Tag: Columns

Ready for life with a little Monke

I’d never in my life cried tears of joy until Thursday afternoon. It happened the moment I met my son, Grant Bennett Monke.

As I write this from our recovery room in CHI St. Joseph’s Health’s babykind wing, my wife and 1-day-old son are sleeping comfortably. Sarah is snoring in a recliner and Grant is in his bassinet, trying to kick his way out of a swaddle blanket — something he’s already pretty good at.

At a little more than 9 pounds and 22 inches long, he has been described by numerous nurses, family members and visitors as “a big boy.” He’s very alert, has a nice head of dark hair with a great complexion, his mom’s pretty blue-green eyes and one hell of a grip.

No one is lying when they say you fall in love with your children the moment they’re born. Something just clicks inside of you. He’s ours. We made him. We created this life and now we’re responsible for it. And as scary as that seems, it’s really not.

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Editorial: DSU Foundation paying for mess it created

When rumors began to circulate about financial problems at the Dickinson State University Foundation, our reporting on the subject was unpopular with many university and foundation supporters.

We were asked by readers why we didn’t support the university and were told to stop picking on the foundation.

But, the more we reported, the more the foundation’s issues began to peel away and the quieter our critics became.

Now, we’re at the point where there seems to be little left to save.

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Editorial: Belfield street assessments should have been handled better

Belfield’s streets need to be fixed. There’s no doubt about that. Complaint after complaint is heaped on the city by both residents and visitors regarding the state of its streets, and clearly something must soon be done. A special assessment to property owners, offset by oil-impact “surge” funding dollars, is the most logical way to do this.

However, considering the individual price tag associated with these improvements, it’s safe to say Belfield leaders went about informing property owners the wrong way.

When your citizens stand to pay thousands of dollars in extra taxes over an undetermined length of time for a city infrastructure project, it’s best to involve them as much as possible — not to hold a couple meetings and then send them a bill eight months later.

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A crash course in all things baby

Everything you need to know about the final stages of pregnancy and the first days of being a parent can ably be covered in just eight short hours, which Sarah and I discovered last week as we wrapped up a three-night first-time parents classes offered by CHI St. Joseph’s Health.

During the sessions, we received a crash course in everything new parents may want or need to know about babies, giving birth and the first few weeks of being mom and dad.

These used to be called lamaze classes because they focused on teaching breathing techniques that can help a woman during childbirth.

Today, there’s very little of that involved. Instead, the classes are a combination human anatomy refresher course, birthing and parenting class, and simple dos and don’ts. There are countless sets of tips for both women and men on how to keep their sanity during the often excruciatingly long and sometimes complicated birthing process, as well as for after you bring baby home.
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If you want Trump to win, I can’t help you

Here’s some thoughts I had after watching the Republican presidential candidate debates on Thursday night:

— Jeb Bush is in the race because someone told him to be, though he looks like he’d rather be home watching TV.

— Rand Paul isn’t much of a hugger.

— Marco Rubio could likely be our first Latino president — just maybe not in 2016.

— There are 17 so-called Republicans who want to be president. Seventeen!!! It’s crazy. More than half of them should go home now because they can’t win, a couple of the underdogs should get more attention because they deserve it and there may actually be a president in the bunch. (Maybe.) That said …

— That potential president sure as heck isn’t Donald Trump — and the people who think otherwise are part of the problem we have with choosing leaders in this country.

Continue reading “If you want Trump to win, I can’t help you”