I’d be lying if I said James W. Foley was one of my favorite poets. Hokey might be the best word to describe him (but kind of wonderfully hokey). Foley, North Dakota’s longtime Poet Laureate — way before current Laureate Larry Woiwode — has been dead 75 years now, but there’s a renewed interest in his work, as evidenced by a series …
The Ocean Peace Talking Points Meeting (Shortly after 9/11): “OJ, everyone, settle down!” hollers White House Chief of Staff Andy Card. “Here’s the deal. ARI! (Ari Fleischer, White House Press Secretary). Get that pencil out of your nose. I’ve told you a hundred times — that’s not funny or sanitary, especially the sharp end … good grief! Do it yourself …
The Grand Forks Central boys hockey team ran its record to 7-0 with a 6-0 win over Fargo South/Shanley on Tuesday night in Fido Purpur Arena in Grand Forks. Grant Johnson scored two goals to lead the Knights, while Mitch Idalski, Cam Olstad, Seth Towers and Cole Hanson added single tallies. Central goalie Nick Buckin stopped 10 shots. Benjamin …
I think “A Gentleman in Moscow” has a place among my top 10 novels. Fred Rogers said something to the effect that one of life’s great challenges is to make goodness attractive. The author pulled this off in spades with his protagonist, and every sentence is perfect. Amazing. Did I say I hate Amor Towles. Thanks Cathy Frisinger for sending this our way. …
By now, it’s common knowledge that the poor Minnesota Gopher football players have been savaged by a bad old administration for, as one blogger put it, “taking a stand for due process.” Inforum.com reported the entire Gopher team would be boycotting the Holiday Bowl over suspensions handed out by the University of Minnesota administration over the sexual activities of many …
Lee Harvey Oswald would be proud. Not one, but a disturbing number of Americans, including Donald Trump, are choosing to believe Vladimir Putin over our intelligence agencies. Some even believe that the Russians did us a favor. Kneeling during the National Anthem causes a huge amount of angst among a swath of citizens, but siding with Russia in a case …
Christmas is a festive time in our nation’s capital. Among the sights is the National Christmas Tree, located in the northeast quadrant of The Elipse near the White House in Washington, D.C. Each year since 1923, the tree has been decorated. The North Dakota Christmas tree is one of 56 trees representing each U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia …
Nov. 8 was a rude awakening for Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Her hope for a U.S. Senate controlled by Democrats was destroyed. More surprisingly from Klobuchar’s perspective, Democrat Hillary Clinton failed to shatter the presidential glass ceiling. Klobuchar would need to come to terms with Donald Trump, a populist and unorthodox Republican, as the next president. Now that Klobuchar’s shock has …
Sometimes, like last winter, my old friend spends most of her life in the closet. Last week, though, she awoke from hibernation to the first truly bone-shattering cold ushering in a new season. When I opened the door to the downstairs coat nook, there she was, waiting to warmly greet me: the World’s Ugliest Coat. That anonymous-looking garment has been …
You know we live in very uncertain times. While reading this for the next few minutes, please take off your Democrat, Republican or Independent hat and consider what the recent election means to our children and their future. Of course, I am speculating here … but my speculation is based upon what I know, not what I think. For purposes …
“Hey Orv!” shouts Stan. Orville swallows the lime wedge previously floating harmlessly in his vodka gimlet. After almost wrapping up his coughing and gagging jag, he finds enough air, to hoarsely wheeze,” Gat dang it, you commie creep! Quit it with the sneaking up on people. Crimony.” “Who snuck?” objects Stanley. “Have you zero peripheral vision, you old blind goat? …
The University of North Dakota women’s basketball team won its second straight game, a 79-67 decision over the University of Mary on Tuesday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Fighting Hawks were led by Jill Morton, who had career-highs in points (21), 3-pointers (4) and rebounds (7). Samantha Roscoe added 19 points and five rebounds, while Lexi Klabo had 12 points …
Nothing takes the chill off a cold winter day than a big bowl of soup. That’s probably been true since early man started throwing meat and vegetables in a pot over an open fire pit. One soup that’s been around a long time is borscht, which is derived from an ancient soup originally cooked from pickled stems, leaves and umbrels …
If you’ve been following news coverage about the pipeline, stop it right now. Especially if you’re watching national and international news. What do professional journalists know that Facebook doesn’t? Now that the Army Corps of Engineers has denied permission to cross Lake Oahe, north of Standing Rock, based on foolish environmental concerns and a flawed process, some suggest the protesters …
