Reader Viewpoint
Posted 3/13/03

Young musicians

were tremendous

To the Editor:

Thank you to everyone who made the Festival of Young Musicians a great success at Milaca Elementary! On Saturday, March 8, we had 80 students participate from St. Cloud, Milaca, Mora, Princeton, Pequot Lakes and Ogilvie, and comments have been extremely positive.

My thanks to the Milaca PTA who donated cookies and juice for the participants. Thank you to Belinda Ash and Cathy McIntyre for coming to help serve the snack.

I am proud of the Milaca students who participated. They were well-behaved, respectful of the clinicians with whom they worked, and mixed well with students from other schools. The students were kept very busy with a choral session, a movement session, and an Orff Instrument lesson, culminating in a concert at the end of the day. The sound was tremendous! Bravissimo!

Sherry Lawson

Festival Coordinator

Legislator sorry

for survey error

To the Editor:

I would like to apologize for an error made in my 2003 constituent survey and make the necessary correction. As it was printed, Question #2 stated: "Since its beginnings in the 1980's, Minnesota's ethanol program has paid $3 billion annually to state ethanol plants." Instead of $3 billion, the amount should have been $3 million annually.

I checked with House research to find out where the error occurred and it is with them, but I should have caught it. Surveys were printed in the Town and Country Shopper, the Benton County News, the Mille Lacs Messenger and the Morrison County Record.

Regardless of the error, I want to thank everyone who is completing my survey. I truly appreciate your interest. Several hundred surveys are coming in every day, and I will be sure to let you know the results when all the answers are tabulated.

Once again, I apologize for any confusion caused by this error. If you have any other questions about my survey, or any other issue, please contact me anytime at 407 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155; by phone toll-free at 1-800-709-0578; or by e-mail at rep.sondra.erickson@house.mn

Sondra Erickson

State Representative

Kidsíparents should

take responsibility

To the Editor:

Just one question pertaining to proper dress for school. Parents, where are you?

The teachers and school are there to educate your child, not to formulate, administer and enforce rules of dressing decently. Let the schools get on with what they do best - educate!

Marjorie Schmidt

Sauk Rapids

ëRacinoí bill would

cost this area jobs

To the Editor:

Has everyone heard that our state representative, Sondra Erickson, is co-sponsoring legislation again this year that would harm the largest employer in her district? As an employee of this companyñGrand Casino Mille LacsñI just canít understand that.

Representative Erickson is co-sponsoring the "racino" bill that would put a privately-owned, state-sanctioned casino at Canterbury Park in the Twin Cities. This racino would supposedly help the stateís budget shortfall and create nearly 1,400 new jobs in the metropolitan area. But as I see this bill, it would just shift jobs and money to an area of the state that doesnít need them the way we do here in rural Minnesota. This bill would jeopardize the jobs of nearly 1,250 people in our area.

This racino bill is just the latest threat that Representative Erickson has made against the people of her own district. Last year she sponsored a bill that would authorize a casino in every Minnesota county. If every county had a casino, who would drive to Grand Casino Mille Lacs or any other casino that wasnít in their own backyard? Many of the good people of Representative Ericksonís district would face layoffs and other kinds of money problems that would affect the economy in our communities.

Does Representative Erickson really have that little regard for the people she represents? If sheís trying to send her constituents a message, letís all remember it for her next election bid. Meanwhile, letís hope that she doesnít cause irreversible damage in her current term.

Lana Oswaldson

Vice President of Human Resources

Grand Casino Mille Lacs