Category: Commentary

Poutine should be on the UN’s cultural heritage list

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by: Josh Wolsky  |  

What makes a place? A strong argument can be made for the food eaten there as a big contributor, and when it comes to their culinary heritage, our Canadian neighbors are making the case that poutine deserves an honored place and recognition from UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It invites the

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REPUBLISHED: Election Night Fireworks, An Apology, and a Tip of Hat to the Keepers of Democracy

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

Given the enormous distrust that has developed in our elections over the past several years, this article from The Minot Voice archives seemed worth revisiting. And once again, my experience voting in this year’s election mirrors my past experiences. For those of you working our elections today and throughout the early voting process, you have

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Election day is over and guess what?

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by: Josh Wolsky  |  

Tom Dean is a 75-year old physician who practices medicine in rural South Dakota. The virus is raging through his community; it claimed his father and ten others in the local nursing home. It all has him wondering what it will take to bring us together? Read his full commentary on The Washington Post.

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Support for Socialism Unites North Dakota Leadership

by: Jim Maxson  |  

As the 2020 election is approaching, America appears to be deeply divided. Finding bipartisan consensus is becoming uncomfortably difficult. In North Dakota, however, we have apparently achieved consensus on one important issue. That is the benefit of socialism. North Dakota, at the state level, has been a one-party state since 1994. During that 26 year

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Public Comment on Minot Joining the Dakota Access Amicus Brief

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

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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If the City doesn’t, who will? And if nobody does, then what?

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

The question of a City Hall relocation is on tonight’s City Council agenda. Item 7.5 asks the Council to act on the staff recommendation to drop the Big M building and chase the former Wells Fargo building for the City’s future home. I have a lot of questions I’d like answered before I act on

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Musings on the melting pot

by: Jim Maxson  |  

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?

by: Jim Maxson  |  

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

by: Jim Maxson  |  

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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Minot, you’ve come a long way!

by: Jim Maxson  |  

In a matter of weeks, I will be retiring from the private practice of law. It has been an interesting run with victories, defeats, joy, and pain. I won’t be completely idle, however, as I am involved with several endeavors of interest to me. Minds, like bodies, can atrophy without some stimulation. When I moved

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Who did they blame?

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

“I got a lot of problems with you people, and now you’re gonna hear about it!” — Frank Costanza, Festivus 1997 In 1884, my great-grandfather crossed an ocean. At Ellis Island, he got off the boat in a foreign land where he didn’t speak the language. After that, he crossed half a continent by train

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Minot, this is the perfect time to be concerned about a City parking project

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

“Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.” — Aristotle Authors note: the post was published

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To judge or not to judge, that is your question

by: Jim Maxson  |  

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 value-added agriculture, job creation, and so much more!

by: Josh Wolsky  |  

The progress of Prairie Sky Breads has been a topic of commentary on The Minot Voice in the past. Their example is one we — in government particularly — should take note of. Often, we politicians and bureaucrats get so wrapped up in our notions of ‘job creation’ and the accompanying economic development jargon like

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This is the government we deserve

by: Jim Maxson  |  

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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If City Hall doesn’t succeed, neither do we

by: Jim Maxson  |  

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this was incorrectly attributed to Josh Wolsky. This has been updated to reflect the correct author, Jim Maxson. If there are more thankless jobs than being on the Minot City Council or being Minot’s Mayor, I have no idea what they may be. The present administration inherited some pre-existing

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