Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue announces a couple of important updates to farmers.gov.(Photo from foodsafetynews.com)
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced says the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched two new features on farmers.gov to help customers manage their farm loans, as well as navigate the application process for H2A visas.
“Customer service is our top priority at USDA,” he says. “These new features will help our customers as they manage their farm loans and navigate the H-2A temporary agricultural visa program. In my travels across the country, I have consistently heard people tell us to use more technology to deliver programs at USDA. As we adopt new technology, we are introducing simple yet innovative approaches to support our farmers, ranchers, producers, and foresters. After all, they support the nation every day. It’s my goal to make USDA the most effective, most efficient, most customer-focused department in the entire federal government. Farmers.gov is a big step in that direction.”
In 2018, Secretary Perdue unveiled farmers.gov, a dynamic, mobile-friendly public website combined with an authenticated portal where customers will be able to apply for programs, process transactions and manage accounts.
Navigating the H-2A Visa Process:
Focused on education and smaller owner-operators, this farmers.gov H-2A Phase I release includes an H-2A Visa Program page and interactive checklist tool. It includes application requirements, fees, forms, and a timeline built around a farmer’s hiring needs.
The H-2A Visa Program – also known as the temporary agricultural workers program – helps American farmers fill employment gaps by hiring workers from other countries. The U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of State, and state workforce agencies each manage parts of the H-2A Visa Program independently, with separate websites and complex business applications.
Over the next several months, USDA will collaborate further with the U.S. Department of Labor on farmers.gov H-2A Phase II. It’s a streamlined H-2A Visa Program application form, regulations, and digital application process that moves producers seamlessly from farmers.gov website to farmers.gov portal, and then to U.S. Department of Labor’s IT systems.
Managing Farm Loans Online:
The self-service website now enables agricultural producers to view loan information, history and payments.
Customers can access the “My Financial Information” feature by desktop computer, tablet or phone. They can now view:
loan information;
interest payments for the current calendar year (including year-to-date interest paid for the past five years);
loan advance and payment history;
paid-in-full and restructured loans; and
account alerts giving borrowers important notifications regarding their loans.
To access their information, producers will need a USDA eAuth account to login into farmers.gov. After obtaining an eAuth account, producers should visit farmers.gov and sign into the site’s authenticated portal via the “Sign In / Sign Up” link at the top right of the website.
Currently, only producers doing business as individuals can view information. Entities, such as an LLC or Trust, or producers doing business on behalf of another customer cannot access the portal at this time. However that will change in the future.
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge are the recommended browsers to access the feature.
About farmers.gov:
USDA is building farmers.gov for farmers, by farmers. Future self-service features available through the farmers.gov portal will help producers find the right loan programs for their business and submit loan documents to their service center.
With feedback from customers and field employees who serve those customers, farmers.gov delivers farmer-focused features to deliver the greatest immediate value to America’s agricultural producers – helping farmers and ranchers do right, and feed everyone.
The University of Minnesota-Crookston baseball team describes itself as “gritty, not pretty.” Whatever they’d like to call themselves, it’s working. In spite of the challenges that come with a small-college program, the Golden Eagles won 14 of their first 22 games. Eagles head coach Steven Gust said they’re playing some pretty good baseball in spite of fielding a young roster this spring.
“We’re getting the job done,” he said with a smile visible through the phone. “it’s been a bit of a surprise because we lost key contributors from last year’s team. However, we’re finding ways to win in spite of that.
Steven Gust is the head coach of the University of Minnesota-Crookston baseball team. (Photo from goldeneaglesports.com)
“We aren’t going to overpower people on the mound this season,” he said. “Our best kid from last year, Zach Seipel, got drafted by the Atlanta Braves. That’s good news but he was only a junior, so we did expect him back this year. The kids we do have back are doing a good job of filling the strike zone, mixing their speeds, and are attacking hitters.”
The first player drafted
Getting a player drafted into Major League Baseball is a feather in the cap of any program. However, it’s an even bigger feather for a small school like Minnesota-Crookston because he was the first Golden Eagle ever picked in the MLB draft. What makes it an even better story is the young man didn’t originally come in to pitch for the Golden Eagles.
“I saw him as a catcher in legion baseball,” Gust recalled. “I
thought he had a pretty decent arm behind the plate. I wasn’t sure about his hitting,
but good defensive catchers can be hard to find. It was one of my first years
coaching and our pitching was thin. We needed someone to pitch the end of a
scrimmage and he volunteered after pitching just nine total innings in high
school.”
Gust said, “The ball jumped out of Zach’s hand and he was around the zone. After that, we told him to sell his catcher’s glove and he became our closer. He left here throwing a 93-94 mile-per-hour fastball. He’s a great kid and he’s only going to get better as a player.”
The University of Minnesota-Crookston was understandably excited when Zach Seipel became the first Golden Eagle drafted by a Major League Baseball team. He went to the Atlanta Braves in the 27th round and head coach Steven Gust said he expects Zach to do well and move up the chain. (Photo from goldeneaglesports.com)
Getting a player drafted is big milestone considering that
before Gust and the current staff arrived, the Golden Eagles had won just two
of their previous 100 games. Literally, the team was 2 and 98 before Gust showed
up.
Building a program
“We were fortunate to add some good players to some really good-character kids that were already here,” Gust said, “and they all bought in right away. There are so many pieces to the puzzle when you’re trying to build a program like Minnesota-Crookston.
