The more the merrier. That's a good attitude whether the subject is a festive holiday gathering or a school board election. The Brainerd School Board's decision last week to conduct even-year elections will result in greater turnout and consequently the involvement of more people. The impetus for th...

At long last a decision has been made on the realignment of Highway 371 at Pequot Lakes. Going back several years, we remember the complaint of one exasperated Pequot Lakes businessman who had an opinion in the long-standing debate but who confided that the indecision and uncertainty was hurting his...

Among the many federal programs that deserve getting the ax in the name of deficit reduction and common sense, ethanol subsidies are at the top of the list. Unfortunately the U.S. Senate doesn't see things the same way. Its version of the bill preserves the corn-based fuels many subsidies....

The United States is currently fighting two wars and is struggling to turn around an extremely shaky global economy. The gravity of these challenges precludes any thoughts of amnesty or indifference to the actions of  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The Australia-born Assange, whose website &...

Rep. Tom Emmer saved Minnesota from what could have been an unholy mess by ending an almost-completed recount process and deciding not to file any lawsuit regarding the outcome of the Nov. 2 election. The handwriting was on the wall and because the recount wasn't completed statewide, Minnesota Gov.-...

Change, whether it's in public policy or attitudes, can be painstakingly slow. Yet there comes a time when outdated policies should yield to reality and that's why the White House and military leaders saw the need to repeal the "don''t ask, don't tell" policy on gays who serve in the armed forces. T...

This newspaper has advised local governments to hold the line on wages during our economic downturn and we're glad to see President Barack Obama's call for a two-year pay freeze for federal workers. Congress, which has to approve the legislation for such a move, should quickly implement this freeze....

If you've ever wondered why the Brainerd Dispatch featured a certain news story or why it didn't print a different story, you might be well-suited to a position on the Dispatch Advisory Board....

Talk about political poison. What self-respecting U.S. representative or senator would support a plan that would potentially do away with the home mortgage deduction, cut military spending, raise the Social Security retirement age and cut Medicare? The answer to that question, in our view, is a darn...

We're getting kind of nostalgic about a few years ago. Nope, we're not still processing the Republicans' return to power. We're pining, instead, for the days of paper ballots, optical scanning equipment and better communication. Yet, the way the results came in leaves us to guess there's still plent...