There’s an old story that goes like this. A ship sinks in the South Pacific Ocean and two survivors are washed up on the shore of a deserted island: Sigourney Weaver and a fellow named Joe. A couple of months go by and no rescue is in sight, and the two decide they might be there for a good long …
The evangelical leadership is MIA — missing in action — when it comes to Roy Moore of Alabama. A former state prosecutor, he was twice elected to the Alabama Supreme Court and twice removed for bad behavior. He is now a candidate for the United States Senate for Alabama … and facing serious questions about his past behavior with young …
Devan Dubnyk stopped all 30 shots he faced and recorded an assist on an empty-net goal to lead the Wild to a a 3-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night in St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center. Nino Niederreiter, Eric Stahl and Jason Zucker scored for the Wild (8-7-2). Brian Elliott made 17 saves for the Flyers (8-8-2). (Check out more …
Super Bowl LII is only 80 days away. It’s coming to Minnesota before you know it. But if you follow pro football, you know a lot can happen in much less time than that. To properly illustrate this point, let’s go back just 65 days. It’s late Monday night, Sept. 11. Your Minnesota Vikings have just disposed of the New …
How do I write about a place I’ve waited four decades to see, with great anticipation? Only to say architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wisconsin home, Taliesin (near the town of Spring Green), was worth the wait, and I find myself ttruly inspired anew. All of my life, I’ve been an admirer of Wright’s work. Long ago when I cataloged Stoxen …
It was a three-skillet supper day at Red Oak House on Monday. Walleye fresh from the Missouri River, fried red potatoes from our garden and creamed corn we put up in August. Just like my Mama Crook did, I cooked up this “mess of fish,” dredging the filets in self-rising cornmeal (mixed with salt and pepper) and frying these in …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team overcame a 2-0 deficit against Miami University on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena to score a shootout win in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play. The Fighting Hawks (7-2-3 overall, 2-1-1 NCHC) and the RedHawks (4-5-1 overall, 1-2-1 NCHC) were tied 3-3 after regulation and a 5-on-5 5-minute overtime and a 3-minute …
We are settling in here at Red Oak House for the winter, tweaking our list of indoor projects and savoring meals of turkey, pork roast and ham. Outside my kitchen office window, the chickadees and woodpeckers on busy on the suet feeder. Specifically, ours in North Dakota are black-capped chickadees, parus atricapillus. Parus is Latin for “titmouse” and atricapillus for “black-capped, formed …
Dear Gov. Burgum, I am writing to you today about transparency. Transparency in government. Transparency in North Dakota government. Transparency in North Dakota government as it relates to our environment and environmental protection. You’ve said often you believe in transparency. Here’s a chance to prove it. You’re a new governor this year, and you come from the world of high …
Nick Jones scored two goals and goaltender Peter Thome stopped 27 of 28 shots as the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team defeated Miami University 4-1 in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Rhett Gardner and Grant Mismash also scored for the Fighting Hawks (7-2-2 overall, 2-1 NCHC). Karch Bachman scored the only goal for …
Although over the years I have read articles and books about the situation in Palestine and Israel, today as we drove through the West Bank and East Jerusalem on a tour led by Jeff Halper, the founder of the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions, a nonprofit, direct action group dedicated to opposing and resisting the demolition of Palestinian homes, it …
The communities of Bowman County, North Dakota, hold a gathering at the Bowman High School every year celebrating Veterans Day. This year, they chose to honor my father, Garland Crook, who is now 93. We traveled there Thursday. Sadly, he was not feeling strong enough to attend. He would have seen many of his buddies there. In fact, one even …
Admittedly, I’m easily puzzled. Therefore, I ought to be able to come up with a column on that topic. Even if I’m trying to write next to a guy noshing airport sushi while I’m waiting for a flight back to North Dakota. The first thing that puzzles me is why I’m leaving Los Angeles this soon, knowing full well I’m …
Sydney Mattson, starting just her first match of the season, had a career-best 35 assists to lead the University of North Dakota women’s volleyball team to a 25-20, 25-17, 25-19 Big Sky Conference sweep of Northern Arizona University on Thursday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. On offense, UND was led by Tamara Merseli, who had 12 kills and 20 digs. Faith …
