Paula Mehmel, senior pastor of Emanuel Lutheran Church in Hartford, Conn., along with her church leadership and staff, decided recently to move to virtual worship in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. In the meantime, she is doing some regular devotionals for her parish that she has decided to share. Here is today’s, from Isaiah 43:19. As I awoke for …
I had a wonderful tour last week of the state Capitol of Virginia at Richmond. It was conducted by my old friend, Mark Greenough, the chief of interpretation, and someone who occasionally portrays John Marshall, the chief justice of the Supreme Court. As we entered the Capitol, we walked the gauntlet of about 100 women, many of them with children, …
Leftover ham lends itself to many uses. The simplest is a good old ham sandwich, perhaps made a few hours after the meat was featured as the main course on Easter Sunday. Or maybe fried ham and eggs or a ham and cheese omelet. And, of course, there is bean or split pea soup, depending on your preference. The entree …
A few weeks ago, on a Minnesota trip to visit my family, I also got together with my friends, Craig and Stephanie Bowron. For a couple of hours in their St. Paul home, Stephanie played piano, Craig and I played guitars, and we sang ourselves hoarse, everything from the Beatles to Johnny Cash. That seems like a lifetime ago now. …
We’re being told lately that because of the outbreak of the coronavirus, if we want to stay healthy, we should practice something called social distancing. That probably means different things to different people. But generally, it’s suggested we hunker down at home as much as possible, avoiding large groups of people and basically sucking it up! Others directly exposed to the …
A person couldn’t do much better than a good homemade tomato sauce during times of health crises when eating at home may be one’s only option. Cooked tomatoes are high in the antioxidant lycopene, which has been linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and other illnesses. And when put in a sauce with other vegetables such as nutritient-rich …
A trip to the countryside is truly a great way to view nature at its best, and there is no better way to view it than through the keen eye of photographer Michael Bogert.
Some politics today. Caucuses, conventions, initiated measures and great PR work. Caucuses and Conventions A letter writer in The Forum on Friday morning expressed his displeasure with Tuesday’s North Dakota caucuses saying, “I can remember when we voted in a primary election by using one side or the other of the ballot to vote our party preference. Republicans and Democrats …
You might remember Thursday, when the stock market decline was the worst in decades and news of the coronavirus pandemic seemed to grow more grim by the hour. A bad day, for sure. And yet … There was Dave Brown. My wife and I had tickets to see the Eagles at the American Airlines Center in Dallas next week. We …
This story is a century or so too late in the telling and is missing pieces needed to qualify it as bona fide North Dakota history. But it’s as honest a story as my cousin, Jeannette Wolff Miller, can tell about her wonderfully resilient house plant, a torn petticoat in St. Paul, a young woman taking a train to her …
Photographer Jeff Olson and his wife, Joanne Plager Burke Olson, and their dog, Sammy, recently took their first hike of 2020 at Colorado’s Lory State Park. The state park is located west of Fort Collins and north of Horsetooth Reservoir. The park is a popular destination for mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding and rock climbing and also has its own bike …
My friend, Karl Travis, is actively dying. By that I mean he is leaning into the experience, including the injustice of a baffling illness that will take him from the world, in the physical sense at least, far too soon. The much admired and beloved Presbyterian pastor is leaning into the mystery. He is leaning into the inevitable sadness of …
Exactly what constitutes a good stew? The vast majority of people will say theirs usually consists of some tender meat, usually beef, hearty vegetables (potatoes and carrots) and a delicious, thick sauce. But beyond this, there many options when it comes to stew. Some cooks like to lighten things up a bit and substitute chicken or turkey (I like pheasant). And …
Twenty-five years ago today, on March 3, 1995, I walked into the Landmark Forum not knowing what would transpire over the next three days. Landmark Forum Leader, Jerry Baden, on the dot of 9 a.m. walked to the front of the room in an office complex in Edina, Minn., and proceeded to lead a conversation that transformed my life forever. …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team clinched a share of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference title Saturday night with a 2-1 overtime win over Western Michigan University in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Shane Pinto scored his 16th goal of the season to give the Fighting Hawks (25-4-4 overall, 16-3-3 NCHC) the weekend sweep. Collin Adams scored UND’s other goal, while …
