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Letters to the Editor

More deaths raise urgency for upgrade

Walter Piehl, Minot Surprised … You shouldn’t be. Another two people killed on Highway 52 between Velva and Sawyer. No matter what the reason, one vehicle crossed the center line. With intense traffic, the chances of a head-on collision are increased exponentially. For whatever reason the N.D. Highway Department is not forthcoming with the their numbers of traffic (cars, semi-trucks, farm implements), accidents and fatal accidents on Highway 52. Through comparison to other highways those statistics would show the real dangers of 52. Has the Highway Department been coerced into ...

GNDC, BIOND wants pharma access, innovation

Arik Spencer GNDC President/CEO Bismarck Richard Glynn BioND Executive Director Grand Forks The Greater North Dakota Chamber and the Bioscience Association of North Dakota share a common goal of supporting and growing businesses in North Dakota. We work every day to ensure that our state has the best business climate in the nation as well as promote an entrepreneurial ecosystem that will encourage growth in the bioscience field.  Again this Session, legislators are being asked to consider having the government artificially set prices for life-saving prescription ...

Property taxes are not local

Kevin Glatt Bismarck We all have heard it – property taxes are a local issue. If property taxes are a local issue, why is it that ND State Law dictates how and when property is assessed and equalized? Why does state law mandate when local budgets are deliberated and the format and content of the budget hearing notices? Why is it that state law sets mill levy limits (how much can be taxed) and dictates how the money can be spent? Why does state law prescribe what is on the county property tax statement, when it is to be sent, and the deadlines for payment? How come state ...

Let doctors practice without legislative interference

By Rep. Liz Conmy Fargo After my first week as a Representative in the North Dakota legislature, I found myself spending the weekend with an IV in my arm at the hospital in Hettinger. It wasn’t the legislature’s fault. Not feeling well while visiting my son’s family in Bowman, I came to Hettinger’s West River Health Services clinic — 40 miles away and open on a Saturday. From the minute I walked in the door, my medical treatment was equal to any I’ve previously had, which includes Mayo, Essentia and Sanford. In session last week, I had the honor of serving with ...

Americans can’t trust government officials

Gary Berube Mandan In 1954 Congress added One Nation under God to the Pledge of Allegiance and in 1956 Congress made IN GOD WE TRUST the national motto of the United States. There is hope; we can trust God. It is very apparent we cannot trust anyone else. Our own government raiding private residence without any notification, two attorneys arrested using guns to protect their property, classified documents being stored in private garages by an individual not authorized to have them or to declassify them, billions of your tax dollars sent to FAA and nobody knows what the money was ...

Weather-ization is a program worth supporting

Perry Lundon Devils Lake A recent news story noted the extreme temperatures we experience in an average North Dakota year. It is not uncommon for us to see a temperature range of 140 degrees from the hottest day of summer to the coldest day of winter. These conditions can be difficult to deal with, especially if you live in an older home with inadequate protection against weather extremes — such as old windows, minimal insulation, or a furnace you can’t count on. So, it left me scratching my head when, just this last September, a North Dakota legislative committee voted ...