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August 30, 2021
Public board
makes awful
choice to
stifle debate
Summary: "A by state has the potential to
lot of harm to of
who are elected to or for an elected office or pub-
lic expect to deal with scrutiny regarding their individual decisions.
After all, these people are serving the public and their choices and
views can directly impact taxpayers.
Most of these people have no trouble speaking their mind. some
cases, it’s to the point of overbearing, but the more information we
have from public officials, the better.
The last thing we need are secrets. The second—to—last thing we. need
is an official policy that dictates how public board members deal with the
press. .
That’s what North Dakotans got last week, however, when the
state’s Board of University and School Lands adopted new rules govem—
ing its interactions with the media. It’s a direct result of Gov. Doug
Bur-
gum’s recommendation which popped into his mind earlier this year when
one of the board’s members made a statement regarding a relationship
with the North Dakota oil and gas industry.
Among the conditions instituted under the new policy, the land com—
missioner is expected to inform members of the board of any “signifi-
cant” interactions she has with the media. It also specifies that she
cannot
make any policy statements to the press on issues before the board until
its members have formulated an official position.
The latter part is little more than stifling opposing views. Public boards
don’t need a “unified voice.” What’s needed is open debate of
important
issues that impact all North Dakotans. That’s still possible, but members
of the Board of University and School Lands will have to tiptoe around
this new policy which will stay firmly on their mind during any attempt
by the press to get feelings or reactions on a topic.
The new policy a direct and now successful attempt to restrict pub—
lic access to decisions made by this board. Strangely enough, one of the
state’s most vocal allies of the free flow of information voted in favor
of
the new rule.
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is a member of the board and said
that the new policy is designed to protect board members from having to
offer independent viewpoints an issues rather than the unified posi-
tion of the board.
Anyone who values the freedom of the press should feel a little chill
down the spine after the attorney general’s opinion on this matter.
“' All“ttiis"c’arire”"to fruition ever an issue
involving the North Dakota oil
and gas industry. That group just flexed is’ muscles again and not for
the
good of the state, but instead to quash all doubts about who is really run-
ning things in Bismarck.
This new rule sets a negative precedent for the free flow of informa-
tion and the right of everyone, even board members, to protest public de-
crsrons.
How to contact your on‘h Dakota delegation
Sen. John Hoeven
G11 Dirksen Senate Office Building
' Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224—2551
Sen. Kevin Cramer
B40C Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2043
Rep. Kelly Armstrong
1004 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2611
North Dakota, a state comes of age
When General Custer loft North
Dakota he told us not to do any
thing until he came back. We have
done our best to respect his instruc—
tions. ‘
It is true that he had political am-
bitions. After all, General Grant got
two terms for being a war hero.
Custer decided to run as a DemoC—
rat which would have been worse
than going to the Little Big Horn.
Even though he messed up in Mon-
tana, we still think of him as a
North Dakota hero because he is
the best we could get.
Not in the Civil War
He was a genuine hero the
Civil War. Minnesota had a unit
the Civil War but North Dakota was
unrepresented. We were just as
. hawkish as Minnesota but we had
one to go; People were scarce
in the prairie state around the Civil
War days. (Wars are never civil.) V.
In fact, our cartographers cre—
ated several western counties that,
had‘ no people just to impress in-
vestors and attract immigrants.
Slope County is still hoping for.’
people \— even an orphan train. H ;
We kept stealing more and'morei
, of the‘land from the Indians ’bu't‘
they plan to get it all back. It may’
take a while but the reservation;
casinos will eventually do it. ’
Seeing ND Clearly .
There is still a strong feeling that;
God did not intend for this flat:
country to be used for anything but:
raising bison. When Dave Barryi
was here, he said there was nothing;
to see for a hundred miles and your
could see that pretty clearly. V
Not only does winter try to kill.
residents at least three times a year
Other Views
By Lloyd B. Omdahl
but there is nothing to stop the con-
stant wind except two miles of
barbed wire fence east of Wash-
burn.
Yankton and Bismarck vied for
the location of the state capitol with
Bismarck eventually winning the
challenge. we didn’t really need a
capitol because our government for
thé‘fir‘s‘t’de‘éh“ ” '
Divided east'& y‘vest
So why was. the territory bound-
ary drawn from east to west rather
than north to south. First of all, all
the wagon trails across the state
were made by Minnesotans escap-
ing to Washington. Then the North-
ern Pacific already had rails laid
east to west.
After a good deal of maneuver-
ing, a constitutional convention
was'called for 1889 at which the
delegates spent their time lobbying
d'es Was in St? Paul. '
for institutions for their home dis-
tricts.
