Author: Jim Fuglie

In a file cabinet at the Billings County Clerk of Court’s office in Medora there are four checks totaling $54,975 waiting to be picked up by members of the Short family, owners of a ranch about a dozen miles north of town. County Clerk of Court Juliana Hammerstrom is not holding her breath waiting for … Continue reading The Check’s In The Mail . . . Er . . . At The Courthouse

Note: This is a re-run of something I wrote a dozen years ago today, September 11, 2011. And now I'm going to forget what today's date is and have a good day in the garden. Yes, it has been a long ten years. On August 29, 2001, I sat beside my wife’s bed as she … Continue reading September 11 Thoughts Revisited

Okay, a couple of months ago I bit on Doug Burgum’s now-famous gambit to send $20 gift cards to anyone who would send him a dollar to help him qualify for the debate last week. I sent him a dollar on July 17. I immediately got an e-mail that said “Thank you for your donation! … Continue reading Gift Cards, Golf Balls, Toddler Shirts and Koozies. Good Grief.

Forty-miles-per-hour winds drove a pouring rain sideways outside the Billings County Courthouse in Medora last Thursday afternoon, washing the Bad Lands dust from a dozen or more cars and pickups (mostly pickups) parked on the streets outside. Inside, another storm was brewing, this one going on behind closed doors, as a handful of drivers of … Continue reading A Big Day In The Bad Lands

NOTE TO MY ONLINE SUBSCRIBERS: An earlier version of my story about Northern Lights contained a reference to being able to watch the movie online. Turns out that is a pirated version, missing much of the valuable footage from the original movie. So I removed that part of the story. But John Hanson says soon … Continue reading Oops.

An e-mail from an old friend, the filmmaker John Hanson, came out of the blue yesterday, the day before the newspapers all said we were going to have a Northern Lights display tonight. The front page headline in the Bismarck Tribune Wednesday blared “Solar storm to create Northern Lights.” Whoa. Not so fast. The correction … Continue reading Northern Lights

He was a handsome young Georgia Marine in spit-shined shoes, a white hat, and a sharply pressed dress uniform, a member of the United States Marine Corps Drill Team, stationed in Washington, DC in the mid-1950s. She was a pretty little country girl from North Dakota, working in the Washington office of a North Dakota … Continue reading And Then There Were None. RIP, Minot Mafia

Been about 10 days since I reported on the status of the Burgum for President campaign. I can report this morning that the e-mail machine is alive and well. I've gotten a couple dozen more e-mails, at least two a day, since Doug announced he was running. I haven't responded. Yet. But I might. You … Continue reading The E-mails Just Keep On Comin’

When I was a boy growing up in southwest North Dakota, I thought my Dad, Whitey Fuglie, was the most patriotic man in America. I know that I heard him say “God Bless America!” at least a hundred times. Maybe two hundred. Maybe several hundred. He really was a patriot. A World War II veteran … Continue reading The Most Patriotic Dad In America

Many years ago (well, actually seven years ago last Sunday), on the eve of the 2016 North Dakota Primary Election), I wrote in this space, “On Tuesday I’m going to vote in the Republican Primary Election for Doug Burgum for Governor of North Dakota.” As I’ve written here many times, I’m a Democrat, and I … Continue reading Just Another ‘Bored Billionaire’