Well at least it wasn’t guns

Well said Iowaboy!

Actually northern towns such Bemidji, Brainard, and Duluth have violent crime rates not much lower than St. Paul.

Add in DUI death rates and rural and urban counties compare closely.

Probably should “generally” care what happens inside the 494/694 loop. Those voters are swaying statewide elections which in turn impact those further outside the loop. That said each jurisdiction (town, county, state) must be accountable for their own people.

Sad story indeed. Lot’s wrong with our country today, and not sure how to solve it. Seems like it starts at the top (government) but could be wrong. It appears like the government is trying to divide this country, not bring it together. Both sides seem to want it their way and not work together. Joe doesn’t want a wall at the border, but builds one at his residence. Minnesota politicians wanted to defund the police, but when one of the Minnesota politician was attacked in her building in DC, she stated she was happy when the police arrived. The fentanyl crossing the border is killing so many, but doesn’t seem to matter. The national debt is like costing I believe each tax payer and could be each person over $540,000.00 but they want to raise it and keep spending more. I could go on and on, but seems like crazy times.

I always thought about the hypocrisy of our US-Canada border vs. the US-Mexico border. Most of Europe did away with borders among friendly nations.

Does the US-Canada border really need that level of patrol, inspection, and cost ?

I suppose it slows some drugs and unsupported immigration.

Again, St Paul removed all school resource officers (uniformed police) after Floyd death. I would be curious to see if any studies suggest their presence was a deterrent.

I see threads like this and the absurd political comments made on both sides but particularly from the intolerant tolerant side and I remember, despite the good people like Bearcat, BK and so many others, I disappear again. It’s like going to Whitecastle – sometimes you just have to go back once in a while to see how bad it is.

Brittman wrote:

I suppose it slows some drugs and unsupported immigration.

I can’t speak of immigration issues however drugs are coming up from Mexico through Texas into Chicago and then north into Minneapolis. Then distributed throughout the state from there. I’m sure it happens but Canada is not a source country for our area. The way things are going in the US, Canada probably prefers the borders stay the way they are.
DT

Brittman wrote:

I always thought about the hypocrisy of our US-Canada border vs. the US-Mexico border. Most of Europe did away with borders among friendly nations.

Does the US-Canada border really need that level of patrol, inspection, and cost ?

I suppose it slows some drugs and unsupported immigration.

Customs stops millions of dollars worth of counterfeit items here in International Falls every year. A year or so ago some immigrants were found frozen trying to cross. I’m unsure of the amount of drugs sized around here but do know the I-94 is a major route across North Dakota. So yes our Northern border has issues as well.

dutchy i’ve heard more ten once HWY 2 from Duluth west is also a major corridor!

Yep Glenn, the riff raff is everywhere.

I have a relative that worked in the US Boarder Patrol for 30+ years stationed almost entirely in Pembina, ND. I have heard a few …

I have a friend (more of an acquaintance) that works for ICE. Some really good stories over the past decade or so.

The over-zealous trigger finger strikes again.