Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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Most of us have likely seen it at least once before. We’re in the middle of an important task, such as entering thousands of entries into an Excel spreadsheet or posting our latest update to Facebook, and all of a sudden the computer screen turns blue. About a week ago, the screens of an estimated 8.5 million Windows computers came down with the blue screen of death. It was like watching Inside Out 2, when orange-haired Anxiety takes over our beloved Riley. The multi-day tech flub, dubbed the ...
"If you could master any language in the world, what would it be?" "C++." It's a classic programming joke. The humor is ironic: language skills are less important than technological ones. Humor, I'm told, doesn't flourish in tech. Computers can't understand it. And, some would argue, neither can engineers. But the computer bit isn't quite accurate. Chatbots based on large language models, like ChatGPT, don't understand things the way we do. But with enough data, they can communicate like us....
The use of force, including assassination and other forms of lethal political violence, as a means of altering governmental regimes and political systems – tyrannicide, regicide and revolution – was part of the warp and woof of ancient politics and a central concern to the Framers of the Constitution. America, after all, was founded on revolution. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, therefore, sought to create a republic sufficiently responsive to the will of the people to facilitate peaceful political reforms, which would eliminate the...
I’m urging you to vote "no" this November on the ballot measure proposing the elimination of property taxes. My impetus for writing? A recent incident that clearly outlines the necessity for maintaining local control with property taxes. In the early hours of July 5, 2024, 29 rail cars carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire about nine miles southeast of Carrington, where I serve as fire chief. The hazardous materials, including anhydrous ammonia, posed a significant risk to people in and around Carrington and Bordulac, but our r...
July has been a memorable month for severe summer weather, and as I write this we are only halfway through! On July 4, mother nature declared her independence. It was an experience I will not soon forget. I watched lightning web through sky off to the northeast as I drove to Carrington that afternoon, headed for the 5 p.m. Independence Day parade. Considering the pavement on Hwy. 281 was already wet, I assumed the storm was traveling east away from town, not toward us. The weather was...
President Joe Biden, seeking a second term, is running against the U.S. Supreme Court. Keenly aware of the Court’s declining approval ratings, the growing storm of concerns surrounding the ethics of some of its members, and the national outrage stemming from decisions that overturned precedents protecting voting rights and reproductive rights, Biden believes he has found an issue that resonates with American voters. Throw in the Court’s recent ruling that presidents possess breathtaking immunity from criminal prosecution, a declaration, as Jus...
The Supreme Court defies its platform in service of an Imperial Presidency For years to come, constitutional scholars and historians will long note the irony of the Supreme Court’s defiance of its own intellectual platform in rendering a decision in Trump v. United States, on the eve of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, that creates out of whole cloth the dangerous doctrine of executive immunity in service of an Imperial Presidency. The very concept of clothing the American Presidency with protection that placed the English Ki...
The most critical nexus in the free market is the transactions that occur when willing sellers and interested buyers meet. One does not usually look to the federal government to resolve concerns that the costs of particular goods or services are too high. Sometimes there are exceptions. There is general agreement, for example, that the government can and should act when a company’s control of all or most of a single market allows it to act in ways adverse to the best interests of consumers. Now...
"Who runs the country?" I've been hearing variants of that question a lot over the last few weeks, mainly in forms like "given Joe Biden's age and apparent mental decline, can we trust him to run the country for another four years?" For the last eight or nine years, I've also heard it a lot, in slightly different forms, about Donald Trump. I visited Google Trends to find out if I'm just imagining increased frequency of that annoying question. Turns out my perception is correct: After a brief spike in 2004, the phrase "who runs the country"...
The right to practice religion, or no religion at all, is among the most fundamental of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. As enshrined in the First Amendment, religious freedom includes two complementary protections: the right to religious belief and expression and a guarantee that the government neither prefers religion over non-religion nor favors particular faiths over others. These dual protections are supposed to work hand in hand, allowing religious liberty to thrive and...
A recent news development has left some folks scandalized and others envious. (And still others grumbling, “I don’t need no stinking news developments! I’m too busy getting ready to vote!”) I’m speaking of the revelation that former New England Patriots coaching legend Bill Belichick (age 72) is dating 24-year-old beauty pageant contestant Jordon Hudson. (Please hold your fainting spells or “Attaboy!” outbursts until later.) This (and similar situations, including reports that 49-year-old L...
You likely paid 94 cents for this newspaper. It's not enough. Remember this number: 94 cents. It's the number I'm repeating as I work with your newspaper in the coming months as part of a national experiment to help save local news. That number, 94 cents, is how much it costs you as a subscriber to get this paper every week with your $49 in-state annual subscription. 94 cents. A Twix and a bottle of pop – both machine-produced within seconds – each cost over $2 at a gas station I recently stopped by. Yet this newspaper that took hundreds of hou...
If you read the above column from Teri Finneman, you're probably wondering why I published it in this newspaper. The answer is simple: while the Foster County Independent is the proving ground for saving local news, the New Rockford Transcript needs a reinvention just as much as the Independent does. Change is not the enemy, complacency is. Something needs to change, and this newspaper’s publisher and staff will not be complacent. As the publisher, I am fully invested in keeping this n...
