Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 1160
For a nation grounded on the republican values of self-government and freedom of expression, both of which are served and constitutionally fortified by freedom of the press, the Supreme Court's ruling in the landmark case of New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) provided all the reassurance that even the most demanding citizens could seek. The "central meaning" of the First Amendment, Justice William Brennan declared in his opinion for a unanimous court, is the right to criticize government and...
Three-day weekends sound good to me. According to Business Insider, a movement is afoot for companies to offer employees four-day work weeks — 10 hours a day over four days, rather than eight hours over five days — so they may enjoy three-day weekends. More employers say that a four-day work week will help them retain and attract employees who, during COVID, reported “working longer, taking fewer breaks, and signing on at all hours of the day and night.” COVID exposed millions of new work-fr...
Amid all this wonderful wintery weather we’ve been experiencing, it may appear that no work is getting done. To the contrary, winter is what I refer to as “planning season.” Whether we gaze out the window from our warm offices or hunker down by the fireplace in our homes, our wheels are turning thinking about the months ahead. What kind of a year will we have? When and where will we travel? How many weddings and graduations are on the calendar? Do we have proper attire for them all? Here at the...
The Supreme Court’s decision in The New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) checks all the definitional boxes of a landmark ruling. It revolutionized the law of libel in the United States. It saved freedom of the press and the First Amendment. It empowered journalists to challenge representations of governmental officials. It lit the way for penetrating reporting necessary to properly inform the citizenry on the great issues of our time. Without the Sullivan ruling, the media would not have been able to produce the searching coverage that i...
Nine years ago this month Netflix changed how we watch television. The streaming service released an entire season of its political drama "House of Cards" at once, enabling viewers to binge on 13 episodes. Consumers were torn over whether bingeing was a luxury or, as with a gallon of ice cream or a fifth of vodka, too much of a good thing. Regardless, the scheduling tactic helped Netflix's profits soar. Now, with a raft of new streaming services competing for subscriber dollars, binge...
The longer President Biden lingers in the vicinity of a live microphone, the higher the probability for mischief and yes, entertainment. Given enough time, he may even accidentally recite Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities in its entirety. I’ve been taken to task recently by Biden supporters and critics of the former president for highlighting Biden’s gaffes and misspeaks, including his calling Fox News White House correspondent, Peter Doocy, a “stupid son of a b—-” in response to a reasonable question about inflation. It’s interesting t...
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ iconic dissenting opinion in Abrams v. United States (1919) transformed the Clear and Present Danger Test from its status as an apology for the repression of speech to protection of the right, in times of peace and war, to criticize governmental conduct and authority. With his dissent, Holmes changed the horizons of protected speech. Seldom in the annals of Supreme Court decisions has a dissenting opinion attained landmark status and pointed the way for a commitment to freedom and liberty. In an about-face, just n...
I have a problem. I misplace my wallet – a lot. In fact, if losing wallets was an Olympic sport, I'm pretty sure I'd be investigated for doping. And according to a 2018 survey by MoneyTips, I'm not alone, joining the 62% of survey respondents who said they had also lost their cash taco, or had it stolen. I relapsed again recently on a Saturday morning road trip with my wife and some friends, trying to convince myself that I would enjoy attending a college basketball game more than sleeping u...
Both Carrington and New Rockford hosted their annual archery tournaments over the past two weeks. As a parent of three teenagers, who all compete in archery and several other activities, I must say archery is among my favorites. Why? Well, as Jamie Risovi, retired head coach and founder of the Rocket Archery program at New Rockford-Sheyenne School once told me, “Everyone gets the same shot.” It’s absolutely true. Archery is a sport for the tall and the small. Each person is responsible for h...
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ opinion for the Supreme Court in Schenck v. United States (1919) shocked his libertarian friends and colleagues, who had always believed that he was a champion of free speech. His narrow conception of the Clear and Present Danger Test, which established the First Amendment standard for distinguishing protected from unprotected speech, afforded scant support for dissenting opinions that criticized governmental conduct during World War I. In the aftermath of the Schenck decision, Holmes was subjected to a barrage o...
The federal government should ban them. Girl Scout cookie season is upon us, my friends - the most agonizing of all the seasons. Dieters with ever-worsening health like me, who need to lose weight, are always at the mercy of those devilish treats - as thin mints are clearly as addictive as nicotine. This year, thanks to COVID madness, our challenge is greater than it has ever been. Millions of us haven't put a dent in removing the significant weight we put on in years one and two of our...
The good news is I’m feeling a lot better than I did on Sunday. The bad news is, that despite being vaxxed a year ago and boosted about ten days ago, I’ve come down with COVID. I, my wife Colleen and my son, his wife and one of their young kids have just caught the omicron variant – or it’s caught us. I guess you could say we’re on the COVID family plan. To say the least, it’s been a real kick in the butt. For almost two years my wife and I listened to the “science” and the people in charg...
