The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
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This primary season has been quite the experience. On one hand, it’s positive to see so many North Dakotans interested in running for political office. We’re seeing primary challenges in both state and local government races, which means voters have choices in who they want to represent them over the next few years. On the other hand, more candidates means more political advertising. Citizens have started write-in campaigns, and announced their candidacy in newspapers, radio, TV and all ove...
Back in the 1990s when I lived in Langdon, I made frequent trips to Winnipeg, sometimes twice a week and most often took care of business, ate meals, stayed in hotels and attended football games in Winnipeg’s west end. Apparently, that part of town has changed dramatically since the ‘90s and nobody seems to know what to do about it. Crime, which was always restricted to the downtown area and almost always at night, has shifted. The crime rate in the west end has increased dramatically and des...
Now that two of my daughters are away at college and the one still at home basically views me as an ATM in an unfashionable neighborhood, I’ve tried to find myself a hobby. Since I’m not interested in activities that involve getting out of bed before noon on a Saturday, that pretty much rules out most manly-type-outdoorsy stuff that would require me to sweat profusely in a tent, clean an animal carcass or have one of my friends pluck a tick from a region of my anatomy that I can’t reach. Inste...
Over May 23-25, I attended my third North Dakota State Track and Field Meet for the New Rockford Transcript as a photographer. The first state track meet I ever covered was the year my stepbrother, Kaden Jensen, was a senior. This was the first time Kaden had ever competed at the state level as well. Kaden made the podium for three-of-four events that year. In his individual events, he took second place in long jump, seventh place in high jump and ninth place in triple jump. He also ran as the a...
As many of you know, there’s been a push to have recreational marijuana legalized in North Dakota. In April, supporters submitted a petition to the secretary of state to get it on the November ballot. Now, supporters need to find 16,000 valid signatures by July 8 to make it happen. Should they get the signatures, we’ll see it on our ballots when we vote in November. But it doesn’t appear this will be rubberstamped even though medical marijuana is already legal in the state. They’ll most likely...
It was the first time in my childhood I had an excuse for coming home late for dinner, but nobody — not even the cops — would listen. In the summer of 1972, when I was 10, Tommy Gillen and I built a dam in the creek on the other side of the Horning Road railroad tunnel. We’d been building up the dam for days to create our own three-foot pool in which we chased after crayfish and minnows — our own cool spot to while away the hot summer afternoons. We’d just completed adding another row of blocks...
GUARDS NEEDED! We are at crunch time!! We are in need of SEVERAL more guards!!! Accepting full- and part-time applicants, hours are flexible! Teenagers, the Carrington Community Pool needs your help! This is my third summer as publisher of the Independent, and I’ve seen a similar scene play out every year. There are also some open coaching positions in New Rockford, and seemingly every local business needs one, a few or many workers to fill their roster. The popular job site, Indeed.com, c...
Anyone who has studied North Dakota history knows that Pembina was the first settlement in what is now North Dakota in 1797. But there’s a lot about Pembina that isn’t common historical knowledge. Most of this history can be found in the Pembina State Museum and it proves that Pembina, and the surrounding area have had a colorful past that actually goes back long before Dakota Territory existed. One example is there is reference to the Red River ox carts that transported goods from St. Paul to...
Ida Ayres never served a day in the armed forces, but at 95, she knows plenty about the sacrifices of war. “Through six wars, I have been the daughter, sister, wife, mother and grandmother of family members who served, or are serving, their country,” Ida told me. During World War I, Ida’s father, Sam DiRenna, fought for the Italian army. DiRenna, who was born in a small town near Naples, was captured by the Germans and spent 13 months in a concentration camp. The German’s branded his forehea...
Our job as journalists is to keep citizens informed about what matters most and hold our government officials accountable for the actions they take. Some days we have it all figured out. Other days, not so much. This past week, we fell a bit short. An article printed on the front page of the May 13th edition of the Independent missed the mark. In fact, it was one of those articles worthy of winning “The Devil Make Me Do It” award. (Yes, that used to be a real award in the NDNA Better New...
A year after an announcement was made to paint murals on the side of a downtown Minot grain elevator, it appears the project is going forward. Australian artist Guido Van Helten was in Minot recently to survey the premises and get a better idea of what exactly he will be doing. A specific timeline hasn’t been announced, but originally, Van Helten was going to work through last summer to paint the elevator. One thing is certain. The Minot Council on the Arts got the right guy to take on this j...
As I sit here admiring my 88-cent container of mustard, I can’t help feeling self-conscious. I know that restaurants advertise their “value menus” and retailers offer no-frills knockoffs of their glitziest products, but I keep picturing the corporate CEOs loathing such concessions as a necessary evil to appease the (ugh!) cheapskate rabble. (“I thought all the franchise owners got the memo to partner with Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and upsell customers the Eternally Happy Meal!”)...
