Category: Uncategorized

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about some bad bills in the North Dakota Legislature that attempt to ban books from our pubic libraries. One, SB 2123, was a goofy bill that just removed libraries from the list of places “dirty books” are allowed to be displayed. It was such a bad bill that … Continue reading A Letter From A Reader

Elections, as they say, have consequences. What’s been going on in Billings County, North Dakota, elections has been pretty consequential. Billings County is an important place. It's home to the Bad Lands, Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. And the Little Missouri State Scenic River. More about elections in a minute. You’ve been reading here … Continue reading Here We Go Again. The ‘Bridge To Nowhere’ Is Back.

It started last weekend. I began receiving weird text messages from unknown phone numbers outside the 701 area code. I didn’t think about it much the first time, but then they kept on coming, sometimes three a day. I ignored them, like I had been told to when I got my first cellphone. By the … Continue reading Dn’t Rspnd To Thse Txts!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a really bad bill in the North Dakoa Legislature, HB 1205, which starts banning books from our libraries. I've since learned there's another one, just as bad, SB 2123, which pretty much does the same kind of thing. One's in the House, the other in the Senate, … Continue reading Another Bad Book Banning Bill

Nothing in recent memory has stirred up as much emotion among Bad Lands enthusiasts as the goofy process now underway to rid Theodore Roosevelt National Park of its wild horse herd. The papers have been flooded with letters to the editor, and newspaper editors themselves have even published editorials telling the National Park Service to … Continue reading What To Do About The Wild Horses

I went to the North Dakota Department of Water Resources public hearing Friday on whether they should grant the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad permission to build a new bridge over the Missouri River between Bismarck and Mandan. To quote from the Department’s meeting notice, “The new bridge is intended to replace an existing … Continue reading How About A “Super Bridge?”

A lot of bad bills get introduced into the Legislature over the years. Most meet the fate they deserve—into the trash. But from time to time a bad bill becomes law because of timing. A Legislator catches a wave of public interest in a subject that’s in the news and takes advantage of that to … Continue reading Rise Up, Librarians. They’re Coming After Your Books.

DEAR PRAIRIE BLOG READERS, As of today I have signed off as a contributor to my favorite magazine, Dakota Country. I'm old, and I'm tired of a lifetime of deadlines. Today, January 1, 2023 (it's gonna take some time to get used to typing that number, and getting it right on checks) is the first … Continue reading Signing Off

Okay, indulge me one more time please, while I write just one more very personal column. Then I’ll shut up for a while, maybe even until after Christmas. I’m sitting in my hotel room at the Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Square in San Francisco. It’s a place I’ve stayed before—sort of. On December … Continue reading Heading Home

The Army docs fixed me up just fine and sent me back to Waikiki late yesterday, just in time for a Goodbye-To-Oahu supper. Joined my family and they splurged for dessert. Today it is off to the Big Island of Hawai'i and Volcanoes National Park (if it is still there). First, a Bloody Mary on … Continue reading VACATION RESUMED!