I was paging through the glossy home magazine that comes with our daily newspaper when it struck me: Not only is my closet hopelessly out of fashion … so is our entire house. It was the latest issue of Inspired Home, the lovely local magazine that’s subtitled “A Fresh Approach to Home & Life.” Its theme: the “white issue.” From …
Be careful what you ask for. You may just not like what you get. … Fargo Police Chief David Todd and former Police Officer Todd Dahle did not like my article on the resignation process involving Keith Ternes that appeared in The Extra and unheralded.fish three weeks ago. They thought it short of facts. (If you’d like to review their …
In a few hours, I will board an airplane and fly about 8,000 miles to a land where I have never been to mingle with people who I have never met, amid more sickness and suffering than I have ever seen in one place. It’s a trip I chose to take. And I am not alone. About 100 residents of the …
U.S. Highway 85 is North Dakota’s deadliest highway. If you’re not familiar with it, it is the road that runs north and south along the western edge of the state, from our border with Canada to our border with South Dakota, through the North Dakota Bad Lands, some of the state’s most scenic and fragile landscapes. Even though it passes …
Anyone looking to save some serious money when shopping for chicken would be well-advised to buy whole instead of cut-up. That’s because the cost difference is somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 to $5 a pound. But there is also another good reason to buy your chickens whole. When cutting up an entire bird, you have a neck and backbone available that can …
For a time, my father, Kermit Vorland, was a hobo (not a “bum,” he insisted) during the Great Depression. He traveled in or on top of railroad cars to and from the West Coast, looking for and sometimes finding work. I can recall him telling of his fear of the private police who checked the trains from time to time. …
Alexandria, Va., photographer Jeff Olson and his wife, Joanne Plager Burke Olson, joined millions of others on the East Coast in digging out from this weekend’s Blizzard Jonas, which dumped up to 3 feet of snow or more in some areas. Even their dog, Coach, got in on the act. Also see photos from Jeff’s first day back in Washington, …
The University of North Dakota again jumped out to a 4-0 lead against visiting Colorado College on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. But unlike Friday night, when the Fighting Hawks gave up five straight goals to the Tigers, they kept the pressure on, skating to a 5-1 National Collegiate Hockey Conference win. Freshman Rhett Gardner led UND (20-3-3 overall, 11-2-1 …
Few things point out the differences between Northeasterners (below Rhode Island) and Upper Midwesterners (above Iowa and Nebraska) more than the winter storm, such as the #snowzilla or #jonasblizzard that has just occurred. For those of us who live in one but grew up in the other, the differences can be perplexing. In general, the conclusion is that the Northeast …
You can’t make these things up. We live in Edina, a Minneapolis suburb in a 392-unit condo complex. My husband, a retired Mayo Clinic administrator of 32 years, is ever conscious of people’s tendencies to throw away perfectly useful items and rescues them from the dumpster. When he first did this a few years ago, I questioned his motives despite …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team picked up two points in a National Collegiate Hockey Conference game against Colorado College on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena, but things could have turned out much better for the Fighting Hawks. Brock Boeser’s shootout goal gave UND the extra point in a game that will go down in the books as a 5-5 …
The University of North Dakota women’s basketball team, led by Mia Lloyd’s 22 points and Samantha Roscoe’s career-high 14 rebounds, defeated the Northern Arizona University 63-56 in a Big Sky Conference game Thursday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The win was the Fighting Hawks second in a row and third in their last four games. UND upped its record to …
It’s a sunny afternoon at a local ballfield. A bunch of kids have shown up to play baseball for hours, perhaps until dark or a mother’s voice is heard calling. Kids arrive with ball gloves hanging from bicycle handlebars and the sound of baseball cards in spokes. Some will have to leave early, but usually others show up to take …
I cannot help but wonder how many people in this country can be taken in by the buffoons in charge of the Republican presidential candidates’ ship of fools. Let me be clear (oh, oh, there’s that Bernie Sanders quote burned into my system): The extremist candidates ― Trump, Cruz, Christie and Rubio, and to a lesser extent Carson ― have more …
Alexandria, Va., photographer Jeff Olson took a ride on the back roads of Burleigh County on a recent trip back to North Dakota and here are some of the images he captured.
