Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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I've been called a lot of things in my life, some of them endearing, most of them not. When Barack Obama referred to conservatives like me as people who cling to our guns and religion, I was offended. Later, when Hillary Clinton called conservatives who weren't going to vote for her a "basket of deplorables," it looked as if another Democrat was employing crude, awkward rhetoric to gin up her base. It had the opposite effect, which helped put another guy in office who wasn't shy about insulting...
I have a song by Kenny Chesney in my head right now, “The Boys of Fall.” “Standin' in the huddle listenin' to the call “Fans goin' crazy for the boys of fall” Yes, it's Homecoming, and this time of year, I drift back to the autumns of my youth. I’m a football fan to the core. It’s one of the only things I actually like about the fall season, in fact, other than the beauty of the leaves changing color. If I’m home and there’s a game to watch, it’s probably on the flat screen in my living room. Th...
In 1947, in the context of changing attitudes about race and a historic shift in federal policy on the practice of segregation in housing, punctuated by President Harry S. Truman’s spirited attack on discrimination in America, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark decision in Shelley v. Kraemer that rendered racial covenants unenforceable. In a 6-0 opinion authored by Chief Justice Fred Vinson, the Court destroyed the most efficient and systematic tool for maintaining Jim Crow traditions and denying racial minorities from accessing decent h...
We’ve had some heavy news weeks this summer. Burglaries, fatal crashes, residents fighting cancer, and a suspected murder-suicide were among the hard news headlines of the summer 2022 news cycle in our area. That said, we’ve also celebrated a lot. Our communities have a way of coming together when we really need to, don’t we? When I reflect on this past summer, a song by The Byrds comes to mind, “Turn, Turn, Turn.” We’ve had “A time to dance, a time to mourn,” all in the past few months. Ple...
"Half of that goes to the bank for your college fund!" That's what my father told me in the 8th grade, when I got my first paycheck for waking up at 5:30 a.m. to ride my bike a few miles to Cool Springs Driving Range before school, where I plucked golf balls for a dollar an hour. My dad had six kids to feed on a single income, after all. Paying my full college tuition bill was never going to be an option. There was only one option for me: work. When I got a little older I started mowing lawns...
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), entrenched in American folklore by a best-selling book and a popular film, was one of the most famous decisions rendered by the Warren Court. In a landmark opinion that reflected the Supreme Court’s determination to create one rule for rich and poor alike, the High Tribunal held for the first time that the Sixth Amendment requires states to provide for court-appointed attorneys in all felony cases. Justice Hugo Black wrote the Court’s 9-0 opinion: “From the very beginning, our state and national constitutions and l...
My mother made me do it! Rather, she really didn't make me, she actually taught me how to do it through lots of hard work and all the time I spent in her garden as a kid. I have and never did regret it, though, because of what followed in my life to date in the hobby of gardening. The thought of this came to mind following the story carried in this paper a couple weeks ago featuring the Community Garden Project currently underway in the city. It all started, as I remember, that Dad and I were...
"Anxious parents are no longer allowing their kids to go to slumber parties," announced a blurb in the August 16 "New York Post." Slumber parties are not usually one of the top subjects on my mind in the morning ("Got my keys, got my snack, got my wallet, got a great 'is your refrigerator running?' joke to share..."), so I was surprised to learn that 12.3 million parents participate in the #NoSleepovers movement online. (Boy, I'm old. I remember when Arte Johnson popularized "Blow in my ear and...
In a blockbuster, landmark ruling that rolled back the tides of racism and White Supremacy, the Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia (1967), affirmed marriage as a fundamental right protected by the 14th Amendment when it struck down a state law that banned interracial marriage. Just a dozen years after the Court had held in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and, in a historical context in which racial violence and southern resistance to civil rights laws and rulings captured daily headli...
Gov. Doug Burgum today released the following statement regarding the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools and at meetings of elected governing bodies in North Dakota. "America is the land of opportunity. And students in every public school in North Dakota, along with elected governing bodies and those who attend their meetings, should have the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and express support for the American ideals upon which our country was founded," Burgum said. "To that...
Whoa! I bet we are in the running as the most expensive town per capita in the state to live in. Granted, we are getting some much needed improvements, although I’m not in favor of property owners footing the bill every time. With these new special assessments, there are going to be people that will have to sell because they can’t pay both the property taxes and special assessments. If they actually make improvements in relation to your property it would be welcome, but if you live on gravel, your property will be devalued due to the high ass...
As the old joke goes, there are only two seasons in North Dakota: winter and road construction. If there was a year where that is more true, it would be 2022. Our area saw snowstorms in late April, and as soon as the white crap melted work was underway on numerous construction projects. This construction season our pages have been filled with updates on the various projects underway. We're "under construction," folks, "a work in progress." Three major highway projects are underway, according to...
