Today, after a couple of weeks of Jim’s plea, “When are we going to?” we set aside the time to make krumkake, a Norwegian holiday tradition. I use my half-Norwegian mother’s tried and true recipe with a large amount of butter, sugar and eggs. My KitchenAid stand mixer makes this part so easy! I will never part with it. We …
It will be interesting to see if the president can hold together The Party of Capitulation after Roy Moore’s defeat. Divide and conquer. That’s how you keep your job with a 32 percent approval rating. That and fear. Republicans saw what happened to Jeff Flake. It’s more than party over people. It’s about self-preservation. There are three subfactors in play …
I’ve been wavering for weeks as to whether to weigh in to the recent #MeToo movement. On the one hand, as a survivor of rape as well as sexual harassment who has experienced sexual discrimination, I have some pretty strong opinions on the matter. On the other hand, I am fully aware of subtleties in every case and worry about …
“The Hour of Land: a Personal Topography of America’s National Parks,” Terry Tempest Williams (Sarah Crichton Book, 2016). The National Park Service observed its centennial in 2016. During this year, writer Terry Tempest Williams published “The Hour of Land,” her personal journey and meditation on the national parks, essays written as she traveled the country visiting some of the iconic sites …
Marlon Stewart scored 23 points and Geno Crandall added 20 but it wasn’t enough as North Dakota State University topped the University of North Dakota 88-79 on Saturday in men’s college basketball in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. NDSU (4-5) was led by Paul Smith, who scored a season high 30 points. A.J. Jacobson added 12 points for the visitors. Kienan …
Fallyn Freije and Lexi Klabo led the University of North Dakota women’s basketball team to a 79-68 nonconference win over in-state rival North Dakota State on Saturday afternoon in the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Freije scored a career-high 26 points and added 12 rebounds, while Klabo added 23 points and 10 rebounds. NDSU (5-5) was led by Michelle Gaislerova, who finished with …
A few miles west of the ranch where I grew up, in Deep Creek Township in the vastness of North Dakota’s Slope County, stands an ornately fashioned wrought iron signpost. This is the signpost. According to Merle Clark of Marmarth, Slope County’s unofficial county historian, it was made by a blacksmith from Rhame, N.D. My mother says her earliest memory …
I really thought (and kind of hoped) when I read in the paper Friday morning that the State Land Board had said good-bye to its longtime North Dakota State Land Commissioner, Lance Gaebe, that the next story I would read about him would be his appointment as director of the USDA Rural Development office in North Dakota. But Donald Trump, …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team gained a tie for first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference after a shootout win over St. Cloud State University on Friday night in Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, but the Huskies came back to take the series finale 3-1 on Saturday night. In Friday shootout, UND’s Christian …
A legislative committee will examine North Dakota’s sexual harassment policy “to make sure it’s up to date,” said Rep. Al Carlson. “I’m hoping for visual aids,” added a committeeman, panting slightly. Existing codes are located between weights and measures, buggy whips and the zoning of sod houses. Current statutes read: A chaste woman shan’t ride alone in a closed carriage …
Jim and I took ourselves Wednesday on over to the United Tribes Technical College for a lunchtime program by a member of the faculty there, Dakota Goodhouse. The topic was “The Geography of the Great Plains,” and we knew it would be a worthwhile use of our retired time, not to mention the huge, delicious sloppy Joes we were fed. …
You have to ask yourself how low the national GOP will go to obtain its goals. Roy Moore of Alabama has been removed from his state’s Supreme Court twice by the U,S. Supreme Court for violating its order and the law of this country. He met his wife when she was a minor. He was in his 30s when he …
At a time when there’s so much to worry about — global war, the long-range forecast, the coming shortage of citrus fruit — it seems almost silly to mention the one threat that causes us most to get hot under the collar. But here is it: the thermostat. As outdoor temperatures crashed this week, the Hansons’ silent battle for the …
Tuesday’s announcement by the North Dakota Department of Health that it is preparing to issue an Air Quality Permit to Meridian Energy to build the Davis Oil Refinery three miles from Theodore Roosevelt National Park should come as no surprise. Once again, the state of North Dakota rolls over to the energy industry, but this time it’s threatening more than …
