Letter: Middle school sports cuts make sense

A huge thank you is in order to Mark Parr and the members of the task force who decided that the middle school needs to cut three sports. I am sure it also was a very difficult decision.

Editorial: Pet rescue training is a good addition

There are probably some people who will read this week's story on Rosemount firefighters training to perform CPR on cats and dogs and think it's silly. Mouth to mouth for a dog? Really? There are almost certainly others who will read the same story and wonder what took so long.

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Editorial: Middle school sports changes make sense

Budget cuts in a school district are rarely popular and cutting sports isn't likely to win many friends, but Independent School District 196 has taken a reasonable approach to adjusting its middle school sports offerings.

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Editorial: Sheriff leaves department in good shape

In the years we have known him as Dakota County's sheriff, Don Gudmundson has been a pleasure to deal with. He's been accessible, and he's been willing to talk about subjects that weren't always pleasant.

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Editorial: Welcome home, Red Bulls

There have been a number of happy homecomings in recent weeks in Rosemount. Members of the Minnesota National Guard's 34th Infantry Division, headquartered in Rosemount, have returned in four waves since Jan. 24. Each time, returning soldiers have been welcomed by husbands or wives, parents or children thrilled to see a loved one who has been gone for a year and serving in Iraq for most of the time they have been gone.

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Editorial: New park can’t come soon enough

Steve Sullivan says in park planning terms the development of a new Dakota County Regional park in Empire Township is moving at lightning speed. Sullivan would know. He’s the county’s director of parks and recreation.

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Letter: Challenges demand long-range planning

The 2010 legislative session was scheduled to convene Feb. 4. Minnesota faces a $1.2 billion budget shortfall caused by the ongoing recession and an underlying structural imbalance in the state budget. With limited resources, difficult decisions will need to be made to resolve the deficit and rebuild our economy – but with your help, I am prepared to make those decisions.

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Editorial: Workshop meeting left a bad taste

The District 196 School Board held a meeting Monday night to take its first formal look the at budget cuts it expects to make over the next two or three years. The results of that discussion are covered on the front page of this week’s Town Pages.

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Editorial: Vandalism’s cheap thrills can be expensive

It wasn’t exactly a quick act when someone took paint and their own sense of geography to one of Rosemount’s welcome signs late last year. It would have taken time to cover the city’s name so thoroughly, and it would have taken the foresight to bring enough black paint to do the job.

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Editorial: Support for fire department is good to see

Rosemount firefighters spent a cold morning last Saturday training to save lives. Two by two, they dropped through the ice of Farquhar Lake in Apple Valley to get used to new suits they can use to rescue people in cold water.

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Letter: Another view of Sterner’s roundtable

I recently attended the same business roundtable hosted by Rep. Phil Sterner that Duane Kaczmarek criticized in a recent letter to the editor. Either Mr. Kaczmarek wasn’t paying attention or, as he stated by his own admission, he just left the meeting too early. Maybe it’s simply that his views are so colored by partisanship that he is unable to view things objectively.

Editorial: Liquor store still hasn’t learned its lesson

When the Rosemount City Council approved its last penalty against Rosemount Liquor we argued in this space that they were right to push for harsher punishment than one recommended by an independent arbitrator. Now it seems even that penalty wasn’t stiff enough to present another violation.

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Looking forward to a new year in Rosemount

We’ve reached the end of another year in Rosemount, and it’s been a busy one. The Rosemount-based Red Bull Infantry Division deployed to Iraq on an historic mission. An ammonia leak killed two at CF Industries. And one student at a Rosemount school found himself unexpectedly in possession of a bag full of drug money.

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Yellow ribbon or not, treat people fairly

We are a little bit of two minds about the recently announced effort in Rosemount to identify so-called Yellow Ribbon Businesses . The effort aims to single out businesses that are dependable and trustworthy places for the family of deployed soldiers to shop for goods or services.

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Opportunities to help this holiday season

These are difficult times for a lot of people. More and more of us know friend or neighbors who have lost a job or who have lost their homes. Others struggle to pay the bills every month. Many are focused on providing for their own families this holiday season, and there seems to be less time than ever to think about helping others who have things even tougher.

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