmakers to keep rural Minnesotans in mind when crafting this policy.
I am quite disappointed in Brett Martin’s most recent column discussing the success of Shakopee sports.
As the director of The Food Group, a regional nonprofit that partners with 170 food shelves and meal programs across Minnesota and Wisconsin, the new year usually offers me a prompt to look brightly at the year ahead. The darkest days are behind us and the lightest are yet to come. It is har…
As the new year begins, I look forward to another legislative session in St. Paul. The 2019 legislative session brings many changes and new faces to the state capitol.
R ecently, the world learned yet again that inadequate investment in infrastructure — roads, bridges, tunnels, and railways — can have tragic consequences.
I was first introduced to the Saber Showcase in ninth grade, after I spent nearly a month preparing my presentation on the reverse engineering of a staple gun.
