In the spring of 1979, a someday-newspaper reporter received the title, “Most Pessimistic” member of his graduating class by a margin bigger than Richard Nixon topped South Dakota George McGovern seven years earlier.

They got it wrong, he argues to this day. Not pessimistic, just cynical. Maybe the two are too close to be anything but a distinction without a difference.

John Millea has been writing about sports and people, youngsters and communities sharing their passion for life and competition for many years. He is a renowned storyteller, a person with a deep caring for humanity.

Recently I saw two movies based on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” One was the 1970 musical “Scrooge” and the other was the 1979 made for TV movie “An American Christmas Carol.”

We’ve all recently had the opportunity to partake in our local property tax hearing lately, whether we live in a city, a township, the county or school district. Having covered a few for work or watched a few of them via the wonder of video posted on a website, the refrain is usually the same.

People want to pay less in taxes. Of course we do.

For years, the New Prague School District maintained a healthy fund balance, money maintained in reserves to pay its day-to-day operating costs, expected and unexpected, between receiving state aid and property tax revenue.

It was likely easier to accomplish during a time of higher enrollment and available income, both from the state and locally. But as we all know, things change.

Have you received your notice of proposed property taxes for 2026? Caught your breath yet?

The increases in the bottom line in many cases are startling. But before you turn to social media to rant, perhaps anonymously because you might not want to risk anyone knowing you have an opinion outside the norm, at least consider the facts. Minnesota’s property tax system is grotesquely complicated. In years past, presenters at county tax hearings have stated they are among the most complicated in the county.

Oh, lucky us.

The results are in. Voters in the New Prague Area School granted the district the additional $510 per student it sought. The issue passed by a wide margin, 3,927 to 2,049.

In case you missed it, the calendar turned from October to November a couple weeks back. The change of season brings in a new reason for folks to kvetch about something they must address annually.

The small yellow signs do exactly what any good piece of advertising ought to do – catch your attention and encourage you to learn the rest of the story.

Found at many intersections, the signs state, “We love Our City.”

Maybe young eyes can read the fine print. From the driver’s seat, the small print at the base of the sign is illegible. At first, one might assume they were created and placed by a business, perhaps the New Prague Chamber of Commerce. Might one of the community’s outstanding service clubs be behind them?

Back in 2006, former Minnesota State Rep. Tom Emmer, then R-Delano, took the editor of a nearby community newspaper to the woodshed for suggesting in an editorial the proposed smoking ban for bars and restaurants was worthy of discussion.

This past week, news outlets covering the capitol reported on progress, or the lack of it, on the desire some folks have to address the accessibility of guns to people who ought not have them. So far, about six weeks after a gunman took the lives of two innocent children and injured 30, no news is not good news.

Hopefully, you’ve already heard the New Prague Area School District is asking its residents to consider a $20 million operating levy referendum this fall, $2 million per year for 10 years. It will be on the ballot Tuesday, Nov. 4.

First the city, then the county and school district and even townships. Local units of government are approving their property tax levies. The results are both predictable and frustrating.

A few weeks ago, we reported the results of the latest round of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs). Statewide, the results were, at best, uninspiring. Locally, New Prague students who took the tests were slightly above the state average.

Given the highly-charged political environment we live in these days and the huge investment Minnesota dedicates toward E-12 education these days, the resulting blame game was predictable. Social media was awash with people blaming the DFL and Gov. Walz with the mediocre results.

Superintendent Andy Vollmuth presented the district’s plan for informing the community about its operating levy in the coming weeks. If you are willing to listen with an open mind, we hope you take advantage of the opportunity to learn about the district’s request of its taxpayers.

Mike Geisen was, and still is, a practical man with more common sense than most. He has lived much of his life in a rural area, a few miles outside Belle Plaine on the edge of Carver and Sibley counties. No doubt he was bewildered back in 2006 when his new neighbor, a transplant from the suburbs, was putting up pasture fence for horses and explained what he was doing as if asking for Mike’s approval.

“What do you care what I think? It’s your land. You can do what you want,” he said.

“Yeah, but I’d rather get along with you more than not,” the transplant said.