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May 2008 |
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Letters To The Editor
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Peak Wind explanation is suspicious |
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Tuesday, 01 April 2008 |
Letter from Dale E. Olson
Valley City, N.D.
Peak Wind looking seven generations ahead??? What kind of idiots do they think live in this country? This is the Native American way? Maybe they should look back seven generations: What would you see back there? Well, I will tell you: You would see ponds of water. You would see native grassland, prairie roads you could travel, and no ‘no hunting’ signs... Well, these are the same people, regardless of their Indian blood, who have drained every possible pond, destroyed every bit of native grass they can and closed every prairie road they can and posted every single acre they farm so that no one can hunt there. Why is this?
It won’t be long and any trees on their property will be gone, too. It is just a matter of time. I’ve lived here 57 years, so I am aware of their intentions. Also, they claim FP&L will destroy the roads out here. Well, what seems to be destroying the roads that we pay taxes on? Could it be the semi-traffic between Noeske Seed Farm and I-94? Road restrictions were taken off for these people to the south, which means they have more rights than the people living north of us. Imagine that. I had never even heard of Peak Wind until after FP&L were established here.
Ninety-nine year lease? Well, if I were investing the millions that FP&L are, I would like a lease like that. Look at the farmers and landowners that signed wetland leases for a lot less. And those are 99 years? Seven generations down the road? This country may not even be here. Something to think about. |
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Supporting Furness as interim WSI CEO |
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Friday, 28 March 2008 |
Letter from Caren Mikesh
Fargo, N.D.
I was pleased to see that the WSI board of directors made the right decision in hiring Bruce Furness as the interim CEO for the agency.
The recommendation from the independent consultant called for an individual “who is familiar with the culture and institutions of the state of North Dakota and who has demonstrated public or private sector management and leadership skill, and political sensitivity.” We have that in Furness.
Furness is a respected, trusted and fair citizen of North Dakota who has been extremely successful in leading both public and private institutions throughout his career. As a former mayor of Fargo, he has experience in the public sector. During that time, Furness was successful in solving communication problems between staff and upper management and among various departments — problems that are similar to those WSI is experiencing today. He can effectively use that experience to restore trust among the management and staff, which is very much needed within the agency.
Furness also has extensive management experience in the private sector through his work as a former manager at IBM and as vice president at the State Bank and Trust in Fargo. This experience will aid in the overall management of day-to-day business at WSI and help get the agency’s budgets back in order.
Most important, Furness understands North Dakota and its people. This will be important as he works to restore trust and public perception not only within the agency, but outside the agency as well. We certainly offer our support for Furness, and must also offer our thanks to Governor Hoeven for recommending such a great candidate for the job. We are confident that Furness will get the agency back on track. |
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Neo-cons have destroyed G.O.P. |
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Friday, 28 March 2008 |
Letter from Richard Manuel
Grove City, Ohio
I’m a registered Republican who did not vote for the current occupant of the White House. He and his neo-con pals, along with the theocrats they run with, have destroyed the Republican Party. He and his co-conspirator, Dick Cheney, have systematically shredded the Constitution and Bill of Rights, have had hundreds of citizens arrested and held for years without trial, while having tens of thousands of innocent people in Iraq (who were no threat to the United States) slaughtered. They either knew or should have known the truth. Yet they continue to put American soldiers in harms way with this perverted war they’ve started, and John McCain promises to not only continue this effort, but expand it to other nations who pose no threat to us.
Here are our options: We can vote for the second half of the Clinton Dynasty, who makes only vague references to stopping the war, or we can vote for her opponent, who doesn’t mince words on the subject. He wants our troops home pronto. He knows that this war, which was started on the basis of lies and deceptions, is breaking our country and is diverting resources that should be used for education, healthcare, the re-building of infrastructure here at home,
as well as real homeland security. He wants to restore our nation’s integrity and reputation in the eyes of the world, restore the value of the dollar, and he wants to safeguard our nation while changing our international focus from military to humanitarian. I hope you will join my Republican friends and I in supporting Barack Obama as our next president.
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Stimulus bill will keep our country in debt |
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Friday, 28 March 2008 |
Letter from Barry Borg
Valley City, N.D.
Well, the economic stimulus bill has been passed and signed into law. I wonder if, as a people/nation, we have given much thought to what this involves?
About the time that the stimulus package was in debate, Grandma and Grandpa B were to do a little babysitting one afternoon. I got my chores done a little early and came in the house. Our little charge had not arrived yet, so we flipped on the TV. Oprah was on. She had some couples on the program that were in deep financial trouble — credit cards maxed out, losing their homes, cars, etc. They were also on the verge of divorcing. They were living way beyond their means.