No. 10-ranked University of North Dakota women’s hockey team, behind Alyssa MacMillan’s first college goal, defeated St. Cloud State University 3-2 on Saturday afternoon in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Fighting Hawks improved their record to 8-6-5 (6-5-4-2 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association) on the season, while the Huskies fell to 5-13-1 (4-10-1-1 WCHA). Amy Menke and Sarah Lecavalier also scored …
There’s rarely a great time for a car to bite the dust. But come on! Three weeks before Christmas? That just sucks! And the six weeks before and after my daughters’ birthdays? And two months before a trip of a lifetime to Cuba? And an undetermined number of months before a trip to Barcelona to visit my oldest daughter who …
Austin Polanski scored two goals to lead the University of North Dakota to a 5-1 win over National Collegiate Hockey Conference rival Western Michigan University on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Shane Gersich, Colton Poolman and Dixon Bowen added single goals for the Fighting Hawks (9-5-3 overall and to 3-3-1-1 in the NCHC), while Scott Moldenhauer scored the lone …
“It’s now clear that so-called fake news can have real world consequences.” —Hillary Clinton, Dec. 8, 2016. As shocked as I am that it took Hillary — she’s been the subject of fake news since the ’90s — Clinton this long to acknowledge this, I’m glad she’s talking about it. First off, let’s stop sugarcoating it by calling it fake news. …
Dec. 7, 2016, was my 25th anniversary. Not of my marriage — that ended after 14 years. It’s the anniversary of when my family began. When I met Steve, we had a whirlwind romance. After just over two months of dating, we decided to get married. I was 28 and had kissed enough frogs to know that this strong, sensitive …
We have a huge public relations problem here in the Peace Garden State. While the world was watching the DAPL pipeline controversy, North Dakota failed abysmally in influencing the narrative telling people about us. What they see casts us in anything but a positive light. We need to acknowledge this. The movie Fargo gave us an example of how far good …
Stanley rushes into the bar at 1.2 miles per hour and finds Orville nursing a drink. “Orv, I need to borrow $5,000. Do you have that much on you? Fifties, if you got them.” “Gawd. Bartender!” Orv dramatically jabs a bony finger at his glass. “You let the bartender hold your loot, Orv? That seems to grind against your usual …
Geno Crandall scored a career-high 24 points and Corey Baldwin chipped in 13, all in the second half, as the University of North Dakota men’s basketball team soundly defeated North Dakota State University 74-56 on Wednesday night at the Scheels Center in Fargo. The win was the Fighting Hawks (5-2) first in Fargo since 2003. Drick Berstine added 12 points for UND, while Connor Avants had …
Recently, I Googled “Why do we dream?” What I learned was that scientists don’t really know. There are a jillion theories. For example, one source argues it’s merely the brain responding to biochemical and electrical impulses that occur during sleep. Another believes dreaming “is a form of consciousness that somehow unites past, present and future in processing information from the first two …
Seventy-five years ago today, the United States was thrust into World War II with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Alexandria, Va., photographer Jeff Olson stopped by the he World War II Memorial to “touch the words” of the memorial that honors the 16 million who served in the Armed Forces of the U.S., the more than 400,000 who …
The combination of Macy Miller and Madison Guebert were too much for the University of North Dakota women’s basketball team Tuesday night as the Fighting Hawks dropped a 83-72 nonconference decision to visiting South Dakota State University before a small-than-usual crowd of 1,200 in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Blizzard Alivia kept many would-be fans at home as the Hawks dropped …
For the first time in hundreds of years, the Native Americans have what seems to be an astounding victory. I’ve included the exact copy of the letter here from the Army Corps of Engineers, hereinafter referred to as the Corps. The president-elect has not weighed in but supports the pipeline. North Dakota’s governor, U.S. senators and U.S. representative support the …
I was all set to make the first pumpkin pie of the holiday season when I discovered an essential part of the family tradition had gone AWOL. Handed down by my grandmother and Mom herself, the heirloom recipe we’ve always prepared was missing! No, disaster hadn’t hit my 60-year-old recipe box; nor had Grandma’s old Our Savior’s Lutheran cookbook, with …
Dave Vorland recently returned from a trip to the Caribbean, which included stops in the island of Dominica and Puerto Rico, where he took these photographs.
