I shared an article on Facebook on Friday morning from the Atlantic Monthly in which various authors reflect upon the importance of a novel having a great and memorable first line. As an elderly retired guy, I had plenty of time to create my own tentative “Top Ten” of first sentences. The opening line of “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E.L. James …
Hate devours everything around it and, eventually, the haters, too. Twelve white officers down in Dallas. Five dead. Two more black men dead at the hands of the police. Are we talking, yet? Sure, we are. Past each other, seeing everything in black and white, when it’s much more complicated than that. For a start, let’s stop patting ourselves on …
Why would anyone want to serve in the Congress of the United States in the political climate of today? Take North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven, for example. Unlike most high-ranking Republicans, he does not have the courage to denounce racism, bigotry, misogyny, sexism and other attributes of his party’s presidential nominee. Back in the day, anyone who uttered the statements …
(NOTE: I started writing this story back in March, when I learned about former U.S. Senate candidate Duane Sand’s lawsuit against Job Service North Dakota. I finished writing about that lawsuit then — and posted the story — but never finished the financial end of the story of Duane’s campaign. Well, here it is. It’s pretty long, and I was going …
“Wouldn’t today be a great day for soup?” That isn’t what you’d expect to hear most cooks asking in the middle of July in the Upper Midwest. But those were my exact words to myself Wednesday, and I bet that’s exactly what a lot of other people have been querying the past couple of days with the cool, wet weather we’ve been experiencing. The …
I woke up today feeling sad and depressed. An aging, white guy nearing retirement, I probably don’t deserve to feel this way. After all, I’ve had the tremendous fortune of living in a free and powerful country. We weren’t rich, but our family had enough money to live in a relatively safe neighborhood, I attended a good school and eventually …
Memories after what I hope will be a turning point week for our country. The first from 1996, when I moved into a Fort Worth, Texas, nursing home to write about the lives of the people there. As part of my daily ritual, I went from room to room, saying good morning to my new neighbors. With two exceptions. It …
“Guys, one thing you will notice about me is, I never yell at players. I may be one of the most easygoing coaches you will ever have, but I also may be one of the toughest because I will hold you accountable for your actions. I will never yell at you for making an error, but show me a bad …
Friday night races at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks are a tradition for many people up and down the Red River Valley. There was lots of spectacular action there this week, and photographer Russ Hons was on hand to capture the action. Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.
Eric Bergeson snapped these beautiful images on a recent U.S. West trip.
It’s not important whether you see a refinery stack from the highest point in Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s South Unit. What’s important is what comes out of that stack. Meridian Energy’s publicity stunt the other night, hoisting a weather balloon from the site of its proposed refinery just three miles from the park and proving that it couldn’t be seen from …
Anyone who’s picked up a newspaper, watched the TV news channels or followed social media the past two days probably has seen or read the accounts of two more young black men who were shot and killed by policemen. The first was 37-year-old Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La., who was shot and killed early Tuesday morning after police responded to …
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons says he could spend hours watching waterfowl, especially loons. That’s exactly what he did on a recent vacation to northwest Minnesota lake country. Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.
Just about everyone has heard or read about the health benefits of green, leafy vegetables such as kale. It’s true, there is plenty of evidence that eating kale, which has high levels of folate and more calcium — gram for gram, than milk — is beneficial to your health. But kale isn’t the only healthy green around. Another that should …
Have you ever just turned on the TV and watched — really watched — how the cable news channels discuss issues? I’ve been paying close attention lately, and I sure hope our youth of today are doing the same … and see exactly how the supposed “adults in the room” go about it. Intelligent discussion and debate? Not-t-t! The first …
If you weren’t able to make it to downtown Grand Forks or East Grand Forks on Monday night to catch the fireworks display — or if you were and want to see them again — photographer Mike Bogert gives you a front-row seat with these spectacular images.
The e-mail was friendly, but firm. My high school reunion was coming up in August and the organizers needed a check. Never one to rush into making payments of any sort, unless absolutely necessary, the temptation to ignore the message for a few more weeks was admittedly strong. But upon reading further, I caught the line about the “five dollars …
It was in a freshman English class at the University of North Dakota in 1961 that I first encountered the writing of Ernest Hemingway, just a few weeks after he committed suicide at Ketchum, Idaho. The short story was “A Clean Well-lighted Place,” published in 1933. James Joyce regarded it as one of the best ever written. I was inspired …
Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner has an eye for color, as is attested to by these spectacular North Dakota images that he captured in the past couple of weeks in the early days of summer.
When I was in Grand Forks this past Wednesday, I visited two favorite golf courses, the University of North Dakota’s Ray Richards and what remains of the classic 1920s vintage Lincoln Park course. The latter was damaged in the Red River Flood of 1997, then mutilated by the permanent dikes that were built on it. Only nine of its former …
When you think about it, pretty much all work involves travel. Unless you work at home. But, even then, you probably have to pull yourself out of bed to get to whatever it is you do. Unless you’re a paid tester for bed mattresses. But I assume there’s some kind of process by which you send in your reports. Maybe …
While out walking at La Farm with my husband this morning, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful everything was. Then I noticed the spacious skies and my mind went immediately to the words of “America the Beautiful.” Given it’s the Fourth of July weekend, I’m sharing the words to this very precious song written in 1893 by 33-year-old Katherine …
Backyards are bursting with beautiful color this time of the year as blooming flowers — the pride of many gardeners — take center stage. Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons captured these images — right in his own backyard. His reaction: “WOW!” Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.