“The pieces include working on facilities and trying to get
the highest quality you can,” he added. “You have to find good assistant
coaches that don’t mind working for literally nothing other than their passion
for the game. We also don’t have a lot of scholarships to offer, so that’s not
a strength either.”
When Gust took over the program, there were 18 Golden Eagles
on the roster. Now, in spite of some limitations that come with smaller-school
athletics, they currently have 46 players on the roster. They recruit primarily
in Minnesota and North Dakota. They’ll include a few kids out of Wisconsin,
Iowa, and South Dakota as well.
“The majority of our kids come in from our backyard,” he
said. “We’ve created some excitement in the area by bringing in a lot of
familiar players. The attendance and support from the community have been
great. We’re just trying to do the little things that maybe one day will allow
us to start thinking about winning a championship.
“We don’t have any 5-tool recruits,” Gust added. “We’re
getting better players who happen to be good students as well. Our team GPA in
the fall was 3.3, which is almost unheard of. We’re looking for guys who might
have a little chip on the shoulder because they weren’t recruited by some of the
bigger schools. They’ll have a passion for what they’re doing out there on the
field.”
Gust added, “There’s no way I could run a program if I didn’t have a great group of people around me.”
Weather is a challenge
Like most schools in the north, the weather is always a challenge to deal with. Gust said one of the biggest goals for all the Crookston programs is to get a covered practice facility. What really hurts the team is not being able to get outside much early in the season to get some much-needed practice in. Gust says, “I think that’s coming here at Minnesota-Crookston, it’s just a matter of when.”
The Eagles team is basically brand-new this season. They
graduated a lot of seniors from last spring’s squad. Last year, Crookston won
24 baseball games, but Gust said they were “disappointed” because they thought
they were headed back to the postseason tournament. However, it didn’t happen.
“We have several junior college players on the roster this spring,” Gust said. “Sometimes, it’s hard for Junior College players to buy in when they come to a four-year school. However, our guys seem to have bought in right away. We’ve found ways to get things done so far in spite of facing some really good pitching in the first three weeks of the conference season.”
NSIC a solid conference
From top-to-bottom, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference is one of the best Division Two conferences in the country. For example, they have the defending national champion Augustana (Sioux Falls, SD) Vikings as a member of the conference.
“Minnesota-State Mankato is always good,” Gust said. “Concordia-St.
Paul has some really solid arms this season. St. Cloud State might be the team
to beat. Even the teams that have been on the bottom over the past few years
have gotten better. Teams like the University of Mary (Bismarck, ND) and Minot
State (Minot, North Dakota) are among the teams taking steps forward.”
Even before they got going in their conference schedule,
Crookston headed south to play some very good non-conference squads. They
started off their season with perennial power Central Missouri State. Gust said
people told him he was crazy to play them. However, he did see some good things
in spite of losing to CMS.
“I thought a lot of good things came out of playing tough
competition like that,” he said. “I saw signs that we could be a pretty good
team. We also went down to Florida to play some really tough teams too. I think
our non-conference schedule really prepared us well to do some good things in
the conference.”
“Plan your work, work your plan, and toss in just the right amount of luck.” That might be a good way to sum up the journey Dustin Little took to the pinnacle of his profession. The Castlewood, South Dakota native is the new Head Trainer for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. I caught up to him in the middle of a workout at the Niners facility and Little said where he’s at is just now starting to sink in.
The San Francisco 49ers picked Castlewood, South Dakota native Dustin Little as their new Head Trainer, completing a revamping of their staff that got underway at the end of last season. (Photo from likecovers.com)
“It feels great,” he said in between reps. “It’s one of
those things where you work hard for a long time with a plan in place, and then
you get to where you wanna be. To get to this place in my career and my life,
with my family, it’s just great to see all the sacrifices you’ve made, and the
hard work get rewarded.”
This road to the San Francisco 49ers started during his
college days at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. The young Coyote
(pronounced KY-yote in South Dakota) started with Pre-Physical Therapy studies
in 2004. Little always knew he didn’t want to spend his career indoors. Sports
had been a big part of his life growing up in his hometown and he wanted to
work in some kind of a sports setting. He took a non-traditional approach to
get there.
“I went five years for undergraduate work at USD and another three years to get my Doctorate in Physical Therapy,” he said. “After that, I made the unusual decision to go back to athletic training school for a master’s degree. At the time, that career path was unheard of. However, it made sense because I wanted to get dual credentials in physical therapy and athletic training.
“During physical therapy schooling, I also took the test for
strength and conditioning certification,” Little added. “I’ve always tried to
make sure my decisions supported my career goal and made me well-rounded. I
wanted to be well-versed in a lot of different areas.”
As a part of his education, Little did a student internship
with the Denver Broncos. Being a little older than the other interns because
the years of schooling he’d already put in, really helped to give him a leg up.
“In 2013,” Little remembered, “I was between my first and second year of athletic training school. I called it my ‘five-week job interview.’ It really hit me the first time I walked in their door that I was in an NFL facility.
South Dakota native Dustin Little spent five years as Rehabilitation Director with the Denver Broncos. He recently accepted the head trainer position with the San Francisco 49ers, accomplishing a goal set at least 15 years ago. (Photo from
“It hit me even more when I was in the cafeteria one day,”
he added. “You only had about five minutes to cram down lunch and get back to
work. (Then-starting quarterback) Payton Manning walked by that day. That’s
when it sank in that I was working in the National Football League.”
