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Difficult time for many ND farmers

This is a very difficult time for many farmers in North Dakota who are faced with the problem of trying to get their crops harvested in fields flooded or saturated with water, and if they can harvest, to get those crops to the elevators over muddy or flooded roads. On Monday Gov. Doug Burgum, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and other state officials made a trip across the state to see areas impacted by extremely wet conditions. On Monday, Burgum also signed an executive order declaring a statewide flood emergency. Burgum’s office reported his executive order will pave the ...

Gathering space not the only divisive project

The Minot Park Board last week backed away from any participation in the proposed downtown gathering space, citing several concerns. One board member said he couldn’t back the South Broadway site because it was not the public’s first choice, which has been abandandoned. Safety issues at the same location was a concern of another board member. Not the least of other often-heard complaints about the proposed gathering site is the sentiment that it simply isn’t wanted or needed. And that one is hard to get passed. It’s not the same as picking a cheaper piece of land or finding a ...

Drug abuse is a war we are losing nationwide

The standard measuring stick for determining the human cost of the drug abuse crisis tends to be the number of lives claimed by it — more than 70,000 annually in the United States. As we have pointed out, that exceeds the total number of U.S. deaths in the Vietnam War (58,220). But an estimate released a few days ago, of the epidemic’s cost in dollars, also provides a window into human suffering. A study by the Society of Actuaries concludes the opioid epidemic cost the United States $681 billion from 2015-18. For 2019 alone, the expense may be as high as $214 billion, the ...

Can’t sweep sexual assault, harassment under the rug

It has been just two years since the #MeToo movement came on the national stage. Its founder and others concerned about sexual assault and harassment worry that the issue has been sidetracked by candidates for president next year. #MeToo founder Tarana Burke is doing something about that. She has come up with a new hashtag campaign — #MeTooVoter. “You can’t have 12 million people respond to a hashtag in this country and they not be constituents, taxpayers and voters,” Burke told The Associated Press in reference to her original initiative. Not a single one of the dozen or ...

Pelosi should call for a vote

Democrats in the House of Representatives remind us of the old West judge who promised defendants he would give them a fair trial —then hang them. The “impeachment inquiry” engineered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is no more than her attempt to pursue a vendetta. Our nation’s founders never meant for impeachment to adhere to the same standards as a criminal trial, of course. They understood impeachment is a political process. Still, they envisioned safeguards for that process. One is that even an inquiry should have some bipartisan support. Trump, in refusing to allow ...

Trump right about Syria pullout

Members of Congress who want to “overturn” President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria are engaging in an absurd performance of political theater. Many lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, have been critical of Trump’s decision to abandon Kurdish separatists in Syria. Their army, in Iraq as well as Syria, has been America’s most staunch, effective ally in the war against terrorism. But the Kurds are viewed by Turkey as a dangerous force seeking to take part of that country in order to form a Kurdish nation. One cannot blame the Turk for resisting ...