EDITORIAL: Cops and Bobbers great event for kids

Jul. 2—Thumbs up to the Cops and Bobbers program in Mankato that gets area kids out fishing with adult mentors.

Sponsored by the Mankato Department of Public Safety, the outings are a perfect summer activity that keep kids connected in a slow-paced, quiet way. Every Wednesday morning through mid-August, Mankato area elementary, middle and high school students go fishing with police officers. Area school counselors and service providers select kids who they think would benefit from the outings.

Growing up is hard, especially in the last few years with school, activities and relationships hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kids often feel like little fish in a big pond when they don't have the connections they need growing up.

This program is offering another way for them to become part of something, whether they end up fishing on their own in the future or not.

Donations to support the annual program make it clear that the community thinks this is an activity that should continue. All the fish the kids reeled in might not have been keepers, but the program certainly is.

Mankato's financial interest

Thumbs up to the successful sale by the city of Mankato this week of more than $15 million in general obligation bonds.

The sale does mark the first time since the Great Recession that Mankato will pay more than 3% interest on those bonds, which was to be expected with the Federal Reserve pushing rates higher to combat inflation. But the combined rate on the two sales — 3.22% — was still lower than anticipated.

Mankato has maintained its AA credit rating, the third highest for municipalities. College towns find their rating depressed because a goodly share of their populations are low-income students.

But the City Council was told Monday by Doug Green, a certified municipal adviser with Baker Tilly, that the things they can control — such as municipal fund balances, long-range budgeting and overall management — are in good shape.

The money raised by the sales will pay for projects to come (such as repairs to the civic center roof) and already completed (such as the reconstruction of Warren Street). That's all part of keeping Mankato thriving.

Cut Russia's money flow

Thumbs up to the G7 leaders for promoting a global price cap on Russian oil and gas to make it more difficult for the Kremlin to wage its aggression against Ukraine's citizens and military.

The Group of Seven nations met this week with Moscow's genocide against Ukraine a top issue.

The leaders hit the right note by pledging to give ongoing "financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support" to Ukraine.

Beyond pledging more military and humanitarian support, G7 leaders are pushing a global cap on Russian oil and gas to cut the Kremlin's money flow.

It's the right move but will require the support of other countries that rely on energy imports from Russia. That will mean the world's wealthy nations will need to provide the economic and energy assistance those countries need.

Cleaning up runoff

Thumbs up to those in Le Sueur County who worked together to get $408,000 to fund an innovative program to slow down farm runoff and thereby limit pollution into Lake Washington.

Le Sueur County received the grant from the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources program to create water storage in areas to slow water runoff. The 150 acre project is designed to slow runoff and thereby filter nutrients and pollution going into Lake Washington.

The water storage strategy is expected to stop the green/blue algae blooms from happening for two weeks during the summer.

The innovative system is becoming more and more popular and successful for runoff programs, and the state has pushed to fund more of these projects. The Minnesota River Congress, a group of river stakeholders including farmers, has been pushing for this kind of project funding.

Had the Legislature completed its major tax relief and spending bill, there likely would have been more funding for these projects.

But the Le Sueur County effort is a good start and will be a good demonstration project to show how we can successfully slow runoff pollution into lakes and rivers.