The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
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We’re in the last week of holiday break for my college-aged daughter, and I’m wondering how it went so quickly. We’ve gone over her grades from her first semester as a full-time college student, and she’s looking ahead to her spring semester schedule. Over the past three weeks, she’s visited friends and family, helped me with a couple of projects at work, and done a fair amount of cooking and cleaning at home. Man, I’m going to miss that as soon as she’s gone again! By the time many of you read...
Editor’s note: This article is reprinted from the Jan. 20, 1997, edition of the Cavalier County Republican in Langdon. I wouldn’t do this now, at my age, but back then, I was hell bent on getting my newspaper to its readers. Right in the middle of the fourth blizzard of the season, a decision had to be made. Usually the Republican is printed at 8 a.m., Friday in Grafton. But seeing how a blizzard with dangerous wind chills was howling through the state, I woke up Friday morning thinking we would...
It wasn’t true but it was effective. As a former advertising agency guy, I can appreciate the genius of the Trump campaign when they came out with “Make America Great Again.” There was no time in history when the United States was greater than it is today. Just about everybody has some source of income - including all of those people in the service industry who disappeared while we were wearing COVID masks. Our economy was never stronger; our world power was never greater. We can now build a sup...
This Christmas was definitely one to remember for some, and not necessarily in a great way. Some didn’t make it home due to the ridiculous weather we’ve been having. Others I know were sick with COVID, or influenza, or RSV, or some other unknown respiratory virus, so they resorted to rest on the big day. We were fortunate. Everyone was healthy after a rough bout with sickness around Thanksgiving, and we only had to travel about five blocks to our Christmas Day celebration at my mot...
I won’t hazard a guess as to whether it achieves immortality like “grassy knoll” or “hanging chads,” but surely the phrase “bomb cyclone storm” will remain in the public consciousness of those who endured its cruelties. We’ll laugh about this someday, but right now an awful lot of Americans have a “single digit” they’d like to give right back to Mother Nature. And we’re not exactly chummy with 2022, which on its way out is taunting us with, “Bet now you wish you had bought the extended warra...
Many of you have probably already begun to plan for your 2023 vacation. If you intend to stay in North Dakota, spend some extra time looking at the map. It’s interesting to note there are many communities with the same name as counties. The odd thing about it though, is that a lot of communities that have the same name as counties, are not in the same county. I can think of six that are: Grand Forks, Pembina, Rolette, Bottineau, Bowman and LaMoure. To begin this oddity, let’s start in Cav...
Even though the laws relating to rape have not been repealed, victims are not getting justice in the present system. Administratively, rape gets no priority. Right now, North Dakota has 271 rape cases – doubled since December 21, 2021 – gathering dust because the criminal justice machinery has shoved rape cases to the back burner where nothing happens for months. Gov. Doug Burgum could hardly wait for the legislature to meet so he could rush through funding for business development – even borro...
New year’s resolutions - who actually sticks to them anyway? I’ve said for years that there is no reason to make one if I don’t plan to keep it. Thus, I haven’t made any resolutions for some time. Readers, this year is different. So many people I love and respect have told me that I have “too much on my plate.” “You’ll find a way to get it all done,” I keep telling myself. “Just finish these three (or 10) more items on the to-do list and you can rest.” The trouble is, the list keeps getting lo...
I was at my desk one day at The Kenmare News and the telephone rang. It was Karen Pauls of CBC-TV in Winnipeg. She was calling to ask me if I knew anything about some Nigerians who were hospitalized in Kenmare. I hadn’t heard about such a thing and my first question to her was, “How do you know that?” Karen’s reply, “Word gets around.” Needless to say I was quite surprised, but then got to thinking she must know people in Canada Customs and Border Protection who mentioned it. Regardless,...
Writing as a political scientist, there were a number of significant lessons learned from the 2022 political scene. So who won and who lost? Sure, the Democrats gained a little in the U. S. Senate and Republicans gained a little in the House of Representatives but democracy gained the most because the black mark against the electoral system was expunged. The American voting system has been proven clean – no fraud, no cheating, no election stealing. Because Donald Trump had such a big voice on t...
Through all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I have to keep reminding myself to take work and life one step at a time. “Do one thing well, and then move on to the next,” I think. From workforce shortages and winter storms to shipping delays and sick days, we are all dealing with a lot. A colleague of mine missed a meeting a couple of weeks ago, and after learning that it was totally out of her control, I understood. “We all need a little grace and peace this holiday season, that’s fo...
I was watching the CBS Evening News recently and Roxana Saberi gave a report on the World Cup from Doha, Qatar. I don’t normally watch the CBS Evening News but that name and face rang a bell. It took a minute to recall who she is. If you don’t know or remember, she is from North Dakota and has quite a story. Often times when people from North Dakota become famous, they’re athletes, actors, politicians or business executives. Saberi, who grew up in Fargo, is arguably the best journalist to come...
