Pine Knot News - A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news

There’s been a lot of news lately about county boards voting on the “refugee issue.” Places like Cook County in extreme northeast Minnesota have voted to accept refugees, even though the odds of a refugee settling there are about nil. And Beltrami County, which has little need to vote on the issue either, was inundated with fear and innuendo and ridicule when it voted to not accept refugees.

It’s a trick, a gimmick, designed, I think, to pit neighbor against neighbor over an emotional issue, but an issue with no real practical relevance. Seeking out more ways to divide us along po...