For people who don’t know, Little said a summer internship
is a “16-hour workday,” with a lot of grunt work to do. He was coming in as a
full-time physical therapist, who’d been putting in his time at a clinic over
the previous year. He took it as a test.
“They wanna know if you have an ego and are you willing to
do the grunt work,” Little said. “Are you willing to put 16-hour days in for
seven days a week over the course of the internship? I’d left my then-three-month-old
son and wife back at home for this opportunity. You find out quickly if you
want to work in the NFL or if you just think you do.
“It’s true work,” he adds. “You aren’t just working a 40-hour week and asking for occasional time off. It’s a lot of long days. For example, as we’re talking, I’ve been here at the 49er’s facility since 4:30 a.m. it’s now 5:30 p.m. and I’m not done yet. It’s not just being on TV on Sundays.”
It was a long journey that just completed as Dustin Little put in 15 years of hard work. Little, a Castlewood, South Dakota native, was recently named as Head Trainer for the San Francisco 49ers. (AP Photo)
Interns don’t get to do much actual caring for players.
Little said his case was unusual in that he could work with players rehabbing
from injuries, thanks to his PT degree. Interns set up water, tear down water,
hydrate the players, the take care of the cleaning up, re-cleaning up, and “then
we clean up some more.”
“I figured out during the internship that this was what I
wanted to do,” Little said. “I just loved the challenge of working with
professional athletes. They don’t have a lot of physical limitations, so you
have to be creative in challenging them physically. Getting these guys where
they need to be is something I enjoy.”
Some of the other interns were 19 and 20-years old, while
Little came in at 25, married, and the father of his first child. He grew up on
a farm in South Dakota, so Little had a good idea of what hard work was and
what it would take to succeed. “I was there for a five-week job interview and
that’s what it eventually turned out to be,” he said.
“I demonstrated my capabilities, kept my mouth shut, and
worked hard,” Little added. “I think they noticed that. At the end of 2014, I
was getting ready to graduate with my master’s. The Buffalo Bills were creating
a position and talked to then-director of sports medicine at South Dakota State
University, Owen Stanley. He told them, ‘I have a kid right here for you.’
“I had an interview with the Bills on a Monday-Tuesday,” Little
said. “Steven Antonopulos, Director of Sports Medicine for the Broncos, was
listed as a reference and knew I was out there. The following Friday, the
then-current physical therapist for the Broncos came in to see Antonopulos and
said he’s going to resign. Steve called me that Friday at 6:30 a.m. to tell me
that PT had just quit and said he’s offering it to me right then.”
The interesting thing came as Little called Buffalo to let them know he would be taking the job with Denver. “The guy I called with Buffalo actually said he was going to offer me the job there the night before, but he just got busy,” he said. “He’d decided to offer me the job with Buffalo that day. Funny how things work out.”
Needless to say, the feeling that Little had after getting
the call from Denver was through-the-roof. “I put in so much work to get here,”
Little said. “You’re taking it in but
it’s also surreal, like ‘this is really happening?’ It took a while to sink in.
You’re just thankful for what you did and the people who helped you get there.”
Little stayed with the Broncos for five years, almost to the day. His goal was always to be a head trainer in the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers had begun reaching out to other organizations in the NFL and were looking for good people who might fill their head trainer position. Little’s name got thrown into the mix for the spot.
“All you can ask for is an opportunity,” he said. “I ended
up coming out to San Francisco for my first interview. Did a second interview
on the phone before heading out to the combine to meet with 49ers personnel.
They called me the last day of the combine and offered me the position.”
When I first caught up with him, Little had been with the
San Francisco 49ers for about 10 days. His wife (Bailey) and four kids will
join him as soon as possible. By the middle of March, the Little kids were 6,
5, 3, and 1. Little says he goes to a job, but Bailey is the one who “goes to
work.” Now that they’ve found a landing spot, Little says he’s had time to
reflect on the journey from the cornfields of South Dakota all the way out to
the NFL.
“I never looked at as a small-town guy coming all the way
out to San Francisco,” he said. “My mindset has never been to hold myself back
because I come from a small town. You can’t set those kinds of limitations on
yourself.”
In fact, growing up in South Dakota and playing different
sports actually will help him be even more successful. “Absolutely, some of the
guys in Denver really liked that about me,” he recalled. “I’m not quite the
normal looking trainer when I walk in the room because I’m 6-foot-3 and 220
pounds. I’ve played sports, I understand rehabbing, strength and conditioning,
plus I can throw the football if they need me to.
“I’m not the athlete I was but I still have capabilities,”
Little added. “The players really like it when you can demonstrate things.
These guys are competitive. If you challenge them on an exercise, do it better
than they do, it gets them a little fired up.”
Here’s the best way to describe just what Bullfighters Only is:
It’s the kind of thing most people will only see in a nightmare. It’s the center of a rodeo ring and there’s just you and an angry 1,500-pound animal running directly at you with malicious intent. The only job you have then is to stay out of its way for a predetermined length of time. That’s the kind of thing that Mabel, Minnesota native Justin Ward does for a living. The 23-year-old has gotten quite good at it and was named the Bullfighter’s Only Rookie of the Year Award Winner.
