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As former Council Members of Arden Hills, we are excited when opportunities appear for the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP). TCAAP was essential in the Allies' victory in World War II where 25,000 people worked making ammunition. However, during urgent wartime uses, the property was contaminated. Under Ramsey County's leadership TCAAP has been purchased and cleaned. Since 2016, the 427-acre site has been shovel-ready for mixed-use development — housing, retail, office, and parks and trails — ready to again become a Twin Cities asset.

As long-term residents of Arden Hills, we are comfortable with TCAAP development. There will always be pros and cons with any large development; no one can control all the variables or outcomes. The development process will evolve over decades, subject to internal and external challenges. The current economic, population and climate pressures will lead to sustainable development models no longer beholden to the status quo. Yet, we are confident that development will generate greater benefits than unseen costs. However, it is clear that there will be no progress until new steps are taken.

In November, the citizens of Arden Hills reshaped the city's leadership by electing three new council members committed to moving TCAAP forward. It has been too easy for the current longtime city leaders to use fear of risk as an excuse to delay or deny action, without recognizing that inaction has costs.

Ramsey County also elected new commissioners. Now it would be in the best interest of the city of Arden Hills and Ramsey County to schedule a joint work session early in 2023 to re-establish a collaborative relationship and explore new possibilities. It is our obligation to act now.

This letter was signed by Stan Harpstead, former mayor of Arden Hills, and Gregg Larson, former Arden Hills City Council member.

A month ago, my friend, an outstanding professor at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn., had his office vandalized in the middle of the day. Hate speech was painted in pink on the door of this Jewish, GLBTQ straight ally, and explicit images, taken from a gay German porn magazine, were taped to his door. A few days later, it happened again. The captions were in German; the message seemed clear.

What was spray-painted on his door qualifies as hate speech. Hate speech is abusive or threatening speech that expresses prejudice against a particular group, especially on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation.

This wasn't a childish "boys will be boys" college prank like toilet papering the president's house. It intimidates and makes people feel unwanted and unsafe in their own community. If unaddressed, it encourages more bad actors. This doesn't happen in a vacuum.

It's the kind of harassment gay students hear and put up with everyday. Recently, conservatives have been cynically scapegoating trans people and teachers with false stories to garner votes. "Kitty litter and critical race theory in schools, really?" No, not really.

This blitz wasn't just on a single professor; it was perpetrated on the entire student body, especially the GLBTQ and Jewish communities. It was an attack on civil society. This behavior threatens immigrants, minorities, Muslims and old white gay guys like me. Who's next?

A month has passed and few have even heard about it; it's been dismissed, swept under the rug.

It is our responsibility to make sure everyone knows such intimidation is not acceptable.

Churches especially must now act responsibly. Even those few loud muscle churches who are not accepting of gay people, who claim to "love the sinner but hate the sin," cannot claim to "love the sinner" if they do not speak out when someone is victimized.

I have read many local letters to the editor characterizing GLBTQ folks as sinners or being contrary to God's will and plan for our lives.

Hate speech does not become better or OK when sprinkled with Bible verses.

These attacks break the glass of peace and the cohesion of our civil society, and we all suffer from it.

Such attacks are not a matter of religious beliefs but clearly wrong. To ignore them gives tacit approval and diminishes our goodness.

Minority relations are personal and local. A smile and friendly word to our minority community neighbors means a lot.

Talk to each other, your students, your kids. Talk to local teachers, pastors, neighbors and newspapers. Please, speak out and do your part for a greater Minnesota.

Bruce Meyer, Florence, Minn.

Can anyone keep the farm lobby in check?

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Minnesota farmers total 1.9% of the population, but the agricultural sector wields grossly outsized influence. Now the Environmental Protection Agency and Minnesota representatives are backing updates to the Renewable Fuel Standard, proposing updates to the percentage of ethanol used in gasoline blends ("Biofuels would get a boost from EPA rule," Dec. 3).

The vast expanses of corn monoculture used to make ethanol drive habitat loss, soil and water pollution and erosion — all with a highly debatable positive impact on emissions reductions. Furthermore, this policy does not help farmers look to the future. With the rapid update of electric vehicles, does anyone really think that doubling down on ethanol is a smart bet?

What if policymakers and the state and federal agencies charged with environmental protection actually used their powers to protect the environment by rewarding farmers to plant diverse food crops, use cover cropping to protect soil and water and employ precision agriculture to reduce chemical inputs?

That would be a breath of fresh air.

Bonnie Fox, Afton

I took my son to "Les Miserables" last night. We found our seats, and I explained how he would need to silent and put away his phone. Suddenly, I felt liquid pouring down my back. I turned around to see it was a man shuffling to his seat with a full cup of red wine. I told my son it was a good thing I was wearing black and the seat was red. Theaters in New York have resorted to giving adults sippy cups so they don't spill.

As the show started, whole rows of people came in late and created so much commotion that I could not see the performance of "I Dreamed a Dream." It's a song I waited my whole life to see. The mom and daughter next to us also came in late. They sat down mid-song and immediately opened their phones, texting and scrolling with one hand and loudly rustling their mixed nut bags with the other. I asked them to please put away their phones. They scoffed and only dimmed them. They texted, scrolled and talked through solos, and main characters "dying" on stage. They got up mid-song and left. I was hoping they would not come back. They returned mid-song again with more snacks and promptly returned to their phones.

In all, I asked them three times to please put away their distracting phones to no avail. How do we appreciate the arts when those around us will not disconnect or display basic manners?

Kristine Larson, Maple Grove

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My wife and I attended a wonderful performance of Handel's "Messiah" at the Ames Center in Burnsville on Dec. 4. Wonderful orchestra, soloists, chorus and venue. All wonderful except our ticketing experience, thanks to the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, aka Ticketmaster. Our senior tickets at $20 each cost over $31 thanks to Ticketmaster fees, which were 56% of the ticket price. Unless the Ames Center and performers got the lion's share of this, it was a total scam. But I guess it's what monopolies do.

Joe Kalaidis, Eagan