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Wish it always was just Good News

By Staff | Dec 17, 2017

There is a lot of bad news these days. There is no denying it. A lot of bad news.

In fact, it seems as though the amount of bad news has really been on the increase lately.

Shootings and other terrorist attacks seem to be a weekly occurrence these days. Some times more often than weekly.

There have been hurricanes and floods and a whole lot of wild fires, especially in California.

And, all that political arguing and fighting that has been going on. It seems to be constant. And never ending.

There also is the seemingly daily sexual misconduct allegations being made resulting in firings and resignations. It makes us wonder if there are no more good and decent men left in this world.

And, speaking of the world, there is enough unrest, war and revolt going on that it makes one nervous to travel almost anywhere anymore.

Then there is that current fear of nuclear war hanging over our heads, with North Korea making all kinds of threats. As if the rest of the bad news wasn’t bad enough, we have to deal with that threat.

I feel like I am back in the Cold War days of the 1960s.

Bad news also hits us locally, as well. There are assaults, bullying, drug busts and business closings to be reported on. People are upset about a lot of things, including having wind towers built in the county.

We have also had a murder or two in the past few years in our quiet little Faribault County.

But, before you give up, pack it all in, turn off the TV news and become a hermit somewhere, let me make one more point.

There may be a lot of bad news in this old world of ours, but there is also a whole lot of good news.

Maybe you just have to look a little bit harder for it.

The nightly news on television seems to revel in their gloom and doom stories of bad news from crime to natural disasters. But every once in a while they slip in a “feel good” story about someone helping their neighbors or doing some other worthy project.

I think there is a lot more of that going on in this old world, but we don’t hear about it enough.

Before you bring it up and accuse me of being sanctimonious, let me admit that we are guilty of bringing you bad news each week, too. We can’t help it. covering the news means reporting on the bad stuff as well as the good stuff.

But here at the Faribault County Register we have it as our mission to cover as much or more of the good stuff than the bad.

We purposely go out each week and try to find those stories about the good things in this little part of Minnesota we call home.

Maybe you have noticed that effort.

Sure, we cover the courts and bring you news of some of the bad things going on in our county. Even in this week’s newspaper, which we call our Good News edition, we have some court news and stories that one could call ‘bad news.’ There are obituaries because some our neighbors died. Not all the local sports teams won, and that’s bad. People are upset about bullying. Real estate taxes are going to go up because of tax levy increases.

Things like that are in this week’s Register, and they are in there every week.

But every week we try and temper the bad by bringing you feature stories about interesting people and what good things they are up to.

And this week we worked extra hard to bring you these kind of Good News stories. In fact, we tried to pack our second section of the Register with them. Lots and lots of Good News.

There are stories about the good things kids do. Stories about helping others who are not as fortunate as the rest of us. The dinner put on by the Knights of Columbus, the Shop With A Cop program, and the story about John Engesser going up to Moonlight Lane at St. Luke’s Lutheran Care Center every single night (almost) to play piano and sing for the residents there.

I am in awe of that kind of dedication.

There are stories of giving money to make a difference and the one about Vera Steinberg is worth the read.

She has made a difference in the community, even long after her death.

And several other stories that will make you feel good this Christmas season. Consider it our gift to you.

And like the Beach Boys wished all the girls could be from California, I wish all of the stories we have to do could be Good News.

Thanks for reading us.

And Merry Christmas to you all.