EDITORIAL: Maverick hockey completes successful season
Mar. 25—Thumbs up to the Minnesota State University men's hockey team for another outstanding season, even though it ended in the first round of the NCAA national tournament.
The Maverick season ended with a 4-0 loss to a very good St. Cloud State University hockey team Thursday in Fargo.
The Mavericks had more losses this year than in a long time with a record of 25-13-1. But the Mavericks won a record sixth straight conference championship with the McNaughton Cup making the rounds around town and another CCHA playoff championship.
Both conference championships came down to the last game, one a remarkable comeback overtime win. Maverick fans were treated to some of the best hockey games in the history of the team.
The team has been to two Frozen Four tournaments in the last two years and was national runner up in 2021-22.
Coach Mike Hastings had a challenge with a lot of new players compared to last year when many of the top seniors completed their Maverick run.
The team, university and the fans can take pride in knowing the Mavericks continue to play spirited and competitive hockey.
Literacy shoutout
Thumbs up to a Little Free Library being installed in Gov. Tim Walz's office lobby in St. Paul.
We've always been a fan of the take-a-book, leave-a-book library cupboards sprinkled across communities in yards, at schools, at churches — anywhere people happen to pass by. The tiny libraries, started by a Hudson, Wisconsin, man in honor of his school teacher mother, are found across the country and around the world.
Walz choose to use the launch of his Little Free Library as a statement for free speech; his is filled with books facing bans or restrictions in other states. As defenders of the free circulation of information and ideas, we think that's a good reason to put the compact libraries in the spotlight.
The move will get people talking — and hopefully reading. And that next read could be from a Little Free Library, which takes all donated books, no matter what they are.
DeSantis' gag orders
Thumbs down to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' expanded gag order on educators.
Last year he successfully pushed a law for all K-3rd grade classes banning any lessons that mentioned sexual orientation or gender identity.
The expected presidential candidate is now using his office to push his "Don't Say Gay" agenda on all public school students.
The governor also pushed the law that has removed books from school shelves because they have not been "vetted" by the state. The "Stop WOKE" act restricts lessons and training on race and diversity in schools and in the workplace.
DeSantis continues to lean heavily into cultural divides.
DeSantis and his Republican-majority Legislature can't seem to stop ramping up the anti-gay, anti-free speech rhetoric and legislation. It hurts education, students and society.
Not a federal case
Thumbs down to the overreach displayed this week by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and fellow allies of embattled former President Donald Trump.
As the 45th president falsely claimed that he was to be arrested on Tuesday, Jordan — who chairs the House Judiciary Committee — demanded that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg hand over evidence and other materials related to the grand jury investigating alleged hush-money payments from Trump to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Grand jury investigations are secret for a reason. And the work of a New York grand jury is a local matter, not subject to oversight by Congress. Bragg rightly told Jordan to butt out.
Jordan and his fellow congressional Republicans have long given Trump a pass on his various offenses. It's time for that to end.
