The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Editorials

November 30, 2007

Our View: Military day care a good idea

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To the coordinated efforts that took place the day after Thanksgiving offering day care to military families. On the most hectic Christmas shopping day of the year, spouses of deployed soldiers were afforded the opportunity to shop on Black Friday while volunteers entertained their children at Mankato’s Hosanna Lutheran Church.

The effort was truly cooperative, as Hosanna Lutheran donated space, The Buzz donated haircuts, Clements Chevrolet made shuttle service available, and McDonalds, Hy-Vee and Kraft donated food.

Special services like these help the community connect with military families, and while their spouses and parents are deployed, military families need all the support our communities can muster. This year, there were many more day-care volunteers than children. If a similar effort materializes next year, perhaps more children will participate in this wonderful concept.



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Shedding light on nursing home performance

To the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which compiles a list of nursing homes that have had violations. This a great public service for consumers. The 54 on the federal list are among those that have had poor successive inspections and “failed to make significant progress,” the agency said.

Only two Minnesota nursing homes, one in Golden Valley and one in northwestern Minnesota, were on the list. But Minnesotans want to know which ones made the list, and the federal government has provided that information. (One of the facilities allowed a resident to smoke while on oxygen — definitely information to have in hand before deciding to send Grandma there.)

The trend toward reporting performance of health-care providers is a positive one for consumers because it puts pressure on the providers to do better.



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City improves customer service

To the City of Mankato for working to improve its citizen complaint system. The city recently connected call-in complaints with the power of computer technology that allows complaints to be tracked.

The city had more than 100 service requests through Nov. 27, enough to warrant a need for tracking by computer. The new system tracks complaints that haven’t been resolved after a certain period of time and flags those issues so city staff can take them up again.

Residents calling in to check the status of a request can get the questions answered by city staff who can log into the system and find the complaint and let the resident know who’s working on it and how long it might take to resolve it.

The new software can also record resident phone calls so city staff can hear residents describe the problem in their own words. It’s good to see government acting in ways that are geared toward the consumer, and in ways that a private business might operate.



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Nation’s oil supply too fragile

To the fact that the American and world oil supply system can be put entirely out of whack by a break in a relatively small pipeline in northern Minnesota.

Last week, a pipeline carrying oil from Canada to the United States, ruptured and exploded near Clearbrook, killing two workers.

The event sent world crude prices soaring, increasing anywhere from $3.47 to $4.55 a barrel in trading to the upper $90s per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange

The pipeline is important, but still relatively insignificant, carrying 1.5 million barrels of oil a day. The country uses 21 million barrels a day.

The fact a temporary disruption in a Minnesota oil pipeline can set global markets into a panic reinforces the need for America to work more diligently toward a more diverse, efficient energy policy.

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Editorials