Christmas is a time for dreams, and for dreamers. It’s a time of wonder. I wonder … There’s a proposal making the rounds to create a new National Monument in western North Dakota, encompassing 11 areas in the North Dakota Bad Lands, land owned by the federal government but leased to ranchers for grazing their cattle. What if those ranchers out …
The Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.’ And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow. There were times we regretted The …
My December 2024 Letter to the Editors of North Dakota newspapers Yes, the president can designate a national monument with the stroke of a pen, using the Antiquities Act. Thank you, Theodore Roosevelt, for creating that act. Famously, TR arrived on a train and lived and ranched in the North Dakota Badlands. (Later his wife, Edith, and his sister would …
Enter the North Dakota Librarian by Gary Gildner Paris Review Spring 2002 whose eyes are a fair, spiky green I only see on my hands and knees at spring’s initial offerings, how can she help me? I say I seek the bloom clarity achieves fending off confusion’s weedy waylays upon rich indirection, I hope I won’t be much trouble. Her lips forming …
There’s a good reason I don’t send “Letters to the Editor” of daily newspapers. I can usually reach the audience I want to reach here on my blog. It’s mine, and I can say whatever I damn well please. And I do. And if someone disagrees with me, they can just start their own blog. But then right-wing oil industry …
I’m just throwing this out here that the holidays are when people start dropping crazy uncle stories into conversations. It’s crazy if your uncle protested the Vietnam War and drove a VW van to Woodstock, where he dropped LSD and bootlegged some free love, but is now a Trump supporter. ”I think there’s the one person in any group of …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team came from behind three times to defeat No. 9-ranked St. Cloud State University 4-3 in overtime Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Jake Schmaltz netted the winner for the No. 16-ranked Fighting Hawks (11-7-1 overall, 6-2-0 National Collegiate Hockey Conference), while Jaden Perron, Abram Wiebe and Sacha Boisvert each scored once in …
“Winter Rainbow,” by Paul Southworth Bliss, from his book of poetry Cirrus From the West published in 1935. Out of the oakland, Out of the pineland, Near the time of sunset, I came to the un-treed plains. On the frost-struck air There lay two segments Of a mighty wheel, Sunk to the sun-hub In the glistening prairie. The inner ring …
Baking for the holidays has been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember. Both my Grandma Menard and my Mom were excellent bakers, as was my Aunt Harriet Hendrickson. I helped my Mom a couple of times during the holidays, but it was a humbling experience. Mom was so good and I was such a …
Billings County Commissioners, in a 2-1 vote at a special meeting Wednesday, agreed to stop all legal action concerning the proposed Little Missouri River Crossing for 60 days, or until a settlement can be reached to put an end to the condemnation of the Short Ranch property for construction of a road and bridge. The language of the motion was …
You’ve heard me say this before: Elections have consequences. Even in tiny remote places like Billings County in the North Dakota Bad Lands, where a total of just 628 people voted in the races for the Billings County Commission this past month. In Billings County, commissioners are elected to represent geographic districts. The county is divided into three of them. …
It took 70 years, but photographer Jeff Olson and his wife, Joanne Plager Burke Olson, made it to Hawaii. They visited the Big Island and Kauai, the garden sland. From a rainbow over Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to remote beaches and Waimea Canyon, everything was stunning. And they also made it to the westernmost bookstore in the U.S. and the …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team and Bemidji State University skated to a 3-3 tied on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The No. 14-ranked Fighting Hawk (7-7-1) received goals from Owen McLaughlin, Carter Wilkie and Jake Schmaltz. The Beavers (7-6-2), who won Friday night’s game in Bemidji 2-1, had goals from Adam Flammang, Reilly Funk and Noah …
A group of dedicated North Dakotans has put together a proposal that will bring significant recognition to the North Dakota Bad Lands. They are my heroes. The project is the creation of a new national monument, the Maah Daah Hey National Monument. If the project succeeds, it will be an immense source of pride for all North Dakotans. A little …
