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Letters to the Editor

Minor parties at disadvantage in ND

Richard Winger, San Francisco, Calif. In response to Ross Hausfeld’s good column about the North Dakota legislature, North Dakota is the only state that bans minor party candidates for the legislature from appearing on the November ballot. In every other state, minor party candidates for the legislature have appeared on the general election ballot at some time during the last six years. North Dakota requires that if a minor party wants to place a legislative candidate on the general election ballot, approximately 12% to 15% of all the primary voters must choose the minor ...

Legislature should reject closing pension plan

Earl Pomeroy, Grand Forks The legislature is in its final weeks and, as a former legislator -- way back when – I know they will inevitably face a number of very tough decisions. One way for them to ease the challenge is to avoid decisions which are highly questionable on merit and cost taxpayers a lot of money. Pretty obvious, right? One would hope so, but H.R. 1040, which would end the state’s longstanding pension program, is an example of a big spending bill producing little benefit to the workers who have earned the coverage. In a nutshell, the bill spends $5.3 Billion ...

Support access to Alzheimer’s treatment

Breanna Cowan, Minot More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia— and 15,000 live in North Dakota alone. Like many Americans, this devastating disease has touched my family multiple times, including taking the life of my grandmother, Clarice. My daughter shares her name even though Alzheimer’s stole my grandmother from us long before they could meet. Last month, I traveled from Minot to Washington, D.C. with the Alzheimer’s Association and other advocates across the country. We came together to address the unprecedented decision made by ...

One name missing from wild horse supporters

Christine Kman, Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates, Dickinson The wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park have received a lot of support since the park announced their plans to eliminate the ENTIRE herd of horses from the park in December. Governor Burgum, Senator Cramer, and Senator Hoeven have all spoken out in favor of keeping the horses. Our North Dakota legislators have submitted a resolution, SCR 4014, into this session asking that the park allow the wild horses and longhorn cattle to stay. Organizations, newspapers and businesses from all across the state have all ...

Which states will win?

Josh Wolsky, Minot For half of you, this may be hard. Imagine you’re a 30-year-old woman. But you’re not just any woman. Eight years ago, you got your undergraduate degree in biology; it was the recommended major for those pursuing a career in medicine. After college, you applied, got accepted, and then completed medical school. Four years ago, you got accepted into a 4-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology. You’re among the nearly 90% of OBGYN specialists beginning professional practice this year who are women. The specialty is dominated by women, obviously. ...

Referendum possible against cigar bar bill

Clarence F. “Rick” Olson, Fargo Gov. Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1229, which would authorize cigar bars and lounges in North Dakota starting Aug. 1st. This is a step back from a comprehensive ban on smoking in public places, which includes restaurants, bars, hotel, and motel rooms; that North Dakota voters enacted via an initiated statutory measure in 2012. To those who support this legislation, I say not so fast. A public advocacy group called BreatheND spent a number of years and quite a lot of money in fighting for a comprehensive clean indoors air law here in North ...