Editorial: School year brings new reasons for vigilance

As this issue of the Farmington Independent 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: A more-than-fair day for Mary

The final morning of the Dakota County Fair dawned day and cool, an antidote to the preceding week of storms and humidity. There was almost a touch of chill in the strong breeze as my husband and I walked towards the front gate. Finally the perfect weather for the fair arrived.

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Column: Things you 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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Column: Taking vacation takes hard work

Have you ever noticed how much work goes into taking a vacation? It’s not necessarily the packing. It’s not necessarily the financial planning. You have to think about how you’re going to get to where you’re going, and you have to work out the timing while you’re actually on said vacation.

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Editorial: ‘Performance’ discussion raises questions

Sometimes, it’s what isn’t said that makes people wonder. The Farmington City Council planned to close a portion of its Aug. 16 business meeting to discuss “performance issues.” When the Independent called into question the legality of closing that meeting, council members decided to address their issues at an Aug. 23 workshop.

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Column: Reaction to storm was cool to see

I was really confused Friday morning. I don’t often sleep with my windows closed during the summer. I like to sleep with fresh air, so unless it’s really hot for a really long time, I don’t turn on my air conditioner at night. Well, last week was really hot for a really long time. The AC was on. My windows were closed.

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Letters: Fair judges should lighten up

Surprised to find so many categories of photo entries in this year’s Dakota County Fair art show with no blue ribbon winners, I was told by a couple of the helpers in the art building that, “if the judge doesn’t feel any of the entries are worthy of a blue ribbon, he doesn’t have to reward any.” I was taken aback by this explanation and replied, “This is a simple county fair, not a professional art show.”

Letter: Where was truth about sirens?

I first want to say how wonderful the residents of Farmington have been during these tumultuous times. Everyone is out lending a hand with community cleanup to get this wonderful city back to its beautiful state.

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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Editorial: Response to storm was heartening

Residents in Farmington’s storm-struck midsection could be excused for feeling a bit traumatized over the weekend. Many awoke early Friday morning to the noisy rumblings and violent winds of a tornado that left more than 120 homes damaged and at least 13 currently unhabitable.

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Column: There’s gnome place like home

Last weekend I rolled out to Watertown, South Dakota, passing endless corn and soybean fields. The dew point was palpable, as if steam was rising from the infinite corn leaves as they breathed oxygen in and carbon dioxide out.

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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.

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Column: A lifetime at the county fair

It’s Monday afternoon, and I’m at my desk. I’ve been to the 2010 Dakota County Fair once already, and I’ve got to say - I love this time of year. Sure, it’s a pretty steamy day, and sure, wandering through the heat and humidity already has me feeling like a good nap would hit the spot. And maybe the bellyful of Taco Dick’s and 4H chocolate shake is adding to my fatigue.

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Letter: Quist is the right choice to replace Pariseau

Steve Quist of Farmington is running for the state Senate in District 36, which includes Farmington. He is the DFL-endorsed candidate, but I think he will appeal to Independents and Republicans as well. Sen. Pat Pariseau, our District 36 Senator, has retired, meaning we should all look carefully at the two candidates running for her seat.

Editorial: Election season is about to get interesting

The primaries are over, the results are in and election season is about to heat up in Farmington. There were no directly local races on Tuesday’s primary ballot. The closest we came were a three-candidate judicial race in the First District and a competition between two Democrats to take on U.S. Representative John Kline in the Second District.

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