Just about every time you turn on a TV set these days, it isn’t very long before an advertisement pops up for some diet program or plan that promises weigh loss and touts certain types of food ― for a hefty price. I don’t often pay much attention to them. That’s because long ago I came to the conclusion that any advice given …
Rod Johnson was another hockey player, but a couple of years behind me in school and not a guy I ever knew well. That’s why I was kind of dumbstruck by his recent message on Facebook, sent from China, where he now works. He said it concerned something I said to him after a hockey game when he was sixth grade …
I’m not proud to say that before I began to research my book on the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, I knew woefully little about true black history. My 2001 book was called “The Burning,” and that’s what it was in Tulsa, mobs of whites burning down a prosperous black community, killing 300 in an act of genocide. But Tulsa …
“Entertainment Tonight” did it again. The show that likes to bill itself as the granddaddy of all entertainment programs gave scant coverage to the death of yet another true artist. This time, the gifted co-founder of The Eagles, Glenn Frey. I was still angry a week after “ET,” now in its 35th season, devoted less than a minute to the passing …
Here are some “Faces of the Game” from photographer Russ Hons from this past weekend’s University of North Dakota men’s college hockey and basketball action in Grand Forks. Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.
I flew from Winnipeg to England the day after President Richard Nixon resigned, Aug. 9, 1974. It seemed like a good time to leave. I was fulfilling a high school dream to live in Europe. Despite leaving a terrific job as chief photographer of the Daily News in Wahpeton, N.D.-Breckenridge, Minn. and my bright red, new 1974 Plymouth Duster with very …
The University of North Dakota men’s basketball team joined the list of those who haven’t been able to beat the University of Montana this season, falling 65-61 to the Grizzlies in Big Sky Conference action Saturday in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Senior Martin Breunig scored the final five points for the Grizzlies (11-6 overall, 6-0 BSC) and finished with a game-high 27. He also …
Unheralded.fish became a year old this week. One-year-olds are a blast to watch as they grow. They’re fresh, fun, unpredictable, messy, emotional, creative, aware and always entertaining. I’m describing my granddaughter, but many of those characteristics could describe the Fish, too. In the second year of life, humans slowly but surely learn to become aware of their environment. They become …
Yes, it’s 20 below. So what. In January, zero feels warm. Ten feels balmy. Twenty is sublime. And 32 is shirts and a vest temperature. We who live up North deal with stuff like cold with humor, which always makes the world a little warmer. You’ve probably seen or heard the following It’s So cold jokes, but some of these …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team shook off Friday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to visiting University of Nebraska-Omaha by responding with a resounding 5-1 win over the Mavericks on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The game-winner came from senior winger and walk-on Coltyn Sanderson, who scored his first collegiate goal. Also scoring for the Fighting Hawks were …
Last week, we went to “Delacroix’a Influence: The Rise of Modern Art from Cézanne to van Gogh”: at MIA [pronounced mee-a], previously known as the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It was an extraordinary exhibit. To quote The Wall Street Journal, which said it best, “As one moves through the exhibition, the breadth of Delacroix’s imagination and authority becomes inescapable.” I …
The University of Nebraska-Omaha men’s hockey team snapped the University of North Dakota’s eight-game winning streak, the longest in the country, with a 4-3 overtime victory Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The loss cost the Fighting Hawks a share of first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Omaha junior wing Austin Ortega scored his 17th goal of the year at …
To quote the ’90s dance music group C+C Music Factory, which quoted former television talk show host Arsenio Hall, there are just some things that make you go “hmmm.” (I know, I know. At some point, I’m really going to have to start updating my references. But I digress.) These things that make you go hmmm are things that are …
At 5 a.m. last weekend, our phone weather apps revealed the news: 13 below, a predicted a high of zero, plus a 20 mph blow. Perfect. We didn’t care as we headed east to the Red Lake Indian Reservation and a rendezvous with rainbow trout. Introductions I was the back seat passenger in a pickup with two friends, both named …
It’s hard to convince some people who grew up with eating walleye that there are other species that come close to rivaling it in taste and texture. Growing up in northern Minnesota, I was one of those walleye snobs. That’s until a hometown friend, Steve Geatz, first took me to Bad Medicine Lake in Becker County, which is known for its great rainbow …
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons recently had the opportunity to visit the Georgia Aquarium. Here are some of the shots he captured.
