My book,“I’m Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers”was first published in 2006. On scores of occasions in the years since, I’ve told the story of our relationship to audiences large and small across the nation. It’s been a deeply meaningful experience every time. It seems you can’t bring up the name of Fred Rogers without changing the molecules …
We have been living for a very long time with the idea of executive supremacy. Some misguided attorneys have argued, since the presidency of George W. Bush, for what they like to call the Unitary Executive. By this they mean that the power of the president is virtually unlimited not only throughout the executive branch of government but in the …
There’s this fellow who works in the Montana office of the Bureau of Land Management named Seth Jackson who’s as good at his job as anyone I’ve ever known who works for the U.S. government. I haven’t met him, but I’ve e-mailed back and forth with him at least a dozen times, And I always get the information I need …
Grand Forks Central clinched first place in the Eastern Dakota Conference with a 10-6 high school baseball win over Fargo Davies on Thursday at Kraft Memorial Field. The Knights, who finished the regular season with a 9-1record in the EDC and 12-4 overall, were led by Parker Stroh, who was 4-4 with four RBI, and Brandon Holt, who was 3-3 and …
Fusion cuisine, the combining of two or more culinary traditions, has become quite popular worldwide over the past couple of decades, particularly in culturally diverse and large metropolitan settings. Many believe it was started in the 1980s and ’90s, when the public was introduced to creations such as buffalo chicken spring rolls, grits with butter and soy sauce and sautéed foie …
June 6, 2019, will mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, a pivotal battle of World War II, which took place near Normandy, France. “The largest seaborne attack in history, it was also one of the bloodiest, with a combination of strong winds, unruly tidal currents, and a formidable German defensive, resulting in the loss of 2,400 American lives by the …
Local and state law enforcement officers from North Dakota and Minnesota agencies, federal law enforcement, the U.S. Air Force and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police participated in the Ninth Annual Northern Valley Police Week Memorial Service on Tuesday on the front lawn of the Grand Forks County Courthouse. The ceremony included presentation of the colors, reading of roll call for fallen officers, …
The first visits to the lake in the spring are always an adventure. See what caught Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert’s eye on his recent jaunts around Fox Lake and Lake Bemidji in northwestern Minnesota.
Grand Forks Red River defeated Thief River Falls 5-1 in boys high school baseballThursday at Kraft Memorial Field in Grand Forks. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s office recently received a terse letter from Sen. John Hoeven, Sen. Kevin Cramer and Rep. Kelly Armstrong, the most powerful set of unrelated triplets in North Dakota. The crowd roars. I don’t think Inslee honestly gives a rip, but he might admire their optimism. The super important envelope is surely somewhere on the governor’s desk, likely …
What if Jefferson had not gone to France in 1784? What if he had never left the United States? How would things have been different? Jefferson had turned down two previous high-level government invitations to take up a diplomatic post in Paris. He finally made the journey in July 1784 because his wife, Martha, was dead, because he was still …
It has been a long and tiring winter and spring has been slow to arrive. We both have been ailing. Jim slipped on the ice and fractured three ribs and I’ve been struggling with Lyme disease since our February Channel Islands National Park adventure. Thus, it was that we were both delighted to be able to pack up the car …
The University of North Dakota Women’s Rugby Club (Sweet Demons) and the University of North Dakota Men’s Rugby Club (Headhunters) were in action Saturday in Grand Forks. In one of their matches, the women’s team played in prom dresses. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
Cache la Poudre River is Colorado’s only wild and scenic river. The upper stretch was designated under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act because of its outstanding recreation, scenic and hydrologic features, including The Narrows, a narrow cleft where the river has cut through rock walls; Profile Rock and Sleeping Elephant, two picturesque granite rock formations; and Poudre Falls, a deep chasm that roars …
The University of North Dakota women’s softball team, after dropping a pair of games to North Dakota State University on Saturday in Fargo, came back to win 6-4 Sunday in the season finale for both teams. The Fighting Hawks (22-33 overall, 7-11 Summit League) lost 3-0 and 14-0 to the Bison on Saturday. On Sunday, UND was led in batting …
