MINOT, N.D. — Auditing elections has become something of a rallying cry among die-hard Donald Trump supporters convinced that President Joe Biden only ascended to the office because of fraud at the ballot box. Pillow impresario Mike Lindell has led a bizarre and high-profile national push to reveal what he claims is election fraud though, so far, he’s failed to produce…
The best way to stop abortion is to prevent unwanted pregnancies
MINOT, N.D. — A Texas law banning abortion after a heartbeat is detected has been allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court. We live in an unnuanced time, so the reaction to this development was glee from the right and Armageddon from the left — “It’s worth noting that many of the same people attacking the Biden Administration for…
A North Dakota court decided to believe a cop’s lie instead of clear video evidence
MINOT, N.D. — The proliferation of cameras — from smartphones wielded by the general public to dash cameras and body cams used by the cops themselves — has been a when it comes to accountability for law enforcement. The cops haven’t always liked it. They’ve resisted body cameras in the past. We often see evidence…
The Texas abortion law is terrible policy whatever your stance on the issue
MINOT, N.D. — For the moment, please set aside your feelings about abortion. I know the law in Texas that the Supreme Court has let stand, for now, is explicitly about abortion, but there are reasons why that law is a bad policy that have nothing at all to do with that stickiest of sticky social issues. First, to the specifics.…
Otter Tail announces plans to sell ownership stake in coal-fired Coyote Station near Beulah, North Dakota
MINOT, N.D. — North Dakota’s largest coal-fired power plant, Coal Creek Station, got a reprieve this year. The plan had been to close the plant, and replace it with wind turbines, but Great River Energy, the current owner, agreed to sell it to another company that will continue to operate it making use of carbon capture technology.…
Despite protests, North Dakota’s vaccination rate is accelerating after months of decline
MINOT, N.D. — North Dakota’s Department of Health has begun reporting data on infections, hospitalizations, and deaths among residents who are vaccinated. The numbers are a resounding endorsement of the vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccines first became available in our state on December 14, 2020. Since then, just 0.0347% of people hospitalized for COVID-19 have been vaccinated. Just 0.00631% of…
It’s no time to kneel before the mobs
MINOT, N.D. — “Hostile school board meetings have members calling it quits,” a national Associated Press report tells us. The article details the travails of local elected officials as they deal with the convulsions attendant to a strident, social-media-driven wave of angry populism. The issues are myriad, and the people pursuing them are unreasonable. A Wisconsin…
Will it be one special session or two?
MINOT, N.D. — North Dakota is going to have a special legislative session this year. That was a given because the census numbers have been tallied and finalized, and our constitution now requires that we redraw political boundaries per those new numbers. But the state has issues beyond redistricting that lawmakers want to address, and…
Will Biden wag the dog in Minnesota?
MINOT, N.D. — The Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has been an utter calamity. The American public has watched desperate Afghans fall from our departing airplanes. We see an al-Qaeda kingpin traveling out in the open, with a Taliban escort, for the first time in a decade. We see courageous women bravely protesting the incoming fundamentalist regime. We have video of the Taliban…
Anti-vaccine demagogues keep dying from COVID-19
MINOT, N.D. — At one point, conservative talk radio host Phil Valentine recorded a song parody mocking COVID-19 vaccinations and masking. “Let me tell you how it will be, and I don’t care if you agree, ‘Cause I’m the Vaxman, yeah I’m the Vaxman,” he sang, set to the music of “Tax Man by the Beatles. “If you don’t…