If you happen to be in Texas, in the Houston area, the first week of January, and you’ve got a little time to kill, you could probably stop by the 215th Judicial District Courthouse for a little entertainment. There’s going to be a trial going on that might interest you. Lawyers for this company called Meridian Energy Group that I’ve been writing about …
Backup quarterback Quincy Vaughn threw a 3-yard pass to Gavin Ziebarth with 4:26 left in the ball game to lift the University of North Dakota football team to a 14-7 Missouri Valley Conference win over Illiinois State University on Saturday afternoon in the Alerus Center. The Fighting Hawks (5-5 overall, 3-4 MVFC) were led by starting quarterback Tommy Schuster who …
Since I woke up a little after the killing of George Floyd on May 20, 2020, I have done a good deal of what I regard as required reading about race in America. I started with Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.” Then I read Carol Anderson’s “White Rage: The Unspoken …
I’ve been intrigued by the movie “Fargo” ever since the cast and crew came to town years ago to shoot some of the scenes here. More accurately, north of here. I hung around the edges of the production for a couple of days, shooting television news stories, not knowing a classic American movie was being made. A new book called …
You can read all the newspaper stories with lists of vaccination and testing sites, and death counts, and you can watch the incessant pokes-in-the-arm on the 6 o’clock news, but you can’t really understand COVID-19 until you’ve sat at the bedside of a good friend in the intensive care unit of a hospital and watched a machine pump oxygen in …
The University of North Dakota football team overcame an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a 24-21 come-from-behind Missouri Valley Conference victory over visiting Youngstown State University on Saturday afternoon in the Alerus Center. Quarterback Tommy Schuster led the Fighting Hawks (4-5 overall, 2-4 MCV) to the win over the Penguins (2-6 overall, 1-5 MVC), throwing for 191 yards …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team defeated the University of Denver 4-1 on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena to complete a weekend sweep of its opening 2021-22 National Collegiate Hockey Conference series. Riese Gaber, Austin Calder, Tyler Kleven and Matteo Constantini scored for the Fighting Hawks (6-3-0 overall, 2-0-0 NCHC). Sean Behrens scored the only goal for …
America’s racial reckoning — seen in protests in the streets and at school board meetings and even shaping this past Tuesday’s election results — comes as the nation continues to shift rapidly. The latest data — from the U.S. Census and the Pew Research Center, respectively — shows 40 percent of Americans now identify with a race other than white …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team opened its 2021-22 National Collegiate Hockey Conference season with a 3-1 win over the University of Denver on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Louis Jamernik scored two goals to lead the Fighting Hawks (5-3-0 overall, 1-0-0 NCHC) to the victory. Matteo Costantini scored the other UND goal. Cameron Wright tallied the …
Well, my e-mails have sure been interesting since I wrote about the Paycheck Protection Program gifts earlier this week. The first was just after I wrote about Rick Becker’s plastic surgery clinic getting a couple of loans: “Hey, what about his bars and restaurants?!?!” Oops. I checked. Yes, he is the registered owner of a couple of places in downtown …
This might be the shortest story I ever post here. While doing some research for an earlier story I wrote, I came across the website that apparently tracks every single “loan” made under the pandemic-inspired Paycheck Protection Program. That’s the program that was passed by Congress in 2020 to help keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic. Businesses went to their …
Global climate talks among government leaders are underway in Scotland for the next two weeks under the auspices of the UN’s 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26). Here at home, there is a small group of climate scientists whose focus is more domestic. They call themselves Science Moms. They came together to help other “everyday moms” who may not be confident in …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team couldn’t overcome an early Penn State University lead and played behind all evening as the Nittany Lions defeated the Fighting Hawks 6-4 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Saturday night in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. No. 6 North Dakota (4-3) fell behind 2-0 in the first period and …
Just when you’ve got a sore neck from shaking your head over the stuff you read and learn about Meridian Energy Group, the company that wants to put a refinery beside our national park … there’s this. In spite of the fact that there is no oil refinery, and the only business the company seems to be doing is selling …
