http://www.mankato-freepress.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:59:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_286013343.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_286013343.html Poor economic times call for desperate measures. Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:49:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_265005312.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_265005312.html The financial sophistiates who engineered the financial crisis ought to feel some shame. Sun, 20 Apr 2008 01:33:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_111012928.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_111012928.html "Curb creatures," as they are called during the annual North Mankato spring pickup, are actually doing something more people should do — reuse. Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:19:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_020010947.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_020010947.html Potential eyesores abound on this reporter's property as he considers all the ways he may be out of line with North Mankato's ordinance changes. Sun, 13 Jan 2008 01:50:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_013015217.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_013015217.html The newsroom and its reporters also serve as a sort of Town Hall, a place where people feel comfortable calling up or strolling in and saying what’s on their minds — be it thoughtful insights or hallucinogenic babble.Many are amusing, some kinda scary. Sun, 25 Nov 2007 02:07:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_329020651.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_329020651.html Drinking-related deaths, along with alcohol-related crime and other public nuances have become a problem in Mankato. Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:09:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_311231620.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_311231620.html The latest research says young people have become almost completely detached from parks, nature and the outdoors. ... Other studies tell us that when we are indoors we adults are usually doing things wrong. Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:35:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_305213716.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_305213716.html I asked, last week, for people to send in their annoyances about the Mankato area — things that aren’t major problems and can be fixed. Several people e-mailed about one issue — abandoned gas stations in Mankato and North Mankato. Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:48:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_301205039.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_301205039.html I’d like to hear from you on things you see wrong with greater Mankato. ... We want to focus on the smaller, repairable, but still nagging problems that can drive us batty: yards overgrown with weeds, horrible street signs, shrubs blocking intersection views and stop signs, shabby and/or abandoned buildings, hazards, ugliness and other issues that make the area less than it could be. Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:26:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_284192901.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_284192901.html The issue before the council was drinking, more specifically heavy drinking. The council plans a mostly symbolic stand against it by ordering an end to all-you-can-drink specials at local bars. Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:04:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_270000647.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_270000647.html Most every business-success book written in the past couple decades has a chapter on “Thinking Outside the Box.” The catch-phrase surfaced about the time Japanese business leaders began showing up at American corporate headquarters and started measuring corner offices for drapes, seriously alarming the American executives having cocktails in those corner offices.It has become mandatory for all managers to use the term “Think Outside the Box” at least twice at every business meeting. Sun, 23 Sep 2007 01:33:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_266013407.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_266013407.html The Minneapolis City Council is considering an ordinance that would bar any circus from coming to its city if it has animals. Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:26:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_257162902.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_257162902.html Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., annually publishes something it calls “The Mindset List.” It tells of what incoming freshmen remember in their lives and things they have no personal recollection of. It’s intended to help professors relate to the new students. Mon, 03 Sep 2007 01:07:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_246010912.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_246010912.html Throwing back a few brews over the backyard grill was always part of the fall tradition, but bigger than the Superbowl?Maybe it’s workers’ attempts to block out the memory of what they do for a living. A long weekend of contemplating that you spend half your waking life in a cubicle may inevitably lead to the beer cooler. Sun, 26 Aug 2007 00:25:00 +0000 http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_238002950.html http://www.mankato-freepress.com/columnistTKRO/local_story_238002950.html I’m not sure when toy recalls started, but it must have been after I was a kid. Danger and toys seemed pretty much synonymous back then.