UP – To the Albert Lea City Council and city staff.

Many times this Editorial Board has asked city leaders, “What’s the rush?” We didn’t see why issues seemingly had to be decided to quickly. We thought there could be more time for public input, whether the matters were big or small.

On Monday, the City Council will vote on the proposed bike lane for Front Street. No matter the result, the council deserves kudos for not voting on the item immediately following the public hearing on June 28. By waiting, local residents get two weeks to give input in case they missed the hearing. And by waiting, it gives people who spoke at the hearing the feeling that councilors pondered their input. By contrast, a hearing followed by a vote at the same meeting doesn’t have that we-listened-to-you feeling. We hope this trend continues.

DOWN – To mosquitoes.

Much of Albert Lea is built atop swampland. That means mosquitoes are bad. And if it rains a lot, the mosquitoes are worse than bad. They are downright horrible. That’s the condition of Albert Lea lately. It’s hard to be outside unless you are running fast or the wind is blowing. Inclement weather has kept the city’s mosquito contractor from spraying only three times this year. One of them was Tuesday. The city will go back to regular Wednesday night spraying now.

This hot, wet, muggy, tornadic, stormy summer is rather buggy, too. Spray, baby, spray!

UP – To Minnesota Twins hot dogs.

Albert Lea is proud to be the place where the hot dogs at Target Field are made. Well, not the buns, or the ketchup, or the mustard or relish, but the most important part — the meat. It’s made right in town at the Cargill meat-packing plant in the Jobs Industrial Park under the Schweigert label. Now these special Target Field franks are available at local grocers, and we suggest you grill a few this summer to show your support for a local employer — and for the Twins. If you are a superstitious fan, you have to ask: Does downing these dogs improve the good fortune for the Twins? You just never know.