Sep. 10—Thumbs up to all the decades-long work done by a dedicated group to protect a large swath of Kasota prairie.

Four decades ago, a gritty group of volunteers formed the Save the Kasota Prairie, with the aim of protecting a prairie in a mining area near Kasota. They fought an uphill battle to build public support and to get cooperation from the company that was at the time mining silica sand.

But eventually the prairie was protected and the mining company — and the company that mined the area more recently — became supporters of protecting the prairie and provided some financial support to SKP to do projects on the prairie.

But the future of the prairie is uncertain. Covia operated the mining operation up until 2019 when the silica plant was closed. Ohio-based Covia, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020, still owns the prairie, silica plant and large tracts of land in the area.

Covia said it still has plans to resume operations at some point, but the future is uncertain as the silica sand market remains depressed. SKP has worked to get a third party to purchase the Kasota Prairie land to secure its continued protection.

Hopefully the patch of prairie will long remain as a peaceful respite for visitors, birds, bugs and animals.

Mohr made us smile

Thumbs up to the ability of Howard Mohr to make us laugh at ourselves. Not loudly, of course. Just a chuckle while not making eye contact with anyone else.

The author of "How to Talk Minnesotan" died this week at the age of 83.

A guy could go on and on about how Mohr contributed to the world of comedy by offering Minnesotans a close look of their quirky, low-key mannerisms. He dove into such subjects as how to stand apart and not look at one another while conversing, how to expect a Minnesota goodbye to last a long time as the hosts insist on sending you home with leftovers and walking you to the car, and how to make a hotdish with three ingredients.

Mohr, a former professor at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall and writer for "A Prairie Home Companion" helped us laugh at ourselves. And that's a priceless gift. Not too bad for an Iowa guy.

A familiar voice

Thumbs up to the broadcasting career of Casey Lloyd, the radio voice of the Mavericks for 52 years and counting.

Minnesota State University this week announced that Lloyd, 82, will receive the athletic department's inaugural lifetime achievement award. And lifetime is right; Lloyd started calling MSU games in 1970, and intends to work a full schedule of football and basketball games this school year.

Play-by-play announcers of longstanding matter. They connect the teams to the audience and connect the generations to each other with the shared experience. The Twins had Herb Carneal and John Gordon; the Gophers had Ray Christensen. Lloyd serves a smaller audience, but the purpose is the same.

Bipartisan success

Thumbs up to manufacturing companies Intel, Micron, Corning and First Solar for taking business risks to establish new manufacturing plants in the U.S., some for computer chips in short supply.

Intel will be building a $20 billion chip manufacturing facility in Ohio with help from the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act passed by Congress to encourage computer chip and other manufacturing in the U.S.

President Joe Biden and Ohio Republican leaders visited the plant on Friday, which held off on groundbreaking until the CHIPS Act passed.

Chipmaker Micron is building $15 billion factory in Idaho and Corning has committed to an optical fiber facility in Arizona. First Solar will build its fourth solar panel plant in the U.S. Southeast. All projects were related to Biden administration initiatives.

The projects show how bipartisan efforts can work to make things better for U.S. business and workers. Making chips here instead of relying on Chinese suppliers makes sense not only for jobs, but for national security.

As the current chip shortage shows, relying on unfriendly foreign governments can be a threat to our national and economic security.

The bipartisan law provided $28 billion in incentives for semiconductor production, $10 billion for new chip manufacturing and $11 billion for research and development, according to a report by the Associated Press.

If Republicans and Democrats can focus on what they agree on rather than their differences, a lot more things like the CHIP Act could get done.