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Letters to the Editor

Join ND senators in supporting American veterans

Frank Larkin, COO, Troops First Foundation, Chair, Warrior Call, Mt. Airy, Md. New data from the CDC shows that suicide rates in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2022. Nearly 50,000 of our brothers and sisters died by suicide last year alone. As troubling as those numbers undoubtedly are, consider that veterans in this country – men and women who admirably served and protected us – die by suicide at a rate 60 percent higher than the general population. In other words, within the overall tragic number, a significant number of those deaths are veterans, not on battlefields ...

AFL-CIO: ‘It’s better in a union’

Landis Larson , President, ND AFL--CIO, West Fargo This Labor Day weekend, the North Dakota AFL-CIO, the federation of labor unions in North Dakota, wants working people to know: “It’s Better in a Union.” Life is better in a union. When we join together with our co-workers, our unions make a big difference in our day-to-day lives, on and off the job. Because we are in a union, we can bargain with our employer for higher wages, better healthcare benefits, safer working conditions, job security, and a retirement with dignity. Being in a union means building a better future for ...

APC law needs repeal

Andrew Allis, Granville In the 2002 Spielberg-directed futuristic science fiction movie “Minority Report,” set in the year 2054, Tom Cruise stars as the chief of the “Precrime” unit, a specialized police force which arrests would-be future criminals from information provided by prescient psychics (called “precogs”) before a crime is even committed. This movie is science fiction for a reason: in a dystopian world, people are punished for something that hasn’t even happened yet. Unfortunately, we have such a law on our books today, which has been around since 1973. It ...

Paying taxes is everyone’s responsibility

Lianne Zeltinger , Minot For the last few days, I have been collecting signatures for the initiated measure to eliminate property tax for the citizens of North Dakota. This past Sunday I was at the Food Truck Festival. I want to thank everyone who signed the petition or politely declined and/or engaged in dialogue. Did you know that North Dakota is the ONLY state in the Union that can afford to eliminate property tax? We have fracking to thank for that, not the prudent actions of elected officials. In 2024 we will once again be given the opportunity to vote to eliminate this tax, ...

Sacrifices allow country to settle disputes nonviolently

James Maxson, Minot I’m not naive enough to believe that my opinions will change many minds. Preconceived ideas are alive and well. Some believe that January 6th was merely the expression of opinion. That is true of those who never assaulted law enforcement officers, who never vandalized our nation’s capitol, and never entered it illegally. The problem I had with January 6th was that it became violent. Violence does have its place in the world. My own father was a participant in violence on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal in 1942-1943. Unlike his son who was a medical corpsman ...

Native prairie project offers bright future

Lori Nehlsen, Science teacher, Minot Public Schools, Minot I am thrilled to express my enthusiastic support for the recent decision made by the Minot Public Schools Board of Education on the unanimous approval of the Plum Creek Native Prairie at the former site of Ramstad Middle School. This visionary project holds immense promise, offering dual benefits of ecological restoration and educational enrichment. The 14+ acres of land, which lay dormant for the last 12 years, will soon provide habitat that will support a variety of wildlife species native to North Dakota that may not be ...