Letters to the Editor

​Legalize vehicular manslaughter?

February 1st, 2017

To The Editor:

A few years ago, you folks were generous enough to print my satirical commentary on Measure 3 (By the way, I make fun of my own state too). This time I have included an open letter below in response to the current proposal under way to facilitate accidental car-on-human injury or death. Once again, from your perspective within the state, you will know better than me as to whether this is behind the curve or adds to public discourse as much as any attempts at humor about…

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​Slated for demolition

January 16th, 2017

To the editor:

In the December 15, 2016 HPR cover story, “Art in a Hard Place: Downtown gentrification, the good, the bad and the unaffordable,” the Kilbourne Group’s General Manager, Mike Allmendinger, pats the company on the back for its preservation efforts. “Believe it or not,” he says, “as late as 13 years ago there were still buildings being torn down … today that would never happen.”

I certainly can believe it, since the very same article tells us that two Kilbourne…

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​Please do your research, Mr. Hagen

January 16th, 2017

To the editor,

How disappointing it was to read C.S. Hagen’s Dec. 18 article “Death by Oil: Remembering the Dakota 38” in the High Plains Reader. While I still ponder the tenuous link Hagen attempted to construct between the 1862 execution of 38 Sioux and today’s protests of Dakota Access Pipeline construction in Morton County, N.D., his narrative lacked historical and factual details that must be pointed out.

First, Hagen claims “little has changed” since 1862 in North…

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Botched by Moorhead City Council

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…

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​Support for both sides at Standing Rock

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…

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​Whose illegal activities?

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…

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​Re: “Saying no to factory hog farm,” Forum Editorial, published Sept. 8, 2016

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…

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To the editor

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…

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Letters To The Editor

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%…

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​MARVIN NELSON: WELL PAST TIME?

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’…

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