Every once in a while, something pops up on your computer screen that just punches you in the gut, leaving you breathless for a few moments. That happened to me Saturday morning. One of my early morning routines is to scan the state’s newspapers online to see what’s going on around the state. If you send $9.99 a month to …
My mom died on Leap Day four years ago. It was a blessed end to what had been a horribly long journey through the ravages of Alzheimer’s. I did not mourn her death but rather rejoiced in the New Life she began. My mom was an amazing person. I know everyone says that about their moms, but she really truly …
I’ve been writing recently about the ways in which I am being radicalized by the collapse of American civilization. I no longer think we need only to undertake a few thoughtful reforms to save the country. The colossal farce of the Trump impeachment, wherein the most important material witness to the central allegation of the articles of impeachment was not …
Occasionally, I will hear from people that they don’t care about politics, that what happens in Washington doesn’t affect them. They don’t like the chaos or behavior of the current administration, but the stock market is doing well, so they can look the other way in the face of the rise in autocratic fascism that is threatening our national security …
The warm weather of the past few days brought out the pheasants as well as photographer Michael Bogert.
In the year 2000, as part of my research for a book on the Tulsa, Okla., race massacre of 1921, I interviewed an elderly man named Richard Gary, who told me this story. On a day in early June 1921, his father, a white Tulsa resident named Hugh Gary, loaded his young sons, Richard and Hubert, into the family Dodge …
How many Ukrainian refugees can move into the city of boring blank walls without riling up the usual small pack of those yappy little territorial Burleigh County Corgis the corrupt president enjoys lying to? Zero. They’re banning light bulbs. No, it’s murals. Bismarck is banning murals or morals to the story. It’s extreme vetting for everyone to mayoral standards, nowadays. …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team increased its lead in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings to nine points with a 3-3 tie with St. Cloud State University on Friday night in Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Huskies picked up the extra point by winning the shootout after a scoreless overtime. Westin Michaud, Shane Pinto and Jacob …
Well, that’s just great. A few villagers got wind of a yet-to-exist innocuous mural with a whiff of science implied, and now we have to inspect all of the art in the state for depictions of Swedes wearing Native jewelry. It seems the mere thought of a mural featuring a 17-year-old girl got a handful of North Dakota wankers so …
Thomas Jefferson has somehow gotten under my skin. As I’ve grown older in my tights and wig, in some respects I’ve become a radical and even, at times, a paper revolutionary. When I began investigating Mr. Jefferson 30 years ago, tentatively beginning to portray him, I was mostly interested in his agrarian vision for this country. The sentence that then …
The silly controversy over Shane Balkowitsch’s proposal to mount a 7-foot-high portrait of the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on the outside wall of a downtown building in Bismarck comes just as we learn that Antarctica has experienced the two hottest days on historical record and just when an iceberg the size of Malta has broken free from the Pine …
Comforting, affordable, versatile. Those are three attributes of chicken breast that make it a great go-to meat for many people. Plus, there’s something about golden-brown chicken breasts that make them hard to resist. A new favorite of mine is preparing the breasts on the stovetop. And more often than not, I like to substitute pheasant for chicken, a perk of …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team solidified its hold on the No. 1 ranking in the country with a 3-1 National Collegiate Hockey Conference win over the University of Denver on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Collin Adams, Matt Kierstad and Jasper Weatherby scored goals for the league-leading Fighting Hawks (23-3-3 overall, 14-2-2-2 NCHC), who recorded their ninth …
The University of North Dakota women’s tennis team shut out the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay 7-0 on Saturday morning in Choice Health and Fitness in Grand Forks. The Fighting Hawks (2-3) won all six singles matches and both doubles matches against the Bobcats (3-3). Winning singles matches were Kaedo Amano, Allie Ochotorena, Isa Sullivan, Andrea Jannson, Nina Zdravkovic and Frida Soko. …
Shane Pinto, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Westin Michaud and Collin Adams each scored a goal and added an assist to lead the No. 1-ranked University of North Dakota men’s hockey team to a 4-1 National Collegiate Hockey Conference win over the University of Denver on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The win lifted the league-leading Fighting Hawks to 22-3-3 overall and …
