Unheralded

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — East Grand Forks Senior High Vs. Grand Forks Red River

Cooper Holm, Jake Hjelle, Landon Parker and Nathaniel Emery each scored a goal to lead East Grand Forks Senior High to a 4-0 win over Grand Forks Red River on Tuesday night in Fido Purpur Arena in Grand Forks in the first game in the hunt for the 2018-19 Gambucci Cup, which symbolizes supremacy in boys high school hockey in …


Unheralded

RON SCHALOW: Duh Don Trump (DDT) Concentrated

Just in the last seven to 10 days, a sampling of DDT: We’re shooting tear gas canisters at kids. That’s a thing I haven’t seen since the last seriously raucous protest. I guess civilians have been dodging that poison for a long time. Maybe advanced photography makes the current scene more surreal. Something about this time seems extra evil. Here …


JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Fracking And Flaring At Van Hook

Here’s an article I wrote for the December issue of Dakota Country magazine, which should be on the newsstands this week. If you’re not already a subscriber, you should be. Here’s the place to go to sign up. They’ve got a Christmas sale going on right now, and the price is right. A year and a half ago, I wrote …

TONY J BENDER: That’s Life — Thanksgiving Fails

Far be it for me to complain, but I’m going to complain. Whatever happened to Thanksgiving tradition? There was a time when we remembered the reason for the season — Columbus discovering the Pilgrims. And it was more than an excuse to buy LED televisions the size of garage doors. We didn’t say, “Happy Holidays,” we said, “Happy Thanksgiving,” and …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. University Of Alaska-Anchorage

Rhett Gardner scored twice, the tying and winning goals 41 seconds apart in the third period, to lift the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team to a 4-3 win and a weekend sweep of its nonconference series with University of Alaska-Anchorage on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. UND (7-5-1) rallied from a 3-1 deficit to claim the victory of …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. University Of Alaska-Anchorage

The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-0 win over visiting University of Alaska-Anchorage on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Ludvig Hoff, Grant Mismash, Rhett Gardner, Casey Johnson and Jackson Keane scored for the Fighting Hawks (6-5-1). Keane’s goal was the first of his career. Nicolas Erb-Ekholm and Nils Rygaard scored goals …

RON SCHALOW: No, I’m Not Surprised

“Is anyone surprised by this?” It’s one of the most-used phrases on social media when the news pertains to Trump, It’s easy and always applicable. Would anyone be surprised by the possibility of the following?: “I got an A-plus for my handling of Hurricane Maria, but some low-energy losers blame me for people dying on Porto Recliner. A lot of …

TIM MADIGAN: Anything Mentionable — ‘Glad To be Sad.’ From The Desert: Memories Of Dad

The desert mountains and majestic saguaro cacti were still in full darkness when the men convened that recent Saturday morning. There was Tim Wright, pastor of Community of Grace Lutheran Church in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria, and 20 or so guys who for years had been coming together weekly to study the Bible and discuss important things, (though the …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Election 2018: Racists 1, Potheads 0

A couple final (?) thoughts on the Nov. 6 election in North Dakota. * * * * * Did racism play a role in the 2018 North Dakota election? As I’ve said repeatedly over the past few months, North Dakota Democrats needed to focus ALL their messaging opportunities on two topics: Trump’s trade wars and Republicans trying to take away health …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — A Thanksgiving Day Poem

Paging through an old book of poetry, I came across this poem by North Dakota poet Paul Southworth Bliss, from “Poems of Places.” The poems in the book were written as Bliss traveled the country in 1937. This one came from a stop in Oklahoma, which got oil a long time before North Dakota, but the similarities are striking, 80 …

JEFF OLSON: Photo Gallery — USS Constitution

Photographer Jeff Olson and his wife, Joanne Burke Barclay Olson, took time on their recent trip to New England to check out the USS Constitution in the Boston Naval Shipyard in Boston Harbor. Also known as Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the U.S. Navy named by President George Washington after the U.S. Constitution. She is the world’s …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University completed a National Collegiate Hockey Conference weekend sweep with a 6-2 win over the University of North Dakota in men’s hockey Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Broncos (6-6 overall, 3-3 NCHC) surrendered the lead in the first period on Jasper Weatherby’s first collegiate goal but scored the game’s next six goals before Rhett Gardener closed out …

TONY J BENDER: That’s Life — Thanksgiving Quiz

Hey slackers, did you really think you were going to get away without a current events review before the semester ends? Oh, no — Jim Acosta is back, so you know the fake news spigot is going to be running wide open. Pull up a desk, kids, stow the cell phone, grab a No. 2 pencil, eyes straight ahead and …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Why The Republicans Control North Dakota Government

Pretty much every political pundit (including me) has declared the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party dead after this year’s election, and the debate continues to rage (well, maybe not rage, but to be discussed) among Democrats about what caused the demise of the party after so many years as a major political force in our state. Most of my friends have …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. University Of Minnesota-Morris

