Who the top property taxpayers are in North Dakota Measure 4 will give tax breaks to all property taxpayers; that includes for-profit, out-of-state businesses. Of the 3 highest paying taxpayers in each county: 77% are out-of-state companies that pay 82% of the taxes.

The 2024 federal election really boils down to one simple question for each of us to ask. Who as President would we encourage our daughters and/or sons to emulate? Are qualities of decency, integrity, honesty, kindness, fairness and compassion the characteristics we hope to instill within our children and grandchildren? Think about this and please think about it again! Paul Liebersbach Nekoma, N | 701-949-2113.

“Doc, my right hip has been bothering me. Do you think I need a new hip?” said the patient.

Sometimes in the evening I like to watch TV with my iPad in my lap, managing both effectively. A completely unnecessary form of multi tasking or some would call it multi slacking.

Last I wrote here, I shared with you that I was preparing for a last minute trip to the motherland, northeast Tennessee, to help with relief work from the devastating floods. I came in hot on Saturday, landing in Knoxville, Tenn., and drove straight to a property needing help with clean up efforts.

By Sara Goodman If anyone was shocked by my choice of article topic last week, sorry, not sorry. Talking about or envisioning some type of medical procedure or bodily function does not gross me out in the least. Let me give you a little background scoop that explains things. Point number one is that my mom was a registered nurse who eventually went back to school for what seemed like 100 years and came out on the other side as a family nurse practitioner. What this means for her children is that she was not shy when it came to talking about medical issues or concerns. If we were sick and whined about throwing up, diarrhea, plugged noses or sore throats, first we were asked “what color is it?” and then we were given a medical explanation as to the cause of the problem and how plenty of fluids would eventually flush out the bugs. We were raised to know what is normal and what is likely not normal before, during and after this flushing out process. My sophomore year of high school I became a nurse aide at the local hospital and worked alongside my mom for three years learning and watching her and the other nurses deal with patients who had a wide range of medical issues. My very first day on the job, I cleaned up a trail of poop that went from the bed to the toilet after a poor elderly woman’s cancer battle left her incapable of controlling her backside. It filled me with empathy rather than disgust.

As I sat in the car wash last week, bored of watching the high power water jets blasting the dead bee’s off of my windshield, I scrolled through old pictures in my phone and came across this one I snapped exactly one year ago this week of our granddaughter, Violette, who - with her parents - joined us in Breckenridge, Colorado, for sever-mountains and so wanted to share this joy with our family. I had told V. we could do whatever she wanted.... hiking in the mountains, a gondola ride, horseback riding, a train ride – suffice to say that even though the ski slopes were bare of snow, there were still plenty of fun outdoor activities to be had high in the Colorado Rockies.

I’m not going to lie, this has been the most difficult column to write! I have happy news to share but also some sad news as well. So, let’s start with the happy.

By Sara Goodman October is my birthday month, so if you ever feel the need to celebrate your favorite Borderland Press columnist, now is the time! I don’t know if anyone can ever top Mitzel’s gift of removing himself from the columnist line-up, but you’re welcome to try. I will admit, I sometimes miss Mitzel’s sorry attempt at humor along with his consistent, meaningless jabs at my expense. It made things, as my kids would say, “spicy.” All I’m left with is glaring at him through the dirty windows of the Munich school bus during sports practice pickup and making crude comments on his Facebook page whenever possible.

By Bob Simmons, CEO, Simmons Multimedia In early September, we took a stroll through Menards in Grand Forks looking for deals on lawn furniture for Diane’s wine bar. A stack of plastic Adirondack style chairs jumped out at me. They were wine color, just 15 bucks a piece, and the sticker said could hold 350 pounds. PERFECT! Suddenly a nice young man in a blue Menards apron approached me and said – would you like a chair? I said – I’ll take ‘em all! He kind of rolled his eyes, and a few moments later reappeared with a flatbed cart. Once checked out, we somehow managed to load all 15 chairs into the back of my Suburban. Diane, who normally likes to recline and place her bare feet on the dashboard, was now pushed forward as far as her seat could go. Somehow I drove home in the same position but with two chair legs surrounding my head making it difficult to look right or left. Alas, we made it home to Langdon safely, and the chairs were promptly removed and stored in the back area of Sip Happens, where they would remain until such time as the Lawn Lounge area was ready.