If you want to understand the difference between Christian nationalism and being a Christ follower look no further than the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. This man who spouts off about “Christian values” spent Wednesday trying to silence a damning ethics report of a man whose vile publicly admitted actions make him unqualified to be attorney general, in order …
I realize we’re in our post-election honeymoon period during which everyone has amnesia or hangovers, and platitudes are the order of the day, but in consideration of journalistic integrity — if we’re still doing that — honesty is in order. We can’t “sane-tize” this. This has been the weirdest damn thing. And it may get even weirder. I went to …
The five most dangerous words in the English language for a journalist (of which I am one, of a sort — I keep this online journal) are “I’m not a lawyer, but …” OK, so there’s been this legal case going on for about 10 years involving Billings County and the Short family over whether there is going to be …
You probably didn’t know Vern Frederick. He was a quiet, humble rancher/farmer from down near Flasher, N.D., (one of the best town names ever), a big, strong, hard-working man, dedicated to his loving wife, Bonnie, a polio victim tied to a wheelchair most of her adult life, whose farming operation was always on the cutting edge of the latest techniques …
I recently started following an Instagram site called “Letters of Note.” The site creator shares historical letters that are both amusing and inspiring as well as grounding. Recently, he posted a portion of a letter from John Ruskin, an English author and critic, written on Nov. 4, 1860, during a period of social reform and upheaval in England. In his letter …
Relax. Take a deep breath. Things are going to be OK. Not easy but OK. Just imagine what might be going on in our country today if Kamala Harris had been elected president in a very close election, let’s say a handful of electoral votes, with very close races in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada or Georgia. Blood in the streets. And …
That headline is a reprisal of the one I wrote in this space eight years ago, when Doug Burgum dashed the hopes of Wayne Stenehjem ever becoming governor of North Daktoa, by beating him the June 2016 primary. As I wrote then, I didn’t see that one coming. OK, so much for my Predictability Quotient. Well, actually, it’s not too bad. …
Here’s a slightly updated rerun of a column I first posted 10 years ago, on Nov. 4, 2014. It came to mind because of a question I got this week from my friend, Colleen Stebbins down in Bowman, North Dakota, about the bars being closed in North Dakota on Election Day. Some of you remember those days, more than 30 …
On this date 44 years ago, I cast my first vote for president of the United States. I had eagerly awaited this date, having listened to discussions about civic duties within my own family and extended families, having read newspapers and Life magazines and more while growing up — I was an “early reader” — having listened to my elders …
We are volunteers with an organization called Faiths United to Save Democracy, which is doing its work in conjunction with Sojourners. It is a nonpartisan effort to serve shifts outside of polling sites to offer support and protection to voters, making sure every vote is counted. We are trained, nonpartisan, multifaith, multicultural, multigenerational volunteers — clergy and lay — who …
Many of our cell phones have been battered this election season with a torrent of pleas for moolah. I vote mostly Democratic/Independent, so my flogging by fundraisers comes from Democratic candidates and liberal-leaning causes. For 17 days (Oct. 14-30), I logged the source of 83 of such texts on my Verizon cell phone account and observed a often overly aggressive system …
There’s a list at the North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office, and if you live in North Dakota, you’re on it. You and about half a million of your neighbors. It’s a big list. Probably the biggest list in the state. How do I know you’re on it? Because every North Dakotan who regularly reads these dispatches surely votes in …
If you have any question about what the future of America will be like in a second Donald Trump term, please look carefully at what transpired Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. The racism, the xenophobia, the misogyny, the hatred, the anger, the division. This is where the road leads. Up until eight years ago, I would have described myself …
After about sixty years of being curious about “Buffalo Alice North Dakota” (thanks L. Ray Wheeler), we wandered into Buffalo, North Dakota and then onto Old Highway Ten. Home with a load of new books to read and autumn chores to complete before snowfall. For further reading see Towns Named Buffalo.
