December 12th, 2016
To the editor:
As one of 14 recent active candidates for the recently-vacated Moorhead Ward 2 City Council position, I want first to express my pride that so many good and decent residents stepped up to offer their talents and abilities for public service. The duties are surely great, the stress is undoubtedly heavy, and the pay is minimal for the hours necessary to represent the post with positive effect, all while best weighing public financial, economic and safety priorities.
That…
November 30th, 2016
To the editor:
I support the movement to not build the DAPL. I support the protestors. I support the law enforcement and emergency personnel.
I find it absolutely absurd that people think that if you support law enforcement you support the DAPL; or that if you do not support the DAPL, then you do not support law enforcement. In many news reports and people's personal Facebook statuses, I have seen so many generalizations about people that it's ridiculous.
I support the movement to not…
November 30th, 2016
To the editor:
There has been a lot of analysis coming from those who support the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). However, some of that scrutiny begs questions.
Several commentators focus on the non-Native or non-North Dakotan contingent present at the camps. Clearly, support for the water protectors is coming from all over the globe. What many North Dakotans fail to grasp is that this pipeline—and the future carbon dioxide emissions and other pollution it promises—is an international…
September 16th, 2016
To the editor:
As candidates for the state legislature from District 22, we agree with the position of the Concerned Citizens of Buffalo regarding the proposed factory hog farm in their community. Our strong belief is that the issues raised by the Concerned Citizens are legitimate and pressing -- among these are risks to human health, the impact on the town’s water and air quality, decreased property values, adequacy of manure disposal, excess soil nutrient runoff, and interference…
July 13th, 2016
In Chris Hennen’s recent column “With oil dollars all but gone, what did we get?”, the writer bemoaned North Dakota’s revenue shortfall and the benefits reaped from the state’s oil boom.
Hennen presented some facts and figures that I feel need some clearing up.
First of all, the Budget Stabilization Fund is not a rainy day fund. The state legislature established this fund in 1987 to offset any revenue shortfalls.
What Hennen is likely referring to is the Legacy Fund, a source…
June 22nd, 2016
Pack the Commission, change to wards
To the editor:
With nearly a dozen candidates running for Fargo City Commission, some residents think Fargo should have a runoff election, so a candidate can get a decent majority of the votes.
I’d say “so what?”. Even with a runoff election, those who don’t like the two candidates who make it to the runoff ballot are forced to vote for someone they didn’t want on the ballot anyway. In effect, it doesn’t matter if someone gets 15% or 51%…
May 18th, 2016
MARVIN NELSON: WELL PAST TIME?
To the Editor:
It was in mid-January that Doug Burgum, a Republican, announced his intention to run for the governorship. No Democrat had so declared, though Sarah Vogel, former Commissioner of Agriculture, was publicly making up her mind.
In an enthusiastic editorial of Jan. 21, HPR co-owner John Strand endorsed Burgum and suggested that Vogel go for a seat on the North Dakota Supreme Court instead. He also approved the idea, at least, of Democrats’…
April 29th, 2016
AIR, COAL, WATER, AND CHEAP POLITICIANS
To the editor,
The history of North Dakota is a two-century litany of exploitation, from the earliest arrivals of Europeans on our prairies and rivers to the present.
With these reminders, I picked up my copy of the book “One Time Harvest,” published in 1975, which delved into the relatively nascent North Dakota lignite coal industry.
The title came from speeches by Governor Arthur Link contrasting agricultural productivity with fossil fuel…
April 20th, 2016
The judicial system primarily acts to inflict punishment as opposed to rehabilitation.
To the editor:
The BCI's use of Confidential Informants is unwise and by definition holds the CI hostage to the performance of information leading to the arrest of persons with the use of search warrant's and quotas imposed on the confidential informant. I of course agree with the judicial need to prosecute offenders, however, it is impossible not to infringe on person’s constitutional rights when…
March 10th, 2016
To the Editor:
I was raised on our family farm near Buffalo, North Dakota. After college I served in the U.S. Army, worked in the Fargo Public Schools and eventually returned to my hometown of Buffalo about thirty years ago. I am a past Mayor of the community and am involved in our American Legion Post #10, the City of Buffalo Historic Preservation Commission, the Buffalo Community Club and the City Park Board.
The proposed Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, or CAFO, to be…