Are you willing to risk your health just to have straight hair? In 2022 a study was released that links the use of specific hair straightening chemicals to an increased risk of uterine cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has since evaluated the study's claims, along with others, and taken steps to ban the sale of these chemicals in the U.S. I agree that a ban should be put in place for the use of these chemicals, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people have no...
A post on Facebook about Theodore Roosevelt revealed a piece of history that was quite shocking mostly because I’ve never seen anything about this while there are multiple articles, TV spots and museum entries in south Florida. Roosevelt and his Rough Riders spent some time in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa before disembarking for the Spanish-American War in Cuba in 1898 where the famous San Juan Hill battle took place. The Rough Riders were in Tampa just a short time, but while there m...
My mother would have been considered eccentric had she been financially wealthy. She would do almost anything - and wear almost any silly costume - to bring joy into the lives of others, much to the embarrassment of her six children. But she is wealthy in the ways that really matter, and her greatest wealth is teaching the art of laughter. She knew the benefits of laughter long before scientific studies confirmed them. When she wasn't laughing herself, she was teaching us how to. Most nights...
“My name is Derek Petteway. I have been out of MRCC custody since November 28th, 2023. While at MRCC I was able to obtain my CDL, and since have found a very fulfilling career path because of it. I started a job as a crane rigger about two months ago. This job has treated me very well and it will provide me with outstanding benefits and a great retirement plan. The end goal for me is to eventually become a certified crane operator one day. “None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for t...
There was a report in North Dakota newspapers a couple of weeks ago regarding the closure of a Crosby grocery store. For months there were efforts to save it, but the closure happened and forced the closing of several other Jason’s Super Foods stores on the northern tier. Crosby is a community of more than 1,000 people and is the Divide County seat. The residents are now faced with having to travel if they want to visit a bonafide grocery store. Crosby has a Dollar General and another b...
The venerable comic strip “Gasoline Alley” is wrapping up a storyline in which the dastardly assistant mayor schemed to change the town’s name from Gasoline Alley to the ostensibly more modern Electric Acres (without even offering a compromise such as Hybrid Hollow). Sentimentality saved the day in the funnies, just as it usually applies the brakes to abrupt municipal name changes in the real world. (“I have no idea which jurist, general or fur trader our town was named for. Neither did my fath...
Spring sports are a crap shoot. One week, we don’t have anywhere to go. The next, we have all the places and not enough people to go. We get it all in every chance we get. On Tuesday, your local newspaper had four people at five different events. New Rockford hosted a doubleheader of high school baseball, first Carrington vs. LaMoure, followed by SNR vs. LaMoure. In the NR-S gym, the elementary club volleyball team took on the Benson County Wildcats. Carrington hosted softball, where Carrington...
Editor’s note: This article is educational and is not intended as medical advice. It simply explains the two types of vertigo and the various ways vertigo affects people. Most people don’t like to talk about medical issues, although in some cases, those issues are brought into the public domain as people suffer from conditions manifested by the disease or condition. One of them is vertigo. Simply put, vertigo is uncontrollable dizziness that can last a few minutes up to a week in some severe cas...
Bathroom floor tiles that weigh you, analyze your gait and evaluate your fall risk. Bathroom mirrors that initiate telehealth conferences based on your complexion or facial tics. Toilet seats that check your vitals (temperature, heart rate, oxygenation). According to the Wall Street Journal, these marvels (and others – such as self-cleaning capacities and soothing infrared light) could be commonplace in upscale homes within the next decade. If so – and if the restraining orders expire so I can...
The news came to me in a text message on Sunday. Lloyd Omdahl, former lieutenant governor of North Dakota and writer of opinion columns published across the state each week, passed away at the age of 93. Although he has been writing his weekly column since before I was born, I did not know much about Mr. Omdahl until I began working for the Transcript in 2015. Truth be told, although I read newspapers, I didn't really engage with his writing much. If I read the opinion page, I was often fixated...
The measure to eliminate property tax is being circulated, and signatures collected to place it on the November ballot. There is also a strong, concerted effort to once again scare voters to go against their own best interest. The measure is simple and does two things: it provides huge RELIEF by using excessive state revenue to replace what we are currently paying in property taxes. We get to keep that amount every year! And it creates true REFORM by stopping taxation based on valuation increases, ending confusing mill levies and no longer bein...
There seems to be a lot of talk among the baby boomer generation about the generation of young Americans today who are just making their way in the world. Unfortunately, the talk isn’t so good and it’s mostly about alleged lack of motivation, lack of social skills and mostly about not wanting to work, but rather playing video games and living with parents. I’m a baby boomer too and recently retired from the professional world. In my career, I’ve worked with all kinds of young people and I still...
“It wasn’t my fault the car in front of me hit me. I glanced at my text message for only a second when our bumpers collided.” “How could the car in front of you hit you?” “The idiot stopped to let a deer cross the street — and dented my front bumper with his rear bumper. Yet the cops wrote me up for texting while driving!” “It’s because of people like you that April has become National Distracted Driving Awareness Month! Safety advocates are urging drivers like you to avoid texting or watching...
