TO THE EDITOR:
Wouldn’t it be nice to know what is happening in Big Lake specifically commercial development? Becker, Monticello and Elk River promote their commercial development regularly...not our city. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the city publicize where our tax dollars are going and new tax revenue developments? Tell us what you are planning for the old high school. Tell us what you have planned for the abandoned buildings on Foley. Tell us about the expansion of LISI Medical. Tell us why we are expanding Minnesota Ave. in the industrial park. Tell us about the new apartment being built at the train station. And please use something other than social media...try good old fashion newspapers.
George Quinn
Big Lake, MN
TO THE EDITOR:
Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) has now begun! But some people are afraid that AVR will register people who are not eligible to vote, such as non-citizens who may have recently received a license through Driver’s Licenses for All. What prevents a non-citizen from being registered to vote with Automatic Voter Registration? Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) in MN recently began to register eligible voters directly when they interact with Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS). But AVR is not really “automatic.” State and county election officials work together with MN DVS and the Social Security Administration to verify citizenship in order to assign voter eligibility. No one will be registered through AVR who doesn’t provide proof of U.S. citizenship at the time of applying for a new or renewed driver’s license, including undocumented immigrants who can now obtain a driver’s license. This process is already in place for more than 100,000 Minnesotans who are residents of our state, but are not U.S. citizens, when they go to obtain a driver’s license. There is also a huge deterrent in place to ensure non-citizens don’t vote. They are subject to both perjury AND deportation if they falsify their identity. Any instance of potential ineligible persons registering to vote, or voting, is referred to the county attorney for investigation and potential prosecution.
Jeorgette Knoll
Big Lake, MN
TO THE EDITOR:
Juneteenth didn’t become a Federal holiday until 2021, so when the editorial (last week) started off by saying, “Every year in the middle of June, I will hear the occasional gripe about yet another federal holiday. . .”, it sounds like she is trying to make one believe that this holiday has been around forever, it hasn’t. In fact, Juneteenth is a pretty sad day to remember being that, it took almost 2-1/2 years for this town in Texas to be notified (9/19/1865) that the slaves had been freed as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation (EP) (The EP was announced on 9/22/1862, to go into effect on 1/1/1863). Why did it take so long to notify this Texas town? Sounds like a failure to me. Anyway why did this event become a National Holiday? The answer is quite simple, the spineless Federal Legislature was afraid to vote against making this date a Federal holiday for fear of being called “racist”. And Juneteenth was NOT the last day of slavery in the U.S. as the EP only applied to the Confederated states. Not until the ratification of the 13th Amend (12/6/1865), was slavery abolished in the US. (Wikipedia)
Bret R. Collier
Big Lake, MN
