Grand Forks KnightRiders and East Grand Forks Senior High skated to a 3-3 tie in girls high school hockey Tuesday night in Eagles Arena in Grand Forks. Kathleen Petersen scored two goals and Katie Rodningen scored one for Grand Forks (4-7-1), while Tyre Chupka, Kylie Stauss and Madison McDonald scored for the Green Wave (7-4-2). KnightRiders goalie Quinn Kuntz …
Samantha Roscoe’s first-career double-double — 12 points, 12 rebounds — were not enough for the University of North Dakota women’s basketball team as the Fighting Hawks dropped a 74-71 overtime decision to Big Sky Conference foe Montana State University on Thursday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND (9-7, 4-1 BSC), which had rallied from a 12-point deficit, missed a chance to send …
After several years of watching British cops shows on Netflix, something finally dawned on me. Years is generally the time it takes for me to have a good dawn. Anyway, like American cop shows, a detective is running down a suspect, and he — or she — has the criminal, punter or wanker basically cornered, but they have to go …
Jan. 11 — Today my mother (85), my daughter (22) and I drove down to the encampment on the north bank of the Cannonball River. It was an astonishingly beautiful day on the northern Great Plains: cold, but clear, with an azure sky that contrasted perfectly with the snow. We took the long way around thanks to the road closure. What …
Many people don’t know that POTUS is short for President of the United States. Well, it is … and for the current president-elect, we can shorten it even better: POS. (Since this is a family newspaper, use your imagination about what that’s short for.) After the election was over, I waited for Diaper Donnie to enter the world of adults. …
I have a conundrum. Everyone who knows me is aware that I am a dyed-in-the-wool progressive. I wrote my first political letter in 1969. I was 5. It was to Richard Nixon, suggesting that the Vietnam War was not a good idea and perhaps we should get out of it. A self-starting child, I addressed it on my own, to …
It’s listed on my Facebook and Twitter pages. “Long-suffering Gopher fan. Hopeless Gopher fan…” I admit to owning worn-out maroon slippers with the gold Minnesota logo. They’re so old, the stitching has come loose. Minnesota merchandise is everywhere. My fading gold T-shirt. The heavy Gopher jacket for cold weather games. The lighter, maroon version for early fall. Even the snazzy head gear that makes me look like I’m …
The University of North Dakota men’s basketball team won its third straight game with a 95-65 Big Sky Conference victory over Southern Utah University on Saturday in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Quinton Hooker led the Fighting Hawks (8-6, 3-1 BSC) with 23 points. Josh Collins, filling in as a starter for injured Drick Bernstine added 11 points and 7 rebounds. Also scoring in double …
Watch history come alive when scholar Clay Jenkinson appears in costume and character as President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt served seven years, 171 days as the 26th president of the United States. He was an accidental president, “kicked upstairs” into the vice presidency in 1900, ascending to the presidency on Sept. 14, 1901, after President William McKinley died of gunshot …
Winter in Minnesota is not my favorite season. But there IS one benefit to lousy weather. It provides time to a catch up on the reading you’ve deferred in order to enjoy being outdoors in the spring, summer and fall. My winter goal is to dip into the literature created by the Irish novelist and poet James Joyce, 1882-1941. He …
Fargo Force dropped a 3-1 United States Hockey League game to the Sioux City Musketeers on Friday night in Schools Arena in Fargo. Hank Crone scored the lone goal for the Force, who dropped to 16-11-2. Carson Vance, Solag Bakich and Brian Rigali (empty net) scored for Sioux City (19-6-3). Matt Murray had 23 saves in goal for Fargo, while Sioux …
Chris Allen took in some sights while in New Delhi, India, to attend USAID-supported workshops for Afghan professors from Kabul University and Balkh University in communication studies and Kabul Polytechnic University in hydro-engineering. Among the places he visited were the India Gate, a war memorial located astride the Rajpath, on the eastern edge of the “ceremonial axis” of New Delhi; Connaught …
