Opinion

We hear it every two years — “This is the most important election of our lifetime!” In a sense, it is true. Not because of who the candidates may be or the issues facing voters, but because the most important election of our lifetime is always the “next election.” Voting is a privilege that every United States citizen has and a responsibility every eligible voter should take seriously. You are responsible for choosing your leaders, your policies, and your future, no matter if it is a Presidential election or your local school bond election. The North Dakota Office of the Secretary of State has the awesome responsibility of overseeing our state’s election process in concert with 53 counties conducting the election. County auditors are responsible for finding election workers and securing polling locations, and these local election officials are the boots on the ground in your communities during the voting process. Every county conducts its elections within the confines of North Dakota law and under a uniform election system. Uniformity ensures that every county is using the same election equipment and following the same security processes. These processes include security measures, such as:

While the twists and turns of the presidential campaign are captivating much of the country’s attention, we are headed for utter chaos after the November election. It is almost a certainty the former president will lose the popular vote perhaps by more than 10 million votes. The antiquated electoral college will be a tightly contested case that could go either way. There are only a handful of states who will ultimately decide the election. This election will likely follow the trend of the past two elections being rather closely contested. It is highly probable the current Democratic Vice President will be selected by the people, perhaps by a margin exceeding 10 million votes. The electoral college has produced our president a number of times in the past 20-25 years even when someone else won the popular vote.

Harvest is in full swing on the farm and so is tomato season in the garden! The kids got to ride, and they always are up for a tractor or combine ride. As I am writing this, we are having a rain day. This week has been very nice, and we had some great days for harvesting.

Maybe you’ve heard some of the buzz about “Project 2025.” What is it — and what would it mean for you and your family?

I’m just a girl.

Letter to the Editor:

I don’t even know where to start this story. There are so many spiritual, mystical and manifested pieces to it. This might get long. I think I’ll begin just by sharing with you all that my actual birthday is August 29th. This always meant it was a date close to the first week of school. I didn’t get to have parties because of that and so I’ve never really connected to the day of my birth. Until this year!

We have already seen how money has greatly influenced our political landscape over the past few decades and this election cycle will be no exception. It was recently reported that one billionaire had pledged to contribute $180 million for re-election of the former president, he just recently decided not to make that type of commitment but still contributed millions. More and more of the ultra-rich are financially backing the former president based on his pledge to cut their taxes, regardless of how that will impact finances of the country. Most of these ultra-rich are making an investment hoping to get a good return on their investment. Ultimately greed is the prevailing sentiment motivating most of these big money political donors. If this risky economic strategy goes poorly in the U.S., they have the wherewithal to move anywhere in the world but the rest of us must live with the aftermath of the economic chaos and destruction.

I’m a Barbie girl-in a preschool world! In order to tell you about today in preschool, I have to begin with telling you about yesterday in preschool. Yesterday began very run-of-the-mill. Huge hugs began the day. The kind of hugs that are healing even if you don’t know you’re broken. The hug-Fest always gets interrupted by a morning potty break and proper amount of time to fill their coveted water bottles. We go outside to run off some of the morning sugar energy from breakfast before coming back in to say the Pledge of Allegiance, count to 100 by 5’s , sing the “days of the week” song and collectively determine what kind of weather we are having. Then I read a story from the Children’s Bible (It’s a Christian based school) before the real lessons begin. They are good about paying attention during lesson time because they know that directly following it they will get free play time. It is their favorite time of day everyday. Yesterday during free play I was sitting with a little fella and a little girl playing with Legos. We were looking for a little girl Lego to perch on the top of one of our towers. I was specifically looking for the little blonde girl Lego piece because she most resembled me.

When I was a kid, my job each summer at my Grandpa and Grandma Spilloway’s farm, near Gackle, North Dakota, was to clear the gophers out of the pasture.