Letter: Sterner’s support for zoo helps entire area

To the editor, I have strong ties to my community and a vested interest in making sure it remains a great place to live. That’s why I’ve been a contributor to the Minnesota Zoo for years.

Letter: More taxes are not the answer

To the editor, I like a good debate, especially in an election year. There are many challenges facing our nation and our state and taxing people to no end is not the way to get us out of a jam.

Editorial: Start of school brings new reasons for vigilance

As this issue of the Rosemount Town Pages reaches mailboxes we are just five days from the start of a new school year. When they’re not busy shopping for new clothes and notebooks, children and teens everywhere are busy trying to cram every last bit of recreation they can into the final hours before they return to structured schedules of school days.

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Column: People of all ages have their challenges

Years go by so fast and we don’t know where they went. They say age brings challenges and struggles. Looking back to the years when our children were young and starting out a new school year there is a stress and challenge for people of all ages.

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Column: City has question about UMore, too

The University of Minnesota held two public forums last month on UMore Park at our Community Center. One forum was on the new wind turbine being installed on the east end of UMore Park, south of County Road 42 and west of Highway 52. The other forum was on the proposed gravel mining operation planned for the western third of the UMore property — generally bounded by County Road 42, Akron Avenue, Biscayne Avenue and extending into Empire Township on the south.

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Column: From foe to friend

You probably know Brett Favre will play another season with the Vikings. I know and I don’t give a hoot about football. That’s because, ever since the former Packer signed with the Vikes last year, I have sent a Manila envelope stuffed with clippings about the quarterback to my Wisconsin brother-in-law, a Favre fan.

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Things to think about in Fargo

Thanks to a two-day trip for meetings called by people higher up than me in the Farmington Independent’s parent company, I spent Monday night in a hotel room in the outskirts of Fargo, N.D. Which, as you might guess, meant I had a lot of time to watch television in my room.

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Letter: Residents should determine debate

To the editor, Kurt Bills loves to state “facts” that seem legitimate up front, but on closer look, turn out to be more spin than substance.

Editorial: Room for flexibility in design standards

The members of Cedarwood Church are getting frustrated, and it’s easy to see why. The church, which bought land earlier this year on the north end of Rosemount, has faced a number of hurdles as it tries to get clearance to worship in the city.

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Drinking water is good for your body

The Midwest experienced one of the longest, hottest, stormiest summer days on record recently. Sales of water soared as most people know a can of pop or beer just can’t quench the thirst. Many people purchased a case of water when they bought groceries or filled their cars with gas.

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Column: Look-alikes

Paging through a back-to-school insert in a recent newspaper, I noticed school uniforms between pages of blue jeans and trendy shirts. They looked nothing like the uniforms I was required to wear to Catholic school in the 1950s and ’60s. Instead, this ad pictured an array of pants — tan and navy blue— along with a choice of polo shirts in yellow, white, or light blue.

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Column: Lessons learned at the fair

The Dakota County Fair is a remarkable event. It’s one of the rare opportunities in this world to indulge guilt-free in massive quantities of artery-clogging food, ogle livestock and cheer as strangers ram headlong into each other in an event that is the daydreams of any driver trapped in rush-hour traffic sprung to violent life.

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Letter: Residents should determine debate

To the editor, Representative Phil Sterner and I agree with Deb Kaczmarek when she says voters in Rosemount and Apple Valley are entitled to a thorough exploration of the issues from candidates running for political office.

Editorial: District had to put a levy on the ballot

The District 196 School Board’s decision Monday to ask voters to approve an operating levy that could bring in an additional $150 million over the next 10 years likely didn’t surprise anybody. A fall levy question has been lurking in the background since the district first started the process that led to $15.3 million in budget adjustments earlier this year. Monday’s vote seemed almost like a formality.

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Column: Judging and being judged

Every year around this time community newspaper employees from across the country sort through the best work they’ve done over the past 12 months and send off entries to compete for recognition as some of their state’s best journalism of the year.