There’s little doubt 2023 was a good year in New Prague. The community is continuing to grow and, arguably, prosper. Its school children display their talents on many stages on a regular basis. The community has many reasons to look forward with great enthusiasm for its future.
One thing I’ve sometimes found baffling are people who make comments at public meetings and then don’t want it reported on. It’s the one word, “public,” that some people forget is in that aspect of a meeting.
We learned this past week consumer spending in Minnesota has been at a level contributing to yet another projected budget surplus.
Wasting no time, Education Minnesota, the union representing teachers in the state, offered its opinion the state should continue to help fund teachers’ wages at a level able to address the shortage of instructors. E-12 education is already among the largest line items in the state’s biennial budget. Being a teacher is challenging and at times under-appreciated yet vitally important work.
I have a sibling who doesn’t eat anything with pork products in them. Strangely enough, you will find pork products in places sometimes you don’t always think of — one of them being store-bought gelatin.
This sent me on a hunt of how I could make my own gelatin and the results were surprisingly simpler, more flavorful and more nutritious than I realized. In fact, if you can somehow make anything into a liquid, you can make it into gelatin. It also sets firmer.
I took my father to see a show with U.S. Navy Glee Club Men’s and Women’s Chorus with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall earlier this month. Preceding the show, we sat down in the lobby next to a couple, approximately in their seventies.
Saturday, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day, a time we should especially remember to honor the service of our country’s military veterans, men and women who have given so much so we can enjoy our daily lives in relative ease and comfort.
Your New Prague Area School District has offered a case voters should approve an additional $450 per student levy for 10 years – not “forever” as Director Dan Call told the board he had been telling constituents back in August.
Call, who told the school board he opposed the levy request, was corrected on the misinformation. Hopefully, he has since touched base with all those folks and provided them accurate information.
Sen. Bill Lieske, R-Lonsdale, recently authored a column published in our Oct. 12 edition reminding people who took out federal student loans the pause on repayment issued during the pandemic has been lifted. For those concerned about repaying their loans, he offered a couple of short-term options.
My “luck of the Irish” came to a screeching halt this past St. Patrick’s Day when I lost my soulmate, Chuck. Who would have thought as I walked into his hospital room that morning and he was complimenting me on my new shamrock shirt that by late evening he would be gone! I lost the love of my life. But I wasn’t the only one who experienced this unthinkable loss…so did our family and friends…and so did New Prague. This community lost one of its stellar cheerleaders.
The New Prague Area School District’s board of directors have asked district taxpayers to support an additional $450 per student levy amounting to about $2 million in annual funding adjusted for inflation over the next 10 years.
It’s an important question, a big ask of taxpayers. We won’t suggest you should vote for it or against it. That’s a decision you get to make. We’ll only ask you make your decision based on facts and the answers to every good, tough and fair question you can think of.
That is your responsibility as one with the privilege of voting.
The occasional meeting of the Get The Heck Off My Lawn Society will now come to order.
Today’s agenda includes a rant on how a business uses technology to serve more people efficiently, while at the same time telling those not ready to embrace a certain level of technology, sorry, this is the way things are: Get on board or get out of the way and go someplace else.
Having just witnessed my first Dozinky Days and car cruise, the amount of work and planning for the event was impressive. Well done, New Prague.
The weather drew a huge crowd downtown, perhaps bigger than expected. The event of course benefitted from near-perfect weather and the experience the Chamber of Commerce and volunteers have to draw upon.
Almost a year ago, the opportunity and pleasure of working here in New Prague became a reality.
There was much to anticipate back then.
One of the neat facets of working in New Prague is the annual Dozinky Czech harvest festival. It’s been said there are points during the coming weekend when the community’s population could swell to well over 12, 13,000 or more people. That will be really cool to see and experience.
There are some things I’ve yet to do such as skydiving, bungee jumping off a bridge, see a production of “A Christmas Carol” at the Guthrie Theater, see the rock band U2 in concert, visit Europe or visit New York City.
This past weekend, I did one thing I’ve never done before, although not from the above list. I went to the Defeat of Jesse James Days in Northfield. Some people may find that surprising with how long I’ve lived in the area. The simple reason is I’ve usually had other events planned at the same time as the annual festival.
The New Prague Area School District’s board of directors is asking voters to OK a levy referendum Nov. 7 intended to bring in money for educational and operating expenses.
We look forward to a vigorous, well-presented, respectful discussion on the levy request in which both the district, its supporters and people with concerns or those opposed to the request present their respective positions based on merits and not rumor, innuendo and misinformation.
Regardless of your position on the request, it is too important an issue to receive anything less.
Not a great start
Certain members of the Minnesota Legislature no doubt thought they crafted a piece of historic legislation earlier this year when they legalized the recreational use of cannabis. They did not.