I rarely write anything political in this space these days — these columns are published in three states as well as in the two newspapers I own. I much prefer writing stories about the people I’ve met and the experiences we share on the northern Plains. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a political slant in our news coverage. …
I try to write an update on the Meridian Energy Group, the company that wants to put an oil refinery next to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, when there’s some news to report about them. Today’s news comes from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Meridian filed an amended report on its offering of securities with the SEC on Oct. 13. There …
A lexicographer once said, “a dictionary is the history of a people from a certain point of view.” Ken and Sarah Burns’ latest documentary film, “Muhammad Ali: Bigger than Boxing, Larger than Life,” is the history of the 1960s and ’70s in America through the life and career of one of the most colorful, entertaining, talented, provocative and compelling individuals. At the …
The University of North Dakota football team defeated Missouri Valley Conference foe Western Illinois University 34-10 on Saturday in the Alerus Center on Homecoming weekend. The Fighting Hawks (3-4 overall, 1-3 MVC) held the Leathernecks (2-6 overall, 1-4 MVC) scoreless in the second while holding them to just 99 yards of total offense. Otis Weah rushed for 125 yards on …
Autumn in the Missouri River watershed is a yellow time. Goldenrods, Maximilian and other sunflowers, curlycup gumweed, green ash, rubber rabbitbrush and the plants of the willow family that includes aspen and the ubiquitous cottonwood — which to me is emblematic of the Little Missouri and Missouri landscape. The first hints of autumn yellow come from the late summer flowers. …
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things When the dog bites When the bee stings When I’m feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things And then I don’t feel so bad There’s so much bad news these …
Twenty or so MORE questions because we’ve asked Doug Allen Nash to play along with this silly, little exercise once before. It was two years ago, just before he performed in front of a sold-out audience for the first time at the Empire Arts Center in Grand Forks. Lucky for us he’s on his way back. Doug will be bringing …
The reader feedback of the essay I wrote last week has been voluminous and gratifying. The reason for this, I think, is that we are all a little shell-shocked by the chaotic state of the world. So much anger and aggression, so many apocalyptic pronouncements and books. Most people look at the past 20 years, and particularly the past six, and ask, …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team regular 2021-22 season schedule with a 6-2 win over Niagara University on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The No. 8 Fighting Hawks received two goals from Ashton Calder and single tallies from Jake Schmaltz, Ethan Fritsch, Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven. Shane Ott and Ryan Naumovski scored goals for the Purple …
You know the world holds boundless possibilities when you live near the only golf course in the nation with the front nine in one state and the back nine in another. So when I was 6, I announced that everyone should reach age 12, then start over. There were a helluva lot of big thinkers through history. None of them …
Over the years, I’ve often been asked by individuals how they can most effectively help those who are most directly touched by the death of a loved one. As a result, I’ve come up with a list of Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to dealing with grief. It is based on conversations I have had with people who have …
As I reflect on the purposes of the retreat I attended this past weekend in the Little Missouri Badlands of western North Dakota, I have been asking myself hard questions about my approach to what the retreat hosts have called “the situation.” I inquired. Turns out they mean the whole enchilada: borders and immigrants, health care, global warming, the 1 percent and the 99 …
The University of North Dakota women’s volleyball team dropped a three-set match to the University of Nebraska-Omana 25-15, 25-14, 25-13 Thursday night in a Summit League play in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. North Dakota (1-17 overall, 0-16 Summit) was led by Alexa Albinson with five kills and Elizabeth Norris who had 11 assists. UNO is 8-7 overall and 5-0 in Summit. (Check …
In yet another bizarre twist to the long-running story of the controversial proposed bridge over the Little Missouri State Scenic River north of Medora to serve the oil industry, the state of North Dakota is now considering stepping in and taking over the whole project, including paying for the bridge and using eminent domain to condemn the land for the …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team kicked off its 2021-22 season with a 2-1 exhibition win over Bemidji State University on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The No. 8 Fighting Hawks usually open their season with an exhibition game against a Canadian team, but travel restrictions because of COVID-19 prevented that this year, so the NCAA allowed …
