Jim Shaw
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The shootings on Saturday at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in southern California were acts of hatred and terror. It was frightening and confusing. One person was shot dead and three others were wounded. However, if it wasn’t for the actions of Oscar Stewart, 51, the carnage would have been much worse. Stewart’s quick response was heroic.
Every time the North Dakota Legislature takes up the issue of equal rights for the LGBT community, I keep thinking they will do the right thing and pass the proper legislation. Unfortunately, I have been proven wrong again. The legislation failed again this year. Bigotry is alive and well in Bismarck.
It was one year ago today that we lost a North Dakota political giant: Former North Dakota Democratic Governor George “Bud” Sinner, who died at age 89. I met Sinner during the 1984 campaign. I also met his wonderful family of his wife Jane and their 10 children. Sinner joked that he had so many kids because he needed the votes.
North Dakota’s child abuse laws are extremely weak. Perpetrators get off way too easy, and victims are not protected. Fortunately, there are two bills in front of the North Dakota Legislature that would change that. These bills need to be passed. The enormous cracks in the system came to light in the Aaron Kempfer case in West Fargo. According to court documents, Kempfer pleaded guilty to beating up his 3-month-old son on multiple occasions. Those beatings caused the baby to suffer a fractured arm, fractured ribs and two bruised eyes.
What Education Secretary Betsy DeVos wants to do to school sexual misconduct rules is horrifying. What DeVos is proposing would allow accused students to cross-examine their accusers, would only allow colleges to be involved if the assault took place on campus, would make it harder to punish the accused and would narrow the definition of sexual harassment. Simply put, if DeVos gets her way, more people will get away with sexual assault.
In a recent column, Forum columnist Rob Port criticized the passage of Measure 1 , the ethics measure. Port said it should be challenged in court…
FARGO -- As I was saying last week before I ran out of space, there’s lots more the North Dakota Legislature needs to do in its upcoming session. Such as…
FARGO -- They started more than 95 years ago…
Congratulations to North Dakota Senator-Elect Kevin Cramer… He ran a strong campaign. Cramer won in large part because North Dakota is an overwhelmingly Republican state and President Donald Trump is popular here. Cramer and Trump’s mutual admiration was a winning strategy. The old routine of sending Democrats to Washington from this state has been buried. Democratic Senators Quentin Burdick, Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan could not be elected today. If Santa Claus ran for statewide office in North Dakota as a Democrat, even he couldn’t win.
FARGO — Brett "I Like Beer" Kavanaugh is now a Supreme Court Justice, but... — North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp did the right thing in opposing him. As a Democratic senator up for re-election in this deep red state, it was a very gutsy move. Heitkamp's main reasons for voting no — the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh's temperament — were spot on.