News: Release: Immediate and
Repeat Please 8-28-08

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR YOUR ATTENDANCE AS MEDIA AT THE LWV
General Election CANDIDATES FORUMS  DUE TO YOUR EFFORTS WE HAVE HAD 50 PERSONS
IN ATTENDANCE FOR THE PREVIOUS FORUMS!              We thank you all for the
coverage of
the three primary forums and look forward to your attendance for the September
and October Forums 2008.    You may use
any information below for promoting the event.

Thank you in advance.  Add vote.lwvmn.org

Contacts: Lynn Theurer, LWV
Winona Unit (454-1680)
                  Sue Roehrich LWV Winona Unit  (474-0715)

 LWV AND
CO-SPONSORS ANNOUNCE DATES FOR GENERAL ELECTION VOTER SERVICES FORUMS SEPTEMBER
& OCTOBER 2008


The
League of Women Voters, Winona Unit and co-sponsors have finalized General
election candidate forums in September & October 2008. Candidates on the
General election ballot have all confirmed their attendance. Those candidates
in primary races have confirmed their attendance if elected for the general
election ballot.   The forum dates are:
	* September 22 Minnesota Legislative Candidates for House District 31A and 28B
	* September 24  County Board Candidates, Districts 3 & 4, and Soil and Water
Conservation District 4.
	* October 8  Winona Area Public Schools Candidates District 3 & 4 & 5
	* October 15  Winona City Mayor, Council at-large Candidates  Note Ward 1 and
Ward 3 are running unopposed, and due to LWV ground rules, are not seated at
the forum.  If any announced write-in candidate occurs, the LWV will attempt to
add such contests.

Written
questions to the candidates are generated from the audience in attendance.
All forums begin at 7:00 PM in the Council
Chambers of the Winona City Hall, 4th and Lafayette Streets in
Winona.    The forums will be broadcast
liveon the government access cable TV
Channels for Charter and HBCI.   Radio
and newspaper media are also invited.   During the televised forum, a telephone
line
to call in questions will be available.  The phone umber will be noted during
the event.

The
League of Women Voters, Winona Unit, the American Association of University
Women, Winona Area PTA Council, and Winona On-line Democracy encourage all
voters to go and vote on the Primary Election Day, Tuesday September 9th,
2008.  The General Election Day
is Tuesday November 4, 2008.  Absentee ballots and or voter registration
information is available from
the Winona County Auditors Office, Winona County Government Center, and First
Floor, at 177 Main Street, Winona, MN.  The League of Women Voter also provided
information for Voters on
Congressional Candidate Forums and other election information at the website:
vote.lwvmn.org  We encourage you to
exercise your privilege to vote for your representation in our democracy.

>-----Original Message-----
>From: John Slade [mailto:<email obscured>]
>Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 3:21 PM
>To: Winona Online Democracy
>Subject: Re: [Winona] Losing jobs

>(And if someone (hi Dad) starts talking about the
>'inflexibility of European businesses hamstringing them' I
>would look at the relative strength of the Dollar and the Euro._

I suggest that relative unemployment rates also be evaluated.  European
unemployment runs much higher than ours.

In addition, a business which is not maximizing its profits is also not
doing its employees any long term favors.  Layoffs can serve to protect the
jobs of those who remain.

Nothing good happens without profits.


Glen Schumann
Winona, MN

<email obscured>
Phone: 507.454.3056
FAX: 507.454.3056

Even if I didn't know about TRW/Lake Center, I'd be shocked at the
economic irrelevance of John Slade's comments.

The customers to which TRW refer are choosing suppliers to make
components for autos they sell in a broad market with international
competitors to both the auto companies and the suppliers.  Without
orders, the manufacturer is useless.  An international manufacturer
has plants with various characteristics....  TRW is in effect saying
they cannot get orders that will pay them enough to make certain items
in Winona (Rushford....).  If this be true, there isn't much a
responsible corporation can do about it.  TRW no doubt is seeking to
develop products they can afford to make here.

Tim Slade

Companies in Europe have had to prove that they cannot operate profitably
before they do these kinds of layoffs.