For the first time since I've been in business, I had to file an insurance claim. The electricity went out in Carrington during a severe thunderstorm the night of Monday, June 17. When Independent staff came to work Tuesday morning, they discovered that some of our office equipment was not working properly. The main office printer wouldn't turn on, so they made the call to Central Business Systems, the company that maintains our printer. It turns out that the surge protector box had done its job...
Thank God Willis Haviland Carrier invented air conditioning – for the most part. Before air conditioning, the heat drove us outside and brought us together. Friends sought the shade of trees or a refreshing dip in a lake or river. On the hottest nights, whole families brought their blankets and pillows to riverbanks, where it was cool. In the evening, neighbors sat on their large front porches, enjoying a cool breeze as they sipped lemonade and told stories. Even in the 1970s, when I was a kid i...
The Declaration of Independence, which Abraham Lincoln referred to as the “sheet anchor of the Republic,” set forth the proposition, as he said in the Gettysburg Address, that “the United States was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” The principle of equality, Lincoln admitted, was “aspirational.” Its implementation would await the arrival of America’s maturity, that moment when the societal, cultural and political forces would accept the legalization of racial equality. There was no invisi...
Recently, I was getting a haircut and teasing my long-term stylist about the lack of inspirational-quote décor in her salon station compared to the one next to hers. Of course, she knows that teasing her is how I show my love and appreciation to her for not re-sculpting my earlobes with her straight razor or making my hair look like it was styled with a package of firecrackers. Our discussion had us both laughing about how corny and unrealistic some inspirational quotes can seem, especially for those of us who are 50 or older. Take this one,...
With the state primary season concluded, the forms of messaging statewide candidates used leading up to June 11 is curious. Likewise, the steady drumbeat we hear from local and state governments to move public notices to government websites, along with the decisions some state agencies make in bypassing legacy media to publicize state programs. As the executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association (NDNA), and also a community newspaper publisher, the requests for free coverage by...
The 80th anniversary of D-Day, justly commemorated as history’s greatest military invasion, reminds us of the fact that World War II was waged to defeat the forces of authoritarianism abroad so our constitutional democracy and all that comes with it – freedom, justice and the rule of law – could be preserved at home. When American soldiers stormed the beaches at Normandy on June 6, 1944, they fought for the cherished principles embodied in the Constitution and those trumpeted by the Bill of Rights: limited governmental powers confined by the C...
“It’s like going to a family reunion where they all actually like you.” “You would never have known it was their first time hosting a convention.” “That is one of the best, most beautiful rooms I’ve ever stayed in. It’s right up there with resorts in big cities.” That’s what members of the Fraternal Order of Eagles had to say about their time in New Rockford and Carrington this past weekend, as New Rockford Aerie 2923 hosted the Dakota State Convention. In total, more than 200 people from across...
Now that two of my daughters are away at college and the one still at home basically views me as an ATM in an unfashionable neighborhood, I’ve tried to find myself a hobby. Since I’m not interested in activities that involve getting out of bed before noon on a Saturday, that pretty much rules out most manly-type-outdoorsy stuff that would require me to sweat profusely in a tent, clean an animal carcass or have one of my friends pluck a tick from a region of my anatomy that I can’t reach. Instead, with the money we have left after paying for c...
Rising concerns about the U.S. Supreme Court’s lack of impartiality amid increasing calls for judicial recusals, reforms and transparency, form a historical backdrop of anxiety as Americans are, once more, bracing themselves for a landmark ruling that will have a direct bearing on the future of our constitutional democracy, the Bill of Rights and the rule of law. In this case, Trump v. United States, the question is whether the president enjoys absolute immunity from criminal prosecution. The Court will render a decision that may determine, a...
This primary season has been quite the experience. On one hand, it’s positive to see so many North Dakotans interested in running for political office. We’re seeing primary challenges in both state and local government races, which means voters have choices in who they want to represent them over the next few years. On the other hand, more candidates means more political advertising. Citizens have started write-in campaigns, and announced their candidacy in newspapers, radio, TV and all ove...
Agriculture and energy are the cornerstones of North Dakota’s economy. Not only do we feed and fuel the world, but we also provide thousands of good jobs and billions in federal, state and local tax revenue. Those taxes paid fund schools, roads, flood protection and social services across our great state. Virtually every corner of the state and every person living in North Dakota benefits from agriculture and energy production. The food and energy we produce are also among the cleanest, most environmentally-friendly of any in the world. We t...
I encourage all voters to do what I did – see who is funding their local candidates. I searched for our incumbent legislators – Sen. Jerry Klein, Reps. Robin Wesiz and Jon Nelson. I expected to see some listed contributions from small towns across my district, like Fessenden, Harvey, Rugby, New Rockford, Maddock and elsewhere. Honestly, I was shocked by what I found. There was nothing of the sort. Over 80 percent of the money funding their campaigns were from lobbyists PACs, special interest funds, former and current elected officials and pol...
