#BlackFair and the Minnesota State Fair

from News Day by Mary Turck

I love the Minnesota State Fair. But dang it all — Black Lives Matter is right about structural/institutional racism at the Fair and in the state. So I went to the fair today, and I also plan to go to the #BlackFair march on Saturday. I agree with Julie Blaha, who wrote in a letter to the editor to the Strib:

“I love the State Fair with a passion that borders on obsession … [but] I have no problem with disruption for a good cause.

“If I’m willing to wait half an hour for deep-fried pickles, I can spend a little time on something as important as ending racism. Fairgoers, the least we can do for our neighbors suffering injustice is to put down the mini doughnuts for a bit and listen.”

This is your brain on tax credits

from Minnesota Budget Bites by Ben Horowitz

Minnesota policymakers can push back on one of poverty’s most pernicious impacts on children. New medical research shows that poverty can delay the development of cognitive abilities in children. Meanwhile, new economic research shows that the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) increases families’ income even more effectively than previously thought. The Working Family Tax Credit is Minnesota’s own take on the EITC. You don’t need to be a neurosurgeon to connect the dots — a stronger Working Family Credit won’t just help families economically, it will likely improve the brain development of Minnesota children.

Community Pride: A Vision & Two Gardens, All Because She Cares About Faribault

from Minnesota Prairie Roots by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

WITHIN MY COMMUNITY, there’s a new sense of optimism rising, a positivity that shouts “community pride.”

Rather than whine and complain about what Faribault lacks, locals are taking action. They are finding solutions and digging in to make this city an even better place.

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