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Letters to the Editor

Endangered Species Act offers safety net

Lisa Finley DeVille, Mandaree Recent actions taken by the Trump Administration that weaken the Endangered Species Act should concern every one of us who depends on clean water, healthy land, and the survival of the wildlife we share this planet with. In the past year, the administration has moved quickly to undo long-standing protections that were put in place to keep species from disappearing and to ensure their habitats remain intact. They brought back the “God Squad,” a federal committee that can override endangered species protections when industry wants it. They reversed ...

Compassion entails supporting Somali friends

Interfaith Alliance of North Dakota Board members: Marty Toepke-Floyd, Jamestown David Myers, Moorhead Fowzia Adde, Fargo Barry Nelson, Fargo Gretchen Deeg, Bismarck Every major religious tradition calls us to walk in the ways of love and compassion. This is not always an easy path, but it is a sacred path of wholeness, health, communal wellbeing, and faithfulness. It requires firmly declaring the deep value of every human being, when some of our leaders are quick to guide us toward hate and fear. It requires us to welcome the stranger who may look or speak differently than ...

EPA decision harms tribal, rural communities

Lisa Finley DeVille, Mandaree The EPA’s decision to narrow the scope of the Clean Water Act is troubling, especially for communities like ours who live with the consequences of weakened water protections from oil and gas development. Wetlands are vital to our survival. They filter pollution before it reaches our rivers, reduce flooding, and sustain entire ecosystems and habitat for thousands of aquatic species and cultural plant life that our people have depended on for generations. Removing federal protections ignores the science and the reality on the ground, where every acre of ...

Random thoughts from 12 feet high

Jerry Ness, Nome Last month, I spent a weekend in Clay County, perched on a ladder stand, looking for an unfortunate Minnesota deer. A hyperactive squirrel entertained me as my mind rolled with disconnected thoughts. E.g, we know 80 percent of illegal drugs enter the US in vehicles through ports of entry. So should we position Sherman tanks and occasionally blast a Winnebago driven by a couple of senior citizens? Due process is clearly overrated. I thought about my life as a farm boy. When we sold cattle, we got what the market dictated. Now the convicted felon in the Oval Office ...

Fedorchak misses mark on health insurance

Vicki Voldal Rosenau, Valley City In her Nov. 20 column mocking the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Julie Fedorchak got one thing (and only one thing) right: “Clearly, we need an off ramp from these massive payouts to insurance companies.” But any changes she advocated would still leave the for-profit insurance monstrosity wielding life/death power over us all! Nothing would improve for worried consumers who are, indeed, “fed up with” the existing insurance-dictated scheme. Real reform necessarily means eliminating the root problem. That is: removing the stranglehold of ...

Good leaders refrain from too much poking

James Olson, Minot The best leaders are those the people hardly know exist; they become servants of their people. For only he who is the lowest servant of the kingdom is worthy of becoming its ruler. Good government is unobtrusive and this enables the people to become whole. It doesn’t interfere with the people unnecessarily.. “Governing a large country is like frying small fish. Too much poking spoils the meat.” – Lao Tzu (old master). Namaste.