Now we remember why they’re called French, not Polar, poodles. Since vintage winter arrived last week, our little yapdoodle has once again raised serious questions about why we live in Minnesota. When it’s time to let her out, she approaches the door like a condemned innocent being marched to the gallows. We watch her try her best to do her …
First, congratulations to North Dakota State University and its entire football team, coaching staff and athletic director on their fifth consecutive national championship. As a University of North Dakota graduate, I am in awe of the fans of this team. They moved an entire city to another state to support their team! That is awesome by anyone’s definition. Chris Kleieman, …
The strange saga of Roger Lothspeich and the Elkhorn Ranch gravel pit has taken a bizarre turn. Lothspeich, you will recall, is the fellow who bought the “surface minerals” (gravel, scoria, coal and uranium) on a piece of land owned by the U.S. Forest Service directly across the Little Missouri River from Theodore Roosevelt’s ranch home, which is now part …
After Sunday’s still painful Minnesota Vikings’ playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, most of us who follow the Purple are again left shaking our heads. How can such a proud and storied franchise continue to have so many historic heartbreaks? Amidst the aftermath of that frigid football finale, it’s time to accept that this is simply a part of our …
Sunday, Jan. 10 update: As I predicted, look for much about Kevin Cramer in Rob Port’s Sunday columns in the Forum Communications’ newspapers. As I point out below, Rob owes much to Cramer’s communications director Jason Stverak. So it’s no surprise that Cramer is the hero of Rob’s first Forum column today. Expect a regular diet. And while I have resisted …
Nearly every day, you can read or view a story about health and nutrition. Just this week, the U.S. Agriculture and Health and Human Services Department issued new federal dietary guidelines that urge Americans to drastically cut back on sugar, and for the first time, have singled out teenage boys and men for eating too much meat, chicken and eggs. The guidelines, which are updated …
Samantha Roscoe scored a career-high 22 points and Makailah Dyer chipped in 20 but it wasn’t enough as the University of North Dakota women’s basketball team fell 62-56 to Big Sky Conference foe Weber State on Thursday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Roscoe was 10-of-12 from the field for the Fighting Hawks, who fell to 0-3 in conference play …
A few years ago while I was teaching a karate class at my gym, a mother and her son arrived for the youngster’s first private karate lesson. As they sat down to wait for the lesson to begin, I noticed the boy was sitting on his mom’s lap — he was 12 years old. An hour later, another 12-year-old arrived …
When my cellphone rang the other day, I was tempted not to answer it. After all, I was comfortably relaxed on the couch, cuddled up with a blanket, watching another ballgame on the big screen. Not to mention, our gas fireplace was hard at work nearby, making it extremely difficult to move more than an inch, let alone respond to …
“For the record: I don’t play games on Facebook, so please don’t ask me. I also don’t repost even when close friends and/or relatives ask me to repost due to some cause they are passionate about ― unless I choose to. I dislike the “guilt trip style” when it says “if you care …” you’ll repost or “if you don’t care, …
I’ve always been jumpy about airplanes. I don’t like being herded into the chute and bumped around by invisible forces, and my seat always seems to fall between people with oversized elbows. But now, I’ve found something even worse to worry about: Fear of not flying. Picture this scene. It’s 5:45 on a pitch-black December morn, and Fargo’s Hector Airport is packed …
This is another story I had never planned on writing. Once again, I had a rough draft on another story — and then the following happened: I was at Fargo North High School for some events involving my grandchildren. While walking the halls, I saw the familiar face of a friend. He was always a good-looking young man, and as he …
A good sauce can turn an otherwise mediocre dish into one of excellence. And in the case of an entree that already features mouth-watering ingredients, it’s a bonus. For example, take baby back pork ribs, in which the barbecue sauce can be the make-or-break difference. The same is true with entrees such as chicken Alfredo or eggs Benedict (Hollandaise sauce). The following …