HONORING VETERANS Welcome home, indeed. Minot's first welcome home party for Vietnam veterans was held this past Thursday, after the North Dakota Legislature designated March 29 as North Dakota Vietnam Veterans Day. Veterans and well-wishers filled the parking lot at the Metro Mall in southwest Minot to enjoy lunch and fellowship. Organizers said roughly 150 Vietnam veterans attended the event, along with another 150 or people. The Erik Ramstad Middle School band provided music for the event, which culminated in the release of 198 balloons with the names of North Dakota Vietnam veterans whose names are on the wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Minot is proud to host such an event. Every veteran deserves to be honored for their service, and events like the one Thursday are a good way to publicly recognize and thank military members for their sacrifices. Welcome home.
ROUGH ROAD AHEAD Not surprisingly, Minot's roads haven't fared well in the past year. Even before the waters of the rampaging Souris River inundated parts of the city, damaging roads and other infrastructure, city streets weren't in very good shape. The flood made it worse. Increased truck traffic related to the oil industry and the ongoing construction boom has not been kind to city streets. Finding a street in town that isn't showing signs of serious wear and tear is difficult, if not impossible. Potholes are everywhere, and some of them are downright dangerous to hit with a vehicle. The unseasonably warm weather this winter has given crews the opportunity to provide temporary fixes in many spots around town, but permanent paving projects won't start until asphalt plants open, perhaps in mid-April. We understand the problem is overwhelming for the city. There are so many places to fix it's hard to know where to begin. But we trust that crews will be working as soon as possible and as quickly as possible to fix streets. We just hope it's soon real soon.