I know. I know. It is hard to stay actively engaged with what is happening in our country. It would be so much easier to just tune things out. It’s just so overwhelming. So exhausting. The truth is, if I stayed as outraged as the situation warranted every time a norm was obliterated, an egregious lie was told or the …
Four Grand Forks Central players had two hits, including Joey Grabanski who smashed a grand slam home run and had five RBI, to lead the Knights to a 9-2 win over visiting West Fargo Sheyenne on Friday at Kraft Memorial Field. Will Eagleson, Brandon Holt and Parker Stroh (three RBI) also collected two hits for the Knights, who lead the …
“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” — Charles E. Weller, who authored the words to be a typing exercise. Many times I hammered out that seemingly patriotic sentence on an old clacking Smith Corona during typing class in the 10th grade, not once without peeking. Currently, I couldn’t tell to you …
Grand Forks Red River won a pair of Eastern Dakota Conference baseball games Thursday at Kraft Memorial Field, edging Fargo Shanley 2-1 and shutting out West Fargo 7-0. Red River improved to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the EDC. Shanley dropped to 5-4 overall and 3-4 in the EDC and West Fargo fell to 8-5 overall and 3-2 in the EDC. (Check out …
Anybody who’s cooked with honey and garlic in tandem knows that combination can produce some pretty tasty results. Honey garlic chicken and honey garlic shrimp are just two popular recipes that come to mind. But there just might be another good reason to combine the two: Both have been linked to healthy eating. And when combined, honey and garlic become a …
A year or so ago, someone approached me at a party and said, “So how about this fake news?” By her tone and facial expression, I knew she was really saying something to the effect of, “If the president is saying it, it must be true.” This person, of course, knew that I had spent most of my career as …
Sunday was a big day for University of North Dakota women’s softball coach Jordan Stevens. Not only did his Fighting Hawks team clinch a spot in the Summit League Softball Tournament in Fargo in two weeks with a 7-1 win over South Dakota State University at Apollo Sports Complex in Grand Forks, Stevens also claimed his 100th career win at UND, …
As my friends know, I recently finished my annual rereading of Proust’s 4,300 page novel “In Search Of Lost Time.” Hemingway is my second most liked dead writer. On my night stand is a new history “The Paris Husband: How It Really Was Between Ernest & Hadley Hemingway.” Don’t confuse this book with another, “The Paris Wife,” a fictionalized account …
At present, I’m getting outwitted by a militant parade of drunken white walker zombie ants. Collectively they might have a comparable number of brain cells to what I’m currently sporting, but who knows? I don’t know how the wattage works between species. Anyway, there could be a googol of the nosy insects in their Casselton, N.D., colony and the “Mad …
Grand Forks Central defeated Grand Forks Central 8-2 in boys high school baseball Tuesday at Kraft Memorial Field in Grand Forks. The Knights banged out 15 hit in the game. Will Eagleson was three for five, Brandon Holts was three for four, Joey Grabanski was two for three and Cole Wigestrand was two for four. Zach Carolin led the Roughriders …
On a West coast trip a few weeks ago, three of the most profound days of my career began with a tour of the City of Hope National Medical Center near Los Angeles, followed by a late afternoon conversation with Robert Stone, the institution’s CEO. Stone was clearly weary at the end of a long work day but warmed immediately …
Wednesday, April 24, 2019, is the deadline for submitting comments to the Bureau of Land Management on what it should do about the illegal bridge over the Little Missouri State Scenic River in Dunn County, North Dakota. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’re familiar with what I’m talking about. If not, click on this link and …
That’s what Rob Port called a meeting at Standing Rock because it mildly illuminated his bigoted opinion of the Native American voting experience. A shame and a sham. On April 16, this happened: The Congressional Subcommittee on Elections held a Field Hearing: Voting Rights and Election Administration in the Dakotas. That’s how they billed it. The subcommittee also went to …
Western Illinois University defeated the University of North Dakota women’s softball team 10-1 and 3-2 on Saturday in the Alerus Center in Grand Forks to complete a three-game sweep of the Fighting Hawks in Summit League play. The Leathernecks (13-19 overall, 5-6 Summit) won the series opener 8-0 on Friday. In that game, Angel Love had UND’s only hit. On Saturday, …
Let us now praise a few of the unsung heroes of Thomas Jefferson’s world. We spend so much time talking about the major figures — Jefferson, Hamilton, Washington, Madison, Monroe, John and Abigail Adams and John Marshall — that we often forget that the era was filled with remarkable people of the second and third ranks. Great times make for …