Promises were made for institu-
tions of higher learning even in
areas that didn’t want higher learn-
ing. We’re still living with the con-
sequences of this high stakes
pork—barreling.
To demonstrate the state’s prior-
ities, more votes were cast on the
issue of legalizing alcohol than on
approving the constitution which
the Territory needed become a
state. That’s when more people
started reading “Statehood for
Dummies” in the Starbucks coffee
shops.
Socialists at work
In the first part of the 19005,
North Dakota had more farmers
than any other professional gam-
blers so they were a force to be
reckoned with, something the Min-
neapolis bankers, millers and rail-
roads didn’t know until it was too
late. That brought on the Nonparti—
san League and its socialist advo—
cates who invented the Bank of
North Dakota and the State Mill
and Elevator, a total embarrassment
for a private enterprjise‘statie, ‘
' Through the decades, free enter-
prise legislators introduced bills to
sell the Mill and/or the Bank until
they both became prosperous and
prominent across the whole coun-
try.
Russian trade teams would
come and giggle all the way
through their tours of the Mill.
There isn’t enough space to dis-
cuss the impact of the 19308 the
psyche of average North Dakotans
but a lot of us became unbalanced
with our Checkbooks.
Viewing the ConstitUtion for what it really is
Americans typically consider‘
questions about the meaning of the‘
Constitution through the prism of
their political views and values. As a.
consequence, they tend to defend as i
constitutional the acts of officials:
whom‘they support, and criticize as;
unconstitutional the acts of those rep- 1
resentatives whom they oppose. This
approach implies that the meaning of
the Constitution turns on whose ox is
being gored. Politics, partisanship and 5
party affiliation are the controlling:
levers of constitutional understand?
ings.
This method of constitutional in-2
terpretation, it is obvious, converts
the Constitution, to borrow Thomas;
Jefferson’s homespun phrase, “into a'
thing of wax,” an object that is sub-
ject to political manipulation, devoid
of any intrinsic, objective meaning. In r
this context, the Constitution can be
made to mean anything the reader:
wants it to mean. This is constitug
tional nihilism, and it undermines the 1
very premise of American Constitu—fi
tionalism and the rule of law..It pre~ ‘
cludes achievement among the ,
citizenry of shared understandings,1
about the meaning of the Constitution 1
'W
e
the
David Adler, The Alturas Institute
David Adler answers your Constitution questions.
Send them to this newspaper.
which, in turn, prevents consideration
of the constitutionality of policies and
laws apart from the deep division and
polarization that characterize con-
temporary America.
There is a better way, that
might help our nation overcome the
deep polarization that besets us. Let
me suggest that we think, constitu-
tionally. _'
Chief Justice John Marshall set
forth this standard in 1819, in the
landmark case of McCulloch v.
Maryland: “The peculiar circum-
stances of the moment may render a
measure more or less wise, but can-
not render it more or less constitu-
tional.” A century later, Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes similarly declared:
“The criterion of constitutionality is
not whether we believe the law to be
for the public good.”
The wisdom of Marshall and
Holmes this score cannot be over-
estimated. What it means for the pub-
lic is that we should refrain from
impulsive declarations of unconstitu—
tionality simply because we object to
the policy in question. Rather, we
should distinguish the relative wis-
dom of a measure from the question
of whether or not it is constitutional.
Such an approach lends itself to cri-
tiquing and improving legislative pro-
posals.
That is, we might be inclined to
embrace a bill as good public policy,
but conclude, upon reflection, that it
contains provisions that are inconsis-
tent with the Constitution and require
some improvement. If all Americans
would embrace this approach we
could, at a minimum; sit at the same
common table, despite differences of
politics and ideology, to fairly discuss
Constitution
(Continued on Page 5)
The ‘social news’ was often more informative than the ‘regular
news’
What several people called “social news” in
the Turtle Mountain Star was a pretty big deal
for a long, long time.
For more than a century, newspapers all
across the country would print the goings on of
friends and neighbors who bothered to call
or stop by.
Some people called it the “who’s visiting
who news,” and so it was, but it didn’t make it
any less interesting. Only one person still pens .
the social news for The Star. Peggy Schell talks
about the people in the Mylo area and we ap-
preciate it very much. I read it every week.
Spoiler alert: There’s a new baby so turn to
page 11 and find out the name. ‘
Wilhelmina Seghers wrote the Hansboro
news for decades until her passing in 2005. She
always added a few entertaining yarns, but
none so much than what I came across in the
“Dakota Datebook,” a statewide history lesson
every week.
It has news items from papers found in the
state library, including publications that have
long since expired from the small town across
, the state. I came across one that I’m sure Wil-
helmina would have enjoyed very much.
late summer 1910, the Hansboro News
reported: “[A] row started over a lot of boot—
leg liquor which had been brought in by one
Ben Crayton and peddled out rather freely dur—
ing the day. Toward evening Ben...made his
getaway from the now intoxicated bunch.
