Opinion

When people complain that I am biased (hardly ever happens) I remind them that this column is my opinion—not a news story. Well, in my opinion, this is a pretty darn good job.

Some City Council members have expressed a lot of concern about the past legalization of cannabis edibles and the current bill that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana. They are worried about the safety of our young people.

This Saturday I will complete my prom photographer career. Wish me luck—sometimes the lighting isn’t my friend. And I’m never sure if I really want that front row center seat at Public School’s prom. Would the pictures turn out better if I was a little farther away? It’s a quandary, and it’s not like I can move after the Grand March starts. I will say I was quite pleased with the photos I got at St. Mary’s last Saturday. They were some of the best I ever captured in that auditorium. I wonder if the new memory card I put in the camera had anything to do with that?

A really good news item to share with you is that the Sportsmen’s Club has agreed to fund the replacement aeration system for Sleepy Eye Lake. The present aeration system, installed over 40 year ago, has seen its last days. One of the pumps quit working a couple months ago and there have been problems with pipes that carry the air rising to the surface as weights have been rusting off. Mike Hardin, the Public Works Director, has been on top of this and his investigation has learned that new technology and better application of that technology have reduced prices. The new components have been ordered and have arrived so we can be looking forward to installation this summer.

Think things through. If you quit exercising because you feel good, you’re likely to take a fall and get injured and feel worse. If you fall in love with a married person, you’re likely to have a guilty lover. If you let your life go to pieces, you’ll be too depressed to do anything about it. In the end we live on trust, so don’t look too far ahead, take it one day at a time.

I have the best news for you that I can imagine. My dream candidate has accepted the position of Editor of the Sleepy Eye Herald-Dispatch and I can now (partially) retire, confident the newspaper is in good hands.

It has been a while since Chief Andres has been able to talk me into writing an article for the newspaper. This time it did not take much convincing because I have been working on a lot of scam cases lately. I feel the need to bring awareness to our community regarding a new scam I have been seeing more frequently in recent months. The most recent scam that is occurring at an alarming rate in our community is sextortion. These scams typically victimize teens and young adults as they involve some form of social media.

On Monday I sent ADs Cory Haala and Bruce Woitas an email asking a non-urgent but time-consuming question. They both politely gave the same answer — I don’t have time.