Opinions

A different Memorial Day approaches

Memorial Day is only four days away. However, the usual Memorial Day celebrations will be limited and the Boy Scouts of America will not be placing small American flags at the nation’s cemeteries to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the various America wars and battles. Once again, COVID-19 is...

Summer is canceled

I’ll bet you never thought you would see a headline like this: “Summer is canceled.” While that may be a little stretch of the imagination, it’s beginning to look like it isn’t far off. As much as I look forward to summers in Minnesota, I must admit I am not with this upcoming summer. Much of my...

Some interesting facts about COVID-19

Interesting facts about COVID-19: COVID-19 Illnesses in United States – 1,181,885 (percentage of the population of 330 million) 0.000358146969 – Deaths 69,079 (percentage of the population) 0.0002093303.* COVID-19 Illnesses in Minnesota – 7,234 (percentage of the population of 5,700,671) 0....

Anthony Schnable celebrates his 10th birthday on April 23 with his family in a decorated golf cart at the end of the driveway of their rural Hayfield home by getting passing vehicles along Hwy. 56 to honk their horns. Celebrating with Anthony are his brother Ethan and parents Nancy and Andrew Schnable.

‘Honk, 4 my birthday’

In these days of a coronavirus-filled world, one never knows what you’re going to find along the roadside. In late April as I was traveling between my offices in Kasson and Blooming Prairie, I stumbled across some commotion at the end of a driveway just outside Hayfield. As I went by, I honked my...

COVID-19 leading to more than a few absurdities

Just last week I was discussing some of the absurdities showing up as a result of COVID-19 with Karen Jorgensen, DCI editor. One such example came to my attention from Wayne Hendrickson. In the email Wayne had sent to the staff, was a video of a woman demonstrating the flammability of hand...

A little corona pushes home projects to the forefront

One thing is for certain with everybody being hunkered down while dodging the coronavirus. We definitely have extra time on our hands. Let me see, which house project should I choose on the list of more than 100 that I have compiled over the past few years. That seems to be the burning question...

Farm belt food comes courtesy of Chinese company

Sitting right in the middle of corn, hog, and cattle growing country, it’s hard for me to believe that the food we eat for breakfast is brought to our tables by a Chinese company. That’s right, Communist China, the People’s Republic of China, Red China, home of COVID-19 and the World Health...

What’s to love about the local paper?

One of our regular readers from Owatonna pointed out to me an article that ran in the March-April edition of RFD-TV Magazine about the local paper. It’s appropriately titled, “My Local Paper.” It provides a good illustration of what local newspapers like the Steele County Times provide their...

COVID-19 robs sports fans of great summer pastime

Last Friday morning I was picking the clothes to wear for the day. Usually, it’s a pair of slacks, shirt and a sweater. Boring! A sudden thought popped into my head to pull out the Minnesota Twins pullover windbreaker and wear it with pride even though my team may not take the field until mid-...

A new way to celebrate

Getting together to mark major milestones has always been a cornerstone of my family. Whether it’s graduations, birthdays, holidays or game nights, the Bussler clan is always finding ways to celebrate. The latest celebration involved my uncle, who turned 80 years old on Easter Sunday. We had...