Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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My son Gideon has now finished both his ACT and SAT college entrance exams (scoring at an impressive percentile somewhere between “It’s …it’s…go ask my wife” and “Never you MIND what his father’s score was”), but I wonder if the tests will still be relevant when HIS hypothetical kids reach college age. Hundreds of colleges dropped mandatory test scores this year because of COVID-19 disruptions, but standardized tests were already falling out of favor with admissions officers long before the v...
Lots of people in politics and the media out here in California are blaming global warming for the 26 major wildfires that have killed at least 24, burned more than 3 million acres and destroyed thousands of homes. But let’s get real. This state has been plagued by wildfires long before baby left-wingers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decided that they’re caused by humans heating up the planet by burning fossil fuels. I grew up in Los Angeles in the 1950s. We didn’t have as many people, cars...
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was perhaps the most consequential attorney in American history. As an advocate, she transformed the landscape for womens' rights. And, as a Justice on the Supreme Court, she authored numerous groundbreaking opinions. Her death on Friday may also be immensely consequential: Her departure from the Supreme Court might change the winner of the 2020 presidential election from Joe Biden to Donald Trump. The 2020 election may be decided by the Supreme Court – just like it was in 2...
Proposing to double the size of the Board of Higher Education, Measure #2 threatens to burden the system more than help. This November 3 ballot measure has yet to be explained by its legislative sponsors so it’s merits are still a mystery. Playing in the background we have a 80-year gripe by the Legislature against the Board. It was created in the later 1930s after capitol politics threatened the professionalism of the institutions. Friends of higher education, primarily in Fargo, decided to i...
Big news hit the Transcript newsroom on Monday. The North Dakota Department of Health had reported that a woman in her 80s residing in Eddy County had died with COVID-19. The novel coronavirus had knocked on the door of our rural county all spring and summer, but it hadn’t breached its way into the living room until just a few weeks ago. It wasn’t bad enough that roughly one out every 100 of our residents had been fighting the virus at the same time (a high of 21 active cases were reported on...
A few weeks back, I covered a virtual panel on ag policy featuring two-thirds of South Dakota's congressional delegation. At least, it was supposed to be an update on ag policy. The first half or so seemed like more of a woe-is-me fest from Sen. Mike Rounds and Rep. Dusty Johnson. To hear them tell it, the dysfunction of D.C. all comes down to the "other" side. They could get things done if only everyone thought like them. To their credit, about half of the panel moved into real policy...
Realizing that September 25 marks the 50th anniversary of the premiere of “The Partridge Family,” I am reminded that time moves more swiftly than a 45 RPM turntable. It seems like only yesterday that I was a fifth-grader and my mother was teasing me because 10-year-old Danny Partridge (played by Danny Bonaduce) was in love. Unless you were alive back then, it’s hard to explain the mass hysteria that greeted songs such as “I Think I Love You” and “Doesn’t Somebody Want to Be Wanted?” When...
As you can imagine having a birthday on 9/11, as I do, can elicit some complicated emotions. Only once in my life have I celebrated the demise of another human being, but that day in 2011 when those soldiers got bin Laden, I got my birthday back. I was driving the kids to daycare 10 years earlier when I heard the news on the radio, and while the kids chirped away, I knew what it meant and I knew that life would change— at least for a while. I lamented the loss of innocence that childhood should guarantee but seldom does. At least not in my life...
Over Labor Day I spent some time thinking about the jobs I've done, skills I developed, and things I learned, including how much a body can endure. I never considered a career in bale-hauling or rock-picking, but there was satisfaction when that last load of hay was hauled, the hay mound was packed, and the frustration of losing a load or two while navigating a cowpath with a wobbly flatbed, was forgotten. As for picking rocks on my Grandpa Spilloway's farm in Gackle, N.D., well, they just kept belching to the surface each spring. Satisfaction...
For millions of amateur and minor league baseball (MiLB) fans, the 2020 season was a bust. Not only did COVID-19 wipe out most all the scheduled games, 2020 may be the end of the line for many teams. Reports abound that more than 40 minor league teams are on the ropes, and in 2021 they may be gone forever. The Chattanooga Lookouts, the Erie Seawolves and the State College (Pennsylvania) Spikes are among the established teams on MLB’s endangered list. Sports Illustrated sent a survey to 68 M...
I made it through the summer of COVID-19 – though I’m thankful that neither I nor any of my family have contracted the novel coronavirus. I know that the summer doesn’t technically end until Sept. 22, but I got through June, July and August. It wasn’t easy for me or anyone. Every Monday, I went on a diet to lose my “covid 19” – as in the 19 pounds I put on during March, April and May – because by every Friday, I slipped back into the bad habits I’d developed during the spring. What a blur the s...
History was made on August 19, 2020 when Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) accepted the Democratic Party’s vice-presidential nomination. She is the first major party, national ticket nominee to support reparations for black Americans to compensate for the historical injustices of slavery and segregation. But Harris’ heralding of reparations has not been a profile in courage (or clarity). Like her positions on Medicare-for-all and decriminalizing marijuana and prostitution, Harris has given conflicting statements regarding specific policies. Nev...
