View Point - Editorial

A symbolic shovel of dirt will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Hillsboro this week.
Tuesday’s groundbreaking at the Hillsboro Medical Center will symbolically mark the start of construction of a $12.5 million project that will create a new two-story 36-bed nursing home and a new 16-apartment assisted living facility and renovate the 53-year-old hospital. The project is ambitious, progressive and necessary.
After five years of intense study and careful planning, the HMC board voted last year to move forward — instead of just treading water. They could have opted to make $2 million in mandated upgrades and simply held their ground. Instead they looked into the future and saw what could be, what patients and residents were demanding, what progress was needed if HMC was to thrive and not just survive. (more…)

It was like old times, people sitting around smiling, visiting, talking like they would over the backyard fence.
“How are you?” “Fine, you?” “Fine here, too.”
“Gosh, you look good.” “You do, too.”
“How’s the family?” “Fine, yours?”
Then on to more serious topics.
“Aren’t the pancakes delicious.” “I love pancakes.”
“Isn’t it a great crowd.” “Yes, it’s good to see so many here.”
“I love the desserts at these fund-raisers.” “I’d like to take mine home.”
There goes another dessert out the front door.
Just kidding.
The turnout for the HBA pancake breakfast Saturday and the HCP buffet fund-raiser Sunday was Hillsboro-terrific. (more…)

The good, the bad and the ugly . . . but it’s ours.
ND200 brings business to our doorstep. It also divides our town in half. That’s the good and the bad. The “ugly” is equally obvious — the state highway, our city street, is in desperate need of repair.
The debate over the proposed reconstruction of ND 200 has raged on for six months. Just as the street divides our community into east and west sides of town, the debate has divided our city commission and put our community at odds with a state construction plan.  (more…)

“Know thyself,” Socrates once said. Even though I missed that particular lecture, I accept the word of those who took the notes that day. He said it because there are some benefits to knowing ourselves. For example, if we knew ourselves to be aggressive drivers, we would carry an unusual amount of accident insurance. Or if we knew we had a weakness for chocolate cake, we would stock only custard. In other words, we could protect ourselves from ourselves.
It would be helpful if we could understand ourselves as a state. We would not go through the trauma of nursing great expectations of ourselves when history teaches us that great expectations are not us. And the best places to learn about ourselves as a state is the Legislature. (more…)