Face mask use while exercising

It's been a few months since I've read articles about these incidents in China. So early this morning I pulled up a few stories to refresh my memory in light of learning new rules that Minnesota's deranged Department of Health officials have unleashed on children across the state.

Here's a summary on Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/china-boys-dead-face-mask.

I read at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website that at least three children in China died while exercising while masked last spring and summer. According to the NCBI, in all three cases, the children were wearing N95-level masks. Keep in mind: the NCBI's source was China-based news. In light of those deaths, China has discouraged or even banned the use of masks on children while they are exercising.

This article, which was updated on December 9, points out that there is no settled science behind the safety of masking while exercising for adults or children (short link): https://bit.ly/3nik8vV.

The Mayo Health System states that there are numerous issues with masking while exercising. Multiple warning signs need to be monitored when an adult or child is exerting themselves while wearing a mask. If this is in the setting of a school, for the sake of financial liability, I would hope there is enough staff available to monitor children for the following warning signs:

1. Dizziness

2. Drowsiness

3. Fatigue

4. Headache

5. Muscle weakness

I quote from Mayo Health System, "Before you exercise with a mask on, consider decreasing your exertion level - which means weight with resistance training or mileage in aerobic activities such as running or biking."

But what does the Mayo Health System know? It's not like they're experts on health, right, Timmy Walz?

*Added Wednesday afternoon...this Star Tribune contributor said it 1,000 times better than I could. His credentials put anyone to shame (multi-sport high school and college athlete, Princeton University degree in molecular biology and virology)...click on this short link to read what he has to say. It's nothing good about this madness of masking kids while they're exercising...part of his message is that what Minnesota is doing is "unsafe, unrealistic and likely ineffective."

http://strib.mn/2LswZhK

If you don't visit the Star Tribune website very often, you should be able to read the story without worrying about the Paywall.

Time to tune in to Timmy Walz...he's got his hot air show on right now. The state needs to continue changing its approach. I am not opposed to utilizing "mitigation" measures, but they have to add messaging about personal health and sharing proven ways to keep your health in the best possible standing. How often have you heard messaging about running a humidifier at home? Do you keep home humidity above 40 percent in the winter? That in itself is extremely important to keep your body healthy and able to fight off respiratory diseases.

Late this afternoon, I visited (in person - OH the horror!) with a hockey parent from a neighboring town. This hockey parent had an earful and more for me about the pure insanity of masking young children while they're fully dressed in hockey gear all while being in a cold climate. It's just bizarre. Their masks become moist very quickly under the helmets, and in the cold environment you are absolutely asking for trouble.

This is a very scary time to witness. What's happening is that Minnesota Department of Health officials understand so extremely little about youth sports that it makes you wonder if we are living in the Twilight Zone. The MDH edict of masking youth hockey players under their helmets appears to have been made with ZERO knowledge of the fact that these kids have to wear mouth guards. There is ample reason why they need mouth guards. So I go back to the earlier point: how can MDH officials be this clueless about youth sports?

How did we get here? How did we get to a place where the leaders making important decisions about our children do so while having no idea about reality. About the actual real world we live in?

In the past three days I've talked to two basketball players, two wrestling parents and how a hockey parent about what is taking place with youth sports in Minnesota. Rest assured: there was across-the-board anger coming from all of them. This is turning into a total, complete and unmitigated disaster. If this goes on, this will become one of the biggest travesties to take place in youth sports in the history of Minnesota.

God help us.

In this week's issue of the Kerkhoven Banner newspaper, I was absolutely thrilled to see a high school coach speak on record at his desire to see leaders of Minnesota change their tune with masking basketball players during games. K-M-S Fighting Saints head girls' basketball coach Justin Johnson said, "I am hoping they reconsider their thoughts about requiring masks."

After stating that his Fighting Saints will adjust their conditioning and practice sessions due to the masking requirement, Coach Johnson questioned how realistic it is that the mask is going to stay in place during the action.

"Basketball is a physical game!" he added.

PROPS to Coach Johnson for speaking his honest opinion about this matter. I tip my hat to you.

Local precinct caucuses

I only have information for Stearns County residents at this point.

The Stearns County DFL (I'm guessing western folks) will gather at the Sauk Centre high school at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 6. I believe the actual caucus does not begin until 7 p.m.

For local Republicans in Stearns County, they will meet at 7 p.m. at the B-B-E high school on Tuesday, February 6.

Also, while I have your attention, I hope you can put the 7th-12th grade choir concert on your calendar! It will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 12. You can read more about it in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice.

I will fight for you

Very saddened by what I am learning (first hand and second hand) from what happened yesterday at Maple Grove and Minnetonka high schools. All that in Minnesota, the land of equality.

