“Syria is slightly larger than North Dakota. Did you know that, Orville?” “No, and I don’t really care, you doorknob. What does slightly mean, anyway, bland Stan?” “This canvas disturbs me inside. It’s a seizure waiting to happen.” Stanley stares at a painting on the wall of the restaurant for a couple of minutes, appearing to be in deep thought. …
I’ve been thinking lately about what I really want for Christmas … especially this year, when “peace on earth, good will to all” seems in such short supply. My family tells me I’m tough to shop for. I like what I have; I certainly don’t need more. So in the interest of making life easy for anyone who’s thinking of …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team, behind a hat trick from Shane Gersich, snapped a six-game winless streak with a 4-0 shutout of St. Cloud State University on Friday night in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The Fighting Hawks (6-4-2 overall, 1-3-1 in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference) outshot the Huskies (6-5 overall, 2-3 …
Garrison Keillor often said there are two kinds of Lutherans — those who take their religion very seriously and those who mostly don’t. I’ve been accused of being in the second group, although my Norwegian grandfather, Hans Vorland, helped build the Bethany Lutheran Church near Wellsburg, N.D. Some Facebook friends know I recently had my grave marker placed in the …
(For those who missed Part 1, the first seven paragraphs are repeats.) Every year around 9/11, Facebook and other mediums are filled with flags and images from that tragic day and calls to “NEVER FORGET,” as is proper. The day should never be forgotten. Except many people in this country don’t know many of the details of that day, or …
Back when our daughter Patti was a tiny pumpkin, Russ and I already recognized that raising children is one of life’s greatest joys. What we didn’t understand back then was the biggest bonus that would come along with it. We now find ourselves related to someone who knows how to set up a smart TV. If, as you age, you’re …
The University of North Dakota women’s basketball team held its own against visiting University of Iowa from the Big Ten conference on Wednesday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, rallying from nine points down at halftime to tie the game at 40-40. But the Hawkeyes (3-0) put the brakes on the Fighting Hawks’ comeback to claim a 75-60 win over …
We gave up our finest in the many wars we’ve been involved in. Men and women gave their lives so that we can live in a free and open society — a safe society, one where each individual should be able to live and work and raise their families in a loving environment. Our military has done the job. When …
It’s been just over one week since Americans went to the polls to elect a president. Somehow, it feels like much longer. In the hours and days that followed, some have despaired. Others rejoiced. There have been protests in the streets. We should have seen this coming, regardless of the outcome. For months prior to the election, there were articles …
The University of North Dakota men’s basketball team, behind Quentin Hooker’s 30 points, defeated Mayville State University 94-66 on Tuesday night in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Gino Crandall and Carson Shanks chipped in 11 points each, while Drick Bernstine added 10 and Conner Avants 9. More than 1,600 fans watched UND improve to 2-0. Mayville State fell to 5-1. Check out more photos from Russ …
There’s hardly a better time to prepare a pot of stew than when bad winter weather is impending. And by the looks of the forecast here in the Northland, there’s no time to waste. Along with chili, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, just to name a few, there’s hardly a better comfort food for a blizzard than a bowl …
What I can read into the Corps of Engineers’ announcement Monday on the Dakota Access Pipeline is that the project will not move forward as long as Barack Obama is Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army. Well, good for him. Now then, it might be time for Standing Rock Tribal Chairman David Archambault II to send the Water Protectors/Protesters home. Today. And tomorrow. …
I’ve never gotten a very big kick out of shopping on Black Friday. Although, I must admit that $1.29 is a pretty good price to pay for a 52-inch Sony flat screen. After getting people all riled up for years about Black Friday shopping, retailers began trying to convince us that shopping at midnight on Black Friday was a good …
The University of North Dakota women’s hockey team solidified its No. 9 ranking Sunday by skating to a 2-2 tie with No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth in Ralph Engelstad Arena. UND (6-4-2 overall, 5-4-1-1 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association) won in a shootout, 1-0, to gain the extra point. UMD (7-2-3, 6-2-2-1 WCHA) jumped out to a 2-0 lead before UND’s Amy Menke and Charly Dalquist scored …
