Are you ready for some snow?

It’s always nice to get a good dose of snow on the weekend – if you don’t have to work! I’ve heard early estimates that four to eight inches of the white stuff is headed our way Saturday afternoon. Will we really get it? I’m not going to get too excited yet, although my young boys are ecstatic about the idea. My mom is coming to town for the weekend and she can’t wait either. She lives in Arizona and says she is sick of the heat! We’ll be Christmas shopping at the Mall of America Saturday, but I’ll be keeping an eye on the weather to make sure I don’t have to drive in the slippery stuff!

What constitutes a dangerous dog?

There has been some discussion in Lester Prairie about what constitutes a dangerous dog. Last summer, a rottweiler named Lexy was classified as potentially dangerous after residents reported being frightened by Lexy as they walked down a public street. Police talked to Lexy’s owner about steps he could take to avoid having her classified as a dangerous dog. The owner did not heed this advice, and police recieved additional reports about people being frightened by Lexy. As a result, she was classified as dangerous. The owner appealed, and the city council upheld the decision.

Some people say the city over-reacted, and the dog should not be classified as dangerous because she has not physically attacked anyone. Others say the city did what it had to do to abide by the law, and to protect city residents.

What do you think?

Hometown girl to sing at the Blue Note

Lauren Eggert, daughter of Fran and Jan Eggert of Winsted and a Holy Trinity 2003 graduate, is scheduled to perform this Saturday, Dec. 1 at the Blue Note in Winsted. She will be singing with the five member band called the Dixie Hicks. Lauren loves country western music and recalls sitting in the rain at Winstock when she was just 8 years old watching the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Stop out and see her Saturday. They will be performing between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. It promises to be a good show and Lauren will love to see you there!

Hot stove heating up

With the temperature dropping outside, the baseball hot stove is heating up in both the Crow River Valley and North Star Leagues.

Starting off in the North Star League, it was expected that Hamel and Big Lake would join the league in 2008 – Hamel moving into the Central Division (all Class B teams), while Big Lake would be in one of the Class C divisions.

Well, that all changed when Hamel backed out. In their place, the league has added Elk River. With that, the league has switched up their divisions.

No longer will there be a Class B division and two Class C divisions. Instead, the Class B and Class C teams will be divided out equally into three seperate divisions.

Those divisions shape up like this:
North Star East: Loretto, Maple Plain, Mound, Rockford, Delano, and Hutchinson.
North Star West: Buffalo, Howard Lake, Kingston, Monticello, Dassel-Cokato, and Maple Lake.
North Star North: Big Lake, Elk River, Rogers, Albertville, and St. Michael.

The other big news in baseball has the Crow River adding two new teams. This will be the first time the league has changed in well over a decade.

The two new teams will be Brownton and Carver. Both were formally in the Carver Central League. They both will be in the South Division of the league.

Yep, much going on and it’s almost December already. Look for information to come as I find out about it.

Wright County 4-H is thriving

The Wright County Board heard a report from Katie Zintek of the U of M Extension Service this morning indicating that the 4-H program in Wright County is going strong.
Zirtek said Wright County 4-H enrollment reached 531 members in the 2006-2007 program year, an increase of 5 percent over the previous year. Zirtek said both the total membership and the number of new members have grown over the past three years, and she attributes this to factors including state support, the level of volunteer committment, and the variety of programs offered in the 22 4-H clubs throughout the county. Board Chair Jack Russek said he was impressed by the growth of the program, particularly in view of competition from youth sports, which can require a significant committment of time by participants.

The Great Pumpkin Caper

The Des Moines Register reported that the Iowa Department of Revenue has hit upon a new way to squeeze money out of taxpayers.

Apparently, these dedicated public servants discovered that some people are buying pumpkins not to eat, but to use as decorations.

This shocking revelation set them to thinking. Pumpkins, as a food item, were not subject to state sales tax. On the other hand, if they are used as a decoration, rather than as an edible squash, they must be taxable. The department adopted a new policy and began taxing pumpkins if they are advertised for use as jack-o’-lanterns or decorations.

If an Iowan wishes to eat a pumkin, as in a pumpkin pie or other seasonal treat, he can avoid paying sales tax – if he fills out an Iowa Sales Tax Exemption Certificate form. Pumpkins purchased with food stamps are also exempt from the tax.

I have not checked Minnesota tax law pertaining to this issue, but this state never misses an opportunity to raise a tax, so if Minnesota is not already taxing pumpkin sales, the Minnesota Department of Revenue will not doubt leap on the bandwagon as soon as it gets wind of the Iowa decision.

There are millions of people in this country who pay no tax at all. There are loopholes in the tax code big enough to drive a bus through which allow corporations to avoid certain taxes. But, apparently, at least in Iowa, tax officials have nothing better to do than burden growers and retailers by forcing them to detemine if consumers plan to eat a pumpkin or carve a face on it and set it on their porch.

There has been no report indicating whether or not pumpkin owners will be eligible for a tax refund when vandals steal their pumpkins and smash them in the street.

The folks in Boston had a party to protest tariffs on tea. Maybe the good people of Des Moines will be staging a pumpkin party some day soon.

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