Why are we allowing our elected officials to continue to wring their collective hands over payouts for police officers? (Front page, April 3.) We should be forcing them to take the one big step needed to start the resolution of the problems in any police department in our state. Our state and cities need to start requiring officers to carry malpractice insurance as a condition of employment.

Rather than pay out millions in city funding to the victims of police malpractice, we should place the burden on the officers to maintain and certify that they have a personal stake in the practice of policing. Only then will you see officer behavior change. Only then will the officers around the rogues take swift action to protect their malpractice insurance and livelihood from being damaged by bad actors. The events that caused the spike in PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) claims would have been far less likely to occur if the officers who caused the problem were already taken into account by their co-officers with a major stake in the game.

Gregory Groess, Andover

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When I googled "Minneapolis PTSD claims," the first entry was an ad with the heading "Police Officers & Firefighters Get The Most From Your PTSD Claim." Perhaps this helps explain the cited Public Employees Retirement Association statistics in the well-researched Star Tribune article: Of the Minnesota public safety workers' disability claims from August 2020 through December 2021 (most of them PTSD-related), 43% were initiated in Minneapolis, 9% in St. Paul.

Judith Monson, St. Paul

'VIRGINIA MODEL'

Won't work here

I always chuckle when I read about a "new" Minnesota GOP approach to winning elections ("GOP taps 'Virginia model' in hopes of November sweep," April 3).

The "Virginia model," clumsily named and for the first time revealed because Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated previous Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe in that state last fall, is presented as a way for this state's GOP party to take the House and the governor's office this fall. The article states it was Youngkin's focus "on the economy, public safety and more parental control in classrooms" that delivered his victory, and Minnesota House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt is now drooling at the prospects.

Minnesota's economy is healthier than the nation's, even after the country has produced more than 400,000 new jobs in each of the past 11 months. Unemployment continues to fall and corporate profits are good. Minnesota's cash surplus was largely the result of unexpected tax revenue from sales and corporate/personal income taxes, a signal of a growing economy. Gov. Tim Walz took difficult steps to ensure public safety through the pandemic, and he continues to push measures to protect the public's health through his support of efforts to reduce pollution and fossil-fuel consumption.

As for parental control in education, get serious! Access to teachers, curriculum directors and course content is already available at each of Minnesota's school districts. Want to become more involved? You'll be welcomed.

It's comforting to know that these three issues are now important to Minnesota's GOP. Accomplishing good things together has just become much easier.

Loren W. Brabec, Braham, Minn.

SPORTS BETTING

Redirect those funds

I read with more than a bit of dismay the April 3 editorial supporting legalized sports gambling in the state ("Sports betting's time may have come"). But not for reasons readers might think. It's because the Star Tribune Editorial Board suggests that part of the proceeds should be used to support youth sports competitions.

Why is that? Is it because sports stars are continuously signing contracts for multimillions of dollars? Perhaps it's time that an equal amount be spent on academic competitions, particularly those related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). These competitions get about zero coverage yet are continuously touted as the country's future. In contrast, the Sports section on Sunday went on 14 pages. Maybe it's time we started rethinking our priorities.

Peter Lilienthal, Minneapolis

MINNESOTA'S EXPORTS

Teach that to kids

I was interested to read about Minnesota's exports in the "Curious Minnesota" article April 3. For me, it was a good review, put Minnesota's manufacturing and production industries in perspective and reminded me of where most of our state's products went.

It struck me that this information should be more well-known among all of us in Minnesota, part of our general knowledge base. It should be taught in social studies classes, reinforced by teachers throughout our students' school years, and used by vocational counselors for career planning. We expect our residents to know a variety of basic facts about our state; knowing the basics of our state's economy should be included.

Lois Willand, Minneapolis

FUSION ENERGY

Don't get all excited

Jon R. Clark's April 3 commentary "If ever there was a time to expend our energies on fusion" encourages us to go full steam ahead to make fusion energy available for large-scale electricity generation. People have been studying controlled fusion reactions for decades, and there is a lot known about them. Most of the negatives get buried, and only the positives get heard.

The sun uses hydrogen under extreme pressure and high temperatures to form an isotope of helium with no radiation being emitted. The difference in mass between two hydrogen atoms and a helium atom is released as heat per the Einstein equation E = mc2. On Earth we do not have any vessel to contain the high temperatures and pressures needed to use hydrogen as a fuel. We need to use a vessel that uses powerful magnets to contain a plasma that consists of completely ionized atoms. Since we cannot approach the pressures of the sun, we need to substitute deuterium and/or tritium for the hydrogen, and we get out helium and a bunch of high-energy neutrons. These neutrons account for much of the energy released by the reaction. The neutrons also activate the nuclei of the materials that contain the plasma and thus the container becomes radioactive waste. The neutrons from a fusion reactor can be used to create plutonium by irradiating Uranium-238, so the reactor can be used to make bomb fuel. Fusion is not likely to be a significantly positive factor in the energy field for a long time if ever.

See "Fusion reactors: Not what they're cracked up to be" (tinyurl.com/bulletin-fusion).

Martin Urberg, Edina

'RONDO RESURRECTED?'

So many more questions

"Rondo resurrected? That's their plan" (local section, April 3) omits many necessary issues for discussion. Such as: how a land bridge with housing and businesses might be financed to become primarily owned by Black people; how is that even a legal objective; where to store the huge quantity of equipment, structural components, materials and supplies leading up to and during the construction project without demolishing (many?) existing homes and buildings; how side effects such as air, dust, fumes and noise pollution will be mitigated; and how will the expected rising property values and real estate taxes impact presumed primarily Black owners' ability, short and long term, to obtain and retain ownership, over upcoming generations, given real-time, well-known challenges in this regard.

Further, please inform us of ongoing strategies to reach sufficient public, legislative, state and federal support, given the divisive political environment in Minnesota and the nation. Finally, please let the public know how join these discussions.

Rondo community resurrection is a timely, worthy goal. However, aligning goals and dreams with real-world, informative details certainly has to become a major priority within the ongoing publication of related news.

Jim Cox, Circle Pines

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