Columns

Once was – maybe. Maybe yet today. I’ve always had an interest in the history of our state, mostly the early days before roadways and fences and towns. The period when Dakota Territory was the “Old West”. Sometimes I wish I’d lived back then, just to say I saw it.When...

There’s common sense, good sense, nonsense, perhaps no sense. I like to think I have an abundance of the first two on that list, but there are those, in numbers I shall not reveal, that firmly adhere to the belief I am far more fittingly described by the latter two....

It is so common to do an interview and ask the question “So, where are you from?” and receive the response “Kind of from everywhere, I grew up an Air Force (or military) brat.” The friends we have had who have come to Minot courtesy of the U.S. Air Force share their...

Ever since a recent Monday night football game in Cincinnati when Damar Hamlin collapsed and went into cardiac arrest, we’ve been seeing news segments of the team of first responders, doctors and nurses who worked a miracle to keep a 24-year-old from dying on the...

My favorite coffee mug is a hand-painted gem that has been dropped, banged around, misplaced, had its lid replaced, and usually goes wherever I go. I’ve noticed that many coffee drinkers have a weird relationship with their favorite coffee mugs. They cling to them as...

While walking out of the library, I shrugged my shoulder to my ear, pinning my phone in place. This freed up my hands to rifle through my bag for car keys. I turned to push the door open with my back and suddenly said, “Hang on a second, Mom.”I don’t remember what we...

Well folks, it took 50 years, but North Dakota now has a three-class high school basketball system. The North Dakota High School Activities Association has now approved the starting a third class next fall. Advocates, mostly from the smaller communities in the state,...

Covering up from the very sun I traveled many miles to enjoy.Kim Fundingsland photos The author with a “legendary” barracuda. KEY LARGO, FLORIDA -- I’ll admit it’s a goofy concept, at least that’s one perfectly acceptable way of looking at it. I’m talking about a...

These stories about flying saucers just don’t seem to go away. People continue to talk about seeing them or evidence of them all over North Dakota. Numerous people continue to tell me about their experiences with UFOs. They tell me in confidence because they don’t...