When Ben could not be found and more
liquor could be secured, Paddy Mayse, who has
assisted Ben with his peddling for some time,
rose to the occasion and...broke into the shack
where Ben had the joy water stored... When
Ben became aware of what had happened he
went after Paddy. In a short time there was a
general fight and. even those who were in con-
time.
stant attendance cannot tell just how many
there were. Paddy Mayse asserts that he had six
fights in twenty minutes and got whipped every
hir‘.
Pages from
the past...
10 years ago
August 29, 2011
Students headed back to school last
week, and in some instances, more
students than in years past are occupy-
ing the halls. Nowhere is that more ev-
ident than in Rolette, where enrollment
numbers have increased by as much as
25 percent the last years. Enrollment
in grades K—12 is approximately 155,
up from the 140 last year.
John Azure Jr. and Spencer Stew-
art, both of Rolette, have a new ac-
complishment under their belts. Both
have passed the Firefighter 1 test, a
certification through the North Dakota
Firefighters Association. Stewart
passed the test and was certified on
July 30 and Azure Jr. August 7.
New Head Coach Jeff Marty pi-
loted the North Prairie Cougars to a
12—0 win over Des Lacs-Burlington,
thanks large part to outright dom—
ination in the trenches.
Spencer Stewart, a senior for the
North Prairie Cougars, and Kaylie
Johnson, a senior for the St. John
Woodchucks, were named Athletes
of the Week.
30 years ago
September 2, 1991
The yard of Bob and Lorraine
DesRoches at 501 5th Avenue NE.
was chosen last week as Rolla’s
“Yard of the Week.”
Kari Boucher has been accepted
into the Mayo School of Health-Re-
lated Sciences, Nurse Anesthesia
Program. Boucher received a BSN
degree from the University of North
Dakota. She is the daughter of Elmer
and Joanne Boucher of Rolette.
Marine Pfc. Dennis P. Shipman
has been promoted to his present
rank upon graduation from recruit
training at the Marine Corps Recruit
Depot at San Diego. A 1987 gradu-
ate of Dunseith High School, he
joined the Marines in February 1991.
He is the son of Shirley Brunelle of
Dunseith.
Donna DuBois—Thomas received
a master’s degree in social work
from the University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis ,
Steve Olson of Rolla has been ap—
pointed to theposition of Field Un--
derwriter by the Fargo General
Office of New York Life.
Margaret Johnson of Rolla has
been appointed as a regional judge
for the 1991 National Council of
Teachers of English (NCTE)
Achievement Awards in Writing.
The Rolette Comets picked up
where they left off last season as they
moved towards defending their state
Class B nine—man football title of a
year ago by pounding the Bowden—
Hurdsfield-Sykeston-Fessenden '
Bears 44-0 in Fessenden. .
The St. John Woodchucks opened
their high school football season
with an exciting 14-12 win over
Walhalla Friday night in St. John.
60 years ago
August 31, 1961
Carla Hoffman, 6-year-old
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William
Hoffman of Cando and a student of
Rolla baton twirling instructor Rose
Lee Fagerlund, won second place in
open national twirling competition
recently in the event at Grand Forks
and thus qualified for competition in
the national championship contest in
St. Paul, Minn.
Dunseith is organizing a large
motorcade to go' to the Minot Air
Force Base, Sept. 2 as a tribute to a
native son, Capt. William J. Hosmer,
member of the Thunderbirds, US.
Air Force official aerial acrobatic
team which will provide the main
feature at a show at the base.
The project of putting a “new
face” on the business building hous-
ing Mongeon’s Ben Franklin Store
in Rolla started Monday with the in-
stallation of a false front and re-
moval of the present front.
Prairie Lanes were scheduled to
re-open on Wednesday, Aug. 30 at 5
p.m., after a few days shut-down
while factory workmen refinished
the alleys, and other work in the es-
tablishment was done. Both alleys
and café are now open.
Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Scott will
observe their 25th wedding anniver-
sary Sunday, Sept. 3 at their home;
Mrs. William Lipp of St. Paul,
Minn., nee Rosalie Juntunen, daugh-
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Walfrid Jun—
tunen, graduated from the Anckers
Schools of Nursing, Ankers Hospi-
tal, St. Paul, Minn.
Mary Ann Nolting, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. August Nolting, earned
a place on the president’s list for the
summer quarter at Minot STC.
The Dana Wright home was the
setting of the regular annual family
get-together for Mr. Wright’s birthday,
Sunday, Aug. 27, is 83rd birthday.
