It is good news that the Minot Area Chamber EDC plans to host Saturday legislative forum as it has done in the past, sans COVID-19. For those of us a couple of hours away from the action at the state Capitol, every two years the popular forums are another way to stay informed. The forums also ...

Americans are stressing out over how long they’ll have to endure isolation, closed businesses and fear of COVID-19. It all hinges on getting vaccinated. Yet, only one-third of doses shipped to the states are actually making it into people’s arms. The public hears the wait will be many ...

First, N.D. state legislators had to weigh the risks of reporting for duty at the Capitol during a pandemic. That was tough enough, now this. “This” being credible threats of violence that have been made against all the of nation’s state capitols including in Bismarck. We are not ...

It is amazing how many people seem to have discovered last Wednesday that riots are wrong -- when many of those same people apparently had not noticed that when riots went on, for weeks or even months, in various cities across the country last year. For too many people, especially in the ...

A replica of a landmark building now stands in Maxbass, thanks to the co-owners of a local construction company Steve and Todd Farden, co-owners of Farden Construction, Inc., bought the building that once was a bank and then a post office. The building was in poor condition so it was torn ...

The merger of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce and Minot Area Development Corp. as of Jan. 1 of this year is a great move for the two organizations. Chamber and MADC investors overwhelmingly voted in favor of the merger in December, with 94% of the ballots to Chamber members noting approval ...

For months, Americans’ pleas for Congress to give us more financial help in coping with COVID-19 have fallen on political ears — much worse than merely deaf ones — in Washington. Exactly why lawmakers were unable to agree on a second CARES Act is open to debate. Republican loyalists ...

Miguel Cardona, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to become secretary of education, would have a full plate even without COVID-19. But the epidemic has been an education catastrophe, and dealing with the fallout from it simply must be Cardona’s top priority, assuming he is confirmed by the ...

When politicians talk about “the science,” they often limit discussion to their science. A long as we understand that, we can defend ourselves by checking more reliable sources. But what happens when the politicians start tinkering with primary sources — with reports from government ...

We are all for Governor Burgum moving the COVID-19 threat level from high to moderate. No, we don’t think COVID-19 is over with, but it is again, slowing down. More importantly – small, locally owned, businesses are critical to the economic survival of North Dakota. As of Monday, ...

U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has a lot of explaining to do, as some in Washington are saying his removal this fall of mail sorting machines at postal facilities is partly to blame for challenges the U.S. Postal Service faced in getting packages delivered during the Christmas season. Of ...

The Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees that we Americans can own firearms. We venture to suggest those who wrote and ratified the Constitution did not intend it to promote the accidental shootings of children. In fact, it is likely accidental shootings of childen were far less ...

Should he be confirmed, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice for U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs has a LOT of work to do to restore trust in the agency — and to do right by the men and women it serves. President Donald Trump has referred to the federal bureaucracy as “the swamp.” ...

Distribution of millions of doses of vaccine effective against COVID-19 was no Christmas miracle. It happened only because many people at private drug companies worked hard and at top speed — encouraged by the federal government — to develop and test the vaccines. And they were released ...

It will not be a surprise if months of pent-up frustrations prompt many people to blow off more than a little steam this New Year’s Eve. The evening is viewed by many as the one time a year they let their hair down, anyway. There is nothing wrong with having a little fun, of course. But ...

Once again, we have been reminded of how courageously many law enforcement personnel react to their protect-and-serve mandate. On Christmas morning, a bomb exploded in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It had been placed in a recreational vehicle. The perpetrator had placed a loudspeaker in it, ...

Law enforcement agencies throughout the nation have been rethinking their tactics this year, in efforts to prevent tragedies such as the death in March of Louisville, Kentucky, resident Breonna Taylor. Taylor died during a raid by police investigating illegal drug trafficking — with which ...

It seems difficult sometimes to keep up with all the lawsuits against drug companies without a scorecard. But the more we learn about the truly evil practices in which some engaged, the more it seems the punishment cannot be too harsh. A bipartisan congressional report issued last week ...

What is being called the SolarWinds hack of tens of thousands of private and government networks may have been the most serious digital invasion of the United States ever, those with knowledge of the situation have said. It may take years to repair the damage, they add. As many as 18,000 ...

We urge area residents thinking of going over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house this Christmas to bear one thing in mind: We are not out of the woods yet. In many ways, COVID-19 is more dangerous than ever in most states. Public health officials cautioned us all about ...