Here we have this free-market fundamentalism that says we must always allow the
dollar to do what it will. When the TRW executive said that the layoffs were
'because the customer demands lower prices' I think 'because the owners demand
higher profits' is just as likely.

Citizens pay for the roads they run on, the police that protect them, the
government stabilizes the currency they use and these corporations exist in a
legal framework created by and for we the people. I fail to see how requiring
they contribute to the communities that have supported them is somehow out of
bounds.

(And if someone (hi Dad) starts talking about the 'inflexibility of European
businesses hamstringing them' I would look at the relative strength of the
Dollar and the Euro._

Linda and I'm afraid many others don't get it.  We, not the companies, are
the bad guys and gals.  Why because we continue to buy foreign goods
sometimes because they are better but most times because they are cheaper.
Every time we do we do so at the cost of an American worker somewhere in the
U.S..  If you really want a picture of what is yet to come take a tour of
Michigan either by reading or going there.  If the tour doesn't scare you
then settle back and accept the fact that your next and maybe only job offer
is to be a greeter at a retail store.   If you think tourism, theater or
downtown retail will save the day we better think again. Those low paying
jobs reinforce the trend not change it. I bet my dollars on "Uptown" Winona
because that is where the action is and the private money is investing.

Paul Double

Another article in today's Daily News states that TRW is "probably" going
to lay off more workers as the jobs get passed to Mexico.
 What is the answer?  I honestly don't know.
When companys can make a product for much less in a foreign country is it
morally right to do so?
 I am chosing TRW as an example; there are many more plants over the US that
have done the same thing.
 The people that once worked at TRW will find it very hard to find another
job in Winona with the same pay and benefits.
 Will they  move to LaCrosse or Rochester?  I think the chances are very
good they will move because they need the income they had in order to make
house payments, car payments, etc.
  I find it very sad that many companies think of their employees as nothing
but a number. They would not have a company if it were not for their
employees.
   The savings that companies have when they move to cheaper labor is not
passed on to the consumer.
 Perhaps when companies move to another country to make their parts, etc
those parts should have a huge tariff on them when the company wants to get
them back to the US.
  I don't have the answers and I feel bad for the families and lives that
are effected by this trend in US manufacturing.

Linda Fort
rural Winona

Events like these make great opportunities to circulate a clipboard with the
sign-up sheet available with this message.

Steven Clift
E-Democracy.Org

P.S. All we need is a spreadsheet with the data entered (and checked for
mistakes like missing .com or .com instead or .edu or whatever) and we can bulk
add folks.

Thanks to Lynn Theurer from the LWV:
****************

Letter to the Editor:
Immediate Release  8-8-08

 Please Print in
next available newspaper.

Thank you in advance.

Contacts: Lynn Theurer, LWV
Winona Unit (454-1680)
                  Sue Roehrich LWV Winona Unit  (474-0715)

 Dear Editor,

The
League of Women Voters, Winona Unit is co-sponsoring a candidate forums for
local elections in Winona County for the City of Winona, County of Winona,
Winona Area Public Schools and the Minnesota House Legislature District 31A and
28B. Our co-sponsoring organizations at this time are the American Association
of University Women (AAUW), Winona On-line Democracy and the Winona Area
PTA.   The public is invited to provide
the questions for the primary and general election candidates by attending the
event in person.

All
forums are 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM in the Council Chambers of the Winona City Hall,
4th and Lafayette Streets in Winona.    The forum will be broadcast liveon the
government access cable TV Channels for Charter and HBCI.   Radio and newspaper
media are also
invited.   During the televised forum, a telephone line to call in questions
will be
available.  The phone umber will be
noted during the event.
The
Primary election forums are planned on:
	* Tuesday August 12, 2008 for the Winona County Board District 3
	* Thursday August 14, 2008 Winona Area Public School Board Candidates District
4
	* Wednesday August 20, 2008 City of Winona Mayoral Candidates,

General
election candidate forums are planned on:
	* Wednesday September 24, 2008 Winona County Board District 3 & 4
	* Monday September 29, Legislative House Candidates District 31A & 28B
	* Wednesday October 8. 2008 the add Winona Area Public School Board Candidates
Districts 3,4 & 5
	* Wednesday October 15, City of Winona Council at Large and Mayor

The
League of Women Voters, Winona Unit, the American Association of University
Women, Winona Area PTA Council, and Winona On-line Democracy encourage all
voters to go and vote on the Primary Election Day, Tuesday September 9th,
2008.  The General Election Day
is Tuesday November 4, 2008.  Absentee ballots and or voter registration
information is available from
the Winona County Auditors Office, Winona County Government Center, and First
Floor, at 177 Main Street, Winona, MN.