Bent Panoam and Elijah Hazenkamp each scored 18 points to lead the University of North Dakota men’s basketball team to a 112-58 win over the University of Minnesota-Morris on Saturday afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Panoam was a 7-for-11 from the field, including three three-pointers. He also had a game-high five assists, two rebounds and blocked a shot …

JEFF OLSON: Photo Gallery — Old North Church & Historic Site

The Old North Church & Historic Site, made famous during the American Revolution by Paul Revere’s midnight ride and “One if by land, two if by sea,” is a must see for those visiting Boston. Photographer Jeff Olson and his wife, Joanne Burke Barclay Olson, did just that on a recent trip to New England.

RON SCHALOW: Trump Calls His Right-Wing Terrorists To War

Last week, our president stated the following: “These people, like the Antifa — they better hope that the opposition to Antifa decides not to mobilize. Because if they do, they’re much tougher. Much stronger. Potentially much more violent. And Antifa’s going to be in big trouble. “Because if you look, the other side, it’s the military. It’s the police. It’s …

PAULA MEHMEL: Shoot the Rapids — Oh, Lord It’s Hard To Be Humble

When I interviewed with the Emanuel Call Committee, I was completely honest with them. I told them if the wanted a perfect pastor, who was always put together, they should not call me. However, if they wanted someone who was flawed and broken, limping through life, relying on the grace of God, then I might be the right choice. Today …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. Western Michigan University

Despite outshooting Western Michigan University 31-19, the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team fell 2-0 to the Broncos on Friday night in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The two teams played scoreless hockey for two periods before Josh Passolt and Colt Conrad (empty net) tallied in the third period to give WMU the win. Goalie …

CHEF JEFF: One Byte At A Time — Barbecued Pheasant

Fall is perhaps my favorite season of the year. The reason for my fondness is that I get to combine three of my favorite pastimes — gardening, hunting and cooking. The past couple of months have been especially satisfying. I finished my gardening, which started last March when tomato, kale and pepper seeds were planted indoors; canned more than a …

RUSS HONS: Photo Gallery — University Of North Dakota Vs. University Of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky handed the University of North Dakota men’s basketball team its first loss of the season Thursday night in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., by a score of 96-58. PJ Washington scored a game-high 25 points and added seven rebounds to help the No. 10 Wildcats (2-1) over the Fighting Hawks (2-1). North Dakota was led by …

TOM COYNE: Back In Circulation — The Fresh Rinse of Bull Air

Jimmy Butler earned his basketball bravado playing for the Chicago Bulls. Unfortunately when he joined the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was mostly just full of bull. Oh, there’s no doubt Butler is a baller. But sometimes there’s addition by subtraction. When the disgruntled dribbler was finally traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, along with injured rookie Justin Patton, the Wolves …

RON SCHALOW: Does North Dakota Really Need Rob Port?

“Does North Dakota Really Need Democrats?” read Rob Port’s headline on the Fargo Forum’s Sayanythingblog. At first, I hoped he didn’t waste a lot of time coming up with that stupid question. Then I realized the Port is probably one of those stable geniuses who ask stupid questions. A game-changer. Let’s discuss this. First of all, is it Democrats like …

JIM THIELMAN: In Our Family, Even The Bigamist Was A Veteran

This blog was originally posted on Unheralded.fish’s Facebook page Monday. Ah, Veterans Day. It did not exist by that name the day I was born. But has every day since. That’s my slim contribution. Along with being a No. 19 draft choice in the Vietnam lottery. The closest I have come to winning a lottery. Then the Paris Peace Accord …

RON SCHALOW: Politics Of Race And Fear Gave Cramer The Win

There were plenty of reasons that would provoke a normal North Dakotan to vote for the bigoted puffy suit of peacock feathers known as Kevin Cramer over the impossibly more competent, intelligent and productive Heidi Heitkamp. Mainly it was the letter behind Heitkamp’s name that was a provocation. Cramer had no record, so he relied on the letter “T” for …

LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Homage To Col. Paul Southworth Bliss On The 100th Anniversary Of Armistice Day

By Lillian Crook and Jim Fuglie As many of you know, Jim and I have a fascination with a North Dakota poet named Paul Southworth Bliss, and we are writing his biography. For the 100th Anniversary of Armistice Day, we wrote an accounting of his military service, from my research. Joining the legions of Americans sent to France to join the …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — John Wishek, ‘Father of McIntosh County,’ Charged With Espionage

This story in our World War I Centennial series is written by Dr. Gordon L. Iseminger, who teaches European history at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. His recent research is on the German-Russians of North Dakota’s McIntosh County during World War I. By Gordon Iseminger Known first as the Great War, World War I broke out in 1914. …