Bullfighters Only Rookie of the Year Justin Ward, a Mabel, Minnesota native, shown here in action. (Photo from BCNG.com)
NFL of Bull Fighting
Ward describes Bullfighters Only as the “NFL of freestyle bullfighting.” The contestant has to “fight” a Mexican fighting bull for a minute. And by fight, Ward says that means don’t let him kill you. As a bullfighter, Ward says he’s running around the ring “trying to do cool stuff for 40 seconds” and then really tries to up the score with one final trick in the last 20 seconds. The goal is to get the highest possible score between 0-100.
“While this animal is trying to kill you, some guys will do front flips, some do backflips, and some even get on their knees and try to juke out the animal,” Ward said. “The first 40 seconds is basically to prove that the animal can’t catch you. My big trick is leaping over the top of the charging bull from a flat-footed position, all the way from his nose to his tail.”
Ward said being off on a trick like that, even by a millisecond, gets painful in a hurry. He said a trick like that in Las Vegas “didn’t end up so well.” It’s tough to practice something like that leap every day. Ward says he just goes out and does it. But that’s not the only kind of bullfighting he does.
This is what Justin Ward looks like in action. Could you be brave enough to do this?
“I also do the rodeo protection bullfighting,” Ward said. “I
had actually done that for quite a while. One of the guys that trained me to do
that said I was pretty athletic and should go try out a Bullfighters Only competition.
I went to California for a developmental camp, which is similar to an NFL
Combine. I got an opportunity in my first Bullfighters Only event and placed in
the top five.”
It didn’t stop there. At his very next event, Ward took home a $10,000 paycheck. It’s a giant step up from where he was the first time he stepped into a ring one-on-one with an angry bull.
The First Try
“The first time I stepped into the ring by myself, it was terrible,” he recalled. “I literally got knocked around for 30 of the required 40 seconds. I climbed out of that ring and never wanted to do that again. Then, they announced that I’d won my round and had to do it again after all. My first thought at the time was ‘are you kidding me?’”
Bullfighters Only Rookie of the Year Justin Ward, in action, taking on a 1,500-pound Mexican Fighting Bull. Ward was a $10,000 dollar winner in the second competition he ever entered. (Photo from BCNG.com)
Ward’s experience with bullfighting, as well as rodeo in
general, goes back a long way. He and a partner were competing in a team-roping
competition, as well as steer wrestling, at a rodeo in southern Wisconsin. One
of the bullfighters didn’t show up so a rodeo committee member offered 50
dollars to anyone who would fill in.
With a laugh, Ward said, “I was 17 years old and dumb enough
to take him up on it. My first bullfight that day was terrifying. I got wrecked
up pretty good. However, it didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would, I lived
through it, and they paid me. I thought to myself ‘I can do this!’”
It’s important to remind people that he’s not out there completely unprotected. A collision with an angry bull is quite similar to getting hit by a car, but the bullfighters still have a full-sized plastic chest plate. So, they absorb the full force of the collision, but a lot of pain is kept at bay. Ward said it knocked the wind out of him, but it did the job of “keeping me alive.”
Practicing
Ward and his fellow bullfighters have come up with an
unusual way to hone their skills. They take the front wheel of a bicycle and
weld some handles to it. Then, they’ll attach a fake bull head to the machine.
One bullfighter will operate the machinery as if it’s an actual bull while the
other one works on his skills.
“I tell those guys that if I slip up, they need to whack me
with it,” Ward said. “I need to learn that if I fall right here, it’s going to
suck.”
Ward said he hits the gym regularly, doing HIT (High Intensity) workouts three days a week and works on cardio five days a week. He’s in the gym at least twice a day. It’s all about avoiding collisions like the one he referenced in Vegas and still remembers to this day.
Injuries Happen
“I did my big move and tried to jump over the top of the
bull,” he said. “He hit me on the way by and when I fell to the ground, he just
smoked me up against a panel three or four times and dislocated my shoulder. He
actually hit me in the stomach hard enough that the doctor thought I might be
bleeding internally. It was rough.
“I didn’t have long to recover,” he recalled. “I had another
bullfight the following week, so I had to tough it out and compete injured.”
Not all bullfights are equally as challenging. A lot of the difficulty
actually depends on the animal’s temperament. It all depends on what each
bullfighter draws for a matchup.
“You can tell ahead of time if they’re going to be easy to
perform with,” Ward said. “Then it’s a lot of fun knowing that you can pick on
them a little and they can’t catch you. However, there have been other bulls
that there was almost no getting away from. We’re talking pure adrenaline and
pure fear with bulls like that.”
Most of the Mexican fighting bulls weigh between 1,200-1,500
pounds. You won’t see the giant 2,000-pound monster bulls because Ward said, “they’re
not very quick.” However, the smaller Mexican fighting bulls are lightning
quick.
A lot of miles
It’s a busy life of travel as a bullfighter. The first show Ward ever did was in Ada, Oklahoma, and his next show the following week in Washington state. He had a show earlier this year in Scottsdale, Arizona, followed by another one in Atlanta, Georgia. If someone from his area is competing at the same show, Ward said they’ll team up and drive there. If he’s traveling solo to a show, Ward said it’s easier to fly. He estimates putting on 50-60,000 miles in the last year alone. Ward said finding out he won the Rookie of the Year Award made it all worth the effort.
“I didn’t even know it had happened,” Ward recalled. “I was
doing an interview just like we’re doing now, and someone asked me how it felt
to be the Rookie of the Year. My first response was ‘I’m rookie of the year?’
