The editorial board of this newspaper does not often make endorsements. We do not endorse national, state or even local candidates with any regularity. However, given the importance of the Nodaway County Sheriff’s race and this paper’s extensive coverage of that race, with features of both c… Read more

Whether we want to admit it or not, each and every single one of us has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. If you haven't caught COVID-19, your physical health may be following its normal path considering you don't exercise and have a poor diet. Your mental health, however, has most lik… Read more

On Sept. 18, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Ginsburg was a champion of women’s rights and a lawyer for many cases regarding sex/gender-based discrimination. She was one of four women to serve on the Supreme Court in U.S. history. Ginsburg upheld the rights of many people, in… Read more

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, masks have become a necessity in public buildings and other common areas, unless social distancing can be safely and adequately maintained. Like them or hate them, we are all still required to wear them.  Read more

Amendment 3, which is on the ballot in the November 2020 election, is a representation of the worst of politics. It’s a thinly veiled attempt to trick voters into making Missouri’s redistricting system more partisan under the guise of “cleaning up” campaign finance in the Show-Me State. It n… Read more

Since last December, we’ve all been without Northwest football. I think that after some of the things the Bearcats accomplished last season, fans were excited to see the program take another step forward in 2020. Read more

Why is it so hard to express your feelings? Why is it such a bad thing to feel life’s ups and downs? Is it because the world finds emotion opposite of productivity? Or does society just lack the capacity for compassion? Read more

While many are worrying about having to wear a mask and whether or not the vaccine for the coronavirus will be ready in time and safe, another virus is about to begin rearing its ugly head. We are about to enter flu season while still being in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which mea… Read more

I have learned a lot in my public education career from government and history classes. I can recite the three branches of the U.S. government with ease as well as their responsibilities. I know the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I even remember many arbitrary and inconsequential… Read more

After making the decision earlier this semester to suspend fall sports until at least Jan. 1, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its commitment to the health of student athletes, the MIAA announced Oct. 1 tentative plans to go ahead with a winter sports season.  Read more

What cultivates your identity? Is it the color of your skin? Is it the movies you watch? Or, is it the type of people you hang around? According to the standards I’ve grown up with, it’s a mixture of all of the above and none of the mentioned. Read more

The year 2020 is the year from hell. Rarely has normal life been upended on such a massive scale. The economy is in free-fall, a pandemic is raging and a new natural disaster upends the lives of millions of Americans seemingly daily. Read more

I know I’ve been preaching mask wearing and social distancing for weeks now, in order to protect those around you. I hope that the well-being of those around you is constantly on your mind. However, in all this constant worrying about others, don’t forget to focus on yourself. Don’t neglect … Read more

Racial injustice, natural disasters worsened by climate change, growing income inequality and a pandemic. That’s a highlight of the terrible things happening in the U.S. in 2020, a comprehensive list would be seemingly endless. Read more

Growing up in California, we didn’t really have to worry about thunderstorms, tornadoes and the typical Midwest weather. We had to worry about wildfires. Read more

The opinion section of this newspaper is, in its purest sense, an open forum for the community that the paper serves. More so than any other section of the paper, the opinion section belongs to the readers, and except for the unsigned staff editorial, should stay objective — or at least fair… Read more

There has been some relatively encouraging news in recent days when it comes to COVID-19 on a local level. This time last week, the 7-day rolling average of daily positive cases in Nodaway County had dropped by more than half — from 29.43 at the tail end of August to just under 11.71. Now, t… Read more

Nodaway County as a whole has been far from an example of how to handle COVID-19. Actually, it’s been the exact opposite, with the county firmly labeled by the New York Times coronavirus database as a hot spot. The desire to pursue a sense of normalcy has led to this, and now the Nodaway Cou… Read more

After reading the opinion pieces printed in the Northwest Missourian during the last two weeks, I am responding in my role as the leader of the University’s Diversity and Inclusion office. Through the course of events in our country this summer, more people have been able to identify with th… Read more

It started with a simple sore throat. I normally would have paid little to no attention to this symptom any other year, at any other time, but it’s 2020, so I assumed the worst. And I was right. The next morning I woke up with muscle aches, fever and chills. I spent the better part of that d… Read more

Black students being called the N-word as they walk through campus, numerous social media posts from former and current Bearcats documenting racism on campus, our very own columnist stating he doesn’t always feel safe in Maryville because of his skin color and a letter to the editor that is … Read more

It might be just me, but there’s something about this world we’re living in that has me completely unmotivated. Even for my classes that have met entirely in person, I can’t seem to gather the courage to a) walk to class and be an active participant or b) do any of the work I’m assigned. Read more

Dear Northwest Missourian, Read more

And so it begins, the blame game. COVID-19 cases have surged since Northwest resumed in-person classes — shocking — and as a result, students, faculty, administration and community members are beginning to point fingers. Everyone in their own way is accountable for what is happening. No one … Read more