Quinton Hooker scored a game-high 20 points to lead the University of North Dakota men’s basketball team to a 68-63 win over Northern Arizona University in its Big Sky home opener Thursday in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Conner Avants added 17 points and equaled his career-high with nine rebounds to pace the Fighting Hawks (7-6, 2-1 BSC). Also in double-figure scoring for UND was …
Stan shuffles up to the bar and bellows, “Merry Christmas, Orv?” No answer. Stan looks closer at the man sitting on the stool. “Wait a goddam minute, here. You’re not Orville. Who the hell are you, and why are you sitting in Orv’s spot?” “Mark. I don’t know any Orv.” Stanley is flummoxed, until Orv barks, “I’m over her, you …
Note: This post has been updated from its original version because of some additional information provided to me by the North Dakota Health Department. Thanks to Inspector Bill Suess for that. Out in the Oil Patch, when a pipeline leaks, or a tank overflows, or a valve is accidentally left open, and something (mostly oil and toxic salt water) spills …
When the U.S. Supreme Court, on a 5-4 decision, ruled to basically eliminate caps on political spending through its decision on Citizens United — We the People lost. My comments apply to our political system and what has been happening in recent years, regardless of your political persuasion. Money has come to dominate our elections. Here are just a few examples …
Twelve and a half minutes and two screws. That’s what two of the first bills submitted to North Dakota’s 65th Legislative Assembly address. This is the kind of stuff guys love. No wonder, then, that the whole state is talking about two proposals submitted by Grand Forks legislators. One would raise the speed limit on North Dakota’s interstates and divided …
The Los Angeles Times has named a work by North Dakota native and UND graduate Sam Anderson one of the Top Ten L.A. Theatre Productions of 2016. Edward Albee’s “The Play about the Baby” was produced by the Road Theatre Company last year. Sam is the company’s artistic director. Edward Albee died last year. The Times says of “The Play About …
Homemade soups are awfully hard to beat. And when eating out, there’s something soothing about knowing that a restaurant’s soup is made from scratch. Maybe the reason is that you are a soup maker yourself or your mom or dad was accomplished at that, too. Both are true in my case. I usually make a pot of soup at least three …
This is my Norwegian immigrant grandmother, Anna Vorland (above), photographed by my father on the family farm northeast of Harvey, N.D., in the late 1940s. She’s been on my mind lately. A few years ago at New York’s Ellis Island, Dorette Kerian and I saw the official record of Anna’s entry into the U.S. with her new husband, Hans. He …
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons braved the snow and wind Monday night to capture these lovely scenes in downtown Grand Forks and Lincoln Park. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
For one reason or another, not everyone gets to enjoy the beauty of nature in the wintertime. All some people have left is their imagination. Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert isn’t one of them, as evidenced by these images he caught during some recent outings in northeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.
It’s been a year today that I started on my Metabolic Balance® journey. Back then, I figured I’d reach my 88-pound weight loss goal by the end of 2016. That didn’t happen. But you know what? I’m OK with that. I’m very proud of my accomplishment of loosing 54 pounds — and I’m over 61 percent of the way there. I’m proud …
You’d never guess it now, but at one time I had bright red hair. Until I started school, my parents called me “Punkie” (i.e., pumpkin head). Thank god the nickname didn’t stick. The red color was passed down by my maternal grandfather, and I was the only one of my siblings or cousins on that side of the family to …
New Delhi is in trouble. It is desperately trying to reduce pollution, and some of the steps it’s taking are admirable. But they don’t seem to be making a difference. One can see the pollution hanging in the air. Worse, though, one can taste it. It’s grit on the tongue. It’s a scratch in the throat. It’s a tickle-cough. It’s …
Some chefs have those “hanging out in the kitchen” moments with a grandparent or a mother. I did not. The style of food I grew up with was a budgeted one. The house bank account was structured that X amount of money went here or there, and that was that. So, when it came time for a purchase at the grocery …
Here are some of the images caught the eye of Bloomington, Minn., photographer Dave Vorland in the last month of 2016.
