Month: January 2014

Act 1, Scene 1 Tuesday afternoon, January 28, 2014 Stage is dark, we hear the sound of a cell phone ringing, ringtone music: “Take the Money and Run.” Man's Voice: Hello, this is Jack. Hi, Jack, Harry Hamm here. Boy it sure is nice to have the Governor’s private cell phone number so I don’t … Continue reading A One-Act Play

Well, I don’t want to always be the bearer of bad tidings, but it is good to know what is going on in the world around us. In the words of British philosopher Sir Francis Bacon, “Knowledge is power.” The Dakota Resource Council has brought us some knowledge this week about bad things happening around … Continue reading Here’s The Map North Dakota Leaders Didn’t Want You to See

The last thing anyone expected at Wednesday’s North Dakota Industrial Commission meeting was a motion made by Wayne Stenehjem, a second by Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, and a unanimous vote of approval by the two of them and Jack Dalrymple. But that’s what happened. Nor was the motion quite what we expected, but for now, … Continue reading A New Approach To “Special Places”

"Landowners protest plan” screamed the big headline across the top of the front page of The Bismarck Tribune today. I stand in awe of how well the oil industry’s public relations team does its job. I spent a lot of years in the PR business in my career, but I was never as good as … Continue reading Two Stories: A Phony “Landowners” Group And A Chickens**t Radio Show Scheme

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SATURDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon announced Saturday afternoon that James Henrikson was arrested in Mandan on federal firearms charges, namely being a felon in possession of firearms. Purdon said Henrikson was arrested by agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the Bismarck-Mandan Area Narcotics Task Force. The FBI, The North Dakota Bureau of … Continue reading K.C. Clarke: Two Years Missing

Well, it appears that other than the Spokane Spokesman-Review and a couple Spokane television stations there’s not much interest in the apparent murder-for-hire of a Spokane businessman last month, a crime for which a murder arrest was made earlier this week. The Spokane police keep talking about a North Dakota connection, but have not arrested … Continue reading Murder-For-Hire Followup: Weapons seized in North Dakota

“The lawlessness, big money and complex business dealings of the North Dakota oil fields likely prompted the shooting death of a South Hill man in his home last month, according to investigators. Spokane police detectives stitched together an intricate web of speculative business deals by Doug Carlile, who solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars each from … Continue reading Murder For Hire And A Plot To Kill Tex Hall

Jim 5. Ladies 2-2-1. No, that’s not a marriage scorecard, although if it was, it would be pretty close. Instead it is the results of last night’s pinochle marathon with Lillian, her mom, Marian, and her aunt, Junette. It was an evening long in the planning, and the first, I hope, of many this winter. … Continue reading Undefeated

Cold days are good for reading and writing, and I’ve been reading stuff written by some of my old friends—four of them, to be exact—as they hunker down inside their warm houses and offices waiting for above-zero days. Four thoughtful men, and they’re thinking about the future of our state, and writing about it from … Continue reading Oil Makes Things Possible