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Letters to the Editor

Natural gas should be free for ND

Troy Johnson , Williston Why hasn’t anybody asked the question, where does natural gas come from? Answer: right here in western North Dakota. The gas comes right out of the ground all around us. It’s actually a by-product with crude oil. Refined right here in North Dakota. This resource, which gets “flared off” a lot, should be free for western North Dakota. Much of this gas is stuffed into a pipeline and shipped out to get a much higher price. MDU would have way more profits if they would quit making bad investments. Stick with handling natural gas so the people on ...

Mund’s qualifications should be welcome

Dina Butcher , Bismarck Lillian Bachmeier , Mandan We read the recent letter from the Republican women office holders with some interest. Somehow, they claim that Cara Mund’s talent and independence disparages their many contributions to their political party and our state. Nothing could be further from the truth. Their contributions are documented and validated on the record and in the news and by their serial elections to office. In any male/female working relationship, it is not uncommon for an unqualified male to receive more reward and acclaim than the more qualified woman. ...

A lament for the postal service

Mary Swafford , Minot There must be a reason for getting such poor service from the Post Office. Years ago it was the place to go to work. Now we can’t even get adequate mail delivery. Today is Thursday, the 13th. We haven’t gotten any mail since Saturday, and I’m sure the only reason we got mail today is because I went and got it. The gals in front are very rude. I’m sure they’re stressed because we want our mail deliveries. This has been going on for a long time. We also get other people’s mail, and I’m sure they get ours. That is something to worry about. We ...

Get behind USPS workers

Yves Gagnon , Minot Like many other areas in this country and maybe in the world, manpower is now a difficult reality. As with the Covid, we will have no choice to cope with this fact. As a community, we have to be behind our USPS worker and accept that our mail distribution will be chaotic for the months ahead. Personally, I will suggest that the delivery in the residential area be only twice a week. Like this, a postman or postwoman can cover easily 2 or even 3 sectors per week. In fact, are we so in a rush to get the pizza flyers or this other request for money? As long we ...

Scientist offers case for hope

M L Berg , Minot At a conference held in Bismarck on Columbus Day – also Indigenous Peoples’ Day — our Lt. Gov. said that the oil and gas industry had the means to solve the climate change crisis. Really? Why didn’t he say that the Big Bad Wolf ought to be placed in charge of the Three Little Pigs, while he was at it? It just doesn’t make sense. Joelle Gergis is a scientist who has investigated climate change for decades. She is now a professor at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. She writes primarily for an Australian ...

Thoughts on ballot measures

James Maxson , Minot One of the measures on the ballot this November regards term limits for state legislators. At first glance, it looks like an intramural battle between conventional Republicans and angry Republicans. Since I don’t have a dog in that fight, I look to an old-fashioned method of decision making, evidence. Two states which have enacted similar term limits are Arizona and California. It is quite obvious that the California legislature has swung too far to the left and that the Arizona legislature has swung too far to the right. Are these two states the prototype of ...