The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 468
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) released its monthly Small Business Optimism Index this past week. Small business owners are slowly regaining confidence, but with an uncertain holiday season ahead, there’s a degree of trepidation. “With the election over, small business owners will begin to feel less uncertain about future business conditions,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Although optimism is on the rise on Main Street, small business owners are still f...
When we talk about immigrants in North Dakota, we’re often referring to people who came here in the late 1800s from Norway, Germany, England and Russia. Most of us today are descendants of those immigrants and we maintain that proud ancestry through festivals such as Norsk Høstfest in Minot, Sauerkraut Day in Wishek and the Ukrainian Festival in Dickinson. According to U.S. Census data, 40 percent of us are of German descent while 30.8 percent of us are Norwegian. The remaining 30 percent ar...
I’ve officially sunk to the lowest level of humanity. Yesterday evening, despite the protests of my conscience, I went out and played — close your eyes if you’re squeamish — golf. No, I’m not a millionaire. I didn’t hit the links to network or plan business acquisitions. I just went on a golf course to hit a ball around and feel smug about myself. What a horrid thing for a respectable taxpayer to do. It wasn’t even a real golf course. It was a Topgolf place. But I had to try it. I had to know wh...
In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, D.C., became the focal point of reverence for America's veterans. Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation's highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November 11,...
Often times we focus on the negative and how nothing seems to go right. Instead, we should always try to think of the glass as half full rather than half empty. Sometimes good things do happen to us, but we tend to live in the moment then forget about it. An event like that happened to me a couple of weeks ago and I want to share it with readers. I was invited to spend a morning with the staff at the Mystician, the Bismarck State College newspaper. When I got there, I met editor-in-chief Kayden...
Now that Halloween is over and I’ve almost polished off that jumbo bag of snack-size Almond Joy bars that I “forgot” to distribute to trick-or-treaters, it’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving. And speaking of gorging on holiday fare, Thanksgiving is an occasion when Americans express our deep appreciation for our country’s blessings by eating most of them. In preparation for this event, I like to adorn the house with a few decorations that remind my family of the historical significance...
The United States of America is a nation of immigrants. My ancestors came from Germany, Norway and Scotland, among others. We have people coming to our communities from the Philippines, Ukraine, Venezuela and other countries right now. Yes, there are barriers. No, it isn’t easy to integrate new people, especially when language limits communication and the American way takes some getting used to. When I first heard about the Uniting 4 Ukraine program developed by the Carrington City Council, I w...
There’s no doubt we’re having a mild autumn thus far. How many times do we go into the second half of October with overnight temperatures remaining above freezing or just barely freezing? And daytime highs, on select days of course, have been “hot” for this time of year, especially when the sun is shining. We’ll take it, right? We love an extended summer here on the northern Great Plains. But, there’s one problem with this scenario. On sunny days we see box elder bugs plastered on the sides o...
My brother and I just experienced what I believe was our longest one-on-one, face-to-face chat ever. (Yes, even longer than the long-ago heart-to-heart conversation highlighted by “Throw another dart at me…and another…nyah nyah, missed me…”) We had our differences growing up (maybe I shouldn’t have been so dismissive of his taste in music and TV shows, and maybe I was overly sensitive when he named a cow after my first girlfriend); but it was comforting to be able to talk in a civil manner abou...
At the Foster County Independent, we are 90 days into this national experiment to revive local news. As I look at what we’ve accomplished so far and the work ahead, I am encouraged. This month also marks a milestone for me in business. As of October 1, I have been the publisher of this newspaper for three whole years, and I am approaching the 10-year mark of my career in the newspaper industry (which will happen in February). A lot has changed since. I’m starting to see how we can both con...
It isn’t often that journalists write about themselves, but in this case, it seems timely and necessary to describe something I’ve dealt with the past 6 1/2 years. On Friday morning the urology staff at Mayo Clinic declared me cancer free, and I’ve been switched to an annual checkup after three-month, then four-month and finally six-month visits. After getting that news, I wasn’t sure my mind or body could be that relaxed. I didn’t want to go dancing in the streets, but the relief was incredible...
According to the National Retail Federation (motto: “Proudly middlemansplaining since 1911”), Americans set a Halloween spending record of $12.2 billion in 2023. (And that didn’t even include earplugs for muffling the seasonal onslaught of “spooktacular,” “boo-tiful,” “to die for” and other undead “dad jokes” shambling in from Father’s Day.) But, citing research from Lending Tree, “Newsweek” magazine says 59 percent of Halloween spenders plan to scale back purchases this year because of tighte...
I have been following coverage of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in local newspapers in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida for the past three weeks. Just yesterday, I came across an essay written by producers that I wanted to share, because it goes far beyond what I’ve seen so far and particularly addresses the impacts on the agriculture industry there. Big Sandy Creek Dairy in Madison, Ga. posted the following to their Facebook page on Sept. 29, just three days after Hurricane H...
