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Criminal justice reform worth continued discussion

Readers who missed last week’s series that Minot Daily News published, Outside Chances, taking a comprehensive look at the state of criminal justice reform and the penal system might want to consider taking a second look at the five days of coverage or accessing the stories online. The series pointed out both the challenges to the system and to those in it as well as spotlighted efforts to address these challenges. Those challenges include prison population and expense to taxpayers, the pressure on the system’s probation workers, the reintegration of former inmates into ...

It’s time Ward County has a K-9 deputy

The Minot Police Department has a new K-9 in Caspian, a two-year-old Tervuren Shepherd trained to sniff out explosives. Caspian was introduced to city council members last week and put on a short demonstration. Also last week the Ward County Commission gave its approval for Sheriff Robert Roed to sniff out potential donors for a K-9 deputy for his department. That is a good decision on the part of Roed and the commission. Time and time again dogs trained to help law enforcement prove to be more than worth what taxpayers invest in them. They have saved lives, including those of their ...

City, County budgets may appease taxpayers

Many in Minot are still smarting from last year’s city property tax increase, and for good reason. It was a decided increase last year. Yes, the City of Minot offered a detailed, rational explanation for the need for last year’s increase. Previous city councils and administrations had kept property taxes low by using sales tax during the Bakken boom to pay for essential services – a public policy routinely excoriated in most places. Booms don’t last, sales tax revenue can increase or decrease based on many factors, and Minot isn’t the first city to learn that there will be a ...

Future of planned gathering space is cloudy

At a Minot City Council meeting this week, an alderman asserted something that resounded with truth and sincerity. “This issue is among the most significant facing this community,” council member Josh Wolsky said, Monday night. “Our ability to execute and deliver is going to reflect long into the future and have considerable trust implications.” Wolsky was addressing ongoing challenges in the planned development of a downtown gathering space, following a comprehensive presentation by owners of properties within the planned downtown gathering place proposing to scale back the ...

Roots of mass shootings aren’t easy to identify, address

Exactly why the pitiful, sick weaklings who murdered 31 people in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, committed their horrific deeds may never be known. But as always, the reaction has been calls that the government do more to prevent mass killings. Stricter gun control laws already have been suggested by some. Minot Daily News doubts they would do any good. Homicidal maniacs will always find some way to kill. Doing more to find out what triggers their murderous impulses is imperative. Then, the debate over how to stop them can begin. Among the very few things we know about mass ...

Engaging youth in learning history may require innovation

After years, even decades, of school curricula changing with the times, strapped budgets in many places, and numerous outside influences, today’s focus on STEM (for science, technology, engineering and mathematics) through countless programs at all levels is an admirable thing. After all, studies show we have slipped behind many other nations when it comes to student performance in these areas and these fields of study are strongly desirable assets for a young person entering our increasingly technology-driven world. However, studies demonstrate a notable lack of student knowledge of ...