August 8, 2017
Finding a path to a positive, productive future can be challenging for any young person but especially for youth facing adverse family situations. Effective mentoring programs, however, can help children overcome obstacles by enabling youth to gain confidence, to avoid negative behaviors, to improve in school, and to plan for the future.
July 30, 2017
As the 2017-2018 school year approaches, many high-school seniors are far along in planning for their education beyond graduation while others are in the early stages. The student’s goal should be to develop a plan to pursue a college education that best matches the student’s personal, educational, and career goals.
July 23, 2017
Who is Pernell McPhee?
June 30, 2017
When I was in seventh grade, I entered my junior high school’s free-throw contest. Entrants shot 25 free throws and then, based on their total made, were seeded for match play competition—best of ten. In both seventh and eighth grades, I won the school championship. In ninth grade, I set the school record by swishing 25 straight shots in qualifying—but I was upset in match play.
June 20, 2017
When I was growing up, few opportunities existed for women in athletics. I wondered which of my female classmates would have excelled in sports. Covering sports for the Minnesota Daily in the late 1960s, we rarely reported on female athletes because women’s teams did not exist.
June 4, 2017
To ensure a happy life, it is important to have a few good friends—and a good lawyer. I have been fortunate to have both in Marshall H. Tanick for about 50 years. In May, Tanick turned 70, an elite age he shares with President Trump and Governor Dayton.
May 23, 2017
When a college decides to close, the decision significantly affects the students, faculty, staff, and the communities it serves. At the end of December 2016, after several years of expanding, the Minnesota School of Business/Globe University discontinued most of its operation. The two for-profit schools are part of a family business owned and operated by Terry and Kathryn Myhre. The Myhre family bought Globe (founded in 1885) in 1972 and the Minnesota School of Business (founded in 1877) in 1988. For this blog post, the schools will be referred to as one entity—MSB/Globe.
May 18, 2017
Before my oldest daughter enrolled in the University of Southern California (USC) in fall 2001, I had three perceptions about the institution. I believed that the university had a great football team, that it was located in a rough area of Los Angeles and thus not safe, and that it enrolled primarily rich kids, thus earning the acronym University of Spoiled Children. One perception was accurate, but two were not.
May 7, 2017
With the arrival of spring, people are emerging from their domiciles and winter hibernation to enjoy the pleasant weather, biking or walking, often accompanied by their dog—or dogs. I am seeing more people with not only one but often two or three dogs. The number of dogs licensed by the city of Vadnais Heights has decreased the past eight years; however, I swear that the pet population is surging despite dog demographic data from the city indicating otherwise.
April 5, 2017
As the high school version of March Madness ended last weekend with the state basketball tournament, I came across a dusty scrapbook chronicling the Duluth East High School l965-66 season—51 years ago, more than a half century. Newspaper clippings were falling out, and I had to re-tape them in order to reconstruct that memorable experience.