Commentary – Page 3 – TheMinotVoice.com

First it Came for News Rooms, Then it Comes for Democracy

by: Josh Wolsky | March 3, 2025

A shrinking newsroom is more than lost jobs—it’s a fading watchdog, a quieter community, a power shift. The decline of local newspapers mirrors something bigger: the systematic dismantling of institutions under the banner of “efficiency.” The same forces that gutted America’s newsrooms are at work in the federal government, cutting not waste, but function. When

Read & Share sourced from: The Bulwark

Gov. Armstrong: A Defining Moment for Property Tax Relief in North Dakota

By: Gov. Kelly Armstrong | March 2, 2025

American auto pioneer Henry Ford once said, “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” With the legislative session reaching its halfway point, success is starting to come into focus as we continue working with lawmakers to deliver meaningful property tax relief and reform. There is real momentum, and there’s a

Read & Share

Letter: Tenure Reform Is Essential for Higher Education’s Future

By: Kevin Black | March 1, 2025

For years, tenure has been rightfully debated within the public domain and State Board of Higher Education (SBHE), the governing body responsible for all 11 public institutions of higher education. Legislative assemblies have also taken a keen interest through bills such as HB 1437 this session. Until recently, tenure policies have remained largely unchanged. As

Read & Share

Port: The campaign to make North Dakota a bitter, unwelcoming place

by: MinotVoice | March 1, 2025

North Dakota has long wrestled with the challenge of keeping young, talented professionals in the state. People like Austin Foss—an architect, an NDSU graduate, a lifelong North Dakotan—are exactly who policymakers say they want to stay. But after the state House passed a resolution calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage rights,

Read & Share sourced from: InForum

Supporting Electoral College resolution is not a vote for direct democracy

By: Barbara Headrick, North Dakota Monitor | February 23, 2025

The North Dakota Legislature is considering a resolution called Senate Concurrent Resolution 4013 to proclaim its support for the Electoral College. The Electoral College is our system for electing the U.S. president and is unlike any other election for public office in the country. With this system, the president doesn’t need to win the most votes to

Read & Share sourced from: North Dakota Monitor

Port: The attack on Prairie Public’s funding is political discrimination

by: Josh Wolsky | February 19, 2025

“It’s one thing to defund a public broadcaster based on fiscal considerations. It’s quite another to defund it based on political content. Prairie Public doesn’t have a right to public funds; they do have a First Amendment right not to be discriminated against because of the political bent of their content.” That’s the excerpt. Read

Read & Share sourced from: InForum

The Fruits of Democrats’ Soul Searching – There Are None

By: Tom Bowler, Inside Sources | February 17, 2025

For all of the soul searching that came out of their losses at the polls in November, the Democrats haven’t really changed, and they won’t. Even when they can see that they’ve lost the working class. Democrats’ claim to fame has always been as champions of the downtrodden, saviors to the victims of oppression. When

Read & Share sourced from: Inside Sources

Letter: The 51st State? Canada Sets Terms

By: David Wessel, Regina | February 17, 2025

The President of the USA by the name of Donald Trump has bandied about the idea of Canada joining the USA. I think this is a boffo idea, which could be achieved after a few minor pre-conditions are met: Canada would of course become thirteen American states, each with two Senators. If Wyoming and Alaska

Read & Share

Chasing the Pig in the Pasture of the Golden Calf

by: Jim Maxson | February 13, 2025

It would be more fun to comment on the antics of the ongoing 2025 North Dakota legislative session. Proposals to make “That Jew” the official king of North Dakota? Will being mentioned in the North Dakota Century Code make him more divine? Isn’t outlawing fluoride just economic development for dentists? More relevant to our actual

Read & Share

Small-scale solar helps solve large-scale issues

by: Josh Wolsky | February 12, 2025

When your power bill climbs, what can you do? You can cut back, upgrade appliances, or press your utility company for answers. But for some Wyoming residents, there’s another option: making their own power. Rooftop solar remains a tough sell in a state with cheap electricity and no policy push toward renewables. That’s changing as

Read & Share sourced from: WyoFile

Port: This is your fault

by: MinotVoice | February 9, 2025

We like to think of politics as something happening to us, a spectacle we watch from the sidelines. But the truth is harder to swallow: the people in office are a reflection of the people who put them there—or didn’t bother to vote at all. In North Dakota, low voter turnout leaves a lot of

Read & Share sourced from: InForum

Why Americans need well-informed national security decisions – not politicized intelligence analysis

by: Josh Wolsky | February 9, 2025

The strength of U.S. intelligence lies in its ability to provide leaders with clear, unbiased assessments—but recent history suggests that’s easier said than done. An investigation found that during Trump’s first term, intelligence reports were politicized, with officials withholding or reshaping information to fit preferred narratives. This isn’t new; past administrations have also ignored or

Read & Share sourced from: The Conversation

Listen: How the world fell in love with plastic without thinking through the consequences

by: Josh Wolsky | February 9, 2025

Plastics are everywhere, and that’s part of the problem. While 400 million tons of plastic are manufactured each year, 57 million tons end up as pollution. Attempts to create a binding treaty on plastic pollution recently stalled, as major oil producers resist curbing plastic production. As clean energy eats into oil profits, these countries see

Read & Share sourced from: The Conversation

Will the world fall in love with nuclear power once more?

by: MinotVoice | February 9, 2025

For decades, nuclear power has been stuck in the shadow of its past—haunted by accidents, burdened by regulation, and the butt of pop culture jokes. But as the world scrambles to cut carbon emissions, nuclear is inching back into the conversation. Environmental journalist Marco Visscher argues that dismissing it outright is a mistake. With renewables

Read & Share sourced from: Grist

Port: ‘Local control’ is not an ideology

by: Josh Wolsky | February 8, 2025

Local control is a popular argument—until it isn’t. North Dakota lawmakers are debating spending caps on local budgets and restrictions on ranked-choice voting, sparking pushback from those who say the state is overreaching. But the reality is, local control is often a matter of convenience. Take property taxes: local governments resist state-imposed spending caps but

Read & Share sourced from: InForum

Port: It’s a war on literacy

by: Josh Wolsky | February 5, 2025

Libraries are more than books—they’re community lifelines. They provide knowledge, resources, and a space where anyone, regardless of means, can explore the world. But in North Dakota, a new bill could force libraries to restrict access to entire sections of their collections, potentially locking away works by Cormac McCarthy, Stephen King, and even Shakespeare. Supporters

Read & Share sourced from: InForum