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Have you heard that millions and millions of federal aid for the victims of hurricane Katrina have been squandered away? It seems that FEMA was ill-prepared for a catastrophe of this magnitude. Granted, who would ever expect a hurricane of that size, but come on. How can there not be a direct process pre-laid out for almost every imaginable catastrophe? Wouldn’t the first thing on FEMA's agenda be to formulate a checklist for a hurricane, a checklist for a tornado, a checklist for a nuclear war etc., etc. It makes one wonder if the government is spending the federal aid money with reckless abandon. Where did my money that I and millions upon millions donated to the hurricane relief fund go?

We are nearing the end of our Celebration of the Lakes photo contest. I’m not sure if it was the location change or the inclement weather, but we just have not received that many entries. This is your last chance to get your pictures entered in the contest. We will be picking soon, and we know there are still some out there that haven’t entered yet.

There is a strange loneliness here at the Press. Our longtime roommate, the Chisago Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, has finally moved into their new home across the street. They are now located at the old library, in Lindstrom, next to the Veteran’s Memorial. It has been a great match having them located in our building, but their new home is going to be terrific. If you are out and about in the future, why don’t you stop in and say hi to Brenda and Kelley. You can see the new layout of the building and see what is now our new Chisago Lakes Area Information Center.

Which brings me to our next subject. If you have a small business and are looking for an office in downtown Lindstrom, please give us a call at 651-257-5115. It is a great location with easy access.

Sadly, we lost one of our own last week. Tom Huffman, the owner of the Porterhouse, in Center City, passed away Thursday. Tom has been a staple in the Center City business district for some time now. He had really worked at getting the Porterhouse into a clean, nice looking establishment that served good food. Our condolences go out to Tom’s family and friends.

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