Every year around 9/11, Facebook and other mediums are filled with flags and images from that tragic day and calls to “NEVER FORGET,” as is proper. The day should never be forgotten. Except, many people in this country, don’t know many of the details of that day, or choose to ignore them, so they don’t have much to forget. You …
The Red River State Recreation Area, located in East Grand Forks, is part of the Greater Grand Forks Greenway and is located on the banks of the Red River of the North and the Red Lake River. The area, owned and managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, came about as the result of a grass-roots effort after the Flood of 1997 that devastated …
Two goals by forward Shane Gersich were not enough as the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team dropped a 3-2 National Collegiate Hockey Conference game to Denver University on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. No. 6-ranked nationally UND (5-4-2, 0-3-1-1 in NCHC) is now winless in its last six games (0-4-2). The Fighting Hawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead in …
The University of North Dakota clinched a share of the Big Sky Conference football championship Saturday in the Alerus Center with a 38-31 win over visiting Northern Arizona University. But if you would have told that to Fighting Hawks fans in attendance after the first half, you might not have gotten many believers. UND erased a 31-10 lead in the …
I knew he would win. I’ve known it since last fall when I heard two stories on NPR in the same week. One was on the use of language in the power of persuasion — a rhetorical feat Trump has mastered. The other story focused on how people turn to authoritative power when they are uncertain or scared. After hearing those …
The University of North Dakota men’s basketball team won its season opener in a big way, defeating Division III Crown College 98-48 on Saturday afternoon in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND, a Division I program, was led by Quinton Hooker, who scored 17 points. Teammate Drick Bernstine had a double-double, on 12 points and 10 rebounds. Corey Baldwin added 16 points and …
The Veterans Day National Ceremony is held each year Nov. 11 at Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremony commences precisely at 11 a.m. with a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns and continues inside the Memorial Amphitheater with a parade of colors by veterans’ organizations and remarks from dignitaries, including the president. The ceremony is intended to honor and …
Makailah Dyer’s 24 points, including six three-pointers, were not enough for the University of North Dakota women’s basketball team Saturday in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center as Fighting Hawks dropped a 98-91 nonconference decision to visiting Drake University. The game was the first of the season for both teams. Leah Szabla chipped in a career-high 21 points for UND, and Lexi Klabo …
“I’m not ready, yet, Orv,” groans Stanley. Orville sighs. “Everybody dies, Stan. We’ve been over this. Get over it.” “No, it’s not that. I’m ready to bite the dust at the drop of hat. Wear shirts, wash shirts. It’s getting a bit monotonous. Who drops their hat, anyway? And what type of a hat does it have to be? I …
The University of North Dakota’s Shane Gersich took a page out the playbook of Chicago Black Hawks star Patrick Kane on Friday night in a game against the Fighting Hawks National Collegiate Hockey Conference rival Denver University. Gersich scoring a stunning spin-o-rama goal — a move Kane is know for — before a packed Ralph Engelstad Arena while the two teams skated three-on-three …
No morning-after pill Despite what many feared, the sun rose again Wednesday. And it will again, daily. The shockwaves of a Trump presidential victory reverberated around the world. Many people fell into a state of despondency, a pall cast over their world. Others were jubilant, a victory in hand for Americans who had simply had it with big government’s dysfunction. …
I think of the local combat veterans I know and know of with particular gratitude: Ken Helm, Keith Bolstad (and his buddies I have met), Pumper Christianson, Jon Hovde, Harding Vidden, Bernie Lieder, the late Victor Ness, late neighbor Norris Jacobson, a nursery employee named Gullickson who committed suicide after World War II due to PSTD, neighbor Krogstad whose landing …
Today is Veterans Day. Dorette Kerian and I would like to be among the first to salute our active duty and retired Army, Air Force, Navy, and Maine Corps men and women. I didn’t serve in the military. In 1966, I volunteered for the draft but was rejected because of bad eyesight. They told me I would be contacted to …
Here’s what I think of the election. We got all dressed up to go to the ball, and we ended up at a rodeo. Now, there’s nothing wrong with a good rodeo. A good rodeo can be very entertaining. There’s a bunch of guys and even a few gals out in the arena who don’t look like us, wearing some …
There’s a lot of extreme emotion in the air this week. It’s tangible. I see it across my social media feeds and dripping between words spoken and unspoken at home, work and play. Most people I know, myself included, are in a constant state of vacillation between disappointment, rage, despair, determination and just plain old fatigue. Other people are rejoicing, …
