JANUARY 25, 2012 THE PRESS PAGE 3
Walsh County -
\\; Spotlight 40
The merchants below are /
proud to announce.__i__/
aritan
301
Park River
County Road 12B
284-7115
00ar0000'ver 1
Implement
284-631 6
I %_____
];RST UNITED
--"Bank & Insurance
Park River ~ 284-7244
Michigan ~ 259,2112
Adams ~ 944-2231
Grafton ~ 352-3668
110 4th St. E
Park River
284-7221
Jim's Super Valu 284-6433
101 3rd St. W ......
Park River For all your dinner needs!
i
Time to deliver-
North gaknta needs a healthy
postal service that provides
timely delivery of the mail,
tn N(h Dakota, the Postal Smite proposes to close'area mail processing centers m [)evils Lake,
Jamestown, Minot and (]rand F'orks arid to close more than 75 pnst offices.
I'he U.S, Postal Service wants to dose thousands of post offices aod 252 of 487 mail pmcessiIg centers
around the cotmtry. Plus, the Postal Service wants to reduce its delivery stand0,ds br various classes of mail,
which would skew mail deliver>,. And, it wants m end Saturday mail deliver>. The bottom line: reducitg service
is not a good business motet *br fixing the Postal Service's problems.
Now is the time for North Dakotans to acl. Sho your snpport ]br maintaining six-day mail defivery and
oppo wholesale closure of area mail processing centers and post o{]ices until fle Postal Service and Congress
address issnes al are undermining the PosIa Service's [nrure viaNlily,
LeI's send a message to the United Stales Postal Service and Congress thai Norlh Dakota needs timely mail
delive and service.
Visit your newspaper once by January 25
to sign a petition asking congress and lhe postal service
to perform to your needs and expectations.
Spacious 2 bedroom
apartmcn t s r00or rcn t
in Park River
AI1 Utilities Paid
Income based
No steps
Laund¢ facility on site
- MUST SEE -
Contact Vicki for more information at
701-331-3826
701-352-2275
$200 Rental Incentive with lease signingH
1 Bedroom apartments also available
Professionally Managed by
Prairie Homes Management
1-888-893-9501 -- toll free
TrY: 1-800-366-6888
EHO
P"[R" '
ecreation
PARKS AND REC REPORT BY TODD KJELLAND
WW. PR-PARKS. COM
I
If you build it
Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't
even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why
they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children,
longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll
say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even
thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And
they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon.
They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the
baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their
heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped
themselves in magic vvaters. The memories will be so thick they'll have
to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one
constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled
by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard,
rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this
game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was
good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most
definitely come.
Some of you may remember those famous lines from the 1989 movie
"Field of Dreams". It was the character Terence Mann (James Earl Jones)
speaking to Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner).
This movie was a personal inspiration for me and still propels thoughts
of building a better community.
This movie may have been fictional, but one thing I know for sure is
this: "If you don't build it, no one will come."
Reach Kjelland at - 701 284 6005
or pparksandrec@live.com
Loftsgard awarded honor
PARK RIVER, N.D. -- Polar
is excited to announce the recipient
of its 2011 Eagle Award as Stacey
Loflsgard. Stacey began her em-
ployment with Polar on August 11,
1997. Stacey works as a Plant
Records Specialist in the Outside
Plant department. Her duties in-
clude maintaining and mapping of
outside plant facility records, cus-
tomer order assignments, and au-
tomated provisioning maintenance.
Stacey was nominated for this dis-
tinguished award and voted on by-',
her peers based on the following
qualifications: Goes above and be-
yond normal job responsibilities;
will do whatever it takes to get thg
job done, pr6Videg new ere*-
ative idefis, shows outstanding
company dedication, demonstrates
teamwork and accepts challenges,
is involved in the' community
and/or volunteer work, demon-
strates outstandhlg:cutom sefiz-
ice and/or assistance, and promotes
a positive attitude.
PR event small but successful
PARK RIVER, N.D. -- On Fri-
day, Jan. 6, the Park River Com-
munity Club hosted an even called
Friday Night Out. The event was
designed to offer twenty to thir-
tysomethings throughout Walsh
County the chance to come to-
gether.
Thirty-five people participated
and of those, 21 were from towns
other than Park River, including
Adams, Edinburg, Crystal, Hoople,
Grafton, Fairdale, and Edmore.
A total of $500 in Park River
Bucks were given out in prizes.
Many participants said they
would like to see another event like
this happen again in the future.
.00tle, dana. only
'30
Happy birthday.
Love, your favorite uncle.