America’s free speech story, as written in Supreme Court decisions, did not begin until World War I when the court declared in 1919, in Schenck v. United States, that speech is protected unless it presents a “clear and present danger” to our nation. The court’s landmark opinion, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, introduced a test to determine the parameters of protected speech that, in one version or another, would govern until the late 1960s. The “clear and present danger test” was first used not to protect speech, but rather to l...
Twila Klein told us last fall that the Hi-Way Drive In wouldn't be opening this spring unless she could find more help. Other businesses have reduced hours or services due to a shortage of workers. For years, we have needed youth to come back (or be willing to work after school, weekends and during the summer), or new people to come to fill our staffing needs, and the pandemic hasn't helped our situation. Carrington Chamber Director Laurie Dietz publishes a weekly newsletter for members, and...
We all know they will be there, and for the most part, we dread the naysayers when we are planning a new community event, project, or community change of any kind. There is truth in the statement that change is hard; however, change is really hard for some people. I have heard from many communities that “nothing ever happens here because of the negative attitude in the community.” I have found that there is no stereotypical naysayer. Some are older and yet, some of the youngest people in the community can also be naysayers. I believe it is a pe...
Great questions of constitutional law — how can the president be held accountable, whether the president is amenable to the judicial process, and the question of whether the president of the United States may be sued for civil damages — generate great interest and, occasionally, great rulings. Former President Donald Trump’s assertion in federal court this week of “absolute” immunity from civil lawsuits arising out of the January 6, 2021, insurrection on Capitol Hill represents a fresh reminder of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in...
I was recently invited to speak at a local women's organization meeting in my hometown. Apparently, I was pretty much their last option, right behind the auto-warranty telemarketer and the tax auditor. Since I couldn't imagine what I would discuss that might interest a women's group, I went for the obvious–my lifelong, chronic case of the girl crazies. In my younger years, it had always been my dream – even my goal – to be surrounded by women, and now I live in a house with four of them; I work...
Hello, 2022. We hope you're not expecting to get the honeymoon treatment that most New Years have gotten throughout history. You see, 2022, most of us are very cranky here in the U.S.A. and we have our eyes on you. It's nothing personal, 2022. It's just that our hopes for the last two New Year's have fallen far short of our expectations. We remember the high hopes we had for 2020 - which seems many decades ago. That year got off to a really great start. The economy was thriving. Employment was...
“Am I going to get my paper on time this week?” a lady called and asked Friday. “Well, they’re not here yet,” Allen answered. “Where’s my newspaper? I haven’t gotten a newspaper on time in four weeks!” a man bellered on the other end of the line on Monday. “I’m sorry,” I repeated, for probably the 40th time that day, and it was barely afternoon. Readers, here’s the scoop. Your newspapers have been delayed due to holidays, weather and/or driver illness four weeks in a row, and we understand yo...
By virtually every measurement, McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) ranks as Chief Justice John Marshall’s greatest opinion, and, in the view of many legal scholars, the most important decision ever rendered by the Supreme Court. McCulloch is a landmark case among landmark cases. Chief Justice Marshall, a member of the Virginia Ratifying Convention, wrote the court’s unanimous opinion. He set forth the classic statement of national authority, affirmed the sovereignty of the people, explained the “Necessary and Proper Clause” and the doctrine of impl...
It’s a New Year and time to reflect, and a time to make resolutions. How can we engage and encourage those in leadership positions in our state? As a member of the North Dakota Republican party, I am aware that many of the 47 NDGOP Districts across the state are having reorganizational meetings in the upcoming months. You can go to www.ndgop.org and find out who your district chair is, and reach out to them to find out when your Republican District reorganizational meeting is. If you are not sure which district you are in, you can go to w...
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in the upcoming case considering the Biden Administration’s top-down Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring private employers with over 100 employees to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine or weekly testing. The brief argues that Congress did not give OSHA the authority to impose a vaccine mandate and urges SCOTUS to stay the mandate. “Co...
In 1958, in Cooper v. Aaron, the Supreme Court, ensnared in the white-hot cauldron of southern resistance to federal authority, the Supremacy Clause and the abolition of segregation, delivered a massively important decision for the future of American Constitutionalism and the rule of law. In a case that threatened the very existence of the United States as a nation, the court reiterated its role as "the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution," denounced the doctrine of nullification, affirmed...
The Supreme Court's assertion in Marbury v. Madison (1803) of the power of judicial review, the authority to declare federal governmental acts unconstitutional, did not consider the question of whether federal courts could review state legislation and state judicial decisions. But that question would emerge in the hurly-burly of the young republic as citizens wrestled with the significant legal and political changes in the American landscape wrought by adoption of the new Constitution. A...
Having served on the State Investment Board on behalf of Governor George Sinner, I have had a continuing interest in the $8 billion pot of gold accumulated in the state treasury from oil revenue. The Fargo Forum and KX Television have been looking for a smoking gun in the State Investment Board, wondering if North Dakota is being well served by consultants that have worked for the state for two decades. Because the financial agreements between the Investment Board and the consultants are exempt...
