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Letters to the Editor

Mental health services should be local

Madison Hanson, Fargo Minot should be deeply concerned about the proposal to build a $400 million state hospital in Jamestown. As a Master of Social Work student specializing in public policy, I see a critical misalignment between this plan and the needs of the Minot community. Instead of investing in a distant facility, we should repurpose the vacant hospital buildings in Minot to establish behavioral health units that prioritize community-based care. Forcing residents to travel to Fargo or Jamestown for mental health services deprives them of the essential local support networks ...

Horse removals, again?

Birgit Pruess, Fargo There we go again. The good old movie where Theodore Roosevelt National Park is attempting to remove horses is running again. Once more against the protest of thousands of tax paying citizen owners of the horses. And there I was thinking that the new administration was maybe better than the old one. To be fair, communication through their Facebook site has improved. But we are still facing the removal of horses without much advance notice, no public input, and with concerning consequences. I would even be okay with the helicopter roundup, if it was for the purpose ...

Nursing home mandate could hurt rural communities

Vicki Brandjord Lake Metigoshe I am writing about my concerns over the federal requirements for nursing homes to have a registered nurse on duty 24 hours a day in long term care facilities starting in May of 2027 in rural communities. The smaller homes are in smaller communities where they are necessities to rural families. If rural communities cannot meet this mandate, the residents of these facilities will have to be placed elsewhere, which for the most part is always a long distance from their families. These residents need access to their families and the families (basically ...

Legislation needed in fight against Alzheimer’s

Breanna Cowan Minot More than 13,000 people in North Dakota suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and more than 19,000 friends and family are caring for them. Sadly, I know firsthand how Alzheimer’s greatly affected our family when my grandma, Kelly Strauch, was diagnosed. My grandma was the kindest person I have ever met in my life. She would often watch me when I was younger while my parents worked. I would pick rhubarb in her garden and sing songs while she played the piano. When she was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I was too young to understand the ...

Why consider expensive nuclear energy?

Steven Moen Minot What is Sen. Hogue up to now? I just read he wants to spend $500 grand to study the feasibility of building a nuclear power plant in North Dakota. This begs to question, why? We have ample supplies of wind, coal and natural gas to provide us with electricity for hundreds of years to come, but he wants to spend money to educate himself and the legislature on the possibility of nuclear. Sure nuclear is reliable, clean, etc., but all he has to do is ask BSC how it works or better yet ask any nuclear trained Navy vet to clue him in. The rest is readily available on ...

That’s why Minot

Carmen Watne Boggs, Everett, Wash. In 1974 I was privileged to be in the first graduating class from the brand new Magic City Campus. Our 50th reunion was this summer in Minot. I also graduated from what was then Minot State Teacher’s College, and spent over 47 years in education. Thank you, Minot! But, that’s not why I am writing. I have lived in the Seattle area for over 30 years, so I had to travel back to Minot. After arriving in Minneapolis, and finding the farthest gate possible, I was bumped from my flight to Minot. This would now make it past midnight getting ...