After a few barn-burner years, political crop art appears to be on the outs at the Minnesota State Fair. (See 2008 selections here and 2009 selections here.)

There was nary a rendering of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann to be found in the Agriculture Horticulture building. Last year she popped up three times.

The Cubs' 6-3 loss to Rochester signals not only the end of the team’s state tournament run, but something much more ominous – summer’s final stretch.

Not convinced? How about this week’s cool weather? You don’t even need air conditioning.

Are you listening? Of course the leaves are still green. But they’re a “tired” green. The type of green that isn’t long for this world. You can almost see the golds and oranges bursting out.

“Beautiful small-town America with a strong sense of community,” was the winning entry in the city’s recent “Best Reasons to Live and Work in Chaska Contest.”

This and 36 “honorable mention” entries are listed here.

Personally, I’m partial to the one “Herald” shout-out. Thanks!

However, I thought the best way to analyze these entries was a “by the numbers” approach, so here goes:

37: Number of entries listed

Good news for aficionados of history, the open road and small-town America.

After three years, the Yellowstone Trail Association is once again issuing copies of its newsletter “The Arrow” The first issue, found here, is free. Future issues are available with membership.

The association was founded to help preserve the history of the road.

Entering the Clover Ridge neighborhood April 24, I was passed by a SUV with a pink and white plastic playhouse perched on top.

Yes. It was once again time for the 24th annual Jonathan Festival of Garage Sales.

The sales, organized by St. Andrew West Lutheran Church, are a great barometer of trends and technology.

When I was at the Friends of the Chaska Library book sale today at Chaska City Hall, I spotted not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE book buyers using those little barcode scanners.

The digital readers relay how much a book is worth. Each one was purchasing books for resale on the Internet, or to bring to a used bookstore. (That is, unless they are reading books based on their resale value – the same way someone might purchase a car.)

Are newspapers shrinking?

Pull out that commemorative newspaper gathering dust in the closet. You know the one – “Germany surrenders,” “Ventura elected governor,” “New Coke introduced” – and you’ll discover that, yes, newspapers are smaller today, with narrower pages.

In this month’s “True West” magazine (most excellent Christmas gift – thanks mom and dad), I learned that the straight-to-video movie “The Donner Party” is being released soon.

Asking residents to shop locally merely to support local businesses is an uphill battle.

Most shoppers, especially in this economy, will ferret out the cheapest prices. Cruel as it might sound, supporting local merchants takes a back seat to shaving a few bucks off a bill.

So this Christmas season, instead of a “shop local” campaign, it may be a safer bet to remind residents to “shop smart.”

For this week's Chaska Herald, I wrote an editorial giving some of my ideal traits for Chaska's next mayor. Feel free to post your own job description for Chaska's next leader.

Full-time: Public Service

Residents of the city of Chaska, a venerable city with over 150 years of effective governance, are now seeking applicants for the position of mayor.

The more-than-full-time position pays a pittance of $8,208 a year, but if you’re in it for the money, you’re not smart enough to be mayor.