Letter from Dick Dever Bismarck, N.D. In North Dakota, we enjoy the friendliness of the people and the fact that, if we don’t know someone, we probably know someone who does. North Dakota has the highest per capita number of residents over the age of 85 in the United States. That number is expected to increase substantially over the next couple of decades. The Legislature’s Long Term Care Committee, which I chair, is considering three studies that help to plan for that future. One of those studies involves the availability of services to people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. It has been suggested that we should, as a state, develop a 10 year plan to make North Dakota a “dementia friendly” state. We need your help. What would that plan look like? Drugs and treatment exist now that lessen and delay the effects of Alzheimer’s. Early diagnosis makes a big difference in the outcomes associated with the disease. The person with the disease is able to participate in decision-making involving his or her own future. On average, a person who is diagnosed early will see a delay in entering a nursing home of 18 months, with an estimated savings of $ 21 million over that amount of time. What would happen if spouses and other family members, clergy, doctors, nurses, friends, law enforcement, barbers, store clerks, business associates, and others were to recognize confusion and memory loss that may or may not be Alzheimer’s and encourage the person to seek an evaluation? It is estimated that there are more than 17,000 people in our state who have Alzheimer’s. The primary caregiver for most of them is their spouse or another family member. Approximately 35,000 of our residents being directly affected by the disease should cause all of us concern. We know that oftentimes the caregiver is at risk of losing his/her health and needing care themselves. What would happen if neighbors stepped in to assist with meals and a needed break? What would happen if high school students came along to mow their lawns or shovel their sidewalks? What would happen if there were enough qualified service providers to assist with more personal and medical care? How can we best deal with transportation issues and social isolation along with other concerns that might affect you and the ones you love? The next meeting of the Long Term Care Committee will be May 20th. Let me know what you think at
or mail me at P.O. Box 6220, Bismarck, N.D. 58506.
Dever, R-District 32, is a senator in the North Dakota Legislature.
Dorgan’s right on GI Bill
Thursday, 08 May 2008
Letter from Bill Amerman Forman, N.D. I recently read a column by Sen. Byron Dorgan about his efforts to pass a new, strengthened G.I. Bill. I'm writing this letter to commend him for it. As a veteran of the Vietnam War, I can attest to the benefits of having a G.I. Bill first hand. After returning home from overseas, I utilized the G.I. Bill to attend North Dakota Sate College of Science for training in business management. I learned many skills at NDSCS which I use as a State Legislator to this day. This is definitely an appropriate time for Congress to be considering a new G. I. Bill. Compared to the rest of the country, North Dakota has had one of the highest ratios of National Guard troops who have served in recent wars. There's no doubt this has taken a toll on the state's communities and families. Increasing opportunities for our brave soldiers when they get back home is the right thing to do right now. Much like Dorgan, I see the G.I. Bill as an investment in our veterans. The Senator mentioned that there as been a seven-fold return of investment on vets who used the G.I. Bill soon after World War II. Dorgan's idea to expand it holds much merit. Once again, I support Dorgan's efforts to pass a new, strengthened G.I. Bill.
Amerman, D-District 26, is a representative in the North Dakota Legislature.
Tax complaints should be based on facts
Tuesday, 06 May 2008
Letter from Jon Wagar Valley City, N.D. I’d like to respond to the recent letter to the editor decrying local citizens “being taxed for everything and anything the city leaders want,” “taxing citizens to death,” and “let’s do it and just raise taxes again.” Mary Lee Neilson and I were elected to the City Commission in June of 2004 and helped to write our first city budget in the fall of 2004. The total amount of Valley City property tax money in that budget was $896,075. By the time we wrote the 2008 budget in the fall of 2007, that number had grown to $940,879. That is exactly 5 percent growth over a period of three years, or an average annual growth rate of 1.64 percent per year. There are a dozen issues we can, and should, debate as the election nears. Let’s debate those issues based on facts.
Wagar is a Valley City Commissioner.
