On a lighter note...

Much has been written and said about the police/law enforcement situation in Belgrade and Brooten in recent weeks / months.

I've said it to many people in person but wasn't sure if I had done so in print, etc. While I'd much, much rather we in Brooten have our own police department, in the mean time I find it a very good thing that we have coverage from members of the Paynesville Police Department who are also staff members of the Belgrade P.D. What was forgotten that was printed in the Jan. 15 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice was that officers from the Paynesville P.D. were hired by the Belgrade P.D. They are employees in Belgrade, not contracted workers. They are hard-working men and women who take their jobs in law enforcement very seriously and put their lives on the line every day they suit up whether that's in Paynesville, Belgrade or Brooten. Let's not lose sight of that even as we move heaven and earth to get something positive going in the city of Brooten.

For now, I am thankful that we have this arrangement going with Paynesville. It beats Stearns County any day. (No offense to Sheriff Sanner's officers either...but we all know that we do not want Stearns County providing all of our police coverage in Brooten!)

##truth