As I write this article, the family of Jim Hillestad was preparing for his funeral that actually took place the afternoon of Oct. 9. Normally this weekly article doesn’t focus on something like the death of someone or their funeral. It’s most often the opposite of that and is geared toward optimism, but in this case, I feel compelled to recognize Mr. Hillestad in this forum. Jim was no ordinary individual for a lot of reasons, most notably he was 104 years old when he passed away on Oct. 2. Sec...
My handy-dandy “column topic radar” lit up when I encountered an internet article called “12 Phrases You’re Using That Make You Sound Unprofessional.” (This is not to be confused with the equally intriguing online article titled “12 Phrases That Would’ve Been 13 Phrases If That %$#* Black Cat Hadn’t Revved Up My Superstitious Streak.”) The author helpfully pointed out a number of utterances that can make you appear immature, unfocused, unhelpful, inflexible, whiney, too casual or too something...
The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently awarded over $500,000 in investments to support small businesses in North Dakota through grants awarded to Grand Farm and the ND Trade Office. Grand Farm is a network of growers, government, corporations, startups, educators, researchers and investors all working together to solve challenges in agriculture with applied technology. Grand Farm is part of SBA’s 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) and received funds under the ‘Domestic Manufacturing and Production’ initiative to help prov...
Measure 2 is a direct assault on the freedoms North Dakotans have cherished for generations. Article III of the North Dakota Constitution, titled “Powers Reserved to the People,” ensures that we, the citizens, have the power to make decisions that directly impact our lives. However, politicians behind Measure 2 are attempting to erode that power by introducing changes that fundamentally undermine majority rule and weaken the value of your vote. At its core, Measure 2 tramples on the principle of “one person, one vote,” a cornerstone of our demo...
Two weeks ago I was at Bismarck State College for an event and it had been 38 years since I was on campus. It has changed drastically, but it was fun to be back there if only for a few hours. When it was my time to speak, I started with asking a question. “How many of you are Bismarck High School graduates?” Approximately 10 people raised their hands of the roughly 60 in attendance. Then I asked them if they know who Weston Dressler is? They all said they at least recognized his name. Unf...
When the weather turns damp and horrible and all I want to do is curl up by the radiator, my coworkers always get the bright and chirpy idea of going canoeing together. Lake temperatures tend to be somewhere between “frigid” and “freezing,” while my preferred swimming temperature is “jacuzzi.” And I’m not a fan of feeling miserable, unless I’ve just listened to an emo album. So when the old canoeing / kayaking / getting soaked in a boat idea came up, it was just bad luck that I had been indulg...
Cinnamon is in season. We're making apple pies with apples harvested from our backyard trees and pumpkin spice lattes are the flavor of the month on the menu at the local coffee shop. October 2023 marked the start of a nearly year-long process to remove cinnamon that was found to contain lead from store shelves at hundreds of supermarkets and dollar stores. According to Consumer Reports, "the FDA began testing cinnamon sold at various stores after fruit purée apple pouches by Schnucks, WanaBana,...
Just about anywhere in the state of North Dakota, there have been reports in recent years of unusual animal sightings. These are animals that through recent history, at least, haven’t been seen in the state. But from 2000 on, numerous witnesses have come forward to tell their stories of what they may have seen. • First of all, moose are not uncommon to North Dakota. They’ve always been along the northern tier of counties, most generally in the Turtle Mountains near Bottineau and in the Pembi...
“Telling Our Stories.” That’s the 2024 theme of National Newspaper Week (October 6-12). Newspaper employees are being encouraged to share with the readers exactly why they chose the newspaper business as a profession. Most of the origin stories are heartwarming and noble, although a few are undeniably embarrassing. (“Um, I heard somewhere that the Tribune and the Intelligencer have a Joint Operating Agreement, and I thought I might be useful, you know, operating the joints, dude. Imagine...
I rode on the back of a steam engine this past weekend. I’ve lived in New Rockford for 20 years and have made the short trip to the Central North Dakota Steam Threshers Reunion for nearly every one. I’ve also covered the local steam show for the Transcript 10 straight years now. Each time I aim to capture something and someone new and different, as there are so many things to see and do on the grounds. They’ve recently added events as well, including tractor driving for the kids and a Frida...
Sept. 14 was an unusual day in our little Ward County community of Carpio. It marked only the third time there had been a parade there in the past 20 years. This time it was the fire department’s parade. The local first responders were celebrating 75 years as a fire department and as a spectator looking on, it was impressive. The Carpio department brought out all the big guns, but that wasn’t all. Donnybrook, Tolley, Burlington, Berthold and Minot Rural fire departments were all involved, hel...
I confess to employing the occasional half-truth. In order to keep conversations moving (and save face), I sometimes mumble, “Sort of” when someone queries, “You know where ol’ (fill-in-the-blank) lives, don’t you?” Around these parts, it’s a major social faux pas if you don’t know some nodding acquaintance’s street address, the Vehicle Identification Number of their conveyance and their middle child’s school locker combination. In this part of the country, “I know where you live” is a nonneg...
