A collection of your comments from this winter so far. Thank you, as always, for sending in your thoughts and opinions. They make an impact on how we cover Southwest Minneapolis.

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Federal worker reaches out for community conversation

I, too, have been grappling with a similar sense of confusion and uncertainty. While I'm not a public servant, my job involves working with a large number of nonprofits in the Twin Cities as well as my own neighborhood association, both of which are being–and will be– impacted by these policy changes.

I think you raise some important questions. "What law says I can’t display my pronouns at work? How much can actually be done by executive order? Can livelihoods really be upended so easily over something so... basic as which pronoun to use?"

What law, indeed. I'd like to see the details of that specific law. Executive orders can be intimidating, the name alone makes them sound absolute and undefeatable, but with resistance and pushback, they can be taken down. No one's livelihood should be threatened because of pettiness and bigotry. I'm so sorry that this is happening.

Like you said, you are not alone. We have each other and we stand together. Stay strong and take care of yourself. -Beth Johnson, Minneapolis resident

I thought federal employees were protected by Civil Service protections. How can this be legal? I'm sorry that there aren't legal protections for federal employees and that you and your family are being subjected to these heavy-handed tactics of questionable legality. -Southwest resident

Thanks for publishing this letter.  I'm also a federal employee at the VA (benefits, not medical). I'm also extremely anxious and concerned about the future of my job, my family, and the impacts that cuts to support programs will have on the most vulnerable in our community. I've been asking people to make calls to members of Congress, senators and Gov. Walz.  -Anonymous Veterans Affairs worker

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Meet Steven the Ice Guy

This is such a cool story. I have often wondered how thick the ice was and now I have a handy resource and I am aware of yet another cool neighbor. -Scott Graham

As winter proceeds and provided we have enough snow, a group of volunteers will be grooming the city lakes for cross-country skiing. We plan on making a 'flat' skating trail as well as two tracks for classic skiing.  We will also roll a flat trail for walkers, snowshoeing and biking. We hope to place signs if the snow is deep enough to hold them up. We ask that the public be aware of which trail is which and respect the hard work to create these trails on our lakes. Think Snow! -Dave, lake grooming volunteer

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Hardware store closing

It's really sad to see them leave. I am working at a business nearby and they are right–police presence is not there so these people run the area.