Vice President Kamala Harris has continued her sorely conflicted relationship with President Joe Biden since her campaign began. Like an estranged couple, she and Biden hang out in the same house politically but don’t often mention each other and don’t go out together. Harris’ campaign would benefit from an appropriate Joe-Biden-friendly approach, made clear to me with “there is not a thing …
Something thwapped my noggin’ at a young age and told me that rooting for the New York Yankees was not the type of mistake a young feller should make. I didn’t know the half of it. In those summers, a hopscotch court was chalked on a sidewalk somewhere in the neighborhood, no one wore a helmet to ride a bike, …
If you remain undecided about who you are voting for in this election, please consider that Adolf Hitler became chancellor because of a democratic election. The Nazi Party used hatred toward the “other” and demonization of those who were “poisoning the blood of our country” to scapegoat the marginalized and convince good people to vote for them because they believed …
This article first appeared in the October issue of High Plains Reader and on its website.) As a political columnist, I know I should be writing an election preview for the issue of this paper that comes out just a couple of weeks before what is being labeled, once again, as “the most important election of our lifetime.” OK, so …
I use either Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s recipe as a start but sometimes use my Marcella Hazan’s “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” recipes from my hardcover copy purchased in 1999. The SECRET is good ingredients, fresh whenever possible, and patience. One must taste a little as one goes along. My SECRET ingredient is cloves (in an amount depending upon one using the patience …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team opened its 2024-25 season with a 5-2 win over Providence College on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena in the annual U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game. Dylan James led the No. 6-ranked Fighting Hawks (1-0) with two goals, while Cameron Berg, Sacha Boisvert and Abram Wiebe added single tallies against the …
Many Americans complain about things Donald Trump has said or done as he pushes for a return to the White House. My objection here to his loose mouth is, however, more personal than political. I respond to some of his ill words on behalf of both my late Dad and my own namesake, a soldier from Slope County, N.D., who …
The headlines in the papers are using the word “historic” to describe the fires burning in western North Dakota right now and over the past few days. Well, let me tell you a story about a historic fire from a few years back. Almost 50 years, in fact. It’s a story worth telling. And retelling. Some of you have heard …
Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert recently visited White Horse Hill National Game Preserve near St. Michael, N.D. White Horse Hill is a 1,674-acre national wildlife refuge that was initially established as a national park on April 27, 1904 under the National Park Service. In 1914, it was further designated by Congress as a big game preserve. And in 1931, it was transferred …
TR Birthday Shenanigans: I Wander the Northern Badlands Solo
They seemed to know. The swallows began an arial ballet outside my living room window the moment I opened my laptop to mourn. Ten of them, maybe 15 acrobats, engaged in a celebration, perhaps. Maybe a tribute. It transported me back to my grandmother’s last day. I was wheeling her along in the sunshine outside of the hospital when a …
The University of North Dakota football team, behind a 142-yard rushing performance by Isaiah Smith, defeated Murray State University 72-35 in Saturday’s Homecoming game in the Alerus Center. Smith scored two rushing touchdowns and added another on a 74-yard pass from quarterback Simon Romfo to lead the No. 8-ranked Fighting Hawks (4-1 overall, 1-0 Missouri Valley Conference) over the Racers …
“How’s your day goin’?” the young woman tending the cash register in the Linton, N.D., convenience store asked me Sunday afternoon as I laid my ice cream bar on the counter and reached for my wallet. “I need some ice cream,” I replied, handing her some cash. “That wasn’t what I asked you,” she said, somewhat cheekily I thought. Then …
Sometime in the distant past, when David Strauss and I were managing the campaigns of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, I received a note from David with those words. They struck home. I went looking for their source. I found the actual quote, ironically, from President Calvin Coolidge, who said this: “Nothing in this world can take the place of …
The University of North Dakota football team racked up a 31-point lead in the first half en route to a 52-28 win over Idaho State University on Saturday afternoon in the Alerus Center. The No. 10 Fighting Hawks (2-1) were led by quarterback Simon Romfo, who was 25-38 and 287 and two touchdowns, and receiver Bo Belquist, who caught eight …
Sometimes it’s just too hot to cook. That’s when having a good imagination can come to the rescue. Tuna salad and egg salad are two creations that I can remember Mom fixing when the thermometer pushed above 80 and close to 90, especially since we didn’t have central air conditioning. A nice sandwich of either of those always was satisfying …