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Welcome back, North Dakota State Fair

It’s coming. If you’re like me, you’re starting to look forward to seeing family and friends, and making new friends. Maybe your mouth is already watering for the endless variety of tasty treats, and the familiar smells are awakening your senses. Yep, it’s almost time for the North Dakota State Fair. This year, the Fair runs July 23-31, and if history holds true, hundreds of thousands of people will make their way to Minot for the festivities. Some will come for the concerts and other entertainment. Others will come for the food. Many will come for the 4-H and FFA exhibits. ...

Have we forgotten in two generations?

We were immigrants. High on hope and strong on expectations. A barren prairie just waiting for the rails and the plow. So we came. All immigrants. The first of us were Yankees, Scots and Irish. Then the Germans and the Scandinavians poured in. There were Black Sea Germans, Hutterites, Volga Germans, Galician Germans, Bohemian Germans, German Hungarians, German Mennonites and Volhynian Germans. 6,800,000 Germans While German immigrants were spread throughout the state, concentrations could be found along the southern North Dakota counties –Kidder, Sheridan, Emmons, Logan, ...

Isn’t it time to share the wealth?

Governor Burgum ran his first gubernatorial campaign stating he wanted to expand North Dakota’s economic base. In doing so he wanted to reduce our reliance on energy and agriculture by bringing other industries to our state. That was certainly a worthy and reasonable goal. Almost five years later that goal seems to have been abandoned even before the new governor was sworn into office. Instead, the governor has made North Dakota government the richest per capita state government in the nation. Our state now has over 30 billion dollars in savings and investments (that’s about ...

Abortion issue muddier than ever

Most of the state legislatures have terminated their business for the year, leaving the abortion issue unsolved, most likely because it is an unsolvable issue that straddles the secular and spiritual worlds, making it a political as well as a theological enigma. Since the protection of life has been a responsibility of society through government action, politicians are bound to get involved. Unfortunately, no issue can be considered objectively these days because perspectives are jaundiced by a political system gone awry. In the recent legislative sessions, a couple of states have ...

It takes a village to protect a community

i want to thank everyone who attended or watched Saturday’s Resilient Together event recognizing the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Souris River flood and its aftermath. It was a great opportunity to remind me and everyone else of this simple fact: We are in this together. We were in it together in 2011, we’re in it together today, and we’ll be in it together forever. Perhaps the emotion of the event was summed up best by Curt Zimbelman, who was Minot’s mayor during the 2011 flood. “The devastation was immense,” he told the crowd Saturday. “But we never gave up. You, the ...

You can learn a lot by getting old

It’s true. As you experience life, you can accumulate an incredible amount of knowledge. Unfortunately, at a certain age you can’t remember most of it. While aging is a disadvantage for most people, those with a fighting spirit have had their best years over 70. Churchill was elected the second time at age 77 so Joe Biden didn’t break new ground. Dr. Mayo didn’t create a new Mecca in Rochester until age 70. At 80, George Burns won his first Oscar and at 90 Sarah gave birth to Isaac, proving that you can never be too careful. I never buy the extended warranties although they ...