EDITORIAL: Mav Machine does MSU proud in Italy
Dec. 31—Thumbs up to the Minnesota State University Maverick Machine marching band for being selected to perform in the New Year's Eve Frascati Festival in Italy and another New Year's Day parade in Rome, one of the biggest parades in the world.
The band received an invitation in 2019 from the mayor of Rome. The appearance was scheduled for last year but was delayed due to the pandemic.
The Frascati Festival and New Year's Day parade in Rome have become increasingly popular events to celebrate the new year.
Many in the Mankato region have become familiar with the Maverick Machine. whether it be at the homecoming parade, Kiwanis Holiday Lights parade, or hockey and football games.
The group will represent Mankato and Minnesota well at the celebration. Band director Michael Thursby said he also wants to make sure students experience the area that is rich in culture and history.
Electric mail trucks
Thumbs up to the U.S. Postal Service's announcement that it will buy tens of thousands of electric delivery vehicles in the coming years.
The move is a boost to President Joe Biden's pledge to eliminate gas-powered vehicles from the federal fleet, which is the largest vehicle fleet in the world.
The Postal Service will buy 66,000 electric vehicles in the coming years and plans to purchase zero-emission delivery trucks exclusively by 2026. The nearly $10 billion plan is a big shift from the previous announcement that only a relatively small number of electric vehicles would be purchased.
The spending includes funding already approved by Congress to fight climate change.
EVs are ideal for mail delivery vehicles, which run defined, local routes with low daily mileage.
The decision is a big step to move past gas-powered vehicles.
Flight failure
Thumbs down to Southwest Airlines, which canceled more than 13,000 flights since Dec. 22 because its outdated technology was unable to keep up with rescheduling that was necessary because of a winter storm.
An estimated more than 1 million passengers have been affected by the airlines' meltdown.
Of course other airlines had to reschedule flights because of the weather, which every traveler should expect, but the other airlines were able to deal much more efficiently with rescheduling, as well as communicating to its customers. Southwest accounted for more than 95% of all canceled flights in the United States on Thursday.
A month ago the Dallas-based airlines' CEO admitted the company's growth had exceeded the tools they had. Which is why all of those holiday passengers should not have been booked on flights using a system that couldn't pivot when bad weather struck. As a result of outdated systems, the airlines was unable to get pilots and flight attendants in position when there was a disruption to the operation.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and some members of Congress are demanding Southwest pay stranded travelers for hotel rooms, meals and replacement flights they booked on other airlines. That would be a welcome gesture. Even better would be if steps were taken immediately by Southwest so that this doesn't happen again.
The immortal legend of Pelé
Thumbs up to the life and legacy of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the Brazilian known to billions around the planet only as Pelé — an athlete who transformed soccer and remains a figure of romantic legend long after his playing days were over.
Pelé died Thursday at age 82, just weeks after the World Cup — the soccer world tournament that made him a global superstar in 1958 when he scored a pair of goals in the championship game at age 17. Brazil's first modern Black national hero, he became a global figure so revered that a civil war in Nigeria was once halted so that he could play an exhibition game there. His end-of-career stint with the New York Cosmos in the mid-1970s helped soccer gain a foothold in the United States.
It has been almost a half-century since Pele played, but the joyous image remains and the inspirational legend endures even with his passing.
