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 A competition Saturday in Blaine. Eleven Blackduck students qualified for state, and...

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. Philip’s. It was my first visit to the Chief Theater and my first experience of a production there. What a great...

“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 answers to McCain and the first is this: If it’s put to a vote, the bill will probably pass....

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 Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from taking any action that requires a quorum unless and until the Senate confirms...

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 were the five most important words any professor ever said to him, and as a college teacher...

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 on abortion and health care? We need to take a deep breath and consider the consequences...

“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 scene outside the Court building, where most of the media was camped out, reminded me of the story of the Tower of Babel...

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 that America must choose between two groups of newcomers: high-tech workers with advanced degrees or family...

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 journalist might have found himself cheering the pontiff on. St. Francis of Assisi, the new pope’s...

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 good at math either and deny the realities that numbers reveal. Republican Sen. John McCain...

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 is finding out. Congratulations to Vocalmotive, the school’s top show choir, for being named grand champion...

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 so many people showed up and crowded the room. As Cokie wrote in her book “Ladies...

“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 the prayerful mien of some of the cardinals going into the papal conclave that would elect...

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 meet in Mexico and swam across the Rio Grande River to reach America. More than 40 foreign-born...

In response to Marjorie Anderson's letter to the editor ("Outdated medieval biblical scriptures," Aug. 8) I can only say that I wish Ms. Anderson could know Father Don Braukmann. She referred to him as the "good father" and, indeed, he is good. He would treat her with love and respect...