One of my fondest childhood memories of Christmas in the 1970’s was riding around in the family station wagon, “Bessie,” to look at Christmas lights while I whined to my parents about needing a snack – again. There was something magical about a familiar evening landscape transformed to a radiant wonderland at the expense of someone’s lumbar spine. My dad always made sure that our house was exemplary in its presentation of illuminated holiday décor, and even now, his legendary displays m...
By the time this reaches homes and newsstands this weekend, I'll have had a meeting with the professionals at one of the state's largest medical centers. I've been meeting with them for months getting ready for this surgery I was scheduled to have on Thursday. They're going in to repair my "ticker". I've know for a while there was a problem and now after tests, the surgery is set. And, to say the least, I am ready for that to happen. If not to rid my body of certain food groups, then the...
Everyone who is aware of North Dakota’s history knows that Pembina is a unique community for several reasons. Most notably, it was the first place in our state that was settled and that was in 1797. It wasn’t part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, but was, at that time, a part of Canada called Prince Rupert’s Land. A fur trading company called the North West Company set up a fort on the north side of the confluence of the Red and Pembina Rivers and that today is the community of Pembina. If yo...
I grew up believing that you judge a man by the size of his Christmas tree. Each December my father and I would jump in our Willys Jeep and rush over to the local drive-in theater. Though closed to moviegoers for the season, the spacious parking area was rented out to the Lions Club for its annual Christmas tree sale. Dad never failed to ask the sellers, "Don't you have anything bigger?" And he was always certain to assure me, "Don't worry, Pete, it will fit in the living room." The Lions were h...
A fledgling caterer lands a foundation gala and falls for her client's nephew, who is assigned to make sure the meals goes perfectly. An owner of a farm and home goods store tries to convince a reporter for a magazine that her friends who help run the store are her family. A reporter moves to a small town in Alaska and takes over the local newspaper at Christmas time. Yes, I am a sucker for sappy Christmas movies. From Thanksgiving to New Year's Day (with a few other days sprinkled in the rest...
For the first time in the past three years, the Canadian Pacific Railway’s actual Holiday Train is returning to the steel rail across the U.S. and Canada. Because of Covid 19, the past two years have been virtual holiday trains that quite frankly didn’t hold a candle to the real thing. So it’s been announced, the performers have been named and the schedules released. Once again, the train will make six stops in North Dakota As Holiday Train public affairs points out, the concerts are free....
Before venturing into the deep water of state and Native-American relations, I need to reassure North Dakota’s tribes that I am not an adversary but a friend. I believe we owe the native people reparations for taking their country, killing six million of their people and forcing them into reservations That being said, let us move into the question of tribal sovereignty, an idea that is over 200 years old. The federal government has declared that recognized tribes are sovereign entities within a...
As I write this, I’m preparing to sleep in my own bed for the first time since Wednesday (and it’s Sunday). Armed with my media pass, new Rocket gear and Erik Gjovik’s Nikon camera, I spent the last three days soaking up all that North Dakota Class B sports has to offer. As reported in the Nov. 14 edition, this was New Rockford-Sheyenne’s first trip to state for volleyball. Now, I’ve attended state tournaments before, i.e. archery and the Dakota Bowl in 2012, but this was a whole new ball game...
The Sunday before that incredible football game between the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills, I listened to the national anthem and something occurred to me that made me think of an interesting moment that happened several years ago. I was in Winnipeg on business and there happened to be a football game in town that night so I thought I’d stick around and catch the Winnipeg Blue Bombers against the Sacramento Gold Miners. The Sacramento team was the first Canadian Football League team in t...
On a recent trade and investment mission to Japan, we had just arrived at a Tokyo office to meet with the country's Minister of the Environment when news broke that North Korea had fired a ballistic missile toward the island nation. While that missile landed harmlessly in the sea, this brazen act left a trail of fear that is all too familiar to Japan, South Korea and our other allies in Asia. Yet also frightening is the thought of Japan today being entirely dependent on importing the energy it...
I don’t know why, but this past year I’ve gotten hooked on the TV reruns of Gunsmoke. And, the reason is easy to explain. I have cut out watching the news, most of which is on the national scene, but many nights I cancel out Fargo stations as well. Lots of it, if not most of the stories coming out of the east concern robberies, shootings, beatings, and stories you find on most national and small city stations. On the national scene, I have trouble watching and listening to what’s happe...
When we think of boxing, I’ll bet the first thing that enters your mind is Virgil Hill. And for those who may be fairly new to North Dakota, Virgil Hill grew up in Grand Forks, earned a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics and had a very successful professional career. Hill is the “Roger Maris” of the boxing world and since the summer of 1984, there have been a lot of people who have taken up boxing thanks to Virgil Hill’s success. Anyone who has an interest in boxing can find a club in which t...
The runoff election in Georgia will be a waste of money. All signs point to a Warnock win and the Democrats will end up with a 2-seat edge in the U.S. Senate. For the party of the president to pick up rather than lose seats is very unusual. Looking at the past figures, political observers were unanimous in their expectation that the Democrats would lose both houses of Congress. Noted Prof. James Campbell observed 30 years ago: “In midterm elections, the greater a party’s prior presidential vote...