He was a little surprised no one had told me yet.”
So, is this something that Ward is planning on doing for a
while? “This is a long-term occupation for me,” Ward said with a smile that was
almost visible in spite of talking on the phone.
Taxes. We all pay them, don’t we? I wanted to share a story I helped set up on the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service today. Washington state farmers don’t pay ANY taxes whatsoever? Who knew? Bob Larson of the Ag Information Network of the West, based in Walla Walla, Washington, shared some audio saying that very thing.
Democrats in the Washington state senate have passed a bill that would force the state’s farmers to pay taxes for accessing the federal H-2A worker program, as well as pay extra taxes for each individual foreign worker they hire. (Photo from choosewashingtonstate.com)
I’m in shock. The reason I’m flummoxed is the legislator really believes the manure he’s shoveling. Washington Senator John McCoy is convinced that farmers in his state pay NO taxes, “whatsoever?” He did hedge a bit, saying “they do pay some fees, I’ll give you that.” Don’t taxes and fees imposed by government all go to the same place, don’t they?
And, where does a legislator who’s not a farmer get off speaking FOR farmers?
Washington State Democrats passed Senate Bill 5438 on a party-line vote. It would allow the State Employment Security Department to tax farmers that hire foreign guest workers above and beyond the fees they already pay to the federal government … for the federal program. During comments before the vote, Senator John McCoy (38th District) broke news that many farmers in this state would be shocked to hear…tape
Senator Mark Schoesler, of the 9th District in Southeastern Washington AND 5th generation wheat farmer, was quick to responded…tape
It would allow the department to charge growers up to $500 to apply for H-2A workers and up to $75 per head above that. Only Democrats voted in favor of the bill that passed on a 26-21 vote. The bill now moves to the House.
A Capital Press Dot Com article says the Employment Office wants extra funds for its administrative duties under the program. Democrat Liz Lovelett is the Washington State Senate’s newest member. She says the state needs money to investigate “deplorable” conditions on her state’s farms.
Republicans aren’t happy with the new fees. They’re call out Democrats for an “attack on the finances and integrity of agriculture.” It doesn’t just stop with new fees, either. There’s even a bill that would actually require the state’s farmers to report whether or not they use slaves.
Conservative House Republicans today responded to a report on the fraud-plagued Minnesota Child-Care Assistance Program (CCAP). They requested federal investigations, the firing of the state Investigator General overseeing the program, the creation of an independent watchdog office for taxpayers, and a new approach to child care services in the state. “The daycare fraud is the biggest scandal in Minnesota history, and the state government cannot even tell us how much has been stolen,” said Rep. Steve Drazkowski (Republican- Mazeppa). “We need action on every front.”
The New House Republican Caucus (NHRC) responded to a report by the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) which admitted that millions of dollars have been stolen from the CCAP program. However, the OLA could not begin to assess how much money had been stolen from taxpayers.
The OLA report quoted a whistle-blower who wrote that both the Supervisor and Manager of the anti-fraud unit of CCAP, “believe that the overall fraud rate in this program is at least 50 percent of the $217 million paid to child care centers in 2017.”
CALL FOR FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONS: The four conservative Republicans announced they are asking federal investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Human Services, and the United States Attorney for Minnesota to investigate and prosecute what is alleged to be over $100 million per year of fraud in CCAP. “We have contacted Attorney General William P. Barr, U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald in Minneapolis, and DHS Inspector Daniel R. Levinson to get them on the case,” said Rep. Tim Miller (Republican-Prinsburg). “This is a federal case because much of the CCAP money comes from Washington.” The legislators want the federal Department of Homeland Security to investigate media reports that suitcases filled with up to $1 million each have been carried through the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport to Somalia or the Middle East by persons allegedly linked to CCAP providers. They want a list of the names, addresses and destinations of travelers leaving the country from Minnesota who signed a form to export at least $10,000 in cash.
CUT PORK, CAN HAM: “The watchdog over CCAP fraud has been sleeping on the porch for years,” said Rep. Cal Bahr (Republican-East Bethel). “Governor Tim Walz should ask for the resignation of Minnesota DHS Inspector General Carolyn Ham today. If she does not resign, he should fire her.” The OLA report showed that prosecutors had many problems with the DHS investigators under Ham. Video evidence to prove that child care centers were overstating the number of children they were watching was inconclusive. Financial analysis was sometimes not performed by accountants or Certified Fraud Examiners. Investigations would drag on for years before detectives would consult prosecutors.
CREATE INDEPENDENT WATCHDOG ON WELFARE: “We cannot trust oversight of scandal-plagued programs from the Department of Human Services to an inspector general who reports to political bosses at DHS,” said Rep. Jeremy Munson (Republican-Lake Crystal). The NHRC will work to establish an independent Bureau of the Public Trust to inspect all the books of welfare-related programs such as CCAP and Medical Assistance. This new agency will be financed through existing funds taken from the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ budget. “We need an independent auditor to serve the goal of fiscal responsibility and the needs of both the taxpayers and the program recipients,” Rep. Munson said.
STOP THE CRIMES AND THE CRIMINALS: The NHRC members outlined their plans for a sweeping bill to end the crime spree on child care programs. “These may seem like band-aids, but they will help to stop the bleeding,” said Rep. Bahr.