Still busy

Thursday afternoon, still bogged down with office work. This morning I enjoyed being a part of Fire Safety week speaking with Brooten Fire Department members and students at the B-B-E elementary school. Look for more on that later.

Time to head to get some brief coverage at a Republican rally in Willmar!

(Video) Child care unionization dominates Town Hall mtng

A change of scenery from sports...here's what I was involved with on Saturday morning in Willmar while many of you were still asleep!! Look for a full story in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper...



That child care unionization issue is UGLY. Not much else to say beyond that.

Just making sure

I want to leave no doubt how poorly I think of Donald Trump and his antics while he runs for the highest office in our great United States of America. This was an interesting read at The Daily Beast:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/16/bullying-experts-trump-is-an-eighth-grade-girl.html

“People bully to gain power over others, and Trump’s behavior is the epitome of this,” she said. By insulting Fiorina’s appearance, Drew said, Trump was “behaving like the high school bully who’s threatened by a girl who’s smarter than he is,” and by mocking candidates for not polling as well as he is, Trump is “acting like [a] high school football player swaggering into the cafeteria and overturning the lunch tray of a weaker kid.”

Bullies, like most people running for political office, have an unhealthy need for power. That need can be caused, according to Drew, by a number of things: revenge after being bullied themselves, general self-esteem and insecurity issues, or just a total lack of human compassion.

By the way, parents, have you talked to your children lately about bullying? And how they should never bully others? And how they should do their best to come to the defense of other kids who are being bullied or at least tell an adult of what's going on?

House GOP spotlight on rural MN has faded

My opinion: this is all true. And the way the Republicans in St. Paul are short-changing rural Minnesota is especially bad. Then add the fact that they campaigned on "helping rural Minnesota" in 2014 only to see them trample the interests of rural Minnesota makes them hypocrites of the WORST nature.

House GOP spotlight on rural MN has faded

By Nancy Larson, Congressional District Seven DFL Party Chair

Republicans swept into the majority last year by picking up 10 House seats in Greater Minnesota, convincing voters that they would shine the spotlight on rural areas of the state that they claimed had been ignored by the Democrats. That spotlight shone brightly on rural Minnesota at the start of this legislative session, but it faded quickly once the House Republican majority started passing their major bills last week.

Where once there had been talk of a major investment in workforce housing for rural cities, there is now no money to be seen despite the fact that the lack of affordable housing is hampering job growth for many rural industries and hindering business and community expansion plans.

The funding needed to bring high speed Internet up-to-par in rural areas declined from the $20 million invested in the program by Democrats in 2014 to just $8 million in the House bill. That means 40 percent of the people living in rural areas will continue to be denied Internet speeds that match the state’s goals, while in the metro, only 6.7 percent of the populace lack adequate broadband access.

Last year, rural homeowners received substantial reductions in property taxes from the Democrats, but this year they were overlooked entirely in the House GOP bill. Small rural businesses also received significant tax cuts last year thanks to the DFL, but this year it looks like bigger is better.  The biggest tax cut proposed by the GOP does away with the state-wide commercial/industrial property tax, and while small businesses would see their taxes go down if this provision were passed, the metro area will be the big winner under this proposal. That is quite the opposite of the promises made by Republicans who accused the DFL of catering to the metro area.  

In all, the House bill cuts taxes by $2 billion, gobbling up the state’s current budget surplus plus more. The “more” will be paid for in large part by cuts in Health and Human Services, and that will hurt – instead of help – rural Minnesota. A big part of the proposed Republican HHS cuts would be obtained by taking MinnesotaCare away from working-poor Minnesotans.  You read that right—the Republican House wants to eliminate the health insurance subsidy for lower income workers, many of whom live and work in rural areas. But that thinking is wrong for all of Minnesota. And the facts are: the 25 counties with the highest number of people enrolled in the program are all located in Greater Minnesota.

We are fortunate to have the DFL Senate to protect Greater Minnesota by forging final compromise bills that will offer more positives and fewer negatives for those of us living, working and running businesses in rural Minnesota. That does not mean you should forget these earlier bills passed by the GOP majority in the House. Ask your legislators now how they voted on the above issues. Ask them what happened to the Republican promises to rural Minnesota.  Those promises are fading as fast as the light from a fading flashlight.

State tournament

Browerville lost by one point to Minneota in the girls' basketball state tournament opener on Thursday.

Tonight in the Class 2A state semifinals, Sauk Centre beat Minnehaha Academy 54-49 to advance to the state title game for the second time since 2012.

