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Bipartisan committee’s gun compromise is a fraud

We have had 250 mass killings in 2022 so far and we aren’t even halfway through the year. It is obvious that there is no such thing as sanctity of life in the United States. A bipartisan committee of 20 senators – 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats – has been meeting and has come up with a draft that they hope will be ready by June 26. The draft has been hailed as a great breakthrough for bringing sanity to the gun culture. If adopted, it will be worse than no legislation at all because it is no breakthrough, just a suspension of hostilities until the National Rifle ...

‘I am your flag, the flag of the USA’

Remember me? I have been known by many names: “The Red, White & Blue,” “The Stars & Stripes,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Old Glory.” Whatever they choose to call me, “I am your flag, the flag of the United States of America.” There is something I would like to talk with you about. Something has been bothering me for a long time now. It is about you and me. I remember how people used to line up on both sides of the street to watch the parade. I was leading the way of course, proudly waving to each and every one of you standing there as I came down the street. ...

Tolerance, incitement and political violence

In the early morning on June 8, 2022, a California man named Nicholas John Roske was arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house, with police charging him over threats he made to kill or kidnap a Supreme Court justice. Such a direct threat against Supreme Court justices is historically almost as unheard of as the leaked draft of the Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson opinion, but both have roiled the political and cultural landscape already inflamed by partisan divisions. While the vast majority of protests were appropriately peaceful and focused on awareness, the vitriol ...

Common sense needed to stop slaughter in schools

We had free access to guns when I was growing up. Common gun sense ruled the country. There was seldom the kind of mass shootings of kids as we see occurring today. Ironically, the strongest defenders of our killing gun culture are also the same people who allegedly stand for sanctity of life on the abortion question. When guns are involved, sanctity of life goes down the drain. Most gun owners, from single shot pistols to AR-15s, argue that these are necessary for self-defense. But if you know the figures you will know that more kids are being shot in schools than burglars shot ...

Fire Station 5 benefits our entire community

It’s been a long time coming, but construction of a fifth fire station in Minot is under way. And that means it’s time for a groundbreaking. The event will take place on June 6 at 4 p.m. at 2611 4th Ave. NW, the site of the new station. Dirt work at the site has been taking place for a couple weeks now, but it’s important that we take a moment to not only officially recognize the beginning of this project, but to remind ourselves of the impact Fire Station 5 will have on our entire community and specifically on northwest Minot. The importance of constructing Fire Station 5 ...

Mayor, saving the newspaper is your job

Daily papers are cutting corners and weekly newspapers are dying. A couple more North Dakota weekly newspapers are now on the chopping block, suffering from the same changes facing the dailies. Higher costs, less advertising, fewer subscriptions. While these factors are killing weeklies, the dailies are reducing their print editions and going electronic, causing wailing and gnashing of teeth among the readers. For dailies, it may be a slow death but for weeklies death is sudden. It is a community issue Mr. Mayor, the crisis has moved from the print shop to your office because ...