Our group is staying at the Lutheran World Federation Guesthouse, which is located at the top of the Mount of Olives. The land was given to Kaiser Wilhelm when he visited Jerusalem in 1898, and the compound was named for his wife, Augusta Victoria. Since my grandfather fought in the Boxer Rebellion for the Kaiser’s army and my middle name …
I received a unique blessing Saturday morning: an Indian cooking lesson from Sister Mary Michael, one of the Carmelite nuns who serve our Spirit of Life Roman Catholic Church parish in Mandan, N.D. She is a cooking whirlwind and chopped the onions in a blaze. She does it all from years of experience, with nothing written down, and uses the …
The University of North Dakota women’s basketball team tuned up for its upcoming 2017-18 season opener with a 79-50 exhibition win over the University of Minnesota-Crookston on Wednesday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Fighting Hawks were paced by Lexi Klabo, who scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Fallen Freije chipped in 17 points and eight reboards for the …
After a typical Middle Eastern breakfast of pita, cheese, vegetables, an egg and hummus, our group, a mixture laypeople and clergy from the New England Synod on a Companion Synod Pilgrimage to visit the places and people connected with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, went off for our first stop. We arrived at the Dome …
Given the Texas church massacre that was just committed by a man named Kelley … if you use the same rhetoric as the president, then all white Irishmen should be banned from this country. Of course, banning the Irish is an insane idea. But it’s no more insane than banning anyone else because their skin color, religion or place of …
Is frustration dominating your child’s athletic experience? When young athletes can’t let go of frustration after failure, it’s a clear indication they have no clue how to make an adjustment, leaving them vulnerable to more of the same. And when adults get over-involved during the game, it usually makes things worse. A parent’s natural reaction is to come to the …
When we opened the blinds last Friday morning, it was to a world of whiteness. The snow shovels are staged, and all that was left to do was rummage in the garage storage box for the windshield scraper and the runner rug for the slate front patio (which gets very slippery in the cold weather). I even dug out the …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team rode the goaltending of freshman Peter Thome, who was making his first collegiate starts, to a win and a tie with the University of Wisconsin this past Friday and Saturday in Madison. The Fighting Hawks (7-2-1) defeated the Badgers (6-5) 3-2 Friday night and skated to a 2-2 overtime tie Saturday night. …
Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner has a knack for capturing scenic landscape images, as is demonstrated by these fantastic shots.
These past two days back home at Red Oak House found us back to fall chores, and Jim catching walleye on the Missouri River, supper tonight. Wednesday night, with the gorgeous tiger’s-eye beans we’d brought home from Seed Savers Exchange and grass-fed beef from the Striefels, I cooked up a huge pot of chili, making enough so that Jim and …
Many don’t have the desire nor the time to keep up with to the national news on the life and times of the associates of Donald J. Trump. If you’re not interested, that’s fine … but if you are, you can read the entire federal complaint against Paul J. Manafort Jr., and Richard W. Gates III at https://www.justice.gov/file/1007271/download. I have …
We finally turned our furnace on last Friday. It wasn’t the 32-degree high that did it; it was the 40-mile-per-hour gusts the night before that convinced us to start burning wattage in a more significant way. Thirty-two degrees? Ha! In March, that would warrant running outside without a coat. The fully acclimated Minnesotan laughs at such measly reports after surviving …
John Bluemle’s new book, “North Dakota’s Geologic Legacy” (actually published in 2016 and now in its second printing), is a culmination of a career of more than 40 years he spent with the North Dakota Geological Survey, researching all facets of North Dakota’s geology, carrying the title of state geologist. It’s his fourth in a series of books designed, as …
Lizzie was sad Monday a week past. She saw those suitcases, and she became clingy, not sure whether she was going with us or not. For her, this time it was the kennel, as Chelsea is gone for schooling and thus her best pal not available for dog-sitting. Thus, it was that we two English majors made a road trip east, …
For most people, it’s hard to draw any comparisons to eating sauerkraut right out of the crock. That’s because making homemade sauerkraut is one of the things from the past that not may people do anymore. You can’t count my septuagenarian friend, Darrel Koehler in that group. Darrel has been making sauerkraut for years, something he learned from his parents …
Alexandria, Va., photographer Jeff Olson spent the summer working at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Here are some of the spectacular sights that caught his eye.