The bill will: Make child care fraud a specific crime with criminal and civil penalties; Establish a life-time welfare ban for convicts; Require future child care providers to repay any subsequent fraud; Ban care providers from programs if they do not cooperate with investigators; Allow the Bureau of the Public Trust to check recipients for eligibility; Ban all forms of benefits for persons convicted of child care fraud and; Bar parents of recipient children from working at child care centers.
GET RID OF CCAP AS WE KNOW IT: “CCAP is the perfect blueprint if you want a plant to steal money from taxpayers,” said Rep. Drazkowski. “You cannot prove who the program actually serves You cannot verify the people who are being helped. There is no independent oversight of the payments and services.” To replace CCAP, the NHRC will streamline and simplify the other five child care programs operated by the state. The rules need to be easier for adults who want to look after the children in their neighborhood. Lower any legal barriers. Don’t pay subsidies to providers. To fight corruption, pay the subsidies directly to the parents. that need help with daycare expense. The parents can then pay the care-takers. “We can design better programs with more accountability, flexibility and fairness,” Rep. Bahr, “not just for recipients and providers. For the hardworking people of Minnesota who go to work every day and don’t get any child care benefits,” Rep. Bahr said. “We want working parents to have access to quality and affordable child care,” said Rep. Miller. “We can do that by cutting regulations, empowering parents, and protecting taxpayers.”
Bill Butters is a walking contradiction in terms. He was once one of the toughest guys to ever play professional hockey, a sport populated by some of the roughest people on the planet. Butters is also one of the most passionate people for Jesus Christ that you’ll ever meet. He’s just one example of the life-changing power of God’s only Son.
Bill Butters, pictured here during his playing days at the University of Minnesota, is a living, breathing example of the power of Jesus Christ to change lives. A self-professed “despicable” guy, he’s now sharing the Gospel of Christ with Hockey Ministries International. (Photo from thirdstringgoalie.blogspot.com)
Butters is a Minnesota-based staff member of Hockey Ministries International. As the name implies, the 40-year old group ministers to hockey players of all ages, both in the United States and throughout the world. They teach hockey players about Jesus Christ and living for him in the modern age through a series of HMI Hockey Camps.
Before Bill became a passionate follower of Jesus Christ, he
spent a lot of years playing hockey at many different levels. The St. Paul,
Minnesota native played for the University of Minnesota from 1971-1973. He
played more than 200 games in the World Hockey Association with teams like the
Minnesota Fighting Saints, Houston Aeros, Edmonton Oilers, and the New England
Whalers. Butters played 72 games for the Minnesota North Stars in the National
Hockey League before retiring as a player in 1980.
Butters wasn’t the most popular player on the ice, no matter where he played. He was once described as “hard-hitting and mayhem” while on the ice. He was once described as “rancid” by fans of the Wisconsin Badgers during his college days. Unfortunately, he was equally hard-hitting off the ice and it affected those closest to him. Speaking during a recent Hockey Ministries International fundraising breakfast in St. Paul, Butters told a crowd of 300 people that his life began to change when one close friend hit him with words he needed to hear.
The St. Paul Hotel, where Bill Butters spoke during a Hockey Ministries International fundraiser. (Photo by Chad Smith)
“Who would have thought back in the day that a guy like me
would ever be able to talk about Jesus, especially in a holy way,” Butters told
the crowd. “I hated Christians, just like Saul before he became the Apostle
Paul. I had a friend who knew me as a pro hockey player, knew my wife, knew my
children and had enough courage to lose his friendship with me. His name is
Steve.
“One day, we were driving to go play golf with a bunch of
buddies,” Butters recalled. “Steve said ‘Butts, I don’t want to be your friend
anymore. The man you’ve turned into, your language, the way you treat your wife
and family, is despicable. I just don’t want to be your friend anymore.’”
Butters said his first thought was “this guy is a friend?”
That moment took place in the summer of 1979. Butters said that was the start
of God making a call on his life. His friend Steve had enough courage to
confront the sin in his life. “I hated him for that,” Butters said.
Another of Butters’ friends, Tom Reid, invited Bill to be a
volunteer coach at a hockey camp. At that time, Bill said he was “a young stud,
at least in my own mind, playing for the North Stars.” That camp invitation
came shortly after a rough moment in Bill’s life that took place in the office
of then-Minnesota North Stars GM Lou Nanne.
“My friend, Lou Nanne, was the General Manager and had just
told me how awful of a player I was,” Butters remembered. “Glen Sonmoor was the
coach and he loved me. However, Glen also had a glass eye. I remember being in
the room with those two when the North Stars weren’t too good. Lou said to me
‘Butts, you’re just not too good.’
“Glenn said ‘Louie, how can you say that? Butts is a great
guy. He’s good in the locker room and tells jokes,’” Butters said with a smile.
“Lou responded with ‘but Glenn, he’s awful! What you have to do is look at Bill
with your real eye.’”
It was at that low point, Tom Reid extended the invite to
the camp and Butters simply said: “it changed my life.” Bill remembers thinking
he was there to teach kids. A group of 12-year-old boys led him in prayer and
told him about Jesus.
“They told me how tough Jesus is,” Butters recalled. “The kids said He was the toughest man who ever lived. Those boys told me He loved me and that He would forgive my sins if I would just accept Him into my heart. Those 12-year-old boys led me to Christ.”
