opinion

Blackduck speakers shine at state Congratulations to the Blackduck High School speech team for an outstanding season, capped off with two champions at the Minnesota State High School League Class...

I had my first experience of the Bemidji Community Theater this past week. I attended the production of “Peter Pan” with the 230 youth from our school here at St...

“What are we afraid of?” Sen. John McCain posed that question to fellow Republicans who vow to filibuster any bill mandating universal background checks on gun purchases. There are three...

On April 12, the House passed H.R. 1120, the Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor Management Relations Act, on a narrow 219 to 209 vote. The bill would prohibit the National...

When Steve was an undergraduate at Harvard 50 years ago, a young government instructor repeated the same admonition whenever he handed back an assignment: “This is not good enough.” Those...

Have you noticed all the talk about the “inevitability” of same-sex marriage? Are you watching the second round of the “war on women” rhetoric hitting opponents of the president’s stance...

“We love you.” The words warmed the chill during the first of two days of Supreme Court oral arguments on the future of marriage law in the United States. The...

As the debate over immigration reform reaches a climax, a troubling idea seems to be gaining traction. It is that annual limits on new visas should be severely restricted, and...

The pope, petting a seeing-eye dog? It happened at Pope Francis’ media conference the Saturday morning after his election. As a blind man approached the stage, even the most hardened...

There’s a lot of hand-wringing about American students lagging their foreign counterparts in math skills. That should not be a big surprise, since many of our political leaders aren’t very...

Vocalmotive does its hometown proud Folks around the Bemidji area have long known how wonderful the show choir program is at Bemidji High School. Now the rest of the country...

When Dolley Payne Madison became first lady in 1809, she instituted Wednesday evening gatherings at the White House where political rivals could meet and talk. They were called “squeezes” because...

“May God forgive you.” That’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s translation of a joke that Pope Francis told the College of Cardinals a day after being elected the 267th pontiff. Having watched...

Leo Manzano is the son of an undocumented farmworker from Mexico. Meb Keflezighi and his family fled civil war in Eritrea. Danell Leyva's stepfather defected from Cuba's gymnastics team during...

A welcome vehicle for a great cause A welcome vehicle for a great cause In an online contest last week, the Northwoods Habitat for Humanity won over the hearts of...