Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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In this season of peace, remembrance and celebration, we are beckoned by the ghosts of 1776 and 1787 to recall the historic work of this nation’s founders in establishing a republic grounded in the aspirational principles of liberty, equality and self-governance, and our duty as citizens to defend to defend it. The serious challenges to American Democracy, at home and abroad, have generated searching concerns amidst exposure of its deep-seated vulnerabilities and led some to wonder if our nation is facing a “Machiavellian Moment,” the point whe...
This Christmas was definitely one to remember for some, and not necessarily in a great way. Some didn’t make it home due to the ridiculous weather we’ve been having. Others I know were sick with COVID, or influenza, or RSV, or some other unknown respiratory virus, so they resorted to rest on the big day. We were fortunate. Everyone was healthy after a rough bout with sickness around Thanksgiving, and we only had to travel about five blocks to our Christmas Day celebration at my mot...
I won't hazard a guess as to whether it achieves immortality like "grassy knoll" or "hanging chads," but surely the phrase "bomb cyclone storm" will remain in the public consciousness of those who endured its cruelties. We'll laugh about this someday, but right now an awful lot of Americans have a "single digit" they'd like to give right back to Mother Nature. And we're not exactly chummy with 2022, which on its way out is taunting us with, "Bet now you wish you had bought the extended...
For the generation that framed and adopted the Constitution, legislative despotism was not merely theoretical, but real. The Founders’ fears were drawn from their experience under Parliament, which saddled an aspiring Republic with laws that violated their rights and liberties and denied their goal of independence. Henry Adams, the preeminent historian of the founding period, observed, “a great majority of the American people shared the same fears of despotic government.” Suspicion of legislative power was exacerbated in the years follo...
New year’s resolutions - who actually sticks to them anyway? I’ve said for years that there is no reason to make one if I don’t plan to keep it. Thus, I haven’t made any resolutions for some time. Readers, this year is different. So many people I love and respect have told me that I have “too much on my plate.” “You’ll find a way to get it all done,” I keep telling myself. “Just finish these three (or 10) more items on the to-do list and you can rest.” The trouble is, the list keeps getting...
I’m filled with a renewed sense of hope all of the sudden. Truthfully, I don’t know why I feel such hopefulness. Last Friday I went to the hospital to have a hernia surgically repaired. They stuffed a hose down my mouth and pumped me with air, then sliced and sewed and got my torn parts back in order. My throat is still throbbing. My torso feels like someone drove a locomotive into it. I slept much of the dark, cold weekend, recovering. And yet I just woke from a Monday afternoon nap filled...
Constitutionally speaking, a former President may be prosecuted It is unclear if the Department of Justice will charge former President Donald Trump with four crimes referred by the January 6 Committee, but there should be no doubt, constitutionally speaking, that an ex-president is subject to criminal prosecution. Chief Justice John Marshall, presiding at the Aaron Burr treason trial in 1807, observed that a former president is returned to the citizenry. The president, Marshall stated, “is elected from the mass of the people,” and “return...
Through all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I have to keep reminding myself to take work and life one step at a time. “Do one thing well, and then move on to the next,” I think. From workforce shortages and winter storms to shipping delays and sick days, we are all dealing with a lot. A colleague of mine missed a meeting a couple of weeks ago, and after learning that it was totally out of her control, I understood. “We all need a little grace and peace this holiday season, tha...
One of my fondest childhood memories of Christmas in the 1970’s was riding around in the family station wagon, “Bessie,” to look at Christmas lights while I whined to my parents about needing a snack – again. There was something magical about a familiar evening landscape transformed to a radiant wonderland at the expense of someone’s lumbar spine. My dad always made sure that our house was exemplary in its presentation of illuminated holiday décor, and even now, his legendary displays make my own attempts look like those of an unsupervised to...
Donald Trump’s call to terminate the constitution As the entire world knows by now, former President Donald Trump, the presumptive leader of the Republican Party, has called for the “termination” of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election. Trump’s landmark demand, if implemented, would eviscerate the Constitution, American democracy and the rule of law. Setting aside calls during the Civil War from Confederate leaders for the overthrow of the Constitution and the Union, no high ranking American official, past or present, has ever so...
By the time this reaches homes and newsstands this weekend, I’ll have had a meeting with the professionals at one of the state’s largest medical centers. I’ve been meeting with them for months getting ready for this surgery I was scheduled to have on Thursday. They’re going in to repair my “ticker.” I’ve known for a while there was a problem and now after tests, the surgery is set. And, to say the least, I am ready for that to happen. If not to rid my body of certain food groups, then the poss...
It has been years since my family last dealt with the "pictures with Santa" pageantry, but Saint Nick impersonators remain an integral part of Christmas for Americans. Parents feel compelled to honor the tradition of dumping tiny tots in Santa's lap, even if they're not emotionally ready for the experience. I wish I hadn't sold my Child Psychology textbook back to the college bookstore, or I would explain why kids who think nothing of sticking a fork in an electrical outlet or inviting a rabid...