Bill and Debbie Butters, pictured here after Bill received an award from the Herb Brooks Hockey Banquet, are examples of just how Jesus Christ can restore a broken marriage to wholeness through His love and forgiveness. (submitted photo from presspubs.com)
Butters said the next thing he remembered was sitting with
his wife and telling her the good news that he’d just become a follower of
Jesus Christ. However, what followed Bill’s pronouncement of his new faith was
a tough pill to swallow.
“Then came the very bad news,” Butters said. “I explained
the sin in my life, the infidelity, the lying, the cheating. It broke her
heart. After a couple of hours, she looked at me and said the very same words
that Jesus said to me two nights earlier; ‘I forgive you. Let’s rebuild our
marriage on our faith in Christ.’
“So, I was confronted by a friend, invited by another
friend, led by a group of boys, and then forgiven by my best friend,” he
recalled. “Then, I had another friend named Gary Roloffs, a pilot from
Northwest Airlines who didn’t know me from Adam, that was a Christ follower. He
asked if he could meet with me for a cup of coffee.”
They first met in 1980 and have continued to meet once every
week since then, all the way up to the present day. Bill said Roloffs has
taught him to read Scripture, how to pray, how to memorize Scripture, and how
to “think a little bit better.” So, Butter said he had a friend mentor him in
the faith, while another friend taught him how to “love my wife and be a dad.”
After that, Butters, who referred to himself as one of the “most
despicable men in hockey” was invited to join a ministry and tell others about the
love of Jesus Christ. Don Liesemer, President of Hockey Ministries International,
is the one who brought Butters aboard.
“Then, there’s Herb Brooks,” Butters said. “What can I say
about Herbie other than he was everything to me, including a coach, a friend, a
mentor. He was someone who believed in me long before many other people did.
One of the most memorable things he said to me was ‘Billy, you’re a character.
Someday, I hope you have character.’ There is a difference.
“Later, when I was struggling in ministry and couldn’t raise
any money, I went to Herb, who was scouting for Pittsburgh back then. I asked
Herb to see if he could use his influence to get me a job in hockey. Herbie
said to me ‘Billy, I think God has you right where He wants you. You stay in
that ministry.’ As rough as some people thought Herb Brooks was, he was a
tenderhearted man. I truly believe he loved me and wanted only the best for me.”
As he gets older, Butters said the two words he fears most
are “I forgot. I forgot about my friendships, I forgot the boys who led me to
Christ, I forgot about some of you. That’s never gonna happen. I’m going to try
hard not to forget the important things.
“Jesus knew the same things way back then,” he added. “I
forget my glasses, or even my (false) tooth half the time when I walk out the
door. I forget a lot of things, but Jesus doesn’t forget me. He said, ‘remember
me.’ But before you can remember someone, you have to know them first.
“When Jesus began His ministry, He didn’t say join a Bible Study, join a church, memorize Scripture, or do this and do that,” Butters said. “He simply said ‘Come, follow Me.’ His disciples left what they were doing to follow Him, then got to know Him. Then, before He died on the cross, He said ‘remember me.’ So, my question for you is do you know Jesus? Are you following Him?
Butters closed out his remarks to the crowd at the St. Paul Hotel by saying that society is telling people to not follow Jesus. “Hockey Ministries International is telling people around the world that ‘If you know Jesus, you will know peace.’ Do you know Him?”
Jack and Jim O’Donnell of Rushford, Minnesota, were both selected as ‘Everyday Hero’ award winners. The award usually goes to one Lion from each district, but both brothers were equally deserving so the Lions made an exception. (Photo from bluffcountrynews.com)
Everyday Heroes times two. The Rushford Lions Club had two of their members honored with the Everyday Heroes Award. It’s a prestigious honor usually given to just one member of a local Lions Club. In this case, the Rushford Lions had two members that both deserved the award. They just happen to be brothers.
“Jack and Jim O’Donnell are the Everyday Heroes for the
Rushford Lions Club,” said club member Larry Bartleson. “There are more than 50
Lions Clubs in our district and the awards committee typically will only accept
one nominee from each club. However, I asked for a received an exemption to
nominate both of them. I told the committee I couldn’t nominate one without the
other.”
Both the O’Donnells had no idea the award was coming. They
both joined the Rushford Lions back in the 1990s and enjoy doing things to
serve the community.
“I had totally didn’t expect it,” said Jack O’Donnell. “I
had no idea it was coming and was completely surprised. I hadn’t actually
planned on going to the meeting, so they had to sort of trick me to get me
there.
“I’ve been a Lions member since 1994,” Jack added. “Up to
that point, I’d been involved in several organizations while doing volunteer
work and helping with projects around town. I was invited by Maury Anderson to
join back in 1994. The kids were getting older and leaving the nest, so I had
more free time than I had before.
Jim O’Donnell said he was equally surprised by the award. “They
had to trick us into going up for the awards presentation. They got Jack and I
both up there on the pretext of going out to eat. Instead, we found ourselves
at the Lions Convention, where we first found out about it.
“I first got involved in the
Lions Club in the late 1990s,” Jim recalled. “I like serving the community. I
really enjoy the projects we do, especially when we build something for the
community. It’s a tangible thing that will last for a while and that’s really
satisfying.”
The list of things the O’Donnell brothers have done, both
inside and outside the Lions Club, is quite long.
They’re both members of the Rushford Lions board of
directors – Jack is the First Vice President and Jim is a Director.
Culpepper & Merriweather Circus – They help raise funds
for the event, a big job all by itself. They also help coordinate the event,
along with Jennifer Hengel (also a Lion and Executive Coordinator of the
Rushford-Peterson Valley Chamber.)