When I am not out exploring trails in my car or with my feet, I do quite a bit of thinking about trails, particularly the old trails of Dakota Territory. As one can see from the graphic above, in the main, the earliest trails followed the rivers. Last winter, I spent quite a bit of time off the trail, looking …
A couple of weeks ago, I was wondering what to do with some leftover chicken, and with the temps in the teens, throwing together a stew came to mind. After all, stew has been known as a comfort food a long time. The following recipe is the result. I didn’t have to venture out to buy any of the ingredients, …
I’m wiping tears from my cheeks as I copy Dan Rather’s post from his Facebook page today. When I see Dan Rather, I see America. “I See America” By Dan Rather “When the time comes, and I hope it comes soon, to bury this era of moral rot and the defiling of our communal, social, and democratic norms, the perfect …
The third annual HollyDazzle Festival of Life was held Nov. 29 in downtown Grand Forks. Sponsored by the Downtown Development Association and Leighton Broadcasting, the event featured activities for kids, a parade and a fireworks display. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
“The New Wild West: Black Gold, Fracking, and Life in a North Dakota Boomtown,” by Blaire Briody (St. Martin’s Press, 2017). Readers of the Bismarck Tribune will recognize several of the principal characters in this book in which Blaire Briody tells the story of the Bakken Oil boom in western North Dakota. Briody intersperses the stories of many individuals, including …
Nick Jones had a goal and an assist and Cole Smith tied a 65-year-old record for the fastest goal at the beginning of the third period as the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team completed a sweep of National Collegiate Hockey Conference foe Western Michigan University with a 4-1 win Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad University. Hayden Shaw and …
Lexi Klabo scored a career-high 29 points and added 15 rebounds as the University of North Dakota women’s basketball team defeated the University of Northern Iowa 80-72 on Saturday afternoon in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Fallyn Freije chipped in 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Fighting Hawks (4-2). UND returns to action Tuesday when it travels to Waco, Texas, …
The University of North Dakota withstood a 6-on-3 disadvantage in the final two minutes of the third period to hang on for a 4-3 win over Western Michigan University in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. With the win, UND climbed to within one point of league-leading WMU. Austin Poganski scored twice and Ludvig …
If you’d asked me a couple of months ago if I had plans to spend a few days in Menorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean, I’d have said not anytime soon. However, when you have a daughter who is a seasoned world traveler and lives in Barcelona, Spain, you learn to keep your options open. Andrea found a terrific …
This one is for North Dakotans — and those who follow North Dakota politics. I received an e-mail this week from some thoughtful person who thought I might be interested in a fundraising event for State Rep. Al Carlson, the Republican legislative leader. Turns out I wasn’t interested in the fundraiser, but I was interested in the e-mail. The e-mail, which …
Much as I am saddened to see the autumn season come to an end, it makes my husband, Jim, delighted when I spend about 12 hours decorating Red Oak House for Christmas. He is just a big kid at heart. I’m stubborn about not taking down the autumn decorations until Thanksgiving has passed, even though I began seeing Christmas decor …
The FCC appears ready to roll back net neutrality rules in December. I know your eyes are glazing over, but hang with me just a second, and let me tell you how this will be good for you. (Silence.) OK, it won’t actually be good for you. Not at first, anyway. But in the same way that tax breaks for …
I am a daughter of Slope County, one of the many grandchildren of Andy and Lillian Silbernagel. Slope County is one of the least populated counties in the United States. I was named after Lillian Hovick, my maternal grandmother. I can see my daughter Rachel’s nose in her nose. My last memory of her is when she and I went picking …
I don’t think North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has a disingenuous bone in his body. But sometimes political naivete can make someone appear disingenuous (actually, my definition of disingenuous is “fake naivete”). There’s still a bit of naivete in Burgum. The transition from the business world to government is not an easy one. He’s still learning, although he’s a pretty …
Mr. President: Are there any limits to the shame you bring upon your office? At a ceremony Nov. 27 at the White House, you were on hand to honor the remarkable courage and invaluable contributions of Native American code talkers during World War II. Three code talkers were present at the White House, representing the 10 other living code talkers …
There have been some pretty spectacular sunrises lately, and Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner has taken notice.
