Editorial: Thumbs
Published 6:36 am Sunday, May 6, 2012
Editorial: Thumbs
Welcome back to Minnesota after a year deployment on a mission to Kuwait and Iraq. Firstly, we salute you for serving your country. Secondly, we missed you, because your roles here in civilian life are valued, too. Thirdly, we are glad the Minnesota National Guard skipped all the pomp and pageantry of a welcome ceremony or even a formation and pretty much let you go from the buses to loved ones. After a year in the Mideast, who needs more delays in seeing your friends and family. The scenes of you in the arms of people who missed you were touching.
Recent rains have improved the outlook for crops in the Upper Midwest, but there remains an underlying problem: a lack of proper subsoil moisture. We went a long time without our normal amounts of precipitation. The U.S. Drought Monitor, which is operated by the University of Nebraska, continues to list Albert Lea and much of southern Minnesota as “severe drought,” but now there is a new dimension. On the map, our region now has a big L over it, which stands for “long term.” That means our area has been listed as severe drought for more than six months.
To drivers who pull out in front of other drivers and then go slow.
You are driving along with the general flow of traffic, about 30 mph on a city arterial street, then someone pulls out between you and the car in front of you — like they are in some kind of hurry — but then travels about 20 mph, backing up you and all the cars behind you. Bridge Avenue seems to be the usual place for these slow-moving caravans, but they also happen on Lakeview Boulevard, Richway Drive and just about anywhere. These offbeat drivers usually seem oblivious to the automobiles around them, and they come in all ages. Sometimes, it is a cellphone driver. Sometimes, it is a senior driver with possible vision issues. Sometimes, it is just a space cadet. Nobody would mind if they want to drive slow, as long as they wouldn’t pull out right in front of drivers going the posted speed limit.