My Sunday Column … a Day Late

Minnesota Monitor is ever evolving, and one new wrinkle we’ve added is a weekly column by each of our writers. My day is Sunday, although for some reason I didn’t get the message correctly, which is why my column this week is a day late. Oh, well.

more insideWhat’s new and exciting around southern Minnesota? Well, for one thing the weather’s warmer, which means the guys who are putting siding on our house are 1) able to work and 2) to be more or less comfortable when they do so.

Politically, Al Franken‘s announced candidacy for the U.S. Senate is resonating locally as he spent quite a bit of time in our congressional district and dropped some bucks supporting Tim Walz last year. In fact, he and his PAC were the first big donors to Tim’s campaign. Al will be appearing at Minnesota State University, Mankato, on Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Centennial Student Union.

On this Saturday past, the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota hosted its annual conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, an event, unfortunately, that I missed. One focus of the conference was a workshop in artisan cheesemaking coordinated by Jodi Ohlsen Read of Shepherd’s Way Farms. Fans of Minnesota’s small dairies might remember that the Reads suffered a horrendous fire in one of their barns a little over a year ago, losing more than 200 lambs and 160 ewes from their dairy flock. Weaker folks might have quit, but the Reads persisted, and they’re growing their business back again with the help of many friends and supporters.

One more thing: Rep. Tim Walz began his mobile outreach office this past week as an effort to give as many citizens of the 1st Congressional District as he can access to constituent services. It seems to have received a good response in Albert Lea and Winona.

That’s all for today. More again six days from now. I promise.