Measure to eleminate
property taxes wOuld cripple
local government
By Harvey Tallaeks0n
I have a few thoughts to start
the New Year of 2012. This new
year will be of tremendous impor-
tance to our state and to our na-
tion. We will elect a president and
many U.S. and State Legislators.
Of great concern to N.D. voters
will be the initiated measure in the
June primary election that would
eliminate the property tax in N.D.
and as I understand the measure
would be retro-active so the coun-
tiFs and cities would have to pay
back the 2011 taxes. This would
really cripple our local govern-
ments. It's a very devastating
measure.
If people wish to eliminate
property taxesAt_ would be a lot
more reasonable to do it over a pe-
riod of 5 to 10 years so local and
state governments could make the
adjustments. I also feel that our
N.D. State Conservative Legisla-
tures to blame for causing people
to object to property taxes. Be-
cause ofoil income the state has
put millions of dollars away in the
bank. The Legislators should have
increased the percentage of our
sales tax revenue to the counties,
cities and townships and schools.
They evidently don't trust out
local governing bodies.
I am concerned with our state
and national elections. The public
has a very difficult time under-
standing the issues and who is the
best candidate when they are
bombarded with miss truths and
down-right lies by ads on radio,
television, newspapers and maga-
zines and also by public mailings.
Something must be done to con-
trol the costs of elections and cam-
paigns, also limit the lengths of
campaigns.
Our greatest danger is the
widening gap in the wealth in our
country between the haves and the
have,nots, or between the work-
ing class and the wealthy. Huge
amounts of money from the
wealthy is' setting national law
making. It's beginning to remind
me of the Old European Feudal
System where a small percent of
the population owns the country's
wealth and in effect runs the g0v-
emment. It seems to me that the
tax laws and regulations need to
be changedso we all contribute
fairly to the budget in our nation.
The attacks on the working
poor and the labor unions is also
of great concern. By these attacks
we arching back 100 years.
Our Congress is at a new time
low in the eyes of our people4
would hope the House and the
Senate would change their rules
so they couldget something done.
At least do away with the Fili-
busting.
Happy New Year Everyone.
I hope_your wishes and dreams
come true.
Editor's Note." Tallackson is
,from Grafion, N.D.
Seven reasons why a
tobacco tax increase would
benefit North Dakotans
By Sharon Laxdal .....
,The 2000 Surgeon General's
Report, Reducing Tobacco Use,
found that raising tobacco-prod-
uct prices decreases the preva-
!ence of tobacco use. A ten percent
mcrease in the real price of ciga-
rettes will reduce the total amount
of adult smoking by about two
percent and reduce teen smoking
by roughly seven percent. Brea-
theND lists the following seven
benefits of a tobacco tax increase
for North Dakota:
1. Raising tobacco taxes is
one of the most cost-effective
ways to reduce smoking, espe-
cially among youth.
2. Raising tobacco taxes is
one of the most cost-effective
ways to encourage smokers to
quit.
3. Raising tobacco taxes
causes a predictable Smoking de2
cline that locks in large health-re-
incomes below 200 percent of the
poverty line.
6. Those wanting to quit
using tobacco can access the re-
sources of North Dakota's new
voter initiated comprehensive to-
bacco prevention program, which
includes expanded free services
located in local public health units
serving every county.
7. As long as North Dakota
funds its comprehensive tobacco
prevention program at the Centers
for Disease Control (CDC) rec-
ommended level, new general
fund revenue generated by a to-
bacco tax increase could be in-
vested in other public health
services and programs that will
continue to improve the health of
North Dakota citizens and further
reduce the costs of preventable
diseases.
lated cost reductions for state North Dkota's current tobacco
government; private sctor, and axTis 44 cents per pack, ranking
households, who pay for the costs the 46th lowest tobacco tax
of smoking.
4. Most of the public health
improvements resulting from the
decrease in smoking caused by to-
bacco tax increase directly bene-
fit low-income populations, Who
are most likely to quit or cut down
when taxes increase. Lower in-
come households suffer dispro-
portionately from, and can least
afford, the smoking-caused health
care costs.
5. Nationwide, 60 percent
of all smokers have incomes
greater than 200 percent of the
poverty line; but roughly three of
four smokers who quit because of
a cigarette tax increase will have
among all states. However, the
smoking-related costs to North
Dakbtans are $10.48 per pack.
The Centers for Disease Control
studies show that states that have
significantly increased tobacco
taxes have significant increases in
revenues - despite the lost in sales
caused by smoking declines.
Raising the tobacco tax in North
Dakota will help to save lives and
save oney, benefitting all North
Dakotans.
Editor's Note: Laxdal is the To-
bacco Prevention Coordinator for
the Walsh County Health District.
Attention Hunters
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/l00dvertise in The Press today
wcpadvertising@00ail.coin
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