Unheralded

RON SCHALOW: Americans Are Unified Enough

We already know the Trumpublicans are dumbfounded that Joe Biden shot right out of the gate with executive orders that were sure to cause them wicked spleen jimmies. How dare he? The Patriots were genuinely sincere about bipartisan cooperation — as long as the Great White stays at sea — but how can they now after getting dunked on by Biden? Sen. …


Unheralded

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. Western Illinois University

The University of North Dakota men’s basketball team edged Western Illinois University 83-81 on Friday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center after trailing by 19 points earlier in the game. The Fighting Hawks (5-13 overall, 4-5 Summit) were led by Filip Rebraca, who scored 25 points. Bentiu Panoam chipped in 14 points and Caleb Nero added 12 points. The Leathernecks (2-12 …


RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. Western Illinois University

The University of North Dakota women’s basketball team won its first game of the season, a 79-57 Summit League victory over Western Illinois University on Friday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Fighting Hawks (1-13 overall, 1-7 Summit) were led by Julie Fleecs, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Megan Zander added 16 points and Jacyly Jarnot had …

CLAY JENKINSON: It’s Time For National Majority Rule

The time has come for us to reconsider the U.S. Senate. It is easy enough to understand how the Senate wound up in 1787 with two senators per state irrespective of size and population, but how can it be just and democratic now when Wyoming has about half a million people and California 40 million and they both have the …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot The Rapids — Thank God For Bernie

If you are on social media anywhere these days, it is impossible to miss. A photo of a single man, his face covered by a mask, but still clearly glowering underneath, sitting in a fold-up chair, bundled up in a warm coat and wearing glorious mittens, photoshopped into a myriad of odd locations. The Bernie meme. This picture of Vermont …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. Colorado College

Shane Pinto scored twice and Judd Caulfield, Grant Mishmash and Collin Adams added single goals to lead the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team to a 5-0 shutout of Colorado College in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play Sunday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Fighting Hawks (12-3-1) are alone in first place with just eight games remaining in the …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. Colorado College

The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team celebrated its first game in Ralph Engelstad Arena since Feb. 29, 2020, with a 4-1 National Collegiate Hockey Conference win over Colorado College on Saturday night before a crowd of just 2,008, reduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shane Pinto, Jordan Kawaguchi, Gavin Hain and Cooper Moore scored for the Fighting Hawks …

CHEF JEFF: One Byte At A Time — Creamed Pheasant

Hunters who are cooks are always on the lookout for new recipes. After all, variety is the spice of life. While perusing the internet recently for pheasant recipes, I came across one for creamed pheasant that piqued my interest. The recipe has the usual suspects  — half-and-half, cream of mushroom soup and butter, i.e. — but I made a few additions …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. North Dakota State University

Three University of North Dakota women’s basketball players scored in double figures, but it wasn’t enough as the Fighting Hawks were edged 64-60 by North Dakota State University in Summit League play Friday in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND (0-10 overall, 0-4 Summit), which once trailed by 12 points in the third quarter, was led by Maggie Manson with 14 …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. North Dakota State University

The University of North Dakota men’s basketball team dropped a 62-45 Summit League contest to instate rival North Dakota State University on Friday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Filip Rebraca of UND (3-11 overall, 2-3 Summit), with 14 points, led all scorers. He also had 10 rebounds to record his 16th double-double of his career. Also scoring in double …

TIM MADIGAN: Anything Mentionable — Remembering Joanne Rogers

On an autumn day in 1998, my mom called to say that my brother, Steve, just a year younger than me, had been diagnosed with lung cancer that would take his life two years later. The news was doubly devastating because Steve and I, inseparable as children, were estranged at the time. After hanging up with Mom, I called my …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot The Rapids — The Two Kingdoms

I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. The events of the past week have left me at once glued to my television and also feeling a soul-crushing desire to just go upstairs, pull the covers over my head and pretend that this is not happening in our country. So I have been praying a lot about how to deal …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Democratic Attorneys General Respond

There are a lot of great things about writing on a blog. There are no deadlines. You can write when you feel like it. Late Saturday night. Early Sunday morning. It doesn’t cost anything. You don’t have staff to supervise. You don’t have editors looking over your shoulder. And you can pretty much say anything you like, which I often …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot The Rapids —Democracy Depends On Unity

This morning, I watched with horror more videos of the violent insurrection, which was minutes away from a massacre. As awful as it was, it could have been so much worse had the rioters fulfilled their intent to kill the vice president and members of Congress. Many of the rank-and-file members of the Capitol Police, whose leadership was horrible, fulfilled …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Yes, Yes And Yes, When Attorneys General Break The Law

My inbox has been full of messages saying, “Did you see this?” with links to stories about the Republican Attorneys General Association participating in Wednesday’s U.S. Capitol riots, and asking, “Is Wayne Stenehjem a member of this club?” My answers are “Yes” and “Yes.” The links they sent say that an arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association sent out …

TIM MADIGAN: Anything Mentionable — The Historic And Poignant Friendship Of Tommy Lasorda And Fred Claire

