Category: Law, Government, Politics

"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

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to spend an hour with Professor Debra Dragseth’s Business Ethics class at Dickinson State University. It was their last class of the semester, just two days prior to their final exam. The students were attentive and polite, but mostly unenthusiastic, as students will be in the waning … Continue reading Another Day, Another Fireball: Surprise–Heeeeeere’s Warren Buffett!

Here are a pair of Christmas poems from North Dakota Poet Laureate James W. Foley. Billy Peeble's Christmas is probably the saddest and happiest and best Christmas poem ever.   A Child’s Christmas Prayer By James W. Foley Dear Lord, be good to Santa Claus, He’s been so good to me; I never told him … Continue reading A Pair of Christmas Poems

Well, the Attorney General did good. At a meeting of the North Dakota Industrial Commission this morning—Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is one of three members, along with Jack Dalrymple and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring—our Attorney General revealed his plan for protection from oil development, or at least consideration of protection, for a list of what … Continue reading A List And a Process–Thank You Wayne Stenehjem

THE NEW WEBSITE So now the North Dakota Health Department has activated its new Oilfield Environmental Incidents website, one that, as I understand it, has been in the works for a long time, but was activated in response to criticism that they held onto information from the major Williams County oil spill last fall (reportedly … Continue reading December Oil Patch Roundup