The University of North Dakota men’s tennis teams dropped a 4-3 Summit Leaguer contest to Oral Roberts University on Saturday in Choice Health and Fitness in Grand Forks. A win would have clinched a spot in conference championships. The Fighting Hawks (11-9 overall, 2-2 Summit) picked up wins in singles from Nejc Sitar, Lukas Buth, Johnnie Carmichael and Jake Kuhlman and …
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons took in activities at the 49th Annual UND Indian Association Wacipi Powwow on Saturday in the University of North Dakota Hyslop Sports Center. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
It’s terrible. The president is an asshole and his poll numbers go up in unison with his every act of ignorant cruelty. That’s one of those “known knowns.” And maybe, “known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.” And I thought Donald Rumsfeld was a dick. Now, this odd character just entered. …
What Jefferson wanted more than anything else was severely limited government, administered by modest and reluctant representatives who would rather be home tending their fields. He wanted well-educated, self-sufficient and vigilant citizens to do whatever it took to protect their liberties and their natural rights. He wanted our leaders and representatives to be high-minded, virtuous (in the Roman sense of …
I had the most interesting experience recently. I was asked by a friend to portray Mr. Jefferson at a seed conference. More than 100 gathered on the Great Plains to learn about the latest work in agricultural seed development. It’s a fascinating and even breathtaking enterprise — to manipulate what’s going on inside seeds to maximize production on America’s farms. …
Rep. Ruth Buffalo doesn’t report to Rob Port. “She refuses to speak on POVnow’s show, or at AM 1100, or with Rob Port because she said they’re not journalists seeking the truth, they’re personalities pushing agendas.” — C.S. Hagen, HPR Unless he has a dog with no self-respect, nobody reports to Rob Port. I believe it’s because he’s a creep that …
On April 9 in 1963, a classic of children’s literature, Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are,” was published. It is what is known as a picture book and has been beloved by generations since then. Max, a little boy, travels in his imagination (or sleep) to an island inhabited by wild creatures. “Let the wild rumpus start,” he says! …
The great French essayist Montaigne (1533-1592) wrote about everything. He’s one of the inventors of the essay as a genre, though there are roots as far back as Plutarch and Seneca in the ancient world. Montaigne used the word “essais” to mean something like “informed trial balloons,” and he very frequently ended some passage or assertion or conclusion by saying, …
It just doesn’t get much better than homemade bread. There’s nothing like it when it’s fresh out of the oven and topped with a dollop of butter or some peanut butter and jelly. In our house, I leave the “real” bread-making up to Therese. There’s no way I can top the bread — or the buns — she bakes. I’ve …
I’m looking forward to Red River High School’s production of “Godspell” this weekend for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it’s one of my favorite Broadway shows. It led to the stardom of people like Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Eugene Levy and, in the orchestra pit, a young bandleader named Paul Schaffer, Canadians all. The musical is …
The National Council On Education for the Ceramic Arts held its 53rd annual conference this past weekend at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Founded in 1966, NCECA was created to serve the interests of ceramics as an art form and in creative education the United States. Most major American ceramic artists since the 1970s, including Frances Senska, Paul Soldner, Peter Voulkos and Rudy Autio have been …
Beans and rice are a popular combination. Add sausage and green bell pepper to the mix and you have a dish that many people, especially those from southern Louisiana, might say is a touch of heaven. For Cajuns and those of Creole descent, red beans and rice is classic comfort food that has been around for a couple of centuries. …
“North Dakota’s oil regulator (Lynn Helms) is planning to sue the state of Washington if it goes ahead with a proposal to reduce the volatility of Bakken crude oil transported by rail, saying it is not supported by science and would devalue the product.” — The Columbian. “Helms also wants the North Dakota Legislature to add $500,000 to a litigation fund …
A Jefferson Hour listener wrote me a snarky letter last week after Attorney General William Barr released a four-page summary of the Mueller Report, apparently clearing President Trump and his closest aides of colluding with the Russians in the 2016 election. After informing me that I have been embarrassing myself with what he called my anti-Trump rhetoric, the writer asked …