If someone asked me to sum up the first three days of classes in one word, my answer would be blunt, yet simple: hellish. Read more

There’s an issue with my skin. It evokes fear in some and disgust in others. I don’t have blades coming out of my skin, and it doesn’t release a pungent odor. However, as I stroll across my second home for the semester, I attract strange glances. It must be the way my chocolate brown skin gl… Read more

In-person classes are only as feasible as the habits of those attending them. From alternating attendance to all in-person to all-virtual options, class delivery methods - and, therefore, instructional value - can change at a moment's notice.  Read more

Northwest has been put in a difficult position, trying to resume in-person classes during a pandemic. However, not requiring students to submit a negative COVID-19 test prior to returning to in-person classes is asking for an outbreak on campus. Read more

There’s been a lot of tension in the world recently with the Black Lives Matter movement storming back to the forefront of the media. For now, it seems like our pandemic has taken a backseat to the current outrage. The uproar was sparked by the video of a Minneapolis police officer unlawfull… Read more

The All-Resurrection Festival is a mythological music festival headlined by artists that have passed on from this world. I know, I know the obvious answer for a headliner is Jesus, but we are going to forego that answer for the sake of this exercise. Read more

As if times couldn’t get any stranger, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed a lawsuit against China on behalf of Missourians for the way China handled the coronavirus. While China is certainly in the wrong in the way it handled the virus, suing them will not help the state of Mis… Read more

Humans, especially athletes, are a sentimental bunch. We (speaking as a washed-up athlete) cling to moments and milestones to carry us through and give us motivation for the next task ahead. One of the largest and most important times in a young athlete’s life is the opportunity to compete i… Read more

The U.S. was woefully unprepared for the coronavirus and so were its citizens. Prior to the middle of March, jokes, memes and comparisons between COVID-19 to the flu were all over the internet. Now that it has become apparent that COVID-19 is not a punchline but a pandemic, it’s time to dele… Read more

We’re always told to shop locally, but the importance of doing just that has taken on a completely new meaning in recent weeks. As COVID-19 continues to spread, a growing number of Missouri’s 532,277 small businesses are closing up shop — some until further notice and some for good. Read more

Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic should be effortless in the age of social networking. Everyone has a smartphone that allows us to upload a new tweet, Facebook post or Instagram photo faster than it takes people to step away from someone who coughs because something went down t… Read more

Before I start, I should say that I am blaming COVID-19 on the band Disturbed because “Down with Sickness” must be responsible for this in some way. Read more

As the theme song of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” says, the world has gotten “flipped turned upside down.” COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on nearly everyone’s normal routine and causing major shifts in the way students attend school, parents deal with their children and people go to their jobs.… Read more

I want to start off by saying that I get it. I get that you’re frustrated, upset, whatever it might be — understandably so. Read more

It seemed that everything was normal, until all of a sudden, it wasn’t. Northwest students were midway through a chilly spring break, hopefully enjoying a rest from classes, when the whole world seemed to shift. March 11, COVID-19 went from a punchline for many on Twitter to shutting down sp… Read more

Novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a virus that generally has mild effects in most people. However, the virus can cause severe illness in the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions. Read more

The video, first tweeted out by WFLA News in Tampa Bay, has been viewed more than 18 million times on Twitter alone since it made its way to the website at 1:24 p.m. March 16. And it’ll probably be referenced in historical texts years from now when we look back and wonder why the U.S. was hi… Read more

A governing body having excess funds when the cost of going to college has never been higher is unfair to students and shouldn’t continue. The 97th Student Senate should reconsider its predecessor’s decision to hoard its wealth. Read more

Unless they have been living under a rock for the better part of the past year or two — in which case I don’t blame them one bit — one would know that we’ve undoubtedly had a record number of candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Since President Donald Trump was elected … Read more

Midterms suck. These tests or projects are smack dab in the middle of the semester — except when they decide not to be for some reason. They are worth just as much as a final and they don’t get a whole week devoted to them. Finals week is a five-day period focused solely on helping students … Read more

A look at society today reveals a desire to go back to when times were simpler — I guess that’s the 1980s? Anyway, people are rolling jeans, listening to old music and watching entertainment with ’80s nostalgia — looking at you “Stranger Things.” One thing no one should want from the 1980s i… Read more

I thought we stooped low enough as a society years ago, having the mentality that “It’ll only go up from here.” Apparently, I’m dead wrong, once again. Read more

Northwest men’s basketball has lost one game in the last 23 months. The Bearcats have been a top-ranked basketball team in Division II for half a decade. They’ve lost six games in their last 130 matchups. Read more

This shouldn’t come as a shock to any of us college folk, regardless of which side of the aisle you happen to be on, but get ready for another fiscal slap in the face. Read more

Social media has taught the human race a few things: grandmas are wild cards in the comment sections, keeping up with people from high school is not as important as previously thought and constant comparison is harmful to the human psyche.  Read more