The White House unveils a new system to track and better prevent opioid overdoses

Few, if any, communities in the country have escaped the scourge of opioid addiction. Minot is no exception. And those most impacted have begged and pleaded at all levels of government for more action. Well, the Federal government is stepping up in a role that will serve all communities – filling the data gap so

Read & Share   sourced from: NPR

The North American ‘Amazon’ You’ve Never Heard Of—And Why It’s In Peril

Conservationists are sounding the alarm on enormous declines in bird populations — a loss of nearly 3 billion since the 1970s — and the key to turning the tide is an area as vital to North American as the Amazon is to South America. And it’s right here in North Dakota. It’s the prairie pothole

Read & Share   sourced from: Forbes

Public Comment on Minot Joining the Dakota Access Amicus Brief

Government — at the local, state, and federal levels — works best when those making decisions on issues hear from those who are impacted. And at a Special City Council meeting today,  the City of Minot through possible action of the Council may weigh in and speak up the ladder — into the federal court

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Musings on the melting pot

I recently attended a conference in Chicago where one of the featured speakers was a well- regarded demographer from the University of North Carolina. According to his research, for the first time ever in the USA, children in the first grade with brown skin, outnumber children with white skin. By his definition, children with brown

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Can we admit we’re part of the problem?

Reasonable people should at least agree in concept that some degree of control should be exercised by the federal government at the Mexican border. The Mexican border is ground zero for immigration. Canadians appear to be content with high taxes, socialized medicine, expensive booze, expensive gasoline, and less than balmy weather. We should hardly blame

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

Are there works of literature, music or pop culture which somewhat describe current events in our nation’s capital? Could it be Dante’s Inferno? Could it be Alice in Wonderland? Could it be To Kill a Mockingbird? Could it be The Crucible? Could it be The Emperor Has No Clothes? Is it like watching One Flew

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To judge or not to judge, that is your question

It is too early to speculate on the outcome of the Presidential race in 2020. If Trump does not get re-elected, however, there will be a chapter in American history and law for which there is no precedent. Michael Cohen, who was Trump’s personal lawyer, has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a

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This is the government we deserve

In prior writings, I have described our country as “The Divided States of America”. No matter who is elected President in 2020, I am skeptical of that person’s capacity to unite the American public. It seems that the left and the right are tugging their respective political parties into positions which label compromise and basic

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Oregon legislation to require Holocaust study in schools

When and where should state-level policy makers step in and mandate curriculum for students? It’s a question that’s being answered across the country in many forms and proposals, and one example out of Oregon is a requirement that schools deliver history lessons on the Holocaust. Get the full story from the Los Angeles Times.

Read & Share   sourced from: Los Angeles Times

When it comes to parking, we’ve already embraced socialism

Equal and available parking for all the cars in all the places all the time! I don’t remember the street protest and social activism that secured this ‘right’ for us, but there’s no doubt that the wheels of government drove us straight to our current state of parking utopia.  Through on-street parking in front of

Read & Share   sourced from: City Observatory

U.S. Senate Bills address Missouri River floods

Flooding across the Missouri and Mississippi rivers this spring have politicians talking, and one of the topics is the Corp’s management practices and priorities. On that topic, two bills were introduced this week that may have impacts in North Dakota. One would remove fish and wildlife as one priority on the list of those that

Read & Share   sourced from: DTN.com

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Retail sector creating big winners and big losers

With news yesterday of Dressbarn’s closing we have yet another example of how much the retail sector is changing. But not all retailers are struggling; those that are adapting to new shopping practices are thriving. One example is Target as illustrated in this article from the Star Tribune. And these types of stories invite the

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Social Security for me but not for thee

In sixteen years, benefits paid out by the Social Security Administration will exceed generated surpluses. The options of the federal government at that time will be to reduce payments to the retired and/or disabled, increase payroll taxes on employers, employees or both, raise the cap on taxable wages, increase the age of retirement, or all

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Americans say: hold drug companies responsible for opioid crisis

Some states have filed lawsuits against the drug companies. And according to a poll conducted by NPR, the majority of Americans are ok with holding those same companies accountable. Get the full story from NPR.

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Washington governor signs bill with new Bakken crude oil requirements

Washington state has a new law; crude oil imported through and to refineries in the state will need to be shipped at a vapor pressure level far lower than what North Dakota requires — if amounts exceed current levels or new facilities are built. In other words, the roughly 150,000 barrels per day headed West

Read & Share   sourced from: Bismarck Tribune

Minot makes a list of best places to start a business

Online finance website WalletHub ranked the best small towns across America to start a business; Minot came in at #13. The list includes more than 1200 towns and ranked them based on metrics like access to capital, labor, cost of doing business, etc. Check out more on the good news for Minot story here on

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