Legislative Report

April 12, 2022 I’ve spent more time in Bismarck in the past week than I’ve been at home. I attended the Legislators’ Retreat on April 7 & 8 last week. It was facilitated by the Hunt Institute out of North Carolina.

KC’s Column

GREAT BEGINNINGS, 1824 Voice: “Stand by to make sail.” Philip Carney: “Log entry: The ketch Scarlet Queen, Philip Carney, master. Position: 22 minutes, 15 degrees north; 114 degrees, 45 minutes east. Wind: fresh; sky fair.

Trails of Transformation

“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.” - Joseph Campbell The sweet salutations of nature’s healing gift is in the perfection of its wisdom.

About the Earnings Test and Taxation of Social Security Benefits

Dear Rusty: I’m 63, married, and we file a joint tax return. If I claim Social Security now and keep working and earn $7,000 more per year than the annual limit of $19,560, I know I’d have benefits withheld at the rate of $1 for every $2 over the limit ($3,500).

Blessings

Getting your first bike ride in the middle of March made you feel good. Talking to a friend in California, you tell him of the excursion. He questioned your judgment. You had to inform him that the season temperature already went up 60 degrees.

Dakota Datebook

Bismarck-Deadwood Stage Trail by Christina Sunwall April 11, 2022 — After the 1874 expedition led by George Armstrong Custer confirmed the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, the town of Bismarck experienced its first boom.

The days of yellow journalism...

Yellow journalism was a common practice many years ago.The question is are we returning to this type of journalism? The type of journalism where the news is sensationalized and based in only a kernel of truth. Agenda driven journalism.

Getting through the day...

A few years ago, Lyle wrote a column that he titled “Lucky Lyle”. He wrote this column chronicling his health issues that he had been through up to the point of writing this column.

…someone will have to be a little bit cranky…

As I spun the handle on our Whirly-Pop, keeping the popcorn from scorching, I smiled at my bride and commented, “you can tell everyone that on Sunday evenings I am old and cranky.” Without missing a beat, she replied, “yep, and on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

How Much Democracy Do We Want?

Here we are 250 years after the Founding Fathers declared that “we the people” were creating a government with the consent of the governed, we are still trying to define who “we the people” are. At first, we the people consisted of white property and asset owners who had a stake in society.