Click here to read details on a town hall meeting on Saturday morning in New London:
http://lifeinbonanzavalley.blogspot.com/2015/03/town-hall-meeting-in-new-london.html

A good read by Watchdog

This was a very interesting article!!!!

http://watchdog.org/205306/rural-minnesota-schools-fight-state-ordered-end-4-day-week/?roi=echo3-25420594758-26315088-9deb7eec6b8442791d7cbd9f6cd6e323

No one is suggesting that a four-day school week is ideal. Faced with the reality of declining budgets, B-B-E schools implemented the four-day week in the summer of 2011 and as a result we have over 60 electives in the high school plus a strong fund balance of over $1 million.

That strong fund balance is necessary to protect our programs year to year when it's extremely difficult to know what the cash flow situation will be year to year.

Shame on Mark Dayton and his cronies in St. Paul for thinking they know better! YOU DO NOT! Don't you dare think you're smarter than the parents of B-B-E schools or our school board members or the school staff.

(Video) FarmFest agriculture forum

Here's 10 minutes or so from the U.S. Senator candidate debate at FarmFest on Wednesday this week. It's part of what has been an extremely busy week for me.

http://saukherald.com/content/us-senator-debate-farmfest

State legislature is on break: time for Town Hall meetings

Note: the following was taken from the "Childcare providers who are happy to be Union-free" Facebook page. The source of the 'town hall' list is the Minnesota DFL Party Facebook page. It is an incomplete list of town halls across the state. It focuses on where DFL members of the Legislature are holding town hall meetings over their Easter break from the Legislative session. Perhaps folks will read this who are in other areas of the state. It wouldn't hurt if you could share this with friends and neighbors in your area. Being informed helps.

For B-B-E area residents, DFL Rep. Mary Sawatzky is holding a town hall meeting in Spicer (see info below) next Saturday morning. She represents the area of the B-B-E school district that lies in Kandiyohi County.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Childcare-providers-who-are-Happy-to-Be-Union-Free/181095595292446?fref=ts

"Town hall meetings are a great way to educate our legislators and the public about this issue. Here are some upcoming town hall meetings and we need people to attend and ask some good questions. Make sure they have the facts..."

Which ones can you attend?

Saturday, March 23
Rep. Joe Radinovich
8 a.m., 1865 County Café and Bar, McGrath
11 a.m., Hill Lake Café, Hill City
1 p.m., Emily City Hall, Emily

Rep. Peter Fischer
9 a.m., Mahtomedi City Hall

Rep. John Persell and Sen. Tom Saxhaug
9 a.m., Bemidji City Hall

Rep. Barb Yarusso
9 a.m., Raz’s Coffee and Ice Cream Café, Shoreview

Rep. Laurie Halverson and Jeff Soloman Education Forum
10 a.m., Dakota Hills Middle School, Woodbury

Rep. Ben Lien
10 a.m., Oak Port

Monday, March 25
Rep. Paul Marquart and Sen. Kent Eken
9 a.m., Detroit Lakes High School Library
11 a.m., Hawley High School Media Center
2 p.m., Barnsville High School Library
6 p.m., Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School Media Center

Tuesday, March 26
Rep. Paul Marquart and Sen. Kent Eken
9 a.m., Ulen-Hitterdal Public School Library
11 a.m., Norman County East High School, Twin Valley
2 p.m., Norman County West High School, Halstad
6 p.m., Ada High School Library

Rep. Zach Dorholt
5 p.m., James W. Miller Learning Resources Center, SCSU

Rep. Barb Yarusso and Rep. Jascon Isaacson
7 p.m., MAPE, Shoreview

Saturday, March 30
Rep. Mary Sawatzky
9 a.m., The Westwood, Spicer

Rep. Yvonne Selcer
9 a.m., Caribou Coffee, 14444 Excelsior Blvd., Minnetonka

Rep. Laurie Halverson
10 a.m., The Westcott Library, Eagan

Town Hall meeting in New London is Saturday morning

State legislators representing B-B-E's area in Kandiyohi County will be in New London tomorrow morning for a Town Hall meeting from 9:00am to 10:30am at McKale's Family Restaurant.

Good grief...just heard the last minute of the first half of the Section 6AA championship game...Litchfield has a 39-20 lead over Melrose Area going into the locker room. The Dragons made 7 three-pointers in the first half. The Dutchmen had an early 11-5 lead but then faded...the Dragons took a 28-11 lead! Wow. Litchfield went on a 23-0 lead to take control.

This just wasn't our year for local basketball teams.

In the Section 6A championship game, the Battle Lake Battlers won the championship in an incredibly competitive contest by 2 points. Final: Battlers 56, Ada-Borup 54. Battle Lake advances to the state tournament for the first time since 2005.

