We are in the middle of celebrating Building Safety Month at the City of Minot, which gives us an opportunity to reflect and focus on building safety both as a city and as a society. Building codes weren’t always a priority in the United States. Historically, the Chicago fire of 1871 helped ...

The bottom fell out of church membership between 1999 and 2018, spelling serious trouble for the well-being of Christendom in the decades down the road. According to a comprehensive poll taken by the very creditable Gallup organization, in 1999 70% 0f Americans were church members. This ...

The North Dakota Republican Party has built a dominant political machine. They hold every single statewide office, and majorities in the Legislature so large that when Republicans act in concert Democrats are inconsequential to the policymaking process. This didn’t happen by ...

I’ll admit it. I’m prejudiced against dummies. Not all of them. Just the duplicitous dumb ones who think they’re smart. You see how this leads directly to politics. I know I’ve been hard on Republicans, but it’s their own dang fault. If they weren’t so adamant about the 2nd ...

Before launching into our main topic this week, I want to demonstrate that if you hang around long enough you can see history repeat itself, case in point: federal revenue sharing. Back in 1967, U.S. Treasury people were shocked to discover that the nation had more money than it could spend. ...

For a guy claiming to be the most innocent man ever, President Trump’s sure working hard to cover up his innocence. Last week he flip-flopped like a carp in the sand about having The Grand Exonerator, Robert Mueller, testify before Congress. Apparently, facts might confuse people. Nor does ...

During the waning days of the 2019 legislative session the budget for the state auditor’s office was sneakily amended to severely limit the autonomy of that office. The amendment requires the auditor to go begging to the Legislature for permission to conduct performance audits. The ...

ere’s a bold prediction: Former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is probably going to run for governor. I don’t think she wants to be president of the University of North Dakota. Her name has been thrown around a bit for that job, and while she’s played coy when asked if she’d take the gig, ...

In the closing days of the 2019 legislative session lawmakers amended the budget for the Auditor’s Office to include language gutting that office’s authority. Under this new language, the state auditor is on a leash held in the hands of the Legislature. His office may only initiate ...

In the United States, a fire department responds to a fire every 23 seconds. Each of these fires occurs under different conditions, hence the fire service mantra: Every fire is different. (NFPA, 2011) This, in many ways, sums up the work the Fire Prevention Bureau does to keep the citizens of ...

One of my goals as mayor is to create opportunities for members of our community to interact with the City of Minot, including myself, City Council members, City Manager Tom Barry, department heads, and other employees. Too often municipal governments are painted as nameless, faceless entities, ...

"I’m going to run,” announced Old Sievert as he joined the other 12 town electors in the community hall for the spring planning conference of the Homeland Security Committee. “That may be kind of risky, you using a cane and all,” noted Josh Dvorchik. “I haven’t seen you run in ...

Republicans scored big wins for our state this session. We addressed key issues that matter to all North Dakotans, including infrastructure funding, workforce development, human services, and education. As we leave Bismarck, we are going home having balanced the budget with no tax ...

During the 66th Legislative Assembly, Democratic-NPL legislators successfully advanced a legislative agenda that puts the needs of working families first and supports the values of North Dakotans. Strong state investments in these four areas help the people of our state. They also reduce the ...

According to the National Weather Service, we’re on track for the Weirdest Year on Record. Now, I don’t want this to devolve into a climate change discussion, because everyone knows that’s a plot to something, something, China, something, something, New World Order, something, but ...

There is a humanitarian crisis at the southern border. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), unauthorized immigrant crossings reached a 12-year high in 2019. Over 318,000 have attempted to enter illegally through the southern border since the beginning of fiscal year 2019. ...

Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury-related death for teens. That’s an eye-opening statistic for anyone to read, especially parents. In North Dakota, there is a statewide strategy called Vision Zero, to reduce motor vehicle crash deaths and serious injuries to zero. The goal of ...

For centuries, philosophers have tried to rationalize the underpinnings of governments. We are supposed to be in some make-believe contract to bond together for mutual security, shared services, negotiating conflict and keeping the peace. Even in the best of years, our society has struggled ...

Once upon a time I thought Mark Kennedy was going to be a good leader for the University of North Dakota. I cheered when he made tough decisions like closing down the women’s hockey program which bled money because, despite vocal support from some, few showed up to watch the games or ...

Progressives gathered on 4/20 in a smoke-filled backroom at an undisclosed location that for sure wasn't Leonardo DiCaprio's home. Actually, it was more of a rave than a meeting — don't take the brown acid — but there were pressing issues on the agenda. “What if Trump sends all those ...