Suburban and outstate communities want their assets to become better known to residents and businesses looking to relocate.

They call this effort branding, a process that looks at the community’s assets, traditions and history and develops slogans, and in some cases, new logos.

Most suburban Minnesota school superintendents say the way schools are funded is a disaster and is ruining the quality of education.

“There is a crisis in public education and it is significant,” one superintendent wrote. “Minnesota has decided to abandon its support for public education.”

Is the ISD 831 School Board able to put a stop to  the blood-letting that has infected the board this winter? It’s a nasty situation that did not get any better when the board met on March 6.

At the center of the debate and now controversy is Board member David Gay’s insistence in January that Superintendent Lynn Steenblock be held accountable for his role in not requiring specific criminal background of two independent contracts who later became part of tragic incidents involving students.