I just learned of the death of Tommy Lasorda, the Hall of Fame manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tommy was 93 and had been in poor health for several years. The news has much deeper meaning for me today than it would have a few years ago, before I met my friend, Fred Claire, the former Dodgers general manager …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot The Rapids — The Truth Will Set Us Free

My social media presence is fairly deliberate and intentional. I try to vary it between vignettes from my day to day life, spiritual reflections and my commentary on what is transpiring in the world around me. I have worked hard to not be the person who only rants about politics, although depending on what is going on, I will occasionally …

CLAY JENKINSON: Future In Context — The Year Another Capitol Siege Almost Took Place On The Hill

The election of 1800 keeps coming back to inform, console and trouble us. John Adams was the incumbent. Thomas Jefferson was the challenger. After one of the most vituperative elections in American history, Jefferson emerged the winner. He had 73 electoral votes, Adams just 65. Thus, Adams became America’s first one-term president. There have been nine, depending a bit on …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Stenehjem Investigation Under Way; Does Our Attorney General Have Blood On His Hands?

I think that as you are reading this, an investigation is under way by the North Dakota Office of Disciplinary Counsel into whether our Attorney General, Wayne Stenehjem, acted unethically, and possibly illegally, using state resources for political purposes, when he joined one of the many frivolous lawsuits to try to overturn Joe Biden’s election as President of the United …

CLAY JENKINSON: Future In Context — The Bill Of Rights, Federalism And The Struggles Of A United America

David French is a senior editor of The Dispatch, a conservative online political magazine. A graduate of Harvard Law School, an Iraq War veteran and recipient of the Bronze Star, French’s most recent book, “Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation,” was reviewed by Governing in October. In the book, French warns how hardening ideological …

CLAY JENKINSON: This Is Not Bush V. Gore

Elections matter. The pathetic political stunt a dozen U.S. senators and more than 100 U.S. representatives are planning for today is a direct attack on democracy. We have a system. Primaries, general election, followed by state certification, followed by the vote of the Electoral College, followed by the tallying of the Electoral College vote by the U.S. Congress, followed by …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot The Rapids — Out With The Old, In With The New

A few years back, I decided to toss away the idea of New Year’s resolutions and instead embrace the idea of a “Word of the Year by Which to Live.” The idea is to have one word for the year that you focus on and each day you work on that word. It becomes a centering principle by which you …

JIM THIELMAN: Travels With Larry

My limp, perspiring frame was draped over a table in a small railway station in a small Spanish town. “Want some water?” my sister asked. Something like “uhnnnnh” slid out of my mouth. “Eggs?” “Urrrrrrgh.” “A Coke?” “Ahhhnnnnhu.” I blamed my brother-in-law. Larry, a college prof, was on a Fulbright Scholarship at the university in Alcala de Henares, Spain. It’s …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot The Rapids — Uphold The Constitution

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski: “I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and that is what I will do Jan. 6 — just as I strive to do every day as I serve the people of Alaska. I will vote to affirm the 2020 presidential election.” Joe Biden won the presidential election over President …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — When Life Gives You 2020, Make Lemonade

Jan. 1, 2021. 2020 is finally over. It was a helluva year. It wasn’t ALL bad, but it was different. Very different. Here’s an example. At about 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving, just as hints of daylight were appearing in the southeast sky, four (relatively) old men huffed and puffed their way for about half …

JEFF OLSON: Photo Gallery — Foothills Trail

The Foothills Trail, which connects Pineridge, Maxwell and Reservoir Ridge Natural Areas near Fort Collins, Colo., was the destination of photographer Jeff Olson and his wife, Joanne Plager Burke Olson, this past weekend. The trail is 9.6 miles long and offers a remote feeling as well as opportunities to see plenty of wildlife. It can be reached from several trailheads …

LA VALLEUR COMMUNICATES: Musings By Barbara La Valleur — The Human Cost Of Freedom Of The Press

The short paragraph in a recent Star Tribune’s Nation and World section hit me in the gut. “2020 was a deadly year for journalists.” The three sentences stated: ——— Mexico 2020 was a deadly year for journalists The number of journalists killed as a result of their work more than doubled in 2020, an international media watchdog group said Tuesday, …

CLAY JENKINSON: Future In Context — Thomas Jefferson, Epidemics And His Vision For American Cities

The yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia changed Thomas Jefferson’s thinking. Always anti-urban in his social outlook, the future president now began to formulate a radical plan for the development of new states and new communities west of the Appalachian mountains. In an age before antibiotics and systematic vaccination, Jefferson sought to design healthier communities on the tabula rasa, …

CLAY JENKINSON: Future In Context — Presidential Transitions And The Vagaries Of America’s History

The Nov. 3, 2020, election is seven weeks behind us. After more than 50 legal challenges to the fairness and legality of the election have been exhausted, and now that the Electoral College has performed its constitutional duty in certifying the election, it is a matter of real constitutional significance that the current President of the United States continues to …

CLAY JENKINSON: Future In Context — America, Rome And The Slow Erosion of Republics