As I write this, today is my last day of cooking in 2016. Soon after I type these words, I am off to the store to pick out flowers and some last-minute items to prepare a four-course meal for members of the Grand Forks Country Club. While many others will be celebrating the old and thinking of what needs to change …
On this New Year’s Eve, I’m thinking of all the people who paid me for doing a job. Here (above) I’m pictured with my favorite boss, Thomas J. Clifford. I was his director of public relations and executive assistant for 19 of the 21 years he was president of the University of North Dakota. It’s impossible to overstate the influence …
Grand Forks Red River’s boys hockey team stayed perfect against Bismarck this holiday season, defeating Century 9-1 on Friday afternoon in Eagles Arena in Grand Forks. On Thursday, the Roughriders (7-1) defeated Bismarck High 7-1. Braden Costello led Red River against the Patriots, scoring three goals and adding two assists. Also scoring for the Riders were Luke LaMoine with two …
2016 is a year a lot of people will be happy to have in the rear-view mirror. With so many glad to see this year end, it seems a fitting time to quit looking back and start looking forward, and one of the ways I do that every year is through New Year’s resolutions. I am a big believer in …
I am not a big dessert guy. I rarely order them when I go out to dine, and putting a nice cake together isn’t a bug I get too often. Baking in general has never been my strong suit. I blame that only on myself. I have never spent as much time working on it as I do perfecting other …
I’ve written a two-part series about winter camping at the Elkhorn Ranch Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park for Dakota Country magazine. Here’s the first part. The Elkhorn Ranch Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park is a tiny 218-acre island in a vast million acre sea of Bad Lands, broken prairies, scoria roads, cattle ranches and oil development. The fact that even …
Well, hell, the Golden Retriever caught the Chevy. In less than a month, an unqualified senior citizen playboy, wife collector and renowned sex offender will become president of the United States. And I thought Millard Fillmore stuck in my craw. Russians playing games in our business won’t matter. It’s still going to happen. Obama is meting out punishment, but Trump, …
The University of North Dakota women’s basketball team won its Big Sky Conference opener Thursday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center by defeating Portland State University 65-61 before 1,435 fans. The Fighting Hawks (6-6) were led by Makailah Dyer, who scored a team-high 18 points. Joining her in double figures for UND was Fallyn Freije with 13 points and a career-high-tying …
Kids today just don’t realize how easy they’ve got it. When my generation was young, we even had to make our own noise! This revelation struck me midway through Christmas Eve, as the little Woman of the Year presided from within the eye of a hurricane of childish babble, squawks and beeping. She didn’t say a word, and won’t for …
Express Scripts is the Medicare provider for the North Dakota retiree program. It’s a great company, and the state’s program is excellent. Sometimes, because of the size of companies like Express Scripts, the little guy has to take it in the shorts. But they don’t have to like it. In late December 2016, just before Christmas, I and other participants …
“Hi, Orv!” chirps Stan. “What did you get for Christmas? Another 10,000 acres of dirt? Hair plugs? Personality injections?” “What’s it to you, Marxist boy?” hisses Orville, as he takes another sip of his vodka gimlet. “Are you 10 years old or something?” He mimics the voice of a small boy. “What did you get for Christmas? Geez Louise.” Stanley thinks …
One of the businesses in our local mall in Bloomington, Minn., is a Wellness Center offering a holiday special for new clients: $59 for a 60-minute introductory massage, a perfect Christmas gift for “the woman in your life.” So, I checked with the woman in my life. She thanked me but passed on the opportunity. Since then, I’ve noticed advertisements …
Are you up for some uplifting music this Christmas morn? How about a little “Gladiolus Rag,”a middle-period classic rag by Scott Joplin, considered by many to be his best. Here it is performed by The Country Scribe, Eric Bergeson.
Eric Bergeson, The Country Scribe, offers his take on the classic Robert Frost poem, “Stopping By Woods On Snowy Evening.” Imagery, personification and repetition are prominent in the work, written in 1922 and published in 1923, by one of the most celebrated poets in America.
Friends of ours, Mark and Kitty Westin, came up with a lovely Christmas card tradition for themselves a couple of years ago. Each year, they discover and repurpose a classic Christmas card from another era, sending them “back out into the world!” As they visit antique stores throughout the year, they find interesting, vintage Christmas cards that they repurpose, usually by copying the front …
Just this once, don’t listen to your mother. Go ahead and take her picture at Christmas. Take lots of pictures — neat or disheveled, busy or at rest, with or without grandkids or cats. Do it openly or, if she’s especially camera shy, go ahead and sneak up on her. Pay no attention to her protests. Ignore her attempts to …
No holiday celebration would be complete without finger food. And one that you might find on a lot of snack tables is the traditional party mix made with Wheat, Corn and Rice Chex cereals, mixed nuts, Cheerios and other crunchy goodies. We always had a good supply of party mix when I was growing up. Mom used to make a couple …