To Riverland Community College.

Congratulations on finding a new president, and it looks like the students, staff and faculty at the college are excited about welcoming Adenuga Atewologun and his wife, Murielle, to south central Minnesota. Atewologun begins July 1 but has toured the campuses to meet with people. He presently is the vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Ill.

 

To Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts.

Way to go, kids! It was great to hear that two weeks ago local Scouts collected more than 2,800 pounds of nonperishable food items for the Ecumenical Food Pantry at First Presbyterian Church. Ask anyone who works at a food shelf, and they will tell you: There is never enough food to meet the need for food at food shelves. What the Scouts did teaches selflessness and community awareness. It was done as part of the Scouting for Food drive.

 

To a backlog in the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

It was disheartening to read in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the agency charged with investigating mistreatment of vulnerable adults had fallen behind in its duties. Its backlog had fallen to 724 cases at the end of 2012. That means allegations of abuse are going uninvestigated. Our community places a high priority on taking care of vulnerable seniors, particularly in the wake of stunning elder abuse allegations in 2008 and subsequent criminal trials and convictions over the course of three years. Timely investigations into abuse are important to making sure the problems do not happen. We shudder to think what would have happened in 2008 if the Department of Human Services had placed the Albert Lea case on a backlog. We hope state leaders can fix this problem.