Vicious, vicious politics

It doesn't get much dirtier than this. Wow! Some politicians like Ted Cruz and those who hang out with them have no shame or soul:

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/after-vicious-smear-campaign-ted-cruz-adviser-two-missouri-gop-officials-commit

Perfect storm

A perfect storm of illness that's hit our home has led to the closing of the newspaper office for Monday, March 30.

Good reading on an agriculture topic

Check it out:
https://hewittfarmsinc.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/the-buffer-strip-controversy-debunked

And don't miss the "town hall" story in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice starting on page one.

Sunburg Commercial Club

The Sunburg Commercial Club will meet for a regular meeting at 7 p.m. tonight at the Sunburg Community Center.

Town hall meeting in New London

State Senator Lyle Koenen of Clara City and State Representative Dave Baker of Willmar will host a town hall meeting with the public in New London on Saturday, March 21. The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. at McKale's Family Restaurant at 10 Ash Street NE.

On an unrelated note: a video from the Padua Pub's St. Patrick's Day parade will be uploaded this weekend for viewing.

Human Foosball in Elrosa

Participating in the human foosball was a workout for everyone involved!

Here's some video from one of the "human foosball" games in Elrosa on Saturday. It was a fundraiser event for Harvest for Hunger sponsored by CHS Prairie Lakes of Elrosa.


It's what I call "good, clean fun!"

Town Hall meeting coming to New London

Senator Koenen to Hold Town Hall Meeting

Senator Lyle Koenen (DFL-Clara City) will join Representative Dave Baker in hosting a listening session to take place from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Saturday, March 21 at McKale’s Family Restaurant in New London. The meeting will afford the legislators the opportunity to speak with residents of District 17 about the current 2015 Legislative Session.

“I look forward to meeting with my constituents and Rep. Baker for a morning of conversation on what matters most to Minnesota families and businesses.” said Sen. Koenen. “Meetings like this allow us to listen, learn, inform, and work together toward a shared objective: making our communities the best they can be.”

What: Town Hall Meeting

Who: Sen. Lyle Koenen, Rep. Dave Baker

When: 8:30 to 10 a.m. Saturday, March 21

Where: McKale’s Family Restaurant, 10 Ash Street NE, New London, MN 56273

  

For more information, please contact Jennifer Orr at 651-296-2156.

Welcome Class of 2028!!

Let's work for a big incoming kindergarten class for next year at B-B-E!

Job Openings in Glenwood

Learn more about the Glenwood Retirement Village at www.grvillage.org. Applications can be found there as well.

An interesting article from NPR

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/03/11/392183832/why-some-schools-serve-local-food-and-others-cant-or-wont?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150312

Billy McLaughlin coming to Central Square in Glenwood

Billy McLaughlin and special guests will be in Concert on Friday, March 27, 7:30 p.m. at Central Square Cultural and Civic Center, 105 2nd Avenue NE in Glenwood.

We invite you to see an inspirational performer with a wonderful message. Billy McLaughlin is recognized internationally as a world-class guitarist, Emmy Award winning composer and inspirational keynote speaker who has appeared on Billboard’s Top-Ten Chart. McLaughlin has 14 CD releases, 3 National Campus Entertainer of the Year Awards, 5 Minnesota Music Awards and his 

decades of national concert touring earned him the Hall of Fame Achievement Award.

But in 1999 McLaughlin vanished from sight as his career crumbled due to a little-known neuro-muscular disorder, Focal Dystonia. After suffering several years without a cure or even a diagnosis, this right-handed guitarist em-barked on an unlikely attempt to regain his career by re-learning his instrument left-handed! His remarkable comeback is captured in a documentary film, Changing Keys, and a concert film called Coming Back Alive.

Now serving as Ambassador for Awareness for the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, 

McLaughlin is the winner of the 2010 Public Leadership in Neurology Award and resides in his home state of Minnesota where he is proudly raising two boys.

Contact Central Square for advance sales at 320.634.0400. Please see our website at www.centralsquare.org for more information.

What on earth is wrong with this country?

This is in the United States of America:

http://www.naturalnews.com/037209_children_at_play_parents_criminalization.html

Mike's Market in Brooten!

Read more about the opening of Mike's Market in Brooten this week in the Bonanza Valley Voice.

Front page.

What a terrific achievement! The town has been without a grocery store since February 2014. We only have to look down the road a little ways to the southeast to see a much bigger town, New London, struggling with trying to restart their own grocery store. They have been without a grocery store since 2009. (Ouch)

B-B-E Area Jaycees cook-off is March 28

Mark your calendars and support the B-B-E Area Jaycees and the B-B-E Food Shelf while having a great time to boot!

Click on the graphic for best viewing.

Another angle on U.S. education

An Educational Culture: The Right Angle on Education

by Dr. Gary Welton

The basic problem with America’s educational system is not that college is too expensive. Nor is the basic problem that public school teachers are underpaid or that educators are poorly trained. The basic problem with America’s educational system today is that far too many children are given the implicit message at home that education is not a priority. “Perhaps the nerds and the geeks need these educational skills, but in our home, they just are not that important.”

Our schools face a huge challenge today, because the educational message that teachers are trying to inculcate into their students is far too often dismissed at home. If you live in a subculture where education is not valued, it is unlikely you will come to value your own educational opportunities. We cannot expect our schools to inculcate values of learning when there is little to no reinforcement at home.

The reality of life is that education and learning is not always fun. I was, and still am, an eager learner; nevertheless, some topics were uninteresting and seemed pointless when I first learned them. Some things are not intuitive; being sick and missing math class the day we were introduced to right angles, I was totally confused the day I returned to school. I could not figure out whether a right angle was the opposite of a left angle or the opposite of a wrong angle. That, of course, was an easy fix with a few questions that evening around the dinner table—an easy fix because my parents and my older siblings cared about education.

The college opportunity was not available to my father-in-law, but one of his primary goals in life was to enable his children to be college graduates. In order to fund this educational goal, he worked a factory job in addition to farming his own property. He only liked one of these jobs, but he worked them both, because he wanted to make sure his children had every educational opportunity. In “Look Homeward, Angel,” Thomas Wolfe says, “He loved a farm better than anything in the world except a school.” My father-in-law communicated that value to his children.

My father-in-law saw both of his children succeed in college, and recently celebrated the diplomas of all four of his grandchildren. He fostered an educational culture in which education was important. His children and grandchildren were motivated by his own continuing love of learning.

President Obama has sought to increase the number of college graduates in America, and is currently proposing that the federal and state governments pay the tuition for community college students. As Michael Horn recently stated in a CNN column, however, community colleges have not been particularly successful (only 22 percent of students complete their two-year degree within three years and 28 percent within four years), in spite of the fact that tuition is already heavily subsidized. He concludes that 60 percent of tuition is already covered by federal, state, and local programs, and, for needy students, the remaining 40 percent is entirely covered by Pell Grants.

Horn argues that providing free tuition will not fix the educational system. Indeed, the problem begins in American homes. When parents and caregivers communicate that education provides access to jobs and opportunities, and when parents demonstrate that college tuition is high on their list of priorities, students will come to value their educational opportunities. President Obama’s current proposal will not fix the problem unless the core issue of educational value becomes the focus.

If we want to improve our educational system, creating an educational culture is the essential and right angle.

--Dr. Gary L. Welton is assistant dean for institutional assessment, professor of psychology at Grove City College, and a contributor to The Center for Vision & Values. He is a recipient of a major research grant from the Templeton Foundation to investigate positive youth development.