Letters to the Editor

Letter to the editor from Tony Gehrig

January 24th, 2016

To the editor:

I am tremendously excited at the prospect of the tallest building in North Dakota someday soon coming to downtown Fargo. I have no doubt that this will be a fantastic addition to the area and will draw in new business to our city. I know this project will be a great success for the Kilbourne Group. All the more reason why public tax dollars should be left out of the equation.

My stance on special incentives for private development is not limited to the Kilbourne Group, a…

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Anthony Gehrig is wrong on not funding public art

December 12th, 2015

To the editor:

In the online version of the Forum on Sunday December 6 edition sandwiched between editorials by Jack Zaleski about a poetry book of regional and local people describing past memories of Christmas and Jim Shaw’s sadness at the loss 35 years ago of arguably one of the most famous contemporary musicians, John Lennon; was a letter listing the reasons for government not supporting public art by city commissioner Tony Gehrig. The contrast in sentiments of that letter sandwich…

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The blink of an eye and Footprints,

December 9th, 2015

To the editor:

Late one night in December 2014, Congress decided in the blink of an eye to take away 400,000 seniors hard earned pensions rights when they passed the Multi-employer Pension Reform Act. I believe they did this without most of Congress even knowing what they were voting on. This gut-wrenching decision is having serious consequences to the 400,000 people affected by the bill’s passage. I am one of those 400,000. 

I worked at UPS for over 30 years. I worked hard, causing …

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To the editor: I feel very sad for Mrs. Sadek

November 28th, 2015

To the editor:

I feel very sad for Mrs. Sadek, as no parent should lose their child due to government corruption, whether it be agenda driven military action or narky narks run amok. As a fellow victim of Smilin' Wayne's rather unique take on "law" enforcement as facilitated by "confidential informants", I pray she gets answers, but I fear that unless she gets Federal help- or perhaps Gloria Allred- the culture of abuse created and facilitated by our wannabe new governor will stall,…

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An elegy for a once close friend

November 12th, 2015

I have a friend who stood in the dying light, who looked and despaired as the sign dimmed, vanishing into the night. 

She, sighing, turned home to empty screen, vacant, chagrined.

Cash Wise Video will close, another chapter parting in a book we must read— having few options left. 

Endless slumber lurks, too, for the bereft. Must we concede?

What would we give for one night or seven or a thousand more with our rentals, to undo this funeral procession, to enter the night, but not go gentle?

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Controversy over Madame Butterfly

November 6th, 2015

To The Editor:

My organization, the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, has just learned about the production of “Madame Butterfly” this weekend at the Fargo-Moorhead Opera and its use of the widely criticized practice of “yellowface,” that is to say the casting of Caucasian performers to portray Asian characters, utilizing makeup, hairstyles and costuming to appropriate a culture that is not theirs.

An article today in InForum (

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No evidence that business people wanted to rid downtown of those in the vague “homeless” category

October 8th, 2015

To the Editor:

Chris Hennen’s editorial “Downtown Fargo should be open to everyone” (10-1) criticized the city for replacing a few street benches with backless ones.

“Apparently businesses are concerned about the number of homeless people downtown,” he wrote. “The problem in downtown Fargo is not homeless people but intoxicated individuals.”

He got that turned around. There is no evidence that business people wanted to rid downtown of those in the vague “homeless”…

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To the editor: GF incident a reminder of violence against LGBT North Dakotans

September 10th, 2015

To the editor:

This past weekend the community of Grand Forks came together to celebrate Pride for LGBT individuals and their straight allies. It was a tremendous demonstration of support and accomplishments. It was good to see the diversity of citizens come together under the banner of unity. At the same time, it was a time of sober contemplation – that even though all people in the U.S. – and North Dakota – now have the right to marriage equality with the Supreme Court ruling, it…

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​Achieving excellence by educating and empowering all students to succeed

August 26th, 2015

To the editor:

The 2015-16 school year at the Fargo Public Schools begins on Thursday, Aug. 27. It’s an exciting time as we prepare to welcome back our nearly 2,000 staff members and more than 11,100 students at all Fargo public schools.

What is particularly exciting, in addition to welcoming eager learners and enthusiastic teachers back into the classrooms, is beginning a new school year with a far-reaching

vision for the district that was crafted by the citizens of Fargo.

In June,…

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News Media Needs to be unpolarized

August 12th, 2015

To the editor:

Naive or not, I used to believe that we here in the Fargo-Moorhead area had four reputable news sources to go to for our information and news about local, regional and state happenings. Incidents which have happened in the last several months have caused me to seriously question that belief. Social media has received disproportionate attention lately in the manner in which it is used as sources of information. I recognize how news sources have now turned to social media,…

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