Oprah’s guest was money guru, Suze Ormon. She is the money adviser to women, who is seen on PBS from time to time. Suze Ormon literally took over these families’ lives. They had to sell everything and change their lifestyle — no credit cards, no golf, no trips to the beauty parlor, etc. Oprah called it smack down. After awhile, it was working. They were getting back on their feet financially and no divorce.
Now our country is just like those couples. We are living way beyond our means, spending with no care. We Americans have a credit and debit of nearly a trillion dollars. We have a national debt of $9 trillion. In the year 2007 we added almost $1 trillion to our national debt alone. Senator Conrad has just said we have a $10 trillion national debt. All of this debt is one of many causes of our economic downturn “recession.” But, contrast what Uncle Sam does in the face of our recession to what those couples had to do. Uncle Sam does “helicopter economics, where the government flies over everybody’s house and drops money from the sky.” (Uncle Larry’s line here.)
This is the stimulus package in a nut shell. But, this actually heaps more debt on our kids and grandchildren, because we baby boomers will never live to see all this debt paid off if no effort is being made to turn our money problems around.
I wonder if we Americans have lost our collective minds. I wonder if we even know anymore where or how new wealth is created. It looks like most of us think it comes from the stock market, or the government just prints it. You know, like milk comes from the store.
A few years back I had a job interview, and at the end of my interview I was asked why I should be hired for the job. After all, it was going to cost the company $20,000 a year for my wages. So why didn’t the company just invest the $20,000 in the stock market — they could make more money there than paying me. I was quite taken back by this question. I asked my interviewer if they had the $20,000, and if they did, where and how did they get it, to which I did not get a real answer. So, I told the good fellow that he needed to hire me because together we could get his raw product manufactured into a soluble product and out into the market place to be sold at a profit. Then he would be well on his way to making the $20,000 to invest in the stock market. “Because, sir,” I said, “unless we go out and cut something down or dig something up and make something out of it and sell it, there simply cannot be any money for anybody to do anything.” My interviewer must not have liked the little lesson in Economics 101 from a rock picker, because I did not get the job.
I am saying the stimulus bill is horribly flawed. If we owe $10 trillion in national debt, that means we do not have $168 billion to hand out to people. That means we have to borrow it, and we borrow it from China — most of it — and that means more debt. Debt for our posterity to pay. But who speaks for them? We are taxing their future before they are ever born. Now that’s taxation without representation.
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Thoughts on Dakota, Ellen Chaffee and VCSU |
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Friday, 28 March 2008 |
Letter from Thomas J. Armstrong
La Junta, Colo.
I fell in love with Ellen Chaffee. Read her comments, shared many of her perceptions. She deserves to have a scholarship in her name, in her honor. You should contribute today; doesn’t have to be much, no certain amount--but something.
I read about her beginnings, her teachings, her successes, and her losses. Gained insight into the character of Valley City and its unique university. Liked what the community was seeking: a new president of impeccable integrity, strategic vision, high energy, and everyday common sense. I’m a believer in common sense (the other things, too).
Encouraged by extremely high student satisfaction ratings of VCSU; encouraged by Ellen’s recommendation that the university and community put “our best foot forward.” Mature; aware; inviting. I believe our personal histories matter.
With the possibility my graduating son, Mason (my youngest), might be attending UND, I entertained possibilities of moving North. His aviation/aeronautical engineering in tow. Memory names resurfaced: Fargo, Minot, Grand Forks, Bismarck, . . . Hurdsfield, sitting equidistant between Goodrich and Bowdon on State Hwy 200.
Small white Lutheran church on the hill. Grandpa Knutson’s saloon/soda fountain/county assessor’s office complete with dance floor in an adjoining vacant lot; hardware store fire left only weathered concrete and still visible charred mismatched linoleum tiles, fading reminders of horse drawn wagons returning all 12 Olsons to town for Saturday night’s dance. Eyes-closed recollections of hay wagons, mom’s pet pig, three blue speckled eggs left undisturbed in a nest, and meowing multi-colored kittens littering a predictably creaky front porch.
