Breaking News

Opinion

What’s ahead in 2026 political landscape?

National Columnists

The political landscape heading into the 2026 midterms is far more volatile than many Republicans want to admit. On paper, the GOP holds the advantage: the House majority, a favorable national mood on issues like immigration and crime, and an opposition party internally split between moderates and an increasingly aggressive progressive wing. But beneath the surface, a series of electoral tremors from special elections to off-year contests should give Republicans serious pause. The numbers, the trendlines and recent history all point in the same direction: Democrats have more energy than ...

Climate change reaching its demise

National Columnists

For years, climate alarmism has reigned as political catechism: The planet is burning, and only drastic action — deindustrialization, draconian regulation, even ceasing childbearing — could forestall certain apocalypse. Now, at least some signs are emerging that both the broader public and leading liberal voices may be recoiling from the doom and gloom. First, recent polling shows that the intensity of climate dread is weakening. According to a July 2025 report from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, while a majority (69%) of Americans still say global warming is ...

EPA decision harms tribal, rural communities

Letters to the Editor

Lisa Finley DeVille, Mandaree The EPA’s decision to narrow the scope of the Clean Water Act is troubling, especially for communities like ours who live with the consequences of weakened water protections from oil and gas development. Wetlands are vital to our survival. They filter pollution before it reaches our rivers, reduce flooding, and sustain entire ecosystems and habitat for thousands of aquatic species and cultural plant life that our people have depended on for generations. Removing federal protections ignores the science and the reality on the ground, where every acre of ...

Random thoughts from 12 feet high

Letters to the Editor

Jerry Ness, Nome Last month, I spent a weekend in Clay County, perched on a ladder stand, looking for an unfortunate Minnesota deer. A hyperactive squirrel entertained me as my mind rolled with disconnected thoughts. E.g, we know 80 percent of illegal drugs enter the US in vehicles through ports of entry. So should we position Sherman tanks and occasionally blast a Winnebago driven by a couple of senior citizens? Due process is clearly overrated. I thought about my life as a farm boy. When we sold cattle, we got what the market dictated. Now the convicted felon in the Oval Office ...

Fedorchak misses mark on health insurance

Letters to the Editor

Vicki Voldal Rosenau, Valley City In her Nov. 20 column mocking the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Julie Fedorchak got one thing (and only one thing) right: “Clearly, we need an off ramp from these massive payouts to insurance companies.” But any changes she advocated would still leave the for-profit insurance monstrosity wielding life/death power over us all! Nothing would improve for worried consumers who are, indeed, “fed up with” the existing insurance-dictated scheme. Real reform necessarily means eliminating the root problem. That is: removing the stranglehold of ...

Who remembers why to dress respectfully?

National Columnists

Sean Duffy’s entreaty to “dress with respect” on airplanes rapidly ran into some turbulence. Duffy noting “a degradation of civility” among air travelers is on the mark, and so is his contention that flying would be more pleasant if grown-ups behaved better, which would include not wearing pajamas on flights. The Federal Aviation Administration reported 1,240 unruly passenger cases last year. That doesn’t include uncountable incidents of mere rudeness or simply playing the eyesore in dirty sweatpants. Testy reactions to Duffy’s plea centered on anger at the ...