Talk to just about anyone who hunts, and they’ll probably tell you hunting is much more than shooting something. It’s about the camaraderie, about being outdoors. And in my case, it’s about watching how much fun my dogs have in the field when hunting upland game. But there is another part that’s not easily dismissible: the food that’s prepared — and eaten — …
To my friends who are feeling frightened and damaged by the election of Donald Trump to the presidency in 2016, I offer the following thoughts. First, the people have spoken. Virtually the entire American establishment —mainline politicians, the media, the major religious leaders, Hollywood, the pundits of both parties, former and current national security personnel, the diplomatic corps, the leaders …
This election cycle has so eroded my thought process — temporarily, I hope — that I can’t focus on any one story line today. So, I’m not even going to try. I’m just going to sit here and write whatever pops into my head. Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney and the State Sheriffs Association would be well advised to remember …
“Hillary was going let 650 million refugees in,” sneers Orville, “and how many were going to get palmed off on Fargo? No more tho …” “Whoa, Edmund Hillary is doing this?” wonders Stan. “I knew he wasn’t really dead. Ed sends me wonderful postcards. He’ll be surprised when he lays eyes on the Red River Valley, though. Everybody has scaled …
No Minnesotan would ever be so unhumble as to brag, “As goes Minnesota, goes the nation.” Nor as wrong-headed. After all, if that were even marginally true, the United States would have elected President Walter Mondale in 1984 instead of Ronald Reagan. But Minnesota has clearly been ahead of the curve in a couple of the least savory trends of …
I had the honor today to hear the world renowned Lakota flute player and hoop dancer Kevin Locke perform in Bismarck. He’s in his 60s now. He has been performing all over the world since he was in his early 20s. He’s a national and international treasure. Someone I know, who knows these things, says Kevin Locke is the greatest …
It was only an exhibition game, but the University of North Dakota women’s basketball team took no prisoners Sunday night, defeating the University of Minnesota-Crookston 83-48 in Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Fighting Hawks were led by seniors Makailah Dyer and Leah Szabla, who each scored 12 points. Junior college transfer Chastity Franklin had a double-double, with 10 points and a …
This year, as in most election years, I found a stack of notes to myself on my desk about things I thought I might write a blog about, but never got around to it because pheasant season opened, or the fish started biting, or the ducks were migrating, or Lillian’s “Things to Do In The Fall” list got a bit …
I know many of you have little respect for the Standing Rock Sioux (Lakota) in the ongoing Dakota Access Pipeline crisis. Your views by now are pretty well known: A) The Sioux leadership should have been at the negotiating table long ago, when it might have made a difference; b) the pipeline is off the reservation, so the Lakota don’t …
By the time you read this, the world will probably have ended. Not that I’m against that. I am convinced that 65 million years ago, faced with an election between a T-Rex and a Velociraptor, all the other dinosaurs prayed for that sweet meteor of death to strike the planet. But since I will send this column out to newspapers …
The University of North Dakota dropped its second straight game to the University of Minnesota Gophers, 2-0, in Minneapolis on Saturday, and Russ Hons was there. Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.
The University of North Dakota and the University of Minnesota skated to a 5-5 tie Saturday night in Minneapolis. Photographer Russ Hons caught the action. Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.
For high drama, Wednesday-into-Thursday’s historic World Series Game 7 between the long-suffering Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians franchises made for worthwhile baseball viewing and listening. In my case, it was some of both. Thank goodness for car radios. A cleanly played game? Not really. You could question some of the unorthodox managerial decisions, too. Still, the contest featured enough some …
Hearing former Minnesota Vikings player Alan Page narrate Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait” on Thursday at Orchestra Hall in the Twin Cities made me think of my student days at the University of North Dakota in the early 1960s It was there that I first heard of perhaps the greatest Vikings football player ever, Carl Eller, who played college football at …
Grand Forks photographer Russ Hons recently spent a weekend in Duluth, and among the sights he took in was Canal Park, a tourist and recreation-oriented district of the northeastern Minnesota city. Situated across the Interstate 35 freeway from the downtown, it is connected by the famous Aerial Lift Bridge to the Park Point sandbar and neighborhood. Canal Park originally was an old …