The public role of religion in American life, long a challenging issue for the Supreme Court in its interpretation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, commanded nationwide attention in 1984 when a lawsuit was brought against Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for its erection of a nativity scene in the center of the city’s downtown shopping district. Prior to the arrival of Lynch v. Donnelly, the Supreme Court had rendered decisions that prohibited public schools from orchestrating prayer, posting the Ten Commandments and organizing a m...
A fledgling caterer lands a foundation gala and falls for her client's nephew, who is assigned to make sure the meal goes perfectly. An owner of a farm and home goods store tries to convince a reporter for a magazine that her friends who help run the store are her family. A reporter moves to a small town in Alaska and takes over the local newspaper at Christmas time. Yes, I am a sucker for sappy Christmas movies. From Thanksgiving to New Year's Day (with a few other days sprinkled in the rest...
Vinyl records are making a comeback, and it’s not just nostalgic old fogies who are driving the trend. According to Readers Digest UK, millennial and Gen Z consumers are digging the distinct sound of vinyl — and especially digging its imperfections and limitations. The scratch and crackle of a needle dancing atop a record’s grooves is a sound you don’t get with digital music. The typical LP — “long-playing album” for you digital music people — plays only 22 minutes or so per side, which req...
At this juncture in American history, when the citizenry seems to require frequent reminders of the landmark decisions and actions that poured and preserved the foundation of our constitutional democracy, we would do well to recall the transformative importance of Near v. Minnesota (1931), in which the Supreme Court delivered a ruling that built a wall of protection for freedom of the press against governmental censorship. The virtues of Near v. Minnesota are exhausting to recount. The Court’s decision defined freedom of the press. It trumpeted...
As I write this, I’m preparing to sleep in my own bed for the first time since Wednesday (and it’s Sunday). Armed with my media pass, new Rocket gear and Erik Gjovik’s Nikon camera, I spent the last three days soaking up all that North Dakota Class B sports has to offer. As reported in the Nov. 14 edition, this was New Rockford-Sheyenne’s first trip to state for volleyball. Now, I’ve attended state tournaments before, i.e. archery and the Dakota Bowl in 2012, but this was a whole new ball game...
Online shopping is so convenient. Just open a browser and click a couple of times and your holiday gifts could be on their way. But this holiday season we're asking you to rethink the click and support local small business. It's good for you and good for them. Here's why. While you can still shop online from local businesses, there are a lot of benefits to rethinking the click and making holiday shopping personal again. When you shop in-person you get the following benefits: • Seeing happy face...
The enormous pressures and hardships—financial, medical and psychological-- inflicted on the citizenry by the Great Depression required creative governmental responses that stressed the limits of the Constitution. In the face of the nation’s gravest economic crisis, states struggled to find ways and means to keep Americans in their homes and on their farms. The historic job losses meant that millions could not meet mortgage obligations. Foreclosures forced citizens from their homes and into the streets, without any hope of state assistance sin...
I don’t know why, but this past year I’ve gotten hooked on the TV reruns of Gunsmoke. And, the reason is easy to explain. I have cut out watching the news, most of which is on the national scene, but many nights I cancel out Fargo stations as well. Lots of it, if not most of the stories coming out of the east concern robberies, shootings, beatings, and stories you find on most national and small city stations. On the national scene, I have trouble watching and listening to what’s happening w...
Two hundred years ago, in the landmark case of Cohens v. Virginia (1821), the future of our Constitution, the aspirations of national unity, and the status and role of the federal judiciary itself, were before the Supreme Court. We have seldom seen in one case the coalescence of so many issues fundamental to the integrity of our constitutional system. The stakes for America could not have been higher. If the Supreme Court could not exercise appellate authority over state court decisions, then each state would be free to interpret federal l...
A sheriff’s deputy roared into our driveway the other morning, rang the bell, and asked my wife if she knew my whereabouts. Alarmed at first, then puzzled, Amy answered honestly: “He’s gone over to the Apple Store to see if they can fix his iPhone.” Across town, I was telling a friendly clerk named Sheila how I had been walking our dog when the phone in my pants pocket made an odd sound. Finding that the screen was frozen, I tried to power it off. This action somehow triggered an SOS call t...
Few things in the area of meetings or events surprise me these days, especially after some 60 years or more of attending just about all types of gatherings involving people and their programs. But this one did . . . the situation/gathering at the Open Season Lodge in Sheyenne on Saturday, October 29. It was the day set aside to fill shoeboxes. These are boxes filled with clothes, goodies, personal items, fun things, dolls and small blankets. Just a host of items that children around the globe...
The controversial use by college admission committees of an applicant’s race was the subject of a five-hour hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court this week in cases involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The lengthy oral argument brought to a fever pitch the long simmering question of the constitutionality of race conscious programs—affirmative action policies-- that were upheld in the Court’s landmark ruling in 1978 in Regents of University of California v. Bakke. The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed the use...
North Dakota for Term Limits celebrated a big win for Ballot Measure 1, which will apply term limits to the office of Governor, State House and State Senate. “First and foremost, we want to thank the people of North Dakota for their tremendous support for Measure 1,” said Jared Hendrix, Chair of ND for Term Limits. “For the voters who opposed our Measure, I also want to thank them for their participation on this important issue, and encourage them to keep an open mind. We believe that term limits will be good for North Dakota, and they will re...