Colorado River’s Glen Canyon Dam is at risk of reaching dead pool — that is, the water level at which a dam’s turbines are no longer able to generate power. A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation puts the risk at 3 percent next year, escalating to 34 percent in 2023, and up to 66 percent in 2025. As Lake …
The University of North Dakota football team held North Dakota State University to just one touchdown and three field goals Saturday afternoon in the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, but the Bison defense was a bit better, holding the Fighting Hawks to one touchdown and one field goal en route to a 16-10 Missouri Valley Conference win. The 10th-ranked Fighting …
Just about everyone loves a pasta sauce. You know, the kind with sweet Italian sausage, a lot of tomatoes and some nice mushrooms and peppers. And don’t forget the Parmesan cheese. You can count me in that camp. In fact, it’s one of our favorites when served with spaghetti. When my grandson come home for visit, it’s one of the …
This is going to be a story about bacon. It’s an article which appears in the October issue of Dakota Country magazine, which is on the newsstands and in the mail this week. Hang in there with me for a little bit while I provide some background. I’ll get to the bacon part in a minute. This bacon is worth …
In a week’s time, I will be attending a retreat in the Badlands to talk about the future. The organizer, a close friend of mine, invited me to participate, along with several dozen others, perhaps because I have a new book on North Dakota and the Great Plains, “The Language of Cottonwoods.” He called to talk logistics Saturday. As the …
In the end, I was thankful for what seemed like the thankless task of coaching a first-year women’s softball team in Jamestown, N.D., in 1985. Early on, I realized I had just one very good ballplayer, a third-baseman named Margo, who carried herself like Geena Davis in “A League of Our Own.” We had an OK shortstop, one outfielder who …
Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert recently has spent time capturing nature sights the past few weeks of summer, flora and fauna alike
President Trump promised a big infrastructure bill many times, but nothing came of his repeated declarations that he was about to launch “infrastructure week.” Now the Biden administration, in cooperation with the Democrats of Congress, is hoping to make its $3.5 trillion infrastructure investment its most important legislative accomplishment before the 2022 and 2024 elections. Two giant pieces of legislation have been working their …
More than three years after it was first given an Air Quality Permit To Construct an oil refinery on the doorstep of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Meridian Energy Group has received another 18-month permit extension to begin building the refinery. The company said when the permit was first granted in June 2018 that it would be in operation by now, …
If you don’t have an agreed-upon national narrative, you cannot accomplish great things in a democracy. One indication of America’s current confusion and disillusionment is that we no longer agree on our national identity, our origin story or our mission. We can chart how we got to this abyss, but it is much harder to imagine how we can lift …
Sept.11 has mostly come and gone. The 20th anniversary of what has become simply “9-11.” I did nothing to observe that anniversary. I did not watch television, or read the newspaper stories about the events of 20 years ago. Instead, I did things I would always do on a Saturday in September. I swam at the Y. I went for …
I’m a mere citizen, in no way connected with the levers of American foreign policy, but I can explain how this looks to an incessant reader of history. As a citizen, I feel deep pain for the fiasco of Afghanistan. And shame. “Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it,” says Malcolm of another soldier in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” but for …
It turns out that I’m one in a million. Well actually, one in about 840,000 so far. That’s the approximately number of military veterans like myself who have volunteered for the Million Veteran Program or MVP. The goal is to enroll at least a million veterans. It’s a national medical research effort funded by the Veterans Administration to learn how …
Thomas Jefferson, speaking for the Second Continental Congress, wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” He either meant this to be a universal proposition (self-evident) and therefore was a contemptible hypocrite since he owned as many as 600 slaves in the course of his life, or he meant the statement to serve as what …
Summer affords many outdoor opportunities in the Northland. Travel around North Dakota with Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner to see some of the sights that await travelers.