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Letters to the Editor

Dialogue on discrimination is good

Edana Kitzman, Minot My apology for not knowing of a 1976 committee in Minot, ND, that its agenda was to alleviate discriminatory practices in employment. I will add that not knowing that it existed means that I did not know it had been disbanded also. Finding out in the news articles and TV news that reorganizing such a committee is being considered was in “real time” news to me! It is wonderful to see such interest of the proposed committee, for and against, and that it has been conducted in a civil manner, yet voicing each opinion publicly. Open dialogue is necessary, ...

EPA attempts to undercut electricity reliability

Mark C. Peterson, Bismarck The United States is skating down a slippery slope of an electricity reliability crisis and the Environmental Protection Agency is greasing the skids. As the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources heard grave warnings that the U.S. is headed for a “catastrophic” electricity reliability situation, the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drafted proposed plans to shut down or further limit baseload generation such as electricity from coal. Given the current nationwide coal retirement assumptions, upwards of 55% ...

Cowardice guides wimpy council

Duane Brekke, Minot How do you spell coward? Evans. Monday evening I was requested to attend the city council meeting at 5:30. Not having been in the new chambers, I went a little early. Carrie Evans and I arrived at the same time. We both saw the large number of people already in attendance. I saw her go up to her desk. The mayor called the meeting to order promptly at 5:30. Evans was not at her desk. When the mayor called for discussion on councilwoman Olson’s tabled motion on the “Human Relations Committee” amendments, approximately ten people spoke in support of ...

Ordinance advocates hurt their cause

Lianne Zeltinger, Minot Monday evening was the fourth meeting that included Ordinance 5840 on the agenda. And, again the vote was delayed until the next meeting. That is quite unusual for any item. Something close would be an ad hoc committee providing monthly updates. But, even those are not included on the agenda for an actual vote until the committee is ready to present its final version. So now, there will be a full two-month delay regarding this ordinance. There is nothing stopping the advocates of this ordinance from privately funding and creating a group whose specific ...

New approach to reading is old approach

Gene Modin, Bismarck Do not wait for the teachers colleges to change anything. They like it the way it is. They like the results. The current method of reading instruction called by various names, such as look-say, see and say, whole word, whole language or balanced literacy have very ineffective instruction strategies: 1. examine the shape of the word. 2. look at the picture. 3. consider the context within the sentence. 4. re-read the sentence. 5. make your best guess. 6. skip the word. 7. ask for help. These strategies become lifelong habits for many children. The article ...

Celebrating Scandinavia, then and now

Jessica Ackerman, Minot As the president of the Norsk Hostfest board of directors, I was recently part of the delegation from Minot that visited our city’s Norwegian Sister City, Skien. This was my first time visiting Skien, and I must say, I am encouraged and energized. From our first encounters with the people of Skien to our last, and every in between, I was inspired by the pride they had for their community and their country. Our trip overlapped with Syttende Mai, Norway’s National Day. The day began with celebratory sheet cake at the breakfast table followed by a ...