editorials

America sets aside April 22 every year to celebrate Earth Day. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, young and old have gathered globally to participate in activities that foster appreciation of the environment and create awareness of the issues that threaten our globe.

If the hundreds of condolences and comments on social media are any indication, the recent death of a popular teacher has a wide-reaching effect on this community. Ellsworth High School business education teacher and Panther’s Den mentor Judith “Judi” Helmer died Tuesday, March...

Let’s talk about mental health, obesity and alcohol abuse. Here? Now? These are three subjects we only talk about behind closed doors, correct? That’s in the process of changing. Getting these sensitive stigmas out of the dark corners of St. Croix and Pierce counties is long...

U.S. governments, large and small, have a duty to inform the public about the actions they intend to take, the laws they enact and the money they spend. The mandatory publication in a newspaper of public notices detailing these decisions helps ensure a democratic process. It keeps...

“Blaming others is an act of refusing to take responsibility. When a person can’t accept the fact or the reality, they blame another person or the situation instead of taking accountability.” — author Dee Dee Artner. Not taking responsibility for one’s own actions is becoming...

Editor’s note: This editorial was published in the Hudson Star-Observer, the Herald’s sister newspaper. The community-wide conversation of whether to welcome Syrian refugee families to Hudson, left seemingly unresolved, was continued with a comment made by St. Croix County Supervisor...

The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution limits a president to two terms in office. There’s a reason for that. In 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to a third term as president. His fourth term began in 1945, but he died after just three months.

The Herald appreciates that people see it as a source of investigative journalism. We take pride in digging into stories, gleaning facts from a sometimes muddied swirl of confusion, emotions and perspectives. This past year there has been enough village and town government news to...

Not all New Year’s resolutions have to be ways to improve ourselves. Many resolutions focus on losing weight, quitting bad habits, taking up healthy practices such as going to the gym, maybe organizing the cavernous closet beneath your stairs, or vowing to visit aunt Edna once a...

Forget piles of glitzy gifts under a tree. Forget frustration built up from battling crowds at store checkouts, dismay over post-holiday credit cards bills and guilt over not getting to every single holiday event. This year, my family has been given a gift money cannot buy. In November,...

Is it a recent pattern that's afflicted Pierce County justice? If so, to the casual observer it's a troubling one. Last week, River Falls man Ricardo Moreno was acquitted on stalking charges. He was accused by a number of women over several months of accosting them in public, then...