Our View: Peacetime emergency nearly 1 year old Gov. Tim Walz issued his first executive order concerning COVID-19 nearly a year ago on March 13, 2020. Written By: Post Bulletin Editorial Board | 6:00 am, Feb. 20, 2021 × Gov. Tim Walz extended the state's peacetime emergency this week. We give that a thumbs down -- not to Walz himself or his choice of action, but to the fact that this move is necessary. Republicans feel slighted that Walz is using emergency powers to formulate the state's response to the coronavirus. They have challenged his authority in different ways to no avail. If we could count on all of our fellow Minnesotans, and Americans, to take the basic health precautions and considerate actions that public health experts prescribe – masking, distancing, hand-washing, avoiding large gatherings – we might have been seeing the end of this crisis.