The University of North Dakota women’s volleyball team won its 20th straight home match, defeating the University of Montana 25-15, 22-25, 26-25, 25-19 in Big Sky Conference play Thursday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Fighting Hawks (24-2 overall, 9-2 BSC) did have their school-record consecutive home set winning streak come to an end at 39, though, as Montana took …
At other times of year, it’s not so apparent that our neighborhood is aging. Nothing moves on those short, frozen winter days but grumpy wool-wrapped critters of indeterminate age herding snowblowers. The grass groomers mostly seem to tend to their lawns early Sunday mornings, when I’m far too drowsy to care about whether whoever’s at the helm has wrinkles. Scouts …
There has been quite a movement across this nation to focus on demeaning and horrible things happening to women in this country. To be sure, the stories on the national stage deserve the attention they are receiving. Let’s put the brakes on the current outcry, however. Let’s study the issues and do more than sensationalize and talk. Khizr Khan, an …
The Minnesota Wild dropped a 1-0 National Hockey League decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night in St. Paul’s Xcel Center. Jake Virtanen scored the game’s only goal. Anders Nilsson made 29 saves for the Canucks to pick up the shutout. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
Is it still too soon to talk about guns — and the slaughter in Las Vegas — or is too late? Who makes the timing rules? I think it’s Sean Hannity, who is in some unholy alliance with Bobo, aka the president of the United States, who is so short on brain juice that he’ll believe or lie about damn near anything. …
Even with hundreds of television channels, HBO and all the rest to watch, and Netflix, Amazon and Hulu to stream, sometimes there just doesn’t seem to be “much” on TV. So, every once in awhile, Ginny and I like to watch “What’s My Line?” The 1950s and ’60s game show is seen currently in all its glorious black and white-ishness …
I grew up in Medora, N.D. It was the 1970s, about the time a previous oil boom was running full-tilt in the western part of the state. The air was still fresh and clean, whitetails walked down an empty Main Street in the early evenings this time of year, and the 100 or so souls who called the place home …
Christian Wolanin scored two goals to lead the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team to a 4-0 win over the University of Minnesota on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The victory for the Fighting Hawks (4-1-1) gave them a split of the weekend series with the Gophers (3-3). Minnesota won the Friday night opener 2-1. Nick Jones and Colton …
It has truly been a lovely autumn here in Bismarck. On Sunday, our small aspen grove rewarded us with golden glory. Three of the aspen trees were a gift from dear Sheila Schafer, as a tribute to Jim’s late mother. Sheila came over to watch Cashman Nursery plant the trees. She loved to see trees planted and frequently gave these …
Grand Forks photographer recently spent some time at “a place in Minnesota,” and this is what caught his eye.
A fourth-quarter comeback fell short for the University of North Dakota football team Saturday in the Alerus Center, as the Fighting Hawks dropped a 34-27 decision to Sacramento State University in a matchup of Big Sky Conference foes. UND (2-6, 1-4 BSC) and Sacramento State (4-3, 3-1 BSC) were tied 10-10 at halftime before the Hornets opened up a 24-10 lead in …
University of Minnesota goalie Eric Schierhorn stopped 34 of 35 shots as the Gophers defeated the University of North Dakota 2-1 in their first visit to Ralph Engelstad Arena since January 2012. Rhett Gardner scored the only goal for North Dakota (3-1-1), while Rem Pitlick and Steve Johnson tallied for Minnesota (3-2) in the nonconference game between the traditional rivals. Fighting …
One of Us The other day, I ran into a friend who wondered why I couldn’t get with the program, like the rest of the Republicans in my neck of the woods. I explained I’m not really anti-Republican, I am pro-common sense. Since these days we are entitled to our own facts, along with entire networks to support them, please …
Well, on Thursday I said it to Jim. That statement that comes around every year: “I don’t want to see another tomato again for quite awhile.” By this point, we’ve converted thousands of tomatoes (Jim says over 1,700, plus my sister gave us some of hers) into salsa, juice, marinara — and Thursday, I canned 14 quarts of tomato basil …