It’s the second worst text a parent can get from a child who is traveling alone abroad. “Mom, my wallet was stolen. I don’t have anything. No documents, no credit cards, no money.” When I backpacked through Europe in college and then around the world when I was 24, I didn’t have the option of letting my parents know what was happening. …
It was a traveling month for Dave Vorland. Along the way, the Bloomington, Minn., photographer captured images from the PGA Memorial Tournament in Columbus, Ohio, the Vesterheim Museum and Heritage Center in Decorah, Iowa, as well as others from around the Twin Cities.
The thing is, Pam Musland is not anti-gun. She supports hunting in North Dakota. She grew up going to the shooting range and crouching in duck blinds with her father. She’s a graduate of the Game and Fish Department’s hunter safety training — has walked the autumn fields herself beside her husband in pursuit of the wily pheasant. She supports Second …
There ought to be some restriction on unsolicited friend requests on Facebook. In the past two months, I’ve been getting a friend request every other day from different females. Per my custom, I click on their home page to see who these persons are. Most of the time, the requests are legitimate … but recently, the porno universe has been …
Oh. Hey. As first blog entries go, I think we can all agree that this one is already off to a pretty tremendous start. So let’s continue that upward trajectory a little bit longer— and have me introduce myself. My name is Kelly Hagen. I’m 37 years of age and 5-foot-11, but at my last doctor’s appointment, they accidentally wrote down 6-1, …
The reactions to the Orlando massacre were predictable. Some called for more regulation, some for an outright ban. Others voiced weary talking points. … If everyone had a gun, it wouldn’t have happened. We need to halt immigration — apparently from New Jersey, where the gunman was from — and, finally, it’s our Second Amendment right to carry guns capable …
Dear Readers: I first wrote of James Henrikson in January 2014, not long after the murder for hire of Doug Carlile, a crime for which he was recently sentenced to life in prison. I summarized the entire 2½ years in an article for Dakota Country magazine, which should be in the mail and in stores today. For those of you …
The idea of throwing together a pot of hot soup during the summer months may not appeal to everyone. But anyone who’s undertaken such a venture knows that the rewards greatly outweigh the prospects of a heating up the kitchen when outside temperatures typically reach the 80s and 90s. That’s because there’s hardly any winter soup that can hold a candle to …
Before starting my Metabolic Balance® nutrition plan, goat cheese was not something I was familiar with; who knew there were so many choices? Not me, for sure. A quick Google check tells me that goat cheese, like goat milk, is easier on the human digestive system and lower in calories, cholesterol and fat than its bovine counterpart. In addition, goat …
It seems people who love rhubarb just can’t get enough recipes that feature the pie plant. That’s especially so if you grew up eating tasty rhubarb desserts straight out of your mother’s oven. I was reminded of that today by Becky Leguee Siani, whose older brother, Rory, was a good childhood friend of mine, and her sister, Eileen, a grade school classmate, …
I took the above photo in 2011 of the land that constituted the first of two North Dakota homesteads owned by my Norwegian grandfather, Hans Vorland, 1865-1930. It’s located in Grand Forks County outside the Red River Valley, east of Aneta. I had been to the courthouse earlier in the day to see the deed and determine the exact location. …
What’s the largest library in the world? If you guessed the Library of Congress, you would be right. As well as being the research library that officially serves the U.S. Congress, it is also the de facto national library of the country. The library’s collection is the home to millions of items, including books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts. Alexandria, Va., photographer …
The press is in a pickle. By their own guidelines for what constitutes news, journalists have to report on Donald Trump, aka The Donald, or, as I like to think of him, Big D. But every time they do, he gets more free exposure for his message. Even so, the presumptive Republican nominee for president of the United States has been beating up …
By most measures, Dick Dobson should be about 150 years old. He’s got some hard miles on him, but at 81, he’s still got his memory and his health, and at that age, you can’t ask for much more. For those of you who don’t remember him, Dobson is the former editor and publisher of the Minot Daily News, and …
Gone are the days when its ring heralded something good — and something human. The technological wonder of the 19th century has become the scourge of the 21st. A once-useful device for connecting — to “reach out and touch someone,” as the phonesters so often reminded us — has officially been high-teched past the point of no return. I spent five hours …
In light of recent events, I am extremely proud of Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken. I cannot express strongly enough how disgusted and disappointed I am with North Dakota Sens. John Hoeven and Heidi Heitkamp. When it came time to vote on the filibuster issue, the only Democrat who opposed basic legislation was Heidi Heitkamp! At a time in …
“Crossing The Border: A Public Art Installation,” which could be seen Saturday along both sides of the Red River near the Sorlie Bridge in downtown Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, depicted the trials and tribulations of immigration, as symbolized by local artist Guillermo Guardia. Guardia, himself an immigrant from Peru in 2002, said the 300-figurine project took four months to complete. Grand Forks …
On a rare day in which neither of us had calendars full of commitments, my husband and I went for a spontaneous bike ride today taking advantage of the brilliant sunshine and mild breeze. A native of Minneapolis who spends more time than me on his bike, Arnie would have been fine biking from our Edina condo. Me, not so …
The front porch of our little, off-white stucco house in Medora, N.D., was a magical place to be on hot, muggy summer evenings. I’d sit on Dad’s lap while he rocked in his chair, watching heat lightning writhe across the buttes that form a high wall on one side of town. The clouds seemed to gather on the ridges and the sparks would …
Grand Forks photographer Mike Bogert recently took an overnighter to go and check on the “Loon Family” on Fox Lake in northwestern Minnesota. He reports that they seem to be doing just fine.
Sometimes people can get into a cooking rut. You can bet that even well-known chefs get frustrated by the challenge to consistently create restaurant-yummy meals at home. Perhaps the best way to break out of a dinner slump is by making small changes to proven meals. I did just that last night. One of our go-to meals when our grandson comes for supper …