(Local View from 4'2, Lake County Press, February 20, 2026) A memory recently popped into my head about an experience I had at summer camp as a kid. Maybe it’s due to the brief reprieve of cold temps and a promise of warmer weather to come. Maybe because this time of year brings a deeply ingrained muscle memory of the start for planning for summer camp.  As Sophia Petrillo would say “Picture this...”, it’s July in Minnesota at summer camp, it’s the 1980’s and I’m 13 years old

Local View from 4'2, Lake County Press, February 6, 2026 “Be kind, everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” Let’s be real, raw and vulnerable. This past week I lost my composure in a community leadership space. My mind, heart, and spirit had just finally had enough. So in this safe space of a Zoom meeting with leaders I have worked with for years and some for only months, I ugly cried in response to the topic of accessible events. Leading up to this conversation I had a

Local View from 4'2, Lake County Press, February 6, 2026 As I begin my fifth year of writing Local View from 4 foot 2, I really never thought I would be talking about the fight for keeping Section 504, IDEA and ugly laws. Ugly laws are city ordinances in the late 19th century to late 20th century in US cities that prohibited people with “visible disabilities, diseases, or deformities” from being in public spaces. Violators were fined, imprisoned or involuntarily sterilized. “

Local View from 4'2, Lake County Press, January 23, 2026 During these past weeks or, if I am honest, months of chaos in our state and beyond I have been challenged on how can I, a disabled activist in rural Minnesota, be of help. I hate to admit it but I spent days being overwhelmed by all of the horrible stories of disabled friends having their support systems immediately terminated through no fault of their own. I saw the life changes family and friends had to make to keep