Impeachment trial needs to go forth

January 16, 2020

With the ball in the U.S. Senate’s court regarding an impeachment trial for President Donald Trump, a rather strange debate is occurring among some senators: Should there even be a trial? What are they thinking? After several days of sitting on articles of impeachment approved by Democrat lawmakers, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi is ready to forward them to the Senate. That official action was needed before senators could do anything about the matter. In essence, the president is accused by House Democrats of two things: attempting to enlist Ukrainian leaders to ...

Give autonomous vehicles a chance

January 15, 2020

The nanny crowd ­— folks who insist only government is capable of protecting us against any hazard — wasted no time in criticizing proposed new federal guidelines for autonomous vehicle makers. “This is a science experiment playing out in real time on our roadways without any safeguards or assurances,” insisted Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao revealed plans for the guidelines, referring to them as “AV 4.0,” on Wednesday. She did so at a technology show in Las Vegas. Autonomous vehicles — ...

Puerto Rico needs support of US

January 14, 2020

Our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico just can’t seem to catch a break. Still attempting to recover from Hurricane Maria in 2017, many on the islands have been affected by strong earthquakes. In comparison to the hurricane, which killed nearly 3,000 people and caused nearly $100 billion in damage, last week’s quake was not serious. Just one death has been reported by authorities. But the 6.4-magnitude quake was bad enough. Last week, about 250,000 Puerto Ricans were without water. The homes of many were damaged badly or destroyed. Perhaps the worst aspect of the disaster is ...

Get on with sorry impreachment mess

January 13, 2020

Gamesmanship appears to be the order of the day in Washington, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spar over ground rules for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, millions of Americans just want the fiasco to end. Without evidence Trump committed unconstitutional acts, majority Democrats in the House of Representatives impeached him last month. That should have set up a swift trial in the Senate. What will happen there is virtually a foregone conclusion. Republicans are in the Senate majority, and by every appearance, ...

Take a step back before deciding on new city hall

January 11, 2020

"A step back is required to fully vet out both options,” council member Paul Pitner said at last Monday’s city council meeting. “I want to get more detailed and up-to-date renovation costs associated with both buildings.” Those buildings are the former Midwest Federal and Wells Fargo bank buildings downtown. Both are under consideration to be Minot’s next city hall as the existing city hall is deemed vastly too small – now and for the coming years. There is, however, simply too much at stake financially to make a hasty decision. As we reported, the ballpark cost of ...

Trump’s peace gesture the right move

January 10, 2020

Iran’s leaders accomplished what they needed to do this week, with a major rocket attack on two areas in Iraq where U.S. troops were housed. They were able to tell their own people they would not allow the “great Satan” — the United States — to push them around. Scores of U.S. troops died in the rocket assault, Iranian media insisted. In reality, not a single American perished. Launched in reaction to the U.S. slaying of Iranian terrorist leader Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian barrage amounted to mere saber rattling. It did give President Donald Trump an opportunity to ...