Editorial - Newspaper's success hinges on connection with readers, sources

Employees here at the Echo Press were excited about winning 10 awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. It’s always gratifying to have one’s professional work praised by peers and it was satisfying to be honored in several different categories again this year – advertising, graphic design, headline writing, website (first place for the fourth straight year) and the page you’re reading now, the editorial page.

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Column - Long live Dickens for lucky readers

Few words in all of literature are as moving as these from Charles Dickens: "Please, sir, I want some more." That line, of course, is spoken by Oliver Twist, the hungry orphan who, holding up his empty bowl, dares to ask for "seconds" in a vicious workhouse, only to be sarcastically rebuffed by the fat, overfed goons who run the place.

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It's Our Turn: Kill's first full recruiting class offers hope

National Signing Day in athletics serves as an additional holiday for a lot of college football fans. I admit, I fall into that obsessive group that tries to predict the future success of a program based on a bunch of “paper tigers” as Gophers head coach Jerry Kill calls them. The truth is we really won’t know how good these players will be for two or three years, but that’s never stopped a sports fan from looking into his crystal ball.

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• Follow Eric Morken on Twitter @echo_sports

Letter - Do your patriotic duty next Tuesday

Veterans: In light of what is happening in and with the military today, do your patriotic duty and attend the caucus of your choice on Tuesday, February 7.

Letter - Senate confirmations

On Monday, in the Minnesota Senate, we confirmed three Governor Dayton commissioners that are highly qualified for their jobs [for the Department of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources and Department of Public Safety].

Editorial - Don't fall prey to investment scammers

They’re out there – seemingly friendly, encouraging and helpful – wanting to help you invest your money for tantalizing returns. But in some instances, they’re not your friend at all. They’re just out to rip you off. Last week, the Minnesota Department of Commerce continued its efforts to crack down on scams that defraud senior citizens.

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Column - 1912: Fire destroys Hawkinson building in Parkers Prairie

FEBRUARY 1962 The Jaycees named 30-year-old Ralph Tillitt the Outstanding Man of the Year.

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Commentary - Remembrance of country school

We were born during the Depression and became country school children during WWII while attending Riverview School, two miles west of Marshfield, Wisconsin. About the age of 80 years now, we have many memories of those days just the same.

Letter - 3rd Avenue: a tragedy waiting to happen

It seems like nothing is really that important to most people until it hits close to home. Traffic accidents, injuries and even death seem not to affect a person’s emotions unless it is a young or old person or someone known to you. Third Avenue in Alexandria is a tragedy waiting to happen.

I'm just sayin' - American spirit ... First in a series

Previously, I noted my belief that our country and our culture is like a three-legged stool that is supported by three basic foundations: constitutional government, economics and social programs. Since it all began with governmental documents, I will start at the beginning and subsequently move through the other two legs supporting the stool in subsequent columns.

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Commentary - Supermajority amendment is short-sighted

Brace yourself. If you like the gridlock in Washington, you will love one of the bills now being heard at the Legislature. It proposes to amend the constitution by requiring a supermajority of the Legislature to approve any increases in taxes or expenditures.

Thumbs Up and Down – Views by the Echo Press January 27

Thumbs Up: Too often, news is dominated by tragic stories of crime, violence, scandals and disasters. It’s bad enough to make people give up trying to find the goodness in others or stop lending a helping hand to others for fear they’ll have their fingers bitten off. Let’s turn things around.

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Column - See the clowns go round and round

This race for the Republican presidential nomination is better than having a front-row seat at the circus. See the goofy car jam-packed with colorful clowns go round and round. A clown falls off, then gets back on. Two more clowns fall off and try to get back on.

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It's Our Turn: Pinterest junkie confesses

My name is Lori Mork and I am a Pinterest junkie. Yes, I must confess. Pinterest has me by the eyeballs and won’t let go. If you’ve never visited this quirky little website, you don’t know what you’re missing – except addiction.

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Letter - They really speak of conformity

How curious that what we regard as the lower chamber in our Congress, the House of Representatives, has become in actuality not unsimilar to the British House of Lords standing as champions in this case not just for a superior upper class in rank but in accumulated wealth.