Dr. Edward Watts is a professor of history at the University of California at San Diego. He earned his Ph.D. from Yale and is the author of five books, most recently, “Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny.” The following interview has been edited for clarity and length. Governing: We’re suddenly in this situation where the wear and tear on …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot The Rapids — God’s Name Is Not A Tool For Our Benefit

I must admit to being bemused by the hypocrisy of people who claim the name of Christ who have looked the other way the past four years but are horrified over the use of a vulgar word by a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s staff. I don’t condone calling anyone names. It is wrong, and I don’t think it is …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — Grand Forks Central Vs. Grand Forks Red River

The top-ranked boys high school hockey teams in North Dakota squared off Tuesday night in Cliff Purpur Arena in Grand Forks, with the No. 1 Grand Forks Central Knights topping the Grand Forks Red River Roughriders 4-1 in the season opener for both teams. Joey Kennelly scored twice for Central, with Dom Gerszewski and Connor Litzinger each scoring once. Mason Reynolds …

RON SCHALOW: The Nutty Hairdresser

It’s hard keeping up with the amount of misinformation that one individual — who isn’t a deluded lame-duck president — can publish in a day, so I’ll merely identify the root of the problem so you can gasp and be on your way — after this Public Safety Announcement. (Cough) When Rep. Luke Simons, R-Dickinson, told the Dickinson Press, “I’ve been called a lot …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot The Rapids — Coronavirus Can’t Darken The Miracle Of The Christmas Story

Shortly after getting married, my late ex-husband, Steve,  and I knew our Christmas traditions were going to have to change. Growing up, I had always gone to Winnipeg for a large family gathering on Christmas Eve. In my first parish, we went to Steve’s  family farm on Christmas Eve, since it was only a few miles from the church I …

CLAY JENKINSON: Trump Is A LOSER!

December 14, 2020 — a great day for American democracy. The Electoral College confirmed the election of Joe Biden on Monday. But it is not about Joe Biden or about the Democrats. It is about the capacity of our Constitution to withstand the dishonorable attempt by a dis-elected president to overturn the results of a national election. And so this …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot The Rapids — COVID Is Real

I have COVID. You can take all the right precautions, wear a mask at all times, socially distance, wash your hands, etc.,  and still get it. As luck would have it, I hadn’t left my house for more than 72 hours before showing symptoms, so no one else was exposed. That made contact testing much easier! I got tested after …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Did Stenehjem Misuse State Funds? Investigation Sought

Earlier this week, North Dakota’s attorney general, Wayne Stenehjem, joined 17 other Republican attorneys general from across the country, all members of the Republican Attorneys General Association, an organization that in its various incarnations, has provided Stenehjem with at least $160,000 in campaign funds, in supporting a lawsuit filed by his counterpart in Texas, Republican Ken Paxton. Paxton, who it …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Two More Bad Guys Going After Our Public Lands: Stenehjem And Hoeven

On Thursday, I wrote about the jerk who runs the Bureau of Land Management and his attack on the public land he “manages,” land he would like to turn over to the energy industry before he leaves office in January. Today, I want to talk about the other federal agency so important to North Dakota, the U.S. Forest Service, which …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Public Lands Under Attack In Trump’s Final Days

In their agony, deep in the death throes of the Trump administration, America’s public lands managers are scrambling to put their final stamp on the worst conservation, environmental and public lands record in our country’s history. At risk are millions of acres of wildlife habitat and pristine recreational areas across America’s West, including the last remaining undeveloped roadless areas in …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot The Rapids — Christmas Worship 2.0

Christmas is going to look different this year. That is pretty much a universal truth for so many people. We won’t be traveling to spend time with loved ones, we won’t be having large family gatherings in festive outfits as we exchange gifts, share food and drink and celebrate the joy of being together. And perhaps for many of us, …

JIM THIELMAN: The Show Goes On — So Break A Leg

Doc Kippen looked down at me through black-rimmed glasses, bows disappearing into his gray hair at the temples. “I wish I had a bullet for you to bite on, Jimmy.”  I was on my right side, left foot pulsing with each heartbeat as the ankle hovered above my left hip. It could have been someone else’s leg. I had no …

CHEF JEFF: One Byte At A Time — Reuben Squares

What do sauerkraut, corned beef and Swiss cheese have in common? If you guessed a Reuben sandwich, give yourself an “A.” That eclectic sandwich is one of my favorites when I go to eat lunch, which hasn’t happened since the pandemic took center stage in our lives. Two places that come to mind are Sickies Garage Burgers & Brews in East …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — A Tale Of Two Bridges (Continued)

I wrote in a recent edition of Dakota Country magazine about the continuing saga of a pair of bridges — one built, the other proposed — over the Little Missouri State Scenic River, part of the ongoing effort of politicians and captains of industry to industrialize the state’s only officially designated scenic river. It seems like there’s no end to …

RON SCHALOW: Meet Rep. Jeff Hoverson Of The Bastiat Caucus

Pastor Jeff Hoverson lives with his family on a hobby farm near Burlington — according to his Living Word Lutheran Church website — or at 1300 72nd Street SE in Minot if you want to believe the deep state. Hoverson is disgruntled with Gov. Doug Burgum for playing the science card— by belatedly mandating masks in public spaces— so Rep. …