We again invite the public to participate in our democracy
at the local levels of governance.  Your
voice and your vote can make a difference.

On Behalf of the MN LWV Winona Unit,
Lynn Theurer and Sue Roehrich

Terry,

I understood Joliene to be referring to those who complained
about the college students voting in the last referendum
election.

I guess I must agree with her. After all, the college students
didn't "win" the election (voting in favor of the referendum).
Rather the rest of the people in the community (if they did in
fact oppose the referendum) "lost" the election. Look at the
dismal percentage of people who voted.

Actually, I believe that if the percentage of community voters
had been higher, the referendum would have passed with a greater
gap between "yea" and "neigh." I believe that the people who
were more likely to vote were those who voted "neigh." I also
believe those who were vocal and critical of the college student
vote were the same people who complain the most about the public
school system in general here in Winona.

All of this misses the point, however, since the project
proposed by Ruth Charles and her associate have to do with
assigning students as election judges. Student voting is quite
another topic.

-Leslie Hittner

Joliene, perhaps you could expand a little more on:  "The other reality is
that the people who complain are those that are not pleased by anything
related to the public schools and that is very sad. "

Terry Angst

Just a piece of clarification-
    This project has nothing to do with college students voting.  This
project has to do with college students assisting every person who comes to
a polling place to vote.
    The goal of this project is to encourage young voters to be engaged as
public servants.  Nationally, the average age of an election judge is 72
years. We need to encourage these young people to participate or in the
future we could be in trouble.
    This project came out of my personal experience as an election judge in
Winona.  Minnesota's election system is excellent and I wanted to encourage
students to learn from one of the best systems around.  --Ruth Charles


> From: Joliene Olson <<email obscured>>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:00:06 +1200 (NZST)
> To: Winona Online Democracy <<email obscured>>
> Subject: Re: [Winona] encourage young people to get involved
>
> I am totally in agreement with getting our students involved.  Whether they
be

I am totally in agreement with getting our students involved.  Whether they be
high school, university or technical college, they should be invited and
encouraged to participate.

Craig's comment about some people not being in favor with the students
envolvement because of referendum ballots in the past struck a bell with me.  I
know the following statement won't be popular with a few people but the reality
is that even with student vote the school district LOST more referendums than
were ever passed.

The other reality is that the people who complain are those that are not
pleased by anything related to the public schools and that is very sad.  They
are locked into the past so deeply they can't see over the edge into the
future.

Without an educated populace we would be like a lot of 3rd world countries with
such high unemployment that they don't have anything to do but rile against the
world at large.

Joliene Olson

On a personal note (and one which will age me), I turned 18 and was a senior in
high school about the same time 18 year olds got the vote.  A close friend's
father was a precinct committeeman (this was in Indiana) and thought it would
be a terrific idea for a newly qualified 18 year old  to serve as an election
official in the upcoming primary elections.  He felt it would be improper to
nominate his daughter, so he asked me if I would be willing to serve as an
election sherrif (one of the official offices for elections in Indiana, at
least at that time).  It meant I got an officially sanctioned day off of
school, which is why I agreed to do it.  As it turns out, it was very
educational:  the other election officials treated me as a full fledged adult
for the very first time! I got paid the princely sum of $15.00--very nice bucks
for a high school kid who made less than $1.00/hr babysitting, and I got my
picture in the local paper--which greatly embarrassed me, but made my
grandmotherr proud.

More importantly, I got a chance to become involved in the political process.
My family was not political, so this was a step outside of the box for me.  I
have never forgotten the experience and believe that serving in this capacity
helped develop a life long feeling of ownership in the political process.

