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Women in Washington

Linda Kelley Freivalds in Washington, DC

May 2017

At the Fenced off White House

• My trip really started upon boarding plane -- also on board Rep. Keith Ellison and Mpls Fed Chair Neel Kashkari both in jeans and sitting in coach!
• I met my childhood friend, Leslie Briggs, at National Airport. Leslie and I had not seen each other from her wedding day in 1968 until two years ago when we attended our 50th high school class reunion. We spent a few days in Boston and had a wonderful time -- it was like we had always been close! Our birthdays are four days apart and we decided to spend our 70th on a "girls" holiday together and chose Washington, DC as it is so beautiful in the spring (well anytime actually).

Published 4/24/17

By John Freivalds

I do love the warm weather and the arrival of spring, but unwelcome visitors are the hundreds of Harley-Davidson motorcycles that starting noisily plying around the lake and where we live on Hennepin County Road 19.

Honda and BMW motorcycles don’t attract the type of riders who want to make as much noise as possible. A Harley with straight pipes (no muffler) gives off 100 decibels. That same as a car horn at the distance, according Purdue University.

Here's one part of spring that isn't music to the ears

I've got no issue with Harleys (that would be like opposing apple pie). But about those decibels …

Published March 30th, 2017

By John Freivalds

I love warm weather and the arrival of spring. But unwelcome visitors are the hundreds of Harley Davidson motorcycles that start noisily plying around Lake Minnetonka. Honda and BMW motorcycles don’t attract the type of riders who want to make as much noise as possible.

Health Care Access is not the same as Coverage: Here’s Mayo’s Economic Reality

I have been going to the Mayo clinic for over 10 years and wanted to bring this personal view of healthcare to people’s attention. Money talks and Medicare no longer will.

Published March 15th, 2017

By John Freivalds

The Mayo Clinic is a mystical concept in many people’s minds.  I used to think that it was a place only Kings and Presidents of countries went for the best medical care.  But when my knees went bad I found out otherwise.  And my situation points out that access to Mayo or other top other clinics, like Cleveland, Mt. Sinai, Johns Hopkins or MD Anderson around the country does not mean than you can get treated there.