Justice Rufus Peckham’s opinion in the landmark case of Lochner v. New York (1905), cemented the Supreme Court’s embrace of the liberty of contract doctrine and its tilt toward the laissez-faire economic philosophy of the day. Justice Peckham’s passion for substantive due process and the Court’s assertion of authority to substitute its own preferences for those of state lawmakers unleashed an enduring debate on the methods of constitutional interpretation and the scope of a state’s police power. His opinion propelled “the general rule of abs...
East Texas is hot, and not in the way you compliment your wife when she's mad at you for performing an epic cannonball while she's lounging by the pool with her laptop. For the past few weeks, Texas (and much of the world) has been suffering through a distressing phenomenon known as summer – that time of year when we all remember what it's like being toddlers walking around with drenched undergarments. I realize that my opinion may seem blasphemous to those who enjoy a good lower-body heat r...
I was excited for the Mini Market in Carrington City Park last Tuesday, as it was a chance to see the next generation of movers and shakers in business, in action. I unfortunately couldn’t make it, so reporter Erik Gjovik was my eyes and ears at the event. Erik visited four young entrepreneurs, and there was a common theme among them. They were all inspired by an enterprising adult, in most cases their parents. Liza Steele from New Rockford sold custom greeting cards. Her business was aptly n...
In its recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court denounced judicial resort to the doctrine of substantive due process to pour the foundation for the fundamental right to access contraceptives, abortion and same-sex marriage. Since then, the “reading public,” to borrow from James Madison, has expressed deep interest in the origins of the doctrine. A search for the early development of substantive due process will reveal the Court’s landmark ruling in 1905, in Lochner v. New York. I...
Comedian Carl Reiner was good at living well - and he lived well until the age of 98. I recently watched his 2017 HBO documentary, "If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast." It introduces viewers to several people who are flourishing in their 90s - running races at 100, doing yoga at 98, playing the piano professionally at 100 - and it really does inspire people of all ages to get off their duff and take life by the horns. Average life expectancy has taken a hit in the past few years due to...
The Supreme Court’s decision in Korematsu v. United States (1944), upholding the forced evacuation of American citizens of Japanese descent from their homes for no reason other than their ancestry was, as scholars have characterized it, a national disaster, one that will live in infamy. For the first time in our nation’s history the Court, in one swift blow, significantly undermined the writ of habeas corpus, a civil right fundamental to American Constitutionalism. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order No. 9066, issued on Febru...
Today I’m noshing on a summer salad and sipping raspberry tea from inside the Garden Gate, Carrington’s downtown gathering place. The exposed brick walls, tin ceilings and beautiful barnwood details, as well as the wireless internet and music in the background, are all things I appreciate about it. In fact, I suggested that one of my newspaper colleagues spend time here when she came to town a couple of weeks ago. She had a little work to do before our meeting, and I told her it was the ide...
I had the privilege of inviting newspaper colleagues of mine from across the state to central North Dakota recently. This was one of the "perks" of serving as president of the North Dakota Newspaper Association that I looked forward to the most. I know our communities are pretty great, and I couldn't wait to show them off. We met under the "Big Chief," a central North Dakota landmark in Carrington. We dined at the Chieftain Sports Bar & Grill, which serves bison ribeye processed locally at...
Dear sir: There is a stigma that animals rescued on the Spirit Lake Reservation will be shot if no rescue or foster homes are found. This may have happened in the past under previous animal rescue personnel out here, but that was in the past. We have a new generation of animal control personnel. Under Pernell Cavanaugh with the assistance of Shelly Hanson, several other animal rescue groups and all our kind-hearted volunteers, all animals are taken to rescues to find them forever, loving homes. I resent that the past ills of animal control on...
I’m writing this from the Rock Inn, a beautiful family owned small hotel in New Rockford, North Dakota. I’m here as a board member for the North Dakota Newspaper Association and our president invited us to her community of 1,428 people for today’s quarterly meeting. To say I’m impressed with New Rockford is an understatement. It’s green, clean and full of community pride just like so many smaller communities in our region. But what really blew me away about this east-central North Dakota city is a gem I had not expected. On Thursday night, ou...
The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Korematsu v. United States (1944), upheld a government program that required the exclusion of Japanese American citizens from areas along the West Coast on the premise, without benefit of any evidence, that they represented a threat to engage in sabotage and espionage on behalf of America’s enemy in World War II. The decision represented a swift plunge, as Justice Frank Murphy wrote in dissent, into “the ugly abyss of racism,” for it promoted the unsavory proposition that citizens could be punishe...
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes…including you.” – Anne Lamott For the first time since I became a newspaper publisher, I “unplugged” for three days. I left my phone and my laptop in the room where we were staying, and I took a break from the constant emails and phone calls that generally fill my days and enjoyed being fully present with family. I have my in-laws to thank for the opportunity. They booked this trip for us a year ago, as a Christmas p...
Here's a trend that may not bode well for the future of our country: According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 40 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds have summer jobs - down from 75 percent of teens a generation ago. As it goes, according to the NerdWallet website, teen summer employment has been declining for decades. Why? One reason is that jobs typically tailored for teens are either shrinking or being taken by older folks. Another is that more teens are attending summer school,...