The year I was a sophomore in college, one of my mentors, my Lutheran pastor, was reading a novel. He told me I should read it, and so I did. I remember exactly where we were and what the car in which we were riding looked like. I paid attention, as I greatly respected this man. The book was “Beyond …
Ten years ago, a friend and I were visiting a museum in New Haven, Conn., when she exclaimed, “This is the kind of stuff you read about in textbooks!” Recently, many in the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai were equally awestruck during a tour of the British Museum’s “A History of the World in 100 Objects.” In Shanghai alone, …
The 2017 World Series was balanced. The Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers were neck and neck in every game, making for a very exciting series to watch and learn from. But if one team had totally outmatched the other, we wouldn’t be calling it one of the best World Series ever. It was as if both teams made each …
My old friend, Darrell Dorgan, and I decided to sit in on the sentencing hearing for Jason Halek on Monday morning. A couple of old, retired newsmen, we both went there thinking we were going to see the full measure of the law applied to a Texas con man responsible for one of the biggest pollution violations in North Dakota …
If everything goes as planned Monday morning (which would be unusual — nothing much has gone as planned in this case) Jason Halek will walk into the federal courthouse in Bismarck tomorrow morning as a free man, and walk out— figuratively, if not literally — in handcuffs, headed for a federal prison. You’ve read about Halek here many times before. …
“Very early in the morning, before the sun had risen, Jesus got up and went to a quiet place to pray.” This verse has ordered my life for years, serving as a reminder for me that Jesus, whose mission it was to save the world, literally, still found it vital to pray and made room for it in his busy …
Jim requested that I bake a cherry pie. We found a jar of Door County Cherry Pie Filling at Seed Savers in Iowa and brought it home. I tucked it away for this special occasion. While pumpkin pie is traditional Thanksgiving fare, I set my mind to making the cherry pie for the holiday feast. I mixed up my pie …
In the last days of 2016, Jim and I sent a handwritten letter to President Barack Obama, a heartfelt plea to him to act in his last days to protect the Elkhorn Ranch. We were inspired to do this after a Christmas winter campout to that area. Here is a two-part series Jim wrote about that campout: Camping at the Elkhorn …
President George Washington declared Nov. 26, 1789, the fourth Thursday of November, to be celebrated as a day of American thanksgiving. Try to imagine how much Americans of 1789 had to be thankful for: Just six years earlier, they had fought and won a war for their independence, to create their own country. Just two years earlier, they had adopted a Constitution, …
I am writing this blog with my headphones on and classical music ringing in my ears. We are staying at a Youth Hostel on the Sea of Galilee, where a lot of families come, and near as I can tell, let their children run wild. Last night, there were shouts in the hallway echoing loudly in my room until midnight …
Friends and family know that I’m a fervent fan of the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I’ve written about this before on my blog, including in this book review. There was a time in my life when I read her books over and over, but I eventually moved on to devouring the books about her, of which I have a …
Thanksgiving means many different things to people. To me, it is a reminder that, notwithstanding all of the bad happenings in this country and the rest of the world, I am one of the luckiest men on Earth. I have enjoyed the practice of law and many years on the bench and was blessed with wonderful support staff, both in …
Exactly 50 years ago, a new woman sat down in my spot at the family Thanksgiving table. The stranger bore a vague resemblance to the chair’s previous occupant. She answered to the same name, took the same heaping helping of the same green bean casserole and knew where to put the roaster when she helped clean up after dinner. While …
The University of North Dakota men’s basketball team, behind Cortez Seales’ game-high 20 points, defeated Division II Northland College of Ashland, Wis., 79-48 in an exhibition game Tuesday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Fighting Hawks (3-2) also received 11 points each from Marlon Stewart and Conner Avants. Brandon Galland had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds to …