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana Living as we are, in a time of extremes, it becomes easy to fail to see the incremental steps in history. Shortly after Donald Trump was elected, people started making comparisions to Nazi Germany and the discussion became immediately polarized. From a historical perspective, as …
Here is an excerpt from my latest book, “Of the First Class: A History of the Kimbell Art Museum.” Chapter 1 Sacred Ground On a muggy summer Saturday in 2014, 8,000 people converged on the heart of Fort Worth’s cultural district: the “Great Lawn” of the Kimbell Art Museum. The crowd was double what organizers of that day’s festival had …
This is the Thomas Jefferson Hour. Why are we talking about Theodore Roosevelt today? Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States. He took office 100 years after Thomas Jefferson became the third president. They are condemned to spend eternity on Mount Rushmore together. Right next to each other, in fact. There is no way that Jefferson could …
We are in the midst of a full-blown constitutional crisis, as the elected leader of the country is using the Justice Department to punish his enemies and reward his defenders who committed crimes to get him into office. This is not the action of a free democracy. This is the action of an authoritarian leader and dictator. The kind of …
January and February are a time when I turn to indoor chores and savor the fallow time of rest and restoration. I read books from the nearly toppling piles and I write. I shovel snow as needed and watch the winter birds from my office window while I write. This January and February have been anything but “normal,” whatever that …
My dad was a heckuva cook, and boiled dinner was one of his specialties. He generally made it in the winter, when a bowl of something warm was the perfect answer to the cold weather. I have many fond memories of big bowls of boiled dinner, served with dash of vinegar. It was a meal in itself and one that …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team, which has this weekend off, resumed its traditional annual outdoor skate Wednesday morning in Riverside Park in Grand Forks. The Fighting Hawks (21-3-3) are in first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings and are are ranked No. 1 in the country. The players, who donned random jerseys, played a couple of …
My friends, When the Senate of the United States voted on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, not to call John Bolton or any other witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, death rattled in the throat of the American republic. It’s over now. We will, of course, continue to be a great and powerful nation, a rich nation, with …
In honor of my friend Clay Jenkinson’s 65th birthday today, I’m going to share a story I wrote five years ago with a little bit of an update. First, let me say that it is hard to believe that my young friend Clay is 65 years old. I remember his 18th birthday, Feb. 4, 1973. We were both working at …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team exploded offensively in the second game of their National Collegiate Hockey Conference series with Colorado College, defeating the Tigers 8-1 Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Fighting Hawks (21-3-3 overall, 12-2-2 NCHC) won the series opener 1-0 Friday night. Jordan Kawaguchi led the offensive outburst for UND with two goals and an …
Super Bowl Sunday is the perfect time to throw together a pot of chili, especially if you have guests coming over for the big game. But stop reading this now if you are one among those who believe that chili doesn’t contain beans. There are two schools of thought on the subject of whether beans belong in chili. As you might …
Summarizing, once more, where we are with the proposed bridge across the Little Missouri State Scenic River, reprinted from the January 2020 issue of Dakota Country Magazine. I’m going to keep writing about this stupid, harebrained, boneheaded, senseless, vacuous, selfish, destructive, egomaniacal, (insert your own adjective here), idea of the Billings County commissioners to put a bridge over the …
Junior goalie Peter Thome stopped all 25 shots he faced and Shane Pinto scored his 12th goal of the season to lead the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team to 1-0 shutout win over Colorado College in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The shutout was Thome’s first since his freshman year. The Fighting …
Four things happened on the last day of January 2020. 1. We crossed the Rubicon: The United States was envisioned as a republic. In a republic, the protection the people have against tyranny is our system of checks and balances. The judiciary checks the legislative branch when it passes unconstitutional laws. The executive has the power to veto congressional legislation, …