I am all for opportunities for young adults to become part of the political
process.  Gene Pelowski's mock legislature is a wonderful opportunity for
students to learn how the process works.

Terri Hyle

Nolan's Blog on the Daily News
http://rivervalleyblogs.com/articles/2008/07/26/nolan/9982.txt
talks about the current efforts toget students involved in being election
judges andother ways to promote more involvement of young people in our
democratic process.
I know many are sensitive about this since the school referendum vote. But, I
think it is good to encourage involvement and supportefforts like this and the
Mock Legislature Gene Pelowski does every year.
Craig Brooks

A couple of days ago, the Minneapolis newspaper reported on plans to locate
artistically designed public drinking fountains around that city. They would be
using funds dedicated to public art projects. I’d like to propose that a
drinking fountain could be a nice addition to our Levee Park. It wouldn’t
have to be anything special, maybe just a lever controlled faucet similar to
those at Prairie Island campground. When a consultant is hired to work with our
downtown and riverfront committees, could someone that's on one of those
committees pitch the idea?

Let's just keep that idea to ourselves Joliene.  Just raise the state sales
tax another notch.  We already have that machinery in place.
I don't think the dollar fee will help the tourism industry very much.

Terry Angst

There's an interesting related article in the Daily News about the development
of Arts events/tourism in Winona.

Winona takes center stage, emerging as destination for arts and culture
By Käri Knutson / Winona Daily News

http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2008/07/24/business/00lead.txt

Steve Kranz,
List Manager

I recently drove to Connecticut and also to Atlanta and encountered a bunch of
toll roads.  It was practically continuous toll road once you left Chicago and
headed east.

One toll road going into New York state interested me.  It was simply a dollar
to enter the state on that particular road.  There were no tickets and no exit
payments.  If you went on that road you paid a dollar.

I wonder how it would work to simply put a toll booth at the entrance of each
major road into the state.  If you go through that toll booth you pay a dollar.
Local people included.  Of course we would issue zoom passes at a reduced rate.

Does anyone in the audience know if toll roads have ever been considered in MN
and if so why were they rejected or why they wouldn't be a good idea?  I know
that many of the toll systems in Pennsylvania and Ohio etc are very complex
operations. But a big gate across each major highway entrance to the state
wouldn't need to be that big of a project and would collect a bunch of revenue.
Or, wouldn't it?

Your thoughts
Joliene Olson

I just saw in the paper that the Aquatic Center is being closed to accommodate
500 swimmers and their families.  That is the type of venue we need to continue
to encourage.  Swimming, Soccer, Ice Skating, bike trails, and the list can go
on.  They are all bringing 'people' to our city and they all spend money when
they come.  Way to Go!!

Joliene Olson

Hi,
It's good to see Winona Online risin again from the digital silence. I just
have a small chime-in to contribute to the tourism thread of conversation.

This summer I have been teaching 9th grade English at the Winona ALC, and
Shakespeare is one component of the curriculum, so I decided to include the
Taming of the Shrew. My students were almost entirely kids who dislike the
subject matter, hence their need to make up the credit, and most were vocally
opposed to doing Shakespeare at all. Nevertheless, we read a "graphic novel"
version of the play, were visited by two veteran members of the troupe, and did
several daily writing assignments related to the play. I offered them a
generous amount of extra credit to attend, under the auspices of GRSF's "Chill
with Will" educational outreach program, which includes $10 tickets and a
behind-the-scenes tour. We were also able to offer financial assistance to
those for whom even the $10 ticket was a barrier. Over half the class attended,
and all but one or two genuinely loved it. They laughed, they whispered about
the characters, and they were quickly on their feet and applauding loudly at
the end.

I have three points here. One is giving kudos to GRSF for outreach efforts and
for developing an artistic vision that includes accessibility for "average",
non-Shakespearophile folks. Secondly, if these kids can get into the GRSF
productions, just about anybody else can too, and they might be surprised by
what an enjoyable experience it is. Thirdly, I agree with an earlier comment
that GRSF might want to explore some cheaper ticket pricing options as an entry
level for somewhat skeptical first-time customers.
Scott Lowery