RON SCHALOW: Blogger Without A Cause

“If Heidi Heitkamp loses, what is Forum columnist Rob Port going to write about over the next six years?” — Jim Shaw It’s always the kids who suffer the most unless they’re surrounded by metal chain-link fencing which is as insufferable as it gets according to senator to be Kevin Cramer an expert on child confinement for some reason. After six …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Money Can’t Buy Me Love

As the Beatles sang in their 1964 hit, “Money Can’t Buy Me Love,” Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s millions of dollars collected in the wake of her vote against Trump Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh weren’t enough to sway North Dakota’s Republican bias, and she took areal thumping in her race against Congressman Kevin Cramer for the U.S. Senate. Midterm elections are notorious …

CLAY JENKINSON: The Midterm Election Of 2018

So what did the midterm election of 2018 tell us? I’m going to try to make sense of it from a purely analytical view. If, as President Trump said repeatedly, he was on the ballot in 2018, the results are mixed. The election was certainly not a ringing endorsement of his character, behavior, policies and the first two years of …

TIM MADIGAN: Anything Mentionable — One Of Life’s Greatest Challenges: Befriending The One In The Mirror

Last year, grief therapist Patrick O’Malley and I published “Getting Grief Right: Finding Your Story of Love in the Sorrow of Loss.” We suggest in the book that there is no right or wrong way to grieve, that each person’s experience of mourning is as unique as a fingerprint and that, therefore, there are no reliable models, no steps and stages …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Dr. Quain: A Hero To Nurses And Savior Of Soldiers

This story in our World War I Centennial series is written by Joseph T. Stuart, Ph.D., associate professor of history at the University of Mary in Bismarck. By Joseph T. Stuart Although the U.S. did not enter the Great War until 1917, a number of Bismarck residents left to serve in the conflict before then, fighting alongside British troops or as …

TONY J BENDER: That’s Life — A Car Ride For Life

Bob and I sat, our motorcycles idle, among a quiet group of veterans, waiting for stragglers. But no one came late. Most of us had been there early enough to stretch our legs. A few of us smoked. The veil of fog faded away from the black and green hues of the Black Hills. It looked like rain. Hell, it …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — ‘The Specter’ Doughboy: Thomas Rogers

This story in our World War I Centennial series is written by Carole Barrett, PhD, professor emerita of American Indian Studies at the University of Mary in Bismarck. Calvin Grinnell is a historian for the Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in North Dakotya. He is a member and past president of the board of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — North Dakota Soldiers Were First-Generation Americans

This story in our World War I Centennial series is written by Joseph Jastrzembski, professor of History at Minot State University. By Joseph Jastrzembski When the great powers of Europe went to war in 1914, they drew not only on their own populations but those of their subject colonies around the globe. This meant that the armies of Europe represented …

LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — Helmer Hovick: My Family Link To World War I

On this 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the remembrance of my family link to the war takes me back in time. My Grandma Lilly’s brother, Helmer Hovick, a true Norwegian bachelor farmer who lived in the Dakotas in the years before the war, was a World War I doughboy. He served as a courier. When he …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — North Dakota Nurses In The Great War

This story in our World War I Centennial series is written by Barbara Handy-Marchello, Ph.D., is a historian and writer for North Dakota Studies who taught Women’s History and the American West at the University of North Dakota for 15 years. By Barbara Handy-Marchello Sarah Sand of Grand Forks was one of nearly 300 nurses from North Dakota who volunteered …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Great War Witnesses Startling Birth Of New Deities

This story in our World War I Centennial series is written by Joseph T. Stuart, Ph.D., who is associate professor of history at the University of Mary in Bismarck. By Joseph T. Stuart It desecularized the state and, instead of religion, made politics the highest expression of human values. The mobilization of entire societies during the Great War dramatically increased expectations …

LILLIAN CROOK: WildDakotaWoman — More Notes From My Wild Life: Owls

Late in October, my daughter and I traveled to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where magic happens for us no matter what see or do. We go there whenever we can. This time, we were there to join in with a research project that has taken place there for several years — banding Northern Saw-whet Owls. I assisted with this project …

JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — North Dakota Rhodes Scholar Was An Eyewitness To History

Today’s story in our World War I Centennial series is written by Tracy Potter, Bismarck, who travels widely with Laura Anhalt and writes in retirement from a career in heritage tourism. He is author of “Sheheke: Mandan Indian Diplomat” and “Steamboats in Dakota Territory.” By Tracy Potter North Dakota’s sixth Rhodes Scholar was David Nelson of Mayville, who went off …

TONY J BENDER: That’s Life — Glad When It’s Over

I’m writing this before the election, so I don’t know what happened, which, come to think of it, is pretty much the norm for me, anyway. If the Democrats won big nationally, as an avowed enemy of the people, I may be under the sheets, contentedly smoking a post-election cigarette. Any celebration will be short-lived, however. Even if Nancy Pelosi …