Hanging Flower Baskets – They help water baskets every week,
a big job by itself.
Calendar Sales – They help raise money for local needs.
Rushford Days Pork Chop Dinner – Always a popular event in
the community, they helped raise money for local needs.
R-P Crossing Guards – They volunteered as safety patrol at
the new school.
Taste of the Trail event – They’ve provided popcorn snacks.
Downtown Music Festival – Another place they brothers have provided
popcorn snacks.
KidsSight Eye Screening – They volunteered back in November
2018 at the R-P school with initial eyesight screenings.
Magelssen Bluff Park entrance sign – The O’Donnell’s designed,
built and helped to install a new sign.
Crossing Guards – They volunteer for the downtown Halloween
trick-or-treating.
Christmas Salvation Army fundraiser – They raise funds at
the holiday season for the Salvation Army.
Christmas Parade of Lights – They always help get the float
ready.
As if that list isn’t extensive enough, the O’Donnells are
planning a project to retrofit picnic tables at Creekside Park to be ADA
accessible.
Grace Place Chili & Soup fundraiser – They co-chairs for
the project, along with Lion Jim Hoiness to help raise money.
Jack is also a Historical Society member, as well as the Good
Shepherd Foundation Chairman.
Jim is also a City of Rushford council member.
“The best part of being in the Lions is the different
projects we do,” said Jack. “We don’t just help around town, either. The Lions
gives a lot of money to a lot of different causes. We always have something
going on.”
When Jack O’Donnell found out that Larry Bartleson nominated
both he and Jim, what was his first reaction? “I told him I was going to get
even with him,” he said with a laugh.
Jim O’Donnell said he appreciates the honor, but he isn’t
involved with the Lions Club for the accolades. “I just like to serve,” he
said.
The Farmer Veteran Coalition is making a difference in the lives of veterans across the country. American veterans can sometimes find themselves looking for a direction in life after leaving the service. Veterans looking into the possibility of a career in agriculture for a potential post-military career have an ally. Paul Marshall is a Veteran Service Provider for the Farmer Veteran Coalition. He talks about the mission of his organization.
Studies have shown that a career in animal agriculture can help veterans in many ways. Working in the country is especially helpful for vets fighting off the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Marshall says the Veterans Administration Hospital is catching on to the fact that being in the country is good therapy. One service the Coalition provides is helping match farmers looking for help with veterans interested in agriculture.
The organization describes itself as an organization that sets out to cultivate a new generation of farmers and food leaders. They want to develop viable employment opportunities that turn into meaningful, lifelong careers.
The FMC website says.”We believe that veterans possess the unique skills and character needed to strengthen rural communities and create sustainable food systems. We believe that agriculture offers purpose, opportunity, and physical and psychological benefits.”
The roots of the organization go back to 2006. The first meeting to discuss pairing returning veterans with farmers looking for help took place in California. The movement expanded steadily from there. As recently as 2015, the number of veterans the organizations was working with totaled 4,500. The organization is now an independent 501c3. The group intends to keep paring returning veterans and farmers who need help for a long time to come.
For more information on the Farmer Veteran Coalition, check out www.farmvetco.org.
The SNAP program. It’s a polarizing discussion in already divided Washington, D.C. SNAP was a hot topic of discussion during a Senate hearing last week that featured the Secretary of Agriculture.
Sonny Perdue reiterated during a U.S. Senate hearing the need to restore the original intent of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The program’s intent is to be “a second chance, not a way of life.” USDA published a proposed rule to move able-bodied SNAP recipients into the workforce.
The proposed rule aims to make the program into assistance through difficult times, not lifelong dependency. This proposed rule focuses on work-related program requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents. It would apply to non-disabled people between the ages of 18 and 49, who have no dependents. The rule would not apply to the elderly, the disabled, or pregnant women. Those who are eligible to receive SNAP – including the underemployed – would still qualify.
There haven’t been any statutory changes to the welfare reform legislation of 1996. The Trump Administration feels an abuse of administrative flexibility in SNAP has undermined the ideal of self-sufficiency. President Bill Clinton signed the legislation that instituted work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents.
Then-President Clinton said, “First and foremost, it should be about moving people from welfare to work. It should impose time limits on welfare… It [work] gives structure, meaning and dignity to most of our lives.”
During last week’s Senate hearing, Secretary Perdue talked about work requirements and his proposed rule. He said: “What was accepted by the U.S. Senate and passed was the same bill that’s been there since the beginning of the Welfare Reform regarding the work requirements of 20 hours per week. And what you also passed was not a prohibition, it was no change to the fact that in one section it says that the Secretary may waive that applicability and we plan to do that for the ABAWDs. We think the purpose is to help people move to independency… We should help people when they are down but that should not be interminably.”
“…You all also provided for a 12 percent cushion for states that they could use for any purpose. But, we do not believe in states where unemployment is 4 percent that ABAWDs should be able to stay on food assistance interminably.”
You may click HERE or on the image below to watch Secretary Perdue’s remarks:
Background:
Congress implemented this work requirement in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996.
It allowed the Secretary, upon request from a State, to waive the work requirement during times of high unemployment.
The statute provides the Secretary withe authority to determine if an area has an insufficient jobs and qualifies for a waiver. The 2018 Farm Bill did not modify that discretion .