Having lived in Fargo only a day or two as a newborn and quickly relocating to Moorhead, Minn., for the next year, I then slipped south to Kansas, six of us aboard a ‘46 Ford eventually settling in Colorado where warmer weather embraced my dad, an ironworker. He had completed seventh grade and emigrated from Brainerd as a teenager: pinsetter, hobo, truck driver--loaded beef for Swift & Company, Minnesota road crews, heavy equipment, lumberjack, crab fisherman, Alaska mining, WWII, Navy Seabee, pilot, welder, father--walked high iron. In 1956, he and a handful of rugged men willed 17 iron spires skyward: United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Mason received his USAFA appointment last week. New worlds open up.
Following updates on the presidential search, I read “Does It Matter?” dated March 11, 2008. Ellen Chaffee articulates a gentle reminder for folks in the Sheyenne River Valley and points beyond. Whether strident or murmured urgings, we benefit from honest disclosures; we benefit when trust is not viewed as a policy decision. Solid, heartfelt advice from good people mustn’t be ignored. Gender equity ain’t passe. Whether it’s a new president looking back over the first year or an honored former president reflecting on continuing challenges, both should be able to say, “This is just as I thought it should be.”
I believe our personal histories matter. And, yes, I’m in the President’s Corner. |
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NDSCS thumbing its nose at law, taxpayers |
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Thursday, 27 March 2008 |
Letter from Wenfred J. Rowin
Fairmount, N.D.
It’s our money! Or, is it? State tax money that is used to compete with private enterprises, specifically, NDSCS competing with local eateries (restaurants, cafes, bars, caterers) of Wahpeton and using state facilities, equipment, and monies to do it.
NDSCS (North Dakota State College of Science) insists on “competing” with local private enterprise eateries for wedding receptions, luncheons and other programs which include church events. No program is too small. NDSCS ignores the law in this mis-usage of our tax dollars and state-owned educational facilities. NDCC (ND Century Code) 15-10-17.4 is quite specific about a State Board of Higher Education campus using state-owned facilities and personnel for private affairs. IT CAN NOT BE DONE! But, NDSCS leadership, including Auxiliary Services, insists on thumbing their collective noses at both the law and at us, the taxpayers.
Even our local, state representatives do not take a hard line with NDSCS or its leadership. Nor does our city government. Are state and city officials quietly conspiring with NDSCS? And now our city government is spending hundreds of thousands of precious tax dollars on a “community center.” Goal! Compete with local eateries just like NDSCS does. City monies, like NDSCS state funds, used to put private business out of business. Wherein is the logic in both the city and the college wanting to “corner the events market?” That’s NOT their job!
And, what’s this business of alcohol on the NDSCS campus? The programs NDSCS steals from private enterprise are not all non-alcohol. NDSCS even has, online, a form to bring alcohol onto campus for these events. Alcohol, on our EDUCATION CAMPUS. Our city helps get alcohol on campus by not opposing it. They abet by issuing such permits. Where is the right in THAT?
Who’s in charge? What’s next? State- or city-sponsored drug bazaars? Oh, sorry! Alcohol IS a drug. So, the answer is the pushers are in charge, city and college. Where is law enforcement: state, local, university? Abetting by not preventing. What they ought to be doing is raising a stink and stopping it. Where are our parents?
I am from out of town. I work in town. My son graduated from NDSCS. He was under 21. Is corruption the proper term here? Certainly complacency, abetting and facilitation are. |
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Hoeven deserves praise, support for achievements |
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Thursday, 27 March 2008 |
Letter from Janet A. McCallum
Bismarck, N.D.
The negative attacks in the recent letter by Leon Thiel were nothing more than an attempt by the Democrats to distract us from the great things going on in North Dakota and the progress this state is making. I think most North Dakotans have experienced and enjoyed the progress that our state has made under Gov. Hoeven’s leadership, and those achievements are evident all across the state.
The truth is that Gov. Hoeven has done much for our state. In 2004, he helped re-establish the North Dakota Trade Office to help North Dakota businesses market their products internationally. We recently read that North Dakota’s exports last year were up 34 percent from 2006, bringing more than $2 billion to North Dakota producers and manufacturers.
During the last legislative session, Gov. Hoeven worked toward holding the line on tuition by placing a five percent cap on tuition increases for the next two years. North Dakota’s population is growing, especially the number of workers under 35, which has increased by an average of 2,700 per year since 2003. North Dakota is doing better because of the job and career opportunities that are being created by Gov. Hoeven’s initiatives.
As was shown by the responses to the January National Geographic article, North Dakotans take great pride in their state. As governor, John Hoeven has worked hard to get North Dakota to where it is today. If we want to make sure this progress continues, I’m confident that most North Dakotans will join me in supporting our governor as he leads our great state to an even better future. |
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