So there they were, taking each step slowly and with great care. They usually put one hand on the iron chains that run along the steep path that goes up the mountain, while leaving the other hand on the carrying pole on their shoulder for balance. From a few steps behind, you could hear them breathe, heavily: One step they …
Tyler walked back to the dugout, dragging his bat, his head low and tears welling up in his eyes. He had just experienced what all hitters hate the most: A strikeout. My assistant coach, his dad, exclaimed, “There’s no crying in baseball! If you don’t cut it out, were going home!” Tyler was 8 years old. Instead of teaching his son …
Photographer Russ Hons recently was in New York City, where he had a chance to visit the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which commemorate the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed 2,977 victims, and the World Trade Center bombing of 1993 in which six were killed. One World Trade Center (also known as the Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in …
… but, our president lied to us on the very night of 9/11. On a sacred day in American history, George W. Bush decided that politics were more important than telling the truth, and this is where his re-election campaign started. Luckily, he wasn’t under oath. Here are his words, when the commander-in-chief uses his photographic imagination to recall the days …
The University of North Dakota, behind freshman Tyson Jost’s two goals, defeated Boston College 4-3 on Saturday night in New York City’s Madison Square Garden in the in the first-ever College Hockey Showdown before a crowd of 11,348. Trevor Olson and Joel Janatuinen scored the other goals for the Fighting Hawks, who upped their record to 8-5-3. Colin White, Chris Brown and Matthew …
UPDATE: On Sunday afternoon, not long after I had written this article, the Corps of Engineers announced it would not issue an easement for Energy Transfer Partners to drill on Corps land, effectively putting a stop to completion of the pipeline until a full Environmental Impact Statement is prepared, seeking the best route for the pipeline. The Tribe won this …
Setting aside protests for a while, let’s look at a planning effort that’s being done right. Here’s an article I wrote for this month’s Dakota Country magazine. Is it too much for North Dakota citizens to expect that they should be provided a reasonable forecast of the environmental effects of 20,000 to 50,000 oil wells on our western landscape? Hmm. …
Traditions are what make holidays special. And food is a big part of that for most families. When I was growing up, Grandma — and later Mom — would make baked oysters for our big Thanksgiving Day celebration, which was attended by all my aunts, uncles and cousins on the Menard side of the family. Since then, the dish has become synonymous …
The whole story started 10 years ago, at about this very time. I was at a meeting for Churches United for the Homeless, where I was serving my first year on the board. The executive director was bemoaning the fact that First Link, the organization in charge of distributing gifts to people at Christmas, had made some changes in their program. …
Lefse season is well under way. Lefse-making season and, for me, lefse-eating season. For those unaware of the potato-based Norwegian delicacy, I would just say I feel very badly for you. But if you are very, very good, when you die and go to heaven, I believe, waiting for you there just inside the Pearly Gates will be a nice warm, freshly made batch. But with lefse …
Forty-five falls ago, I played JV football for Minot High School. Played might be a strong word. Mostly I stood and watched. For history buffs, it was about this time that dark skinned Barack Hussein Obama started planning the formation of ISIS, the confiscation of guns in America and global warming, from his base camp in Kenya, and Donald Milhous …
The Army Corp of Engineers has told the Tribes that they must leave federal property on which they are encamped by early December. Then, to complicate matters, the Corps said it will not forcibly remove those individuals whom they claim unlawfully occupy the land. Further complicating the situation is this week’s emergency declaration by Gov. Jack Dalrymple to remove said individuals …
The most consistent argument made by North Dakota regulators and the owners of the Dakota Access Pipeline against the protest actions of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their allies is that the Tribe entered the pipeline approval process too late. They should have made their feelings known earlier in the process. In mid-November, just a couple of weeks ago, …
Even during the holidays, online scammers continue their “work.” The ones who use a Facebook friend’s identity to try to get at your personal information. I had the following Facebook message conversation right around Thanksgiving Day. Here’s how it went. Scammer: Hello … How are you doing? Me: Hi … How are you? How’s Bill? Scammer: We are doing great we cannot complain Me: …
I shot the above photo in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Nov. 19, 2016. On most devices, clicking the image will provide a larger view, It’s an example of “street” photography I’ve been drawn to since my dad bought me my first camera at age 17. Recently, I read a definition: “Street photography features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents …
I’m going to end the suspense right now. No one died from my Thanksgiving Day dinner. I did not realize that for the many years I have been making turkeys for the holidays, I have been putting people in mortal danger. I’m probably in denial about the very real possibility there has been significant loss of life due to my …