June 11 – Thumbs up for a new report showing the confidence businesses in the region have in the local economy.
While 2020 saw an expected decline in business and government construction of new buildings, 2021 saw an upturn. Construction spending for the commercial, industrial and public sectors nearly doubled last year compared to 2020. And the 2021 figures were 30% above the 2020 spending in 2019.
This shows that even during the 2020 pandemic, companies spent heavily on preparing construction plans, confident that the region’s economy would continue to be strong for years to come.
The Regional Economic Development Alliance and GMG’s “Pipeline” report examined all building permits in Blue Earth and Nicollet counties. The figures do not include the construction of single-family houses and apartments.
In the past five years, capital investment in commercial, industrial and public projects in the two districts has exceeded $750 million.
Continued confidence in Greater Mankato’s economy is good for all as the property tax base and jobs grow.
Updating data
Thumbs up for a new online dashboard from the state Department of Health, unveiled this week, that tells the public whether PFAS, substances known as “Forever Chemicals,” are detected in their municipal water systems.
It was great news to find out that both Mankato and North Mankato, along with most of the state’s public water systems, contained levels of PFAS below current levels of concern.
On the dashboard, PFAS values less than or equal to 1 are considered safe for consumption. Samples from Madison Lake, Valley Mobile Home Park in Le Sueur County and Springfield were the only water systems in the south-central region where low levels of PFAS were detected. Now these communities have the important information that can help them identify the root cause of the problem in order to rectify the situation.
Water is essential to life and it’s comforting to know that the Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services monitors our water to make sure it’s as safe as possible. PFAS are among the latest on the list of substances that water systems need to monitor. As health officials said during the dashboard’s launch, we now know more about PFAS than we did a few years ago.
The story goes on
Keeping PFAS in check is important for every Minnesotan.
Complicity of Fox News
Thumbs down to the Fox News network for being the only major network to decide its viewers don’t need to know the facts about the attempted overthrow of the American government by refusing to listen to the committee’s landmark Jan. 6 hearing Thursday night transfer.
While the nation was horrified by the coup attempt orchestrated by ex-President Donald Trump, Fox continued to broadcast regular shows like Tucker Carlson with his lies and racism. According to an analyst, Fox didn’t allow commercial breaks during the Carlson show, which appears to have been a way to keep its viewers from surfing the channels.
We have long advised our readers to turn off Fox News as it lacks credibility as a legitimate news source. In fact, the network has argued in legal filings that Carlson’s comment is so outlandish that reasonable viewers can’t believe it. Additionally, Carlson and other Fox commentators have repeatedly sided with the ex-president in his illegal activities. The House Committee has investigated the Carlson-Trump connection and revealed that Carlson texted the government with advice during the riot.
Clearly Fox has gone against the canons of his “fair and balanced” mantra and has clearly gone unfair and unbalanced. The network feeds the false narrative that the attempted uprising was a legitimate protest by “tourists”.
It is shameful that a network should ignore and more broadly support the attempted overthrow of the American government.
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