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In response to Rakow and Rawson

At the end of their letter castigating North Dakota media for not “listening to women,” Lana Rakow and Charlene Rawson accused local pundits of being out of touch not only with the female voters of the Dem-NPL but of the entire state who have been activated after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. I took some time to do as they asked, to take a breath and reconsider my perceptions and criticism of the Dem-NPL regarding their shoddy treatment of their candidate Mark Haugen who fell out of favor with the dogma of the party. For a variety of reasons, this didn’t result in a Road to ...

Recruiting to head off teacher shortage

After a soft knock on the door emblazed with “Teacher Recruitment and Retention,” a shy 17-year-old high school senior came into the little office and was greeted by a cheery “Good Morning” from Director Cherish Bjyorgland. “Welcome to our new office on Teacher Recruitment and Retention — first in North Dakota,” started Cherish. “What can I do to encourage you to become a North Dakota teacher?” “I’m Mittsy Morgan from Westown and I will be graduating and I think I would like to be a teacher,” the reticent student replied. “I suppose my first concern is ...

Recognizing how newspapers make a difference

National Newspaper Week began Oct. 2. While this isn’t the typical holiday that most families celebrate, it does provide a good opportunity to take a moment and recognize all the ways that local newspapers make a difference in communities across America. If you’re reading this, you probably already have a good understanding of why it is important to have a healthy newspaper in your town. By subscribing to or advertising in your local newspaper, you are providing much needed support to keep trained, professional journalists covering the issues important to you. Your local ...

The blurring of facts is disservice to all

Recently our state became the focal point of the culture war because of the death of 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson from Grace City, who was allegedly struck by a vehicle driven by Shannon Joseph Brandt after a street dance in McHenry. Initially facts around the story were scarce, but it eventually trickled out that the incident was allegedly precipitated by a political argument. The aspect that has drawn the eyeballs of the nation on this flyover tragedy was Brandt himself making claims of Ellingson being a “Republican extremist” who was about to set loose other rabid right ...

ND needs dream of equality to succeed

North Dakota needs a dream — a dream of equality for rich kids and poor kids, white kids and minority kids, smart kids and slow kids because every kid deserves an equal chance to succeed. We have the money to lift our kids out of a mediocre education system into the brightest one in the United States. Yes, we have the money. In this dream, we quit exploiting teachers and start treating them as professionals dealing with a wide variety of parental expectations. That means higher licensing standards and better salaries. Then we convince parents that ignorant meddling in the system is ...

Homeland Security Committee tackles inflation

"Inflation is killing us,” Dorsey Crank announced as he entered the community hall where the Homeland Security Committee was meeting to plan Christmas decorations for 2022. “We are on the short end of the stick,” he continued. “I think our retailers and service people are taking the opportunity to grab excess profits.” That suggestion really steamed Madeleine Morgan, the newcomer from Montana who spoke at meetings, disregarding the code of the town that women did not speak in public meetings.  “Look at eggs,” she commanded. “Last year, eggs were $1.27 for the ...