Hearing on D.L. outlet set for May 20
Tuesday, 06 May 2008
Richard Betting Valley City, N.D. The Devils Lake outlet will soon be legally authorized to continue operation by agencies that are sworn "to protect, maintain, and improve the quality of the waters in the state the waters of the State." (Century Code 61-28-01) A public hearing on the Devils Lake outlet permit has been scheduled by the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDH) for May 20 at 2 p.m., at Devils Lake State College. The Health Department notice states, "The Department intends to reissue the following North Dakota Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Discharge Permit under the authority of Section 61-28-04 of the ND Century Code." (Emphasis added.) In other words, there is no chance that the permit will not be issued by the NDDH to the ND State Water Commission (SWC). The purpose of the May 20 hearing is merely "to solicit comments prior to finalizing permit conditions." Granting the permit is a done deal. Why should people care? The NDDH is the same agency that warned against a Tolna Coulee outlet (the East end) to the Sheyenne River because the water in Stump Lake contains concentrations of "total dissolved solids, sulfates, chlorides, copper, lead, arsenic, selenium, boron, ammonia, and nutrients .... and perhaps toxins for municipal water supplies." (letter 8-13-99) The same kind of water-it's all one lake again; the same pollutants in smaller quantities-is being pumped from West Bay into the Sheyenne now through the outlet. The city of Devils Lake won't use the water. Why is it good enough for downstream farmers, ranchers and cities? Devils Lake has no mussels. The Sheyenne River has eight or nine species. How long will they last after the outlet has been pumping for years? It's ironic that the other reason for not allowing the outlet to operate is that it won't do any good in reducing the level of the lake. After three years in business the outlet has reduced the level of the lake less than a tenth of an inch. That's nothing on the lake. Quite a bit in the Sheyenne, which is now running at about 25 cubic feet per second. Without rain, the river will not flow at all. Nor will the outlet. What the outlet does is impede any serious attempts to deal with inflows from the upper basin. That's where most of the problem begins. The State Water Commission should be dealing with causes, not spending money on symptoms and wasting $28 million on an outlet that won't solve the high water problem on Devils Lake. If they can't get this right, why should North Dakotans trust them to spend millions of tobacco dollars on more water projects?
Betting is a member of the group Save the Sheyenne.
PSC candidate is good choice for North Dakota
Friday, 02 May 2008
Letter from Marilyn Stumpf Mandan, N.D. The U.S. Geological Survey has found that there are more than 4 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken Shale Formation, and most of this oil is located in North Dakota. That is potentially very good news for the United States and for the citizens of our state. Developing these resources will mean careful planning to ensure that implementation is done correctly. Some people will advocate development merely for their own private gain and others will do everything possible to prevent any development at all. In addition, environmental concerns must remain at the forefront in all decisions that are made. North Dakota needs a public service commissioner who can consider all of these aspects and will implement the best solutions for our state. We are fortunate to have a candidate for public service commissioner who can help North Dakota excel and rise to the challenge presented by this unprecedented economic opportunity. Dr. Brian Kalk has a Ph.D in natural resources and is currently a professor teaching in this area. Brian’s knowledge of natural resources and his leadership skills give him the expertise this state needs to develop our resources. This November, I hope you will join me in voting for Brian Kalk.
Blame NASA for global warming/cooling
Friday, 02 May 2008
Milo Buchholz Fingal, ND I know that I’m stepping on a lot of toes by the above heading, but let us put the global crisis truly where it belongs. I am a certified organic farmer since 1991 and have worked with nature since 1965. If I tell or write you about nature being disturbed, please believe me, like you’d believe a doctor/scientist that had worked in his/her field for 40-plus years. NASA has done NOTHING in space but break NATURE’S LAW going out and coming back home. Namely, the speed of sound/sound barrier. All the credit NASA gets for inventions were done here on earth. If every person that read this letter made copies and gave it to 10 different people and those 10 did likewise, in a matter of weeks every person in the world would know that satellite/shuttle rocketing is the major cause for all our erratic weather/disasters. Around May 8, the world can expect a repeat of the weather they just had, thanks to the shuttle’s return around Feb. 27, 2008. Unless, of course, some of the other 25 countries rocketed with the American technology that the Clinton administration sold China for 1996 re-election monies. That can and will change the weather pattern also. The choice is yours because with all this erratic weather destroying the farmers’ food crops around the world, the lower and middle class of people will starve watching satellite television and NASA’s people floating around and playing on the space station.
Dateline: Valley City, 2018
Friday, 02 May 2008
Mark Matson Valley City, N.D. Oil Spill in Eastern North Dakota (AP 2018) (AP-2018) -- Oil continued to spill into the Sheyenne River from a rupture in the oil pipeline located near the Rainbow Bridge in eastern Valley City, N.D. The City Park has been closed for health concerns while local officials search for ways to contain the problem before it reaches downstream communities such as Fargo, Grand Forks and Winnipeg, Canada. Company officials cite the failure of using iron-based/concrete mix in duct work near river systems. This mixture was cheaper to use (but more susceptible to rusting, corrosion and decay than its chromium/concrete counterpart), but was allowed at the time of the pipeline’s construction back in 2009. Company officials state that they are working “around the clock” to isolate and contain the spill while working to ease local citizens’ environmental concerns. Does it sound far-fetched? We tend to think of oil spills happening in the Gulf of Alaska or off the west coast of the United States, but not in our own backyards. It can happen here and might very well in the near future. As sure as iron oxidizes and turns to rust when coming in contact with water, and as surely as water runs downhill, it “will” happen. If you build it, build it right. We all have the right to clean water.
