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Support your local small business…Saturday

District Director It’s no secret that small businesses struggled through the pandemic, and some are still struggling with the affects of the pandemic – higher input costs, changing consumer habits and higher labor costs, if they can even find the workers. Sort of long haul COVID for businesses. However, the resiliency of small businesses should never be underestimated. For many entrepreneurs, their can-do attitude is what motivated them to start their business in the first place and that same attitude is what helped them pivot and persevere through the pandemic. Small Business ...

It’s time to unleash US energy for safer world

On a recent trade and investment mission to Japan, we had just arrived at a Tokyo office to meet with the country’s Minister of the Environment when news broke that North Korea had fired a ballistic missile toward the island nation. While that missile landed harmlessly in the sea, this brazen act left a trail of fear that is all too familiar to Japan, South Korea and our other allies in Asia. Yet also frightening is the thought of Japan today being entirely dependent on importing the energy it requires through shipping routes in the South China Sea – the main supply chain for ...

During the holidays, let’s not forget those in need

Dear Minot: As we draw closer to the holiday season, most of us probably have visions of family gatherings, generational traditions, and meals with relatives around the big dining room table. But we should also be well aware that the holidays are often an extra-stressful time for many in our community who struggle to make ends meet for themselves or their families. This holiday season, we must come together as a community to make sure everyone receives the support they deserve. Sometimes, people just need a hand up in times of need. We can all help in our own ways, and I’m ...

The GOP’s and Trump’s inevitable ‘Red Wedding’

With the nation two years out from deciding whether or not we want to keep him around, President Biden’s struggles and failings didn’t prevent Democrat victories in the midterms. In fact, a number of Trump-aligned candidates found themselves grounded by voters rather than elevated by the association. 2024 will either be a referendum or a reckoning, and despite what the prevailing wisdom might be, no politician is safe. No matter the outcome heads will roll in the GOP over the next two years, hopefully only metaphorically. Though, it is becoming harder to distinguish the latest ...

Celebrate local schools during American Education Week

"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choices are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” With these words, Franklin Delano Roosevelt related a simple truth: Education is fundamental to the success of our nation. It is in this spirit that we celebrate American Education Week on Nov. 14-18, 2022. Teachers and education support professionals understand that there is no place like America that embraces the possibilities of the future. North Dakota’s outstanding educators are committed to making sure that the students in ...

Midterms’ biggest winner was status quo

Change may inevitable in the days leading up to the midterm elections, but it did not come in 2022. For all the excitement that was made over various developments in the last few months, the end result offered few surprises if any. Ultimately the voters of North Dakota leaned towards the known and familiar, with one major exception. Whatever hope the independent candidates Cara Mund and Rick Becker represented to those fed up with the two-party binary didn’t last long after the first precincts started reporting in. Incumbents John Hoeven and Kelly Armstrong safely cruised to ...