*Update: The Dutchmen scored first in the second half with Scottie Stone hitting his first three of the night. Litchfield had two early turnovers and let Melrose go on a 5-0 run to make it 39-25.

Litchfield then hit their 8th three-pointer of the night to go up 42-25. Mitch Niehaus then scored for Melrose to make it 42-27 with two minutes played.

With 9 minutes left, the scoreboard at SCSU shows: Litchfield 51, Melrose Area 38. Then another three-pointer makes it 54-38. With 6:30 remaining, Litchfield is up 56-42. With 4 minutes left, Litchfield has a 60-49 lead. Seconds later, two Scottie Stone free throws made it 60-51. Then Seth Noll drove down court and made a lay up after his team got a steal off of the trap for a 60-53 lead.

With 3:10 left, it's 62-53. With 3 minutes left, Ryan Elfering scored to make it 62-55. Elfering scored seconds later and it's 62-57. Litchfield called a timeout with 2:36 to go.

Litchfield pulled away in the final minute and has a 71-59 lead with 14 seconds to go. They'll win the Section 6AA championship for the second year in a row. Melrose Area finishes 28-2...their last state tournament trip was in 1974. *Final: Litchfield 73, Melrose Area 59. The Dragons take a 24-5 record into the state tournament.

Litchfield shot 10-of-21 on three-pointers (48 %!) compared to 3-of-18 shooting on the arc by Melrose Area. There's the glaring difference in the game. One Dragons player shot 7-of-10 on the arc...I didn't catch that athlete's name.

This is something we can all rally behind

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure.

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2012

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.

It's a great day to be a Minnesotan...and an American!

One quick note: hats off to the Paynesville Area school district, as voters there approved an increase in their excess levy by a 61 to 39 percent margin.

I am absolutely stunned that the MarriageBigotryAmendment failed by over 100,000 votes in Minnesota. I am so proud of our state. I tip my hat to the gay and lesbian graduates of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, as I have gay and lesbian friends from B-B-E dating back to the first graduating class of the paired school in 1990.

Beyond that, it's high time the DFL Party delivers on what the Republicans failed to do...bring forward a platform for the 2013 Legislative session titled and focused on "jobs, jobs, jobs!"

Focused like a laser! I'll be watching you (DFL)..put up or shut up and prepare to be punished in 2014 as bad as Republicans were on Tuesday.

Notes/results on the MarriageBigotryAmendment question

A little before midnight, the results from the city of Brooten were reported on the Secretary of State's website. For the MarriageBigotryAmendment question, or in another term "recognition of marriage solely between one man and one woman", it passed by a 171 to 134 margin, or by 55.3%.

While it did indeed pass, I am still proud that the vote was relatively close in Brooten compared to how it has fared in many other rural precincts.


Woop woop! President Obama defeated Romney by a healthy margin in Brooten, 182 to 124 votes. 

School board election results in Brooten show: Paul Weller 247, Kim Trustheim 163, Danny Wold 160, Sue Woolcott 153. 

School board results in Elrosa show: Paul Weller 79, Danny Wold 67, Kim Trustheim 59, Sue Woolcott 57.

I'll post more results as I get them.
 

My endorsement for Senator Lyle Koenen

Senator Lyle Koenen outside the Willmar DFL office last Friday.

Senator Lyle Koenen is a good friend of mine who I've known since 2000, when we both ran for state offices in western/west central Minnesota. I met up with him last Friday at the DFL office in Willmar while I was grabbing Collin Peterson and Amy Klobuchar highway signs to add to my family's farm property in rural Sunburg/Norway Lake.

Koenen was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, District 20B, in 2002 and served there until being elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2012 to fill the term of the late Gary Kubly (DFL-Granite Falls).

Koenen is now running for Senate District 17, which includes all of northern Kandiyohi County, as well as all of Swift, Chippewa and Renville counties. He is a former dairy farmer and a native of Clara City. While serving in the Minnesota House and now Senate, Koenen also works part-time as a milk truck relief driver. He is married to Sandy, who is a bus driver for the MACCRAY school district, and their children are recent MACCRAY graduates.

I am proud to endorse Koenen for senate. He's a plain-spoken, honest, down to earth guy with rural Minnesota's best interests at heart. He knows what it's like to get dirt under his fingernails, what it means to work a long, hard day doing labor that adds aches and pains in one's body all while trying to operate a business and provide a good lifestyle for your family. He is cut from the same cloth as my late father was, always willing to give the shirt off your own back to your neighbor in need without complaint.

His opponent is Senator Joe Gimse of Willmar.

Election day

Go vote!