Readers Write: America, Gov. Tim Walz, St. Louis River, city taxes, Target’s eggs

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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My wife became a U.S. citizen on Thursday in a ceremony at St. Paul’s beautiful Union Depot.

She was among 364 new Americans from 72 countries. They came from places like Canada, Mexico, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Spain, Somalia, Venezuela, Burkina Faso and Ukraine. They were all people, the very human kind — no aliens or animals that I saw — just people from all over looking for freedom and opportunity. Each of them with their own definition of the terms, and each with their own story of what pushed or pulled them to be in that hall when the judge stood up and asked them to raise their hands and take an oath together, united.

The program began with a video. It was a montage of immigrants from across the years, with recent clips and old images stretching back to the early days of photography. The composition of the faces changed some, sure, but all of these immigrants were looking for the same things, I think. Freedom and opportunity, however defined. I cried, and I wasn’t the only one.

It felt like a hopeful day. And hope and joy sure feel a lot better than fear.

JJ Akin, St. Peter

How does this work, exactly? We elect a governor to oversee all important details of the state of Minnesota. Infrastructure. Crime. Education. Housing. Health. And on and on and on. We employ the governor. We pay him a salary of $149,550. By the way, the median household income in Minnesota is $84,313. For the last three months Gov. Tim Walz has been crisscrossing the United States stumping for Joe Biden. Nonstop. Now Walz is running for vice president on the Kamala Harris ticket. Every day Walz is at rallies and fundraisers all over the country. Gov. Walz: Who is running the state of Minnesota? Remember, the job you were elected and hired to do? It is shameful and remarkable that we allow our elected officials to totally disregard the job they are paid to do — while they spend six months trying out and campaigning to get another job. What other industry would every allow such a thing? The simple answer is none.

Many things in Minnesota are broken and the governor is in charge of fixing them. They are not getting fixed while Walz campaigns around the U.S. while being paid his salary by Minnesota taxpayers. Gov. Walz: If you want to run for VP, resign. Now. That is how a person of real character would do it.

David Arundel, Mound

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I am having a hard time believing that JD Vance would have the nerve to criticize anyone’s military record considering the head of his own ticket, Donald Trump, is a draft dodger. I am originally from the metropolitan New York City area, and the same age as Trump. However, I was drafted in 1968 with a medical history that could have gotten me a medical exemption, while Trump was listed as 4-F because his father found a doctor that diagnosed him with faux bone spurs.

I do not understand why we ignore so many of Trump’s lies while putting his opponents to grammatical tests over their wording.

Jim Weygand, Carver

The best news in some time: “A St. Louis River vision nears reality” (editorial, Aug. 15). People like now-retired Minnesota Pollution Control Agency employee Nelson French, who met with the Star Tribune Editorial Board on this issue in 2013, have great ingenuity, foresight, energy and communication skills. This is how cleanup, mediation, conservation and other ecological brainstorms seem to get down.

It’s election time. Keep in mind that most if not all of the cleanup work has been done with conservation-minded people in leadership, except for four ecologically tumultuous years. Way to go. Generations will thank you for your altruistic endeavor and moving the ball. Thank you!

David Lick, Grand Rapids, Minn.

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Over the past decade, the state and the federal government have spent half a billion dollars cleaning up the St. Louis River superfund site, a cooperation of both Minnesota and Wisconsin state agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency and others. There is a proposal, fortunately stalled, to do copper-nickel mining in the Hoyt Lakes area, which is in the headwaters of the St. Louis River. What history tells us is that copper-nickel mining has the potential to be ecologically disastrous. Moreover, climate change promises weather changes of potentially disastrous proportions, putting at risk traditional methods of dealing with tailings and other mining debris. A mining disaster in the Hoyt Lakes area could potentially impact the entire St. Louis River watershed area and Lake Superior itself.

There is no urgent need for more copper and nickel. History tells us that mining company promises of environmental protection aren’t worth anything, and the metals will grow in value until we can extract them with no environmental danger. It is a good time not to open new copper-nickel mines.

Robert Veitch, Richfield

Thank you to Steve Brandt for his suggestions and recommendations in “Minneapolis ought to diversify its income” (Opinion Exchange, Aug. 13. See also “8% city tax increases? That’s a lot,” editorial, Aug. 16). It’s time some of our local leaders put some serious thought into ways to address our budget gaps aside from again raising property taxes.

I’m sure there are plenty of management-heavy programs, overhead, accepted practices and other sources that can be trimmed or eliminated to save money. Add cost-cutting measures and a modest tax on higher incomes, and this just might help give us a little breathing space as we face our upcoming budget gaps.

And thanks, Steve, for explaining this in a way a regular Minneapolis taxpayer can understand.

Joyce Suek, Minneapolis

In response to “Target won’t hit cage-free egg goal” (Aug. 16) I am deeply troubled by Target abandoning its commitment to phase out the use of battery cages in its supply chain. These cages, which confine egg-laying hens to spaces so small they can barely move, are cruel and cause tremendous suffering. Birds locked in cages are unable to engage in natural behaviors like spreading their wings, nesting or perching. The physical and psychological suffering endured by these animals is appalling. Confining birds in battery cages has also been associated with higher rates of salmonella.

So, it’s alarming that Target will not meet its commitment to only source cage-free eggs by 2025. I urge Target to honor its promise and promote animal welfare and public health by ensuring that all eggs sold in its stores are cage-free.

Consumers are increasingly demanding transparency and ethical practices from the companies they support. Target has the opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to these values and show that it listens to the voices of its customers. I hope that Target will keep its word and support a more humane future for farm animals.

Annie Handford, St. Paul

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Why mince words? Target’s pledge of forcing me to choose more expensive cage-free eggs over less expensive regular eggs by 2025 was just plain stupid.

Jack Kohler, Plymouth