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Letters to the Editor

Why are small towns dying?

Kit Brenan, Hillsboro Property taxes have done nothing but rise for almost 100% of residents in ND. If you rent and think you don’t pay property tax or specials, this is the main reason for yearly rent increases. Those costs are passed down. Yes, we’ve had state credits, buydowns, and applied for our $500 “gift” only to have to still pay MORE each year out of pocket. As with many school boards, Hillsboro’s Board wants us to bail them out of financial difficulty by asking for a 12 mill increase vote. Newsflash! There are a lot of people who are currently in “financial ...

Alzheimer’s Association honors local volunteers

Melanie Gaebe, Bismarck During National Volunteer Week (April 20-26), the Alzheimer’s Association MN-ND is proud to honor local volunteers making a difference in the fight against Alzheimer’s and all other dementia. An estimated seven million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s. Here in North Dakota, nearly 14,000 of our family members, friends and neighbors are living with Alzheimer’s and 19,000 people are their caregivers. We know that as the population of those 65 and older continues to grow, so will the number of North Dakotans with Alzheimer’s or ...

Feeding special interests while families struggle

Amy Jacobson, Prairie Action Executive director Right now, the North Dakota Legislature is considering a slate of so-called “education savings account” bills. Whatever the poll-tested “school choice” label of the week is, don’t be fooled — they do the same thing in effect: drain public dollars that could support our public schools to subsidize private school tuition. With one bill’s projected cost nearing a quarter of a billion dollars, these schemes shortchange the public schools that partner with parents to serve 93% of school-aged children in our state. And rural ...

Gratitude to Minot 911 operator, EMTs

Kay Kupser, Minot All Minot residents should be thankful for the 911 operator and EMT response team we have at our disposal. They responded to an emergency situation that occurred on March 27 at the Moose Lodge. The 911 call was placed and in 3-5 minutes the team was in the building. They were professional, respectful, considerate and calm. After careful assessment of the situation, their questions asked and answered, they had the patient in-transit to the hospital. Their fast response and care are greatly appreciated by all who were present and witnessed their professionalism. So ...

VA cuts need to stop

John Evanson, Fargo I am John Evanson, president of AFGE Local 3884, representing the hardworking staff of the Fargo VA hospital. There has been a concerted effort by this administration to paint Federal workers as incompetent and lazy working in a system that is fraught with abuse, fraud and waste. The answer this administration has proposed to ‘cure’ this situation, is to eliminate 80,000 workers from the VA workforce. This administration has consistently reiterated that these cuts will in no way impact Veteran services. I am writing to not only challenge this claim, but to go ...

Public expects better from leaders

Matt Gerszewski, West Fargo Seems like a number of bad choices have been made by Magic City leaders in the nearly four years since I moved from there after 40-plus years of enjoying life in Minot. The people of Minot deserve much better leadership than they’ve been getting. What in hades compels people to share their own sexually explicit material? A personal choice? Yes. But it’s also fair for the public to expect better personal choices from their leaders.