Speculation on the 2020 gubernatorial race has already begun and, for the incumbent, it looks more like a walk. There is no use in making a charade out of the whole thing so let’s put the political circles at ease by making an iron-clad prognostication: Governor Doug Burgum will be the ...

A recent news article reported $56k was paid to legislators on days they were absent from work during the last legislative session. The vast majority of these absences were for legitimate reasons – lawmakers attending a funeral or conference, recuperating from a minor illness, recovering from ...

For some reason Heidi Heitkamp — despite just one, flukey electoral victory to her name in the last two decades — has been anointed an expert in certain Democratic circles on how to appeal to rural voters. Recently, the erstwhile senator delivered a luncheon speech to a convention of ...

The other day, cops nabbed a guy driving around in a stolen car with his ex-con girlfriend, a gun, a bottle of whiskey, a rattlesnake, and some uranium. Somewhere in that sentence are the makings of a great country song. It’s almost too obvious to mention that this happened in Oklahoma, ...

North Dakota has very strong open records laws, and the foundation of that strength is a presumption that all records kept by the state are public absent law specifically allowing them to be kept a secret. This means that when you request records from the government — any iteration of it ...

It’s North Dakota State Fair time in Minot. The festivities officially begin Friday, and for nine days, Minot will welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors. They’ll party at the concerts. They’ll visit the exhibits and displays, and they’ll patronize the vendors. They’ll watch the ...

Whenever my son comes with a black box, I know I’m going to be pressured into a new electronic gimmick the learning of which, considering a human’s normal lifespan, can’t be amortized in my schedule. And I’ll have to learn more than I want to know about something. “What’s ROKU?” ...

Not quite as horrifying as the most recent news about Jeffrey Epstein, but still entirely nauseating, has been the rush to use the man as a political cudgel. The secretive financier who may or may not be a billionaire ⁠— his money management firm is based in the U.S. Virgin Islands and ...

People in high places sure are nervous about the Jeffrey Epstein case. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta has a lot of ‘splainin’ to do about the secret plea deal he brokered as a prosecutor in 2008 that was supposed to put the serial pedophile rapist and sex trafficker behind bars. Instead, ...

“Daddy, I’m in the water.” “I am, too, Sweetie.” “But my face is in the water and I can’t breathe.” “I’m covered with water and I can’t even move.” “Where are we, Daddy?” “We are on the shore of the big river.” “What are we doing here in the cold ...

After Ronald Reagan, then 73, faltered in his 1984 debate with Walter Mondale, he got off the canvas and delivered one of the great knockout punches in history. Asked about his age in the next debate, he said, “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth, and ...

Amber Schulz believes her family is at risk because her biological mother has been transferred from the state women’s prison to a halfway house in Fargo just four months into a four-year sentence for running an adoption scam. “It’s scary,” said Schulz, of Woodworth, N.D. “I have so ...

Minot’s hard work on changing the hub city funding formula is expected to pay off very soon. Under a new formula approved by the 2019 N.D. Legislature, Minot is projected to collect approximately $4 million more in hub city funding over the next two years. Shane Goettle, special counsel who ...

"All Nationalism Is Idolatry” blared the headline of an opinion paper in California, arguing that “the Christian scriptures contend that all allegiance to the God of love is paramount, and yet all modern (and ancient) nation-states enact a religious pageantry that demands the total ...

My fellow ‘Muricans, in honor of America’s 2019th birthday, I’ve prepared a Patriotism Test. I know it’s only the Juneth of July, but if there are bombs bursting in air, it means Independence Day is essentially underway. Or else Iran got the drop on us. This test won’t be easy. I’ve ...

The Red River Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America have started themselves a softball team. Their goal is “raising visibility and connecting with the community.” This isn’t an uncommon tactic for social movements. Churches hold dances. Political parties hold pie ...

Does the white man have no shame? Our consciences ought to be enraged by the effort the state is making in relation to oil that belongs to the Three Tribes under Lake Sakakawea. But before getting into the specifics, we need context to grasp the infamy of the proposed action. The white man ...

I wish the Fake News would do a better job of covering all the flag burnings in America. If you believed in climate change — which is even more unpatriotic than flag burning — you’d believe that flag fires are a major cause of CO2 in the atmosphere. North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer should ...

Recently Joel Heitkamp, brother of former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, has been begging the question about whether or not his sister will run for governor. It’s a business move. Anyone who has seen the numbers knows Heitkamp’s radio audience is so old it’s shrinking due to death. He’s ...

There are opportunities for Democrats to win back rural America, but they have to know how to win.” That’s what former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp said in a recent interview, occasioned by her activism on behalf of the One Country Project. That’s an advocacy and lobbying group co-founded ...