opinion

For 2014, the IRS has identified these “Dirty Dozen” tax schemes as the ones to watch: 1. Identity Theft. Identity theft that results in tax fraud tops the IRS ‘Dirty Dozen’ list again. Identity theft when someone uses your personal information such as your name, Social Security...

I just wanted to take a moment and say, “Hello,” to the residents of West Fargo. This will be my first Pioneer/News to be printed since taking the reins from interim assistant editor Carrie Snyder. The Pioneer is special as the only publication in the metro area that is devoted...

West Fargo Ordinance 12-0310 relating to fireworks has been repealed and is replaced with Ordinance 12-0711. The revision is deemed necessary for a number of reasons. Ordinance 12-0310 lacked important detail and was graded as a criminal offense. The new Ordinance 12-0711 provides...

The committee is off to a great start in our planning for the 2014 events. The committee is made up of high school parents. As parents, our goal is to ensure our teens and/or our teens’ friends have a safe, alcohol and drug free environment on two of the most high risk nights of...

Secondary teachers in the West Fargo Public Schools experienced a day of professional learning on Feb. 18, that was fresh, new, insightful, engaging and innovative. InSourced Day of Professional Learning focused on “Educating Tomorrow’s Workforce through Today’s Educators.”...

On Feb. 17 and again on Feb. 21, West Fargo police canine Disco seized two males suspected of committing felonies in West Fargo. In Monday’s incident, citizens in the Meadowridge area of West Fargo reported a man who appeared to be trying to enter homes. The callers provided a description...

At the West Fargo City Commission meeting on Feb. 3, 2014 commission members received the 2013 Annual Report of the West Fargo Police Department. Like the community of West Fargo, the Annual Report reflects change in a number of areas over the past year. A copy of the report can be...

A recent news story from the Minneapolis area covered the arrest of a man and a woman for theft of personal mail. The subjects had been following the mail delivery vehicle in a particular neighborhood each day for more than a week and removing mail from the homes where they saw a...

In case you haven’t noticed, the Founding Fathers created a governmental system that is not supposed to work until we can mobilize massive agreement. With separation of powers, we have had modest gridlock for two centuries so it was inevitable that we would end up some day with...

I am an adventure seeker. I crave an adrenaline rush and love to experience new things. When I signed up for the West Fargo Police Department’s Citizen’s Police Academy last fall, I knew I’d be able to see and experience new things, but I had no idea I would get so much more...

The post prom / post grad committee is off to a great start in our planning for the 2014 events. The committee is made up of high school parents. As parents, our goal is to ensure our teens and/or our teens’ friends have a safe, alcohol and drug free environment on two of the most...

With a high school graduation rate of close to 90 percent, North Dakota does not appear to have much of a dropout problem. However, Dakota Draper, President of the North Dakota Education Association, sees it as an issue that cannot be dismissed. At annual rate of 750 dropouts, in...

I am proud to present the 2013 West Fargo Police Department’s Annual Report. Once again, 2013 was a busy and productive year for our police department as West Fargo lives up to its city slogan, “City on the Grow.” One way we can tell it’s been a busy year is by statistics...

Reverse mortgages have become increasingly popular in recent years, as cash-strapped seniors seek ways to keep pace with rising expenses – not to mention cope with the pummeling their retirement savings took during the Great Recession. But the Department of Housing and Urban Development...

“Nobody in her right mind would call a meeting in January even if it was declared a crisis,” grumbled Madeleine Morgan as she shuffled into the community hall along with the town’s 12 other electors for a special session of the Homeland Security Committee. (The 14th elector,...