MINOT, N.D. — I am a father to a 12-year-old who, last year, was just completing her first year of middle school. Thanks to coronavirus, the last months of the school year were rough. We did our best with the online assignments, but the online system our school district deployed to track assignments was clunky.…
What if Pipeline Companies Behaved Like Their Political Enemies?
MINOT, N.D. — Earlier this week, there was a lot of heavy breathing in the news media over a statement from Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, which made it seem like they might defy a court order to shut the line down. That lasted for a hot minute. After the…
Fargo Police Finally Get Around to Handling Osmundson Situation Appropriately
MINOT, N.D. — “Osmundson’s actions should have been investigated by an entity outside of the Fargo Police Department,” I wrote earlier this week, referring to disgraced former deputy chief Todd Osmundson. “That’s not what happened, and it only contributes to the erosion of trust in the department that Osmundson’s actions began in the first place.” Today…
Defending the Rights of the Accused Is Not the Same Thing as Victim Shaming
MINOT, N.D. — “[T]he mob is the most ruthless of tyrants,” wrote Nietzsche. If only he’d been around to bear witness to our society under the influence of social media. We do everything on Facebook now. Or Twitter or Snapchat or Reddit. We used to see the internet as a sort of utopia—a place where…
North Dakota Needs Voter Registration
MINOT, N.D. — North Dakota is currently the only state in the union without voter registration. Folks, it’s time for that to change. Our June primary, conducted entirely by mail because of the pandemic, went off without a hitch. That system has been in place for a while and was already used extensively in some…
It’s Amazing What You Can Do With a Billionaire’s Money and a Lack of Integrity
MINOT, N.D. — A group calling itself North Dakota Voters First — they’re the folks who call themselves the “badass grandmas” — has submitted 36,708 signatures to the Secretary of State. Those signatures are in support of a constitutional amendment which would impact military and overseas voting and election audits as well as create open…
Are We Still Allowed to Love America?
MINOT, N.D. — This may be the strangest Fourth of July holiday in my lifetime. As we celebrate our nation’s founding, the federal government is mobilizing the National Guard to protect monuments in Washington, D.C., many of them dedicated to our founders, from violent protests. In recent weeks memorials to numerous American luminaries have been defaced and…
North Dakota’s State Parks Are a Treasure
MINOT, N.D. — “I don’t want to leave, Daddy.” Those were the words of my 4-year-old son, Cooper. He and I were in the process of packing up our tent on a recent Sunday after a weekend at Lake Metigoshe State Park. Though it’s more accurate to say that I was packing up the tent,…
Turns Out Burgum Was Right Not to Order a Moratorium on Evictions During Pandemic
MINOT, N.D. — Earlier this year, as our society grappled with the realities of a global pandemic, the North Dakota Democratic-NPL decided it was time to leverage the situation for political gain. They joined with several left-leaning groups, including the North Dakota chapter of the ACLU, in calling on Gov. Doug Burgum to issue an…
Latest Spat in the NDGOP Has Former Chairman Planning His Own State Convention for the Party
MINOT, N.D. — There are a lot of fractures in the North Dakota Republican Party, from Gov. Doug Burgum ruffling the feathers of many lawmakers with his big-money spending in the June legislative primary campaigns to the rump caucus Bastiat faction of the Legislature, the divides in North Dakota’s dominant political party have perhaps never been more palpable.…