Congress
Showing respect
I lost all respect for the U.S. Senate a long time ago, after the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991.
My view was again confirmed with the stupid accusation by Sen. Jay Rockefeller about fellow Sen. John McCain and the disrespectful attitude of some senators during the General [David] Petraeus testimony. All three victims responded with respectful comments, which is the only good way to handle disrespect. How can we respect senators who do not respect each other? Shouldn’t we expect senators to be principled statesmen rather than power-driven politicians.
But there is hope! I respect both of our senators, Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar, who seem to have respect for each other, and others, even though they are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. They work for the benefit of all Minnesotans. Their joint efforts in the $250,000,000 federal funding to rebuild the 35W Bridge and the Guatemalan adoption crisis are good examples of teamwork to get the job done.
Respect is being civil and courteous to one another even if they are of a different gender, race, religion or see things differently than we do. It is something we can all work on and it is good to have two good Minnesota examples.
Robert Lawrenz
Eden Prairie
Legislature
Bonding bill
becomes law
Every other year, the Legislature is charged with the task of passing a bonding bill. Bonding is a form of state borrowing used to build and restore capital projects of statewide importance and economic significance throughout Minnesota.
Gov. Pawlenty signed this year’s bonding bill last week. Almost 70 percent of this year’s bill is dedicated to enhancing infrastructure at Minnesota’s state colleges and universities and economic development efforts across the state.
Much of the rest of the bill is dedicated to our natural resources, clean water initiatives, flood hazard mitigation, water treatment plants and public safety facilities. Several community and civic centers were also funded in this year’s bonding bill.
Each year the bonding bill also provides funding to help complete local projects across Minnesota. Many of these projects rely on fundraising from private and local sources, but request funding from the state to help see the project through. That was the case this year with the Eden Prairie Veterans Memorial.
The Eden Prairie Veterans Memorial Committee did a great deal of work planning and raising private funds for the creation of a regional veterans memorial to be built in our community. Without their hard work, this project would not be possible. State funding was provided in this year’s bonding bill to help supplement the hard work of the committee. Once the project is finished, it will honor the service of our veterans for decades to come.
Please contact me with your questions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Rep. Maria Ruud, DFL-42A
Minnetonka
Editor’s note: Ruud represents Minnetonka and part of Eden Prairie.
Thanks from
Memorial group
I would like to thank Rep. Maria Ruud for all her work on getting the $100,000 for our Veterans Memorial. With her strong leadership in the House she was able to carry the bill through the House conference committee and to the governor, who signed the bill last week. Rep. Ruud has worked two years on this and has been a strong supporter of veterans and veterans’ needs. The Veterans Memorial Committee is sincerely thankful.
I also want to thank Sen. David Hann and Rep. Erik Paulsen for their support of our memorial too. Sen. Hann also wrote a bill for our memorial which passed the Senate this year. Rep. Paulsen was instrumental in getting a donation of $50,000 from Wal-Mart, without that money matching funds from the state would not have been possible.
We anticipate being able to start building this summer. The cost has gone up due to preventative foundational measures to prevent the memorial from sinking. Eden Prairie will truly have a beautiful Veterans Memorial. I would like to thank our representatives, businesses and all the individuals who have donated. We will continue to seek money at all Eden Prairie events this summer for the remaining needs.
Thank you for your continuing support.
John Mallo
Eden Prairie
Editor’s note: Mallo is chairman of the Eden Prairie Veterans Memorial
Flying red horse
Memories of the
Flying Red Horse
You were looking for “memories” associated with the Flying Red Horse/Wye Cafe.
Jesse (who worked at the business for 66 years) and Irene Schwartz – owners for many years – are my parents, so I grew up with “The Horse.”
Memories:
* Seeing the Flying Red Horse sign from our house every night.
* At 10 years old, smoking a cigar at the station with Willi Evert.
* Trying on Bronko Nagurski’s Super Bowl Ring – I could fit three fingers in it.
* Semi truck drivers letting me honk their air horns as they filled up with gas.
* Great hot roast beef sandwiches oozing with gravy made by Tom Madland, the chef and my godfather.
* Annual smelt fries – I ate 28 smelt one year.
* Waiting on the counter/booths – truckers would order ice cream cones just to see us bend way over into the cooler to scoop ice cream.
* My father cleaning Sammy Glen’s car windows so clean that as Sammy drove away he spit chewing tobacco all over the inside of his car thinking his window was open. He drove back to tell “Pop” never to clean his windows again.
* Feeling chunks in the dish water – we used to wash all the dishes by hand. EWWW!
* As cashier, visiting with the Vikings that stopped in – they’re very large individuals ...
* Pop/Mom and Jess/Kath/Katie working hard to please customers and stay involved in Eden Prairie.
* My parents nurturing the Flying Red Horse with a passion and honesty that is rarely seen. I drove past the building yesterday – it looks naked.
Jill Grier
Eden Prairie