Editorial: Thumbs

Published 7:30 am Sunday, March 16, 2014

 

thumbupTo state leaders.

Considering the warm reception received in St. Paul by a delegate of Albert Lea leaders, it looks like the $7.5 million bonding bill request to fund half of the $15 million cost to dredge Fountain Lake is making good progress. After five years of either getting cut from the bonding bill or having no bonding bill at all, the sixth try seems to be the charm for the Shell Rock River Watershed District. We again urge lawmakers to get behind this project, as this isn’t some lake in the middle of the country. This is a lake crucial to the Albert Lea economy and to its quality of life. Fountain Lake is well-named, for it is a source of joy for many people around the region. We look forward to the inclusion of the request in the final version of the 2014 bonding bill.

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thumbdownTo such wide-ranging sentencing differences.

In 2010, Kenny Dennison of Albert Lea was sentenced in Freeborn County District Court to two years in prison for criminal vehicular homicide. With alcohol in his system, he drove a pickup into a bridge washout despite the presence of “road closed” barricades, killing two passengers. On Thursday, Jason Fredrickson of Elkton was sentenced in Mower County District Court to eight years in prison for criminal vehicular homicide. He had consumed alcohol and driving 120 mph before going into a ditch, snapping a utility pole and then hitting a tree, killing two passengers.

They both did about the same thing but received wide-ranging sentences. The maximum for the crime is 10 years. The difference is Dennison took a plea agreement and Fredrickson went to trial. Dennison was clearly remorseful, while Fredrickson said he couldn’t recall the incident. Either way, lives were lost. So does that mean the guilty get that much of a break — six years — for saving the time and effort of the prosecutors and judges of having to go to trial? We don’t mind sentencing differences for the consideration of circumstances, but that is quite a difference. The justice system doesn’t appear just on this one. We feel for the families of the victims.

 

thumbupTo the five-second rule.

Aston University in the United Kingdom conducted a study that found the longer food was allowed to be on floor — whether carpet, tile or laminate — the more bacteria is garnered. Carpet transferred the least amount of bacteria, while laminate and tile had more. Of course, the wetter the food, the more likely it was to pick up bacteria. This is good news for people who follow the five-second rule, that it is OK to eat dropped food as along as it was on the floor for less than five second. The study shows the five-second rules isn’t some myth.

We read about the study on Forbes magazine’s website. It said the team of researchers at Aston University found 87 percent of people consume foods dropped on floors, and 81 percent follow the five-second rule, not wanting to waste food. The team also noted that any dropped food carries an infection risk.