Opinion
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Small schools have advantages too
Since moving to New Rockford in August 2021, I’ve covered dozens of regular and special meetings of the New Rockford-Sheyenne School Board as a reporter for the Transcript. Yes, at times there’s...
To drive or not to drive
Along with identifying as “Swifties,” ignoring the reported Chinese threat of bad dancing posed by TikTok, and pretending that plant-based meat is actually edible, many young people in America are engaging in another fascinating trend – not...
Court finally ends race discrimination in public accommodations
Racial discrimination in southern hotels and restaurants throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Congress determined in 1964 through hearings and studies, had created for Black Americans great challenges and difficulties in their desire to travel fro...
Which Girl Scout Cookie are you?
I got my annual Girl Scout Cookie fix last Friday. One of my favorite two Girl Scouts, my niece Megan, showed up just before supper time to make her pitch. I was happy to take a full case (and a...
Letter to the Editor: March 13, 2023
I recently made a donation to SNR Baseball in memory of my dad, Ed Kurtz, a baseball player in the New Rockford area for many years (1910 to 1934). Although a catcher, I believe he was most proud of h...
Supreme Court in Nebbia: "An ominous fork in the road"
The immense pressures inflicted on the United States by the Great Depression of the 1930s forced the Supreme Court on several occasions to confront the scope of a state’s police power to regulate economic activity in the name of the general...
High school sports go virtual
Our physical and virtual worlds are colliding at a seemingly breakneck pace. Gaming recently joined the ranks of school-sanctioned sports. NR-S is in the middle of its third season of having a...
Hey, ChatGPT, don't quit your day job
It’s at once amazing and troublesome. I speak of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence application that was launched last November by OpenAI. In a matter of seconds, it can write apparently accurate...
The Supreme Court delivers landmark victory for farmers
In 1877, in Munn v. Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a landmark ruling that, to this day, ranks as one of the most important victories ever rendered for farmers in American legal history. The decision rewarded Midwestern farmers for their...
Let's go outside!
This past weekend I had the opportunity to do something a little different. The 4-H Shooting Sports and Outdoor Skills Club in Eddy County spent time in the Turtle Mountain region, particularly at...
Guest Editorial: Let's look at retirement
Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed a dramatic workforce shift. Baby boomers are retiring, while millennials and Gen Z are taking over workplaces across the country. Data shows that these generations of workers are changing jobs every three...
We the People: Mike Pence seeks refuge in the speech or debate clause
Former Vice President Mike Pence plans to invoke the Speech or Debate Clause as justification for challenging a subpoena issued by Special Counsel Jack Smith in his investigation of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020...
Declutter (your inbox) for a cause
We publish "scam alerts" in this newspaper periodically. Often we receive a press release from the AARP, and other times local authorities notify us that there has been a victim of a particular scam...
Just how clean is your vehicle?
Who needs forensics and gunfire? My wife and I have been catching up on episodes of “The Mysteries of Laura,” the 2014-2016 NBC series starring Debra Messing. Forget murders and chases. The real...
State of the Union address: The Constitution and politics
President Joe Biden’s delivery of what has become the annual State of the Union address fulfilled one of the few constitutional obligations imposed upon the nation’s chief executive. What were the framers of the Constitution thinking when they...
Channel your inner Saint Valentine
I’ve seen a few Facebook posts from parents and grandparents showing their valentine box-making adventures recently, and just this morning we printed some artwork for one NR-S student’s valentine...
The IRS tightens the screws on the gig economy
The IRS is so kind. Our most beloved federal agency has delayed until next year a new income-reporting law it has carefully designed to squeeze the last drops of tax revenue out of many of us. The...
We the People: The First Amendment and free speech on campus
The difficulties that college and university administrators from California to Massachusetts have faced over the past 30 years in protecting their students from harassment, within the context of America’s constitutional commitment to freedom of...
Trading man-to-man (sports) coverage for zone
Change is coming to N.D. high school basketball much like a freight train rolling down the track. Sports Reporter Erik Gjovik broke down the details of the latest proposal to move to a three-class...
Grateful for National Freedom Day
It’s one of the best days of the year and we owe our gratitude to the remarkable man who made it possible. Feb. 1 is National Freedom Day and its origin is as wonderful as is freedom itself. The...
We the People: The Constitution and government classification of secrets
Questions surrounding news that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence have disclosed possession of classified documents in their homes justify interruption of this column’s weekly focus on landmark Supreme Court rulings. Curious...
Learning from our elders
Veteran newspaperman Allen Stock has been out of the Independent office for a few weeks now. This is the first time since I purchased the newspaper in October 2021 that he has been absent for more...
Biden's second student loan bailout scheme is even worse
President Joe Biden isn’t waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on his last $400 billion student loan bailout before rolling out another, even more costly plan (oral arguments are scheduled for Feb. 28, and it has been blocked by lower courts...
Tinker v. Des Moines: Anchoring students' free speech rights
Half a century later, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) remains the Supreme Court’s authoritative ruling on symbolic speech and the First Amendment rights of K-12 students to express their political views. Delivered...
Cutting taxes starves public services
Looking at the tax cut proposals now being debated in the legislature, maybe it’s time to revert back to a territory. Apparently, we don’t want the state to accept the responsibilities of...
