Labor Ready

Going into Labor Day Weekend, it seems appropriate we put some thought into labor-related issues. After the weekend of rest and recuperation, we owe our labor force a renewed commitment to some agreed-upon principles.

Our workers deserve a safe working environment. North Dakota’s death rate on the worksite needs to be cut in half at a minimum, and that is simply to bring us in line with the national average. It is not too much to ask that we simply strive to be average, for starters. But that alone would save as many as 16 lives a year here, and that is significant.

Our workers deserve a decent living wage. There is abundance in North Dakota in the ag and energy sectors. We have budget surpluses in government coffers. We have a low unemployment rate. So, give workers extra appreciation. Give them raises.

Our workers deserve full and equal protection under the law, and they deserve job protection in the most basic sense. North Dakota’s “right-to-work” status really translates into a “right-to-fire” behavior.

The workers have very few rights, and the employers have workers over the barrel. Goodness knows, workers who happen to stress the moral fiber of some employers, be they minorities of one sort or another, have little support in this arena when push comes to shove. The workers lose, by and large, and that needs to change.

HPR’s 14th Birthday

We want you to set aside the evening of Friday, Sept. 19, to help celebrate HPR’s 14th birthday. The music lineup is top notch.

The party begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Plains Art Museum. It’s an incredible space in which to host a party. Our music selections there fit the space magnificently.

Sleeping in Gethsemane starts the night out at the Plains with an acoustic set.
Jon Hartman, aka The Palest Blue, will introduce listeners to several songs from his new CD.

Brenda Weiler, best musician in the HPR’s Best Bets of the Valley contest this year, headlines the Plains event.

At 9:30, the party moves over and up to The Aquarium. Carl Clinton and the Great Divide kick things off there.

Jeremy Messersmith is the middle-evening headliner there, an act HPR is proud to bring here from the Twin Cities.
South Moorhead Scratch Dungeon djs will then take the birthday part up several notches and will bring everything to an apocalyptic crescendo by closing time, we guarantee.

The role HPR has with music and arts is exemplified in the talent who partner with us for our annual birthday parties. This year’s lineup is simply extraordinary.

We hope you can join us. It’s no small feat to get to age 14 in this dog-eat-dog world we live in. We could not do it without our readers, contributors, advertisers, printers, delivery people, proofreaders and copy editors, and without our unrelenting faith, irrational optimism, and unyielding stubbornness.

We say it’s time to celebrate. Please join us and by all means, invite your friends.

September Birthdays

Speaking of birthdays, our heartfelt wishes to the following besides HPR who have birthdays in September: Clint Kessler, Steve Heiland, Tommy Burgum, Octavio Gomez Sr., Tania Blanich, Will Zaiser, Mark Schutz, Janie Franz, Sue Leindecker, Ricky Greenwell, Thomas Porath, Ventura Loya, Tommy Jerrich, Ross Sutton, Kim Simonsen, Bill Marcil Jr., Peter Ryan, Sue Offutt, Steven C. Olson, Jill Daniels Johnson, Jenny Morris, Todd Morgan, Thommy Pasa, Kristi Strand Heilman, Nancy Nelson, Amber Anderson, Jon Lindgren, Steve Listopad, Gunther Harms, Mark Robinson, Chris Hennen, Bob Jansen, Janet Miller, Randy Thompson, Steve Zaiser, and William L. Guy.