For most of us, Labor Day will be an occasion for relaxation and contemplation. (And MORAL DILEMMAS, because our contemplation will be complicated by the fact that the little cartoon angel on our right shoulder and the little cartoon devil on our left shoulder aren’t allowed within six feet of each other.) For others, even in the time of pandemic, it will be “just another manic Monday.” My afterschool job required me to work EVERY holiday, so my sincerest empathy goes out to those truck drive...
It's rare that a simple tweet triggers in me the desire to write a column. On night three of the Republican National Convention last week, I had the great pleasure of watching Madison Cawthorne, a young paraplegic who is running for a house seat in North Carolina. At the very end of his short but moving address, this man – who is otherwise confined to a wheelchair – was helped out of that chair by two friends and stood. He was standing for the flag, for what it represents, for his fellow cit...
Someone ACCIDENTALLY took my large gray turtle, small straw bale with a fall color straw man holding a lantern and solar owl from my sidewalk/driveway on September 1. PLEASE bring them back or call me and I will pick them up. If anyone has any information regarding this, PLEASE let me know, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you. Call Judy at 701-302-0034 Judy Allmaras 407 N. 13th St. New Rockford, ND...
In an election year, you can’t go a day without hearing some politician somewhere cry out for reform of the nation’s healthcare system. Even former Vice President Joe Biden, whom the Democrats nominated for president last week, devoted a considerable portion of his acceptance speech to the issue. The solutions to the problems we face won’t be found by rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic system America has built to deliver healthcare and pay for it. What the policymakers should pursu...
American home ownership is soaring, which is good for all of us. Home sales slowed during the early months of COVID-19, as millions of Americans stayed inside. In the past few months, however, with interest rates at historic lows, homes have been selling at a record pace, USA Today reports. As Americans flee dense urban areas, they’re looking for room to spread out – what we call “distancing” these days – and big yards for their kids to play in. I can’t wait for millions of erstwhile r...
I am no longer surprised at the depths to which some people will sink in these fraught and tortured moments. A friend recently posted something on her Facebook page honoring the life and tragic death of Cannon Hinnant, the little 5-year-old from North Carolina who was shot through the head by his next-door neighbor. I also posted about the death, and made the child’s picture my social media profile photo. We both did it to call attention to the loss of another innocent to senseless, ubiquitous v...
In searching through the New Rockford Transcript archives from 1914 and 1920, I encountered far more than I was expecting when it comes to women’s suffrage. Some of the stories we informative reports of meetings among the Votes for the Women’s League as well as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. At first glance, it was hard to tell if the Transcript writers had any opinion on the movement. The stories were straight forward. In the report on the organization of the North Dakota Votes for Women League, the Transcript stated, “Much i...
Joe Biden reminded the world what grace looks like. Robert Trump, President Trump’s younger brother, died Saturday. In response, Biden tweeted: “Mr. President, Jill and I are sad to learn of your younger brother Robert’s passing. I know the tremendous pain of losing a loved one – and I know how important family is in moments like these. I hope you know that our prayers are with you all.” Biden’s grace reminds us that despite how heated political rhetoric can be, we’re all human in the end— and...
I’ve been all over the place with Kamala Harris. Before Joe Biden picked her as his running mate, I was convinced that of all the possible choices, she was the most palatable. Harris has a lot of experience, is highly educated, is a P.R. genius and has fielded almost as much hate from the left as she has from the right. Her years as a prosecutor have put her on the wrong side of the law for Black Lives Matter activists and allies, so to say that the extremists on the far left aren’t happy is...
COVID-19 is getting old– particularly for employees who’ve been working from home for months. That’s the finding of a Wall Street Journal article, “Companies Start to Think Remote Work Isn’t So Great After All.” Early on, when millions stopped commuting and started working from home, many companies saw good results. Work was getting done. Most employees enjoyed it. Companies saw an opportunity to reduce future office overhead costs by making remote work part of their long-term strategy. B...
I’ve been pretty lucky in the name department. With the exception of that brief period when I hated the fact that “Christine” became a symbol for women who couldn’t keep their hair out of their faces and whispered before Congress about an alleged assault no one else could remember, I’ve never been ashamed to, as Beyonce sang, say my name. That’s why I feel so bad for women named Karen. It’s a lovely name, and I have some equally lovely female friends who share it. There is Karen from Pittsbur...
Welcome to Campaign 2020! One unforeseen byproduct of the catastrophic COVID epidemic that has so far killed more than 160,000 Americans: It’s shortened the usual epic, endless campaign swings as candidates travel from sea to shining sea to kiss babies and press the flesh with assorted locals. One week, they’d campaign on their infrastructure platform; the next week would be about foreign policy; the following week would see them move on to talking about jobs and the economy; after that, hea...
I’m no expert when it comes to homeschooling, but I do have experience. I suppose that is why from time to time, parents approach me about homeschooling. These days this is happening more and more. Even with an impressively adaptive health and safety plan in place at NR-S, there are families who are considering delivering their child’s (or children’s) education at home. And that’s okay— because, in this challenging time, each family has to consider their options based on their own individual needs. Homeschooling is an option for all North Dak...
