Category: Uncategorized

A group of seven former and current (but likely to soon be former) employees of Meridian Energy Group, the California company which wants to build an oil refinery next to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the North Dakota Bad Lands, has filed a lawsuit against Meridian seeking to recover more than $600,000 in unpaid wages, … Continue reading Refinery Company’s Employees Sue for $600,000 In Unpaid Wages

A week or so ago I wrote here about the Billings County Commission's actions seeking federal funds to build their "Bridge to Nowhere" across the Little Missouri State Scenic River north of Medora, encouraging my readers to send letters in opposition to their scheme. My wife Lillian and I did so the very next day.  … Continue reading Two Very Important Letters

Tomorrow at noon, the 10th of July, 2020, on a somber hillside south of Mandan, North Dakota, a lone bugler will blow Taps, and a squad of American Veterans will fire a 21-gun salute to 1st Sergeant Hubert Garland Crook, United States Army (retired) as his cremated ashes are laid under a white marble headstone, … Continue reading Saying Good-Bye To An Old Soldier

"(Commission chairman) Jim Arthaud and the Billings County commissioners have the fight of their lives ahead of them if they plan on using eminent domain to put a bridge across our land." That was Sandy Short, wife of the late Con Short and daughter-in-law of former U.S. Congressman Don Short, in an interview with The … Continue reading Quick Takes, Fast Tracks, And The Destruction Of A Historic Ranch And A State Scenic River

Meridian Energy Group, the fly-by-night California startup company that proposes to put an oil refinery next to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota, came one step closer to being able to start construction this week when the North Dakota Supreme Court upheld the Permit to Construct the refinery, issued by the state’s Department … Continue reading I’m Pretty Ashamed Of North Dakota Today

And so we’re a week into Summer, emerging from what I think is the darkest Spring of my life (my personal style book says capitalize the seasons, but I am almost reluctant to do so this year—this Spring doesn’t really deserve any recognition). The only Springs darker that I can recall are 1968, the year … Continue reading Ribs And Tacos: It’s The Little Things That Matter, After A Long Trip Through The Darkness

The Lamoureux twins, Jocelyne and Monique, who led the United States Olympic Women's Hockey Team to a gold medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics, have been named recipients of the North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt  Rough Rider Award, the state's highest honor. Finally. They are the first and only North Dakotans ever to win Winter Olympic … Continue reading Congratulations, Jocelyne and Monique

Four years ago, on the morning after the 2016 North Dakota Primary Election, I wrote a column for The Prairie Blog with the headline “What The Hell Just Happened?” Doug Burgum pulled off one of the biggest upsets in North Dakota political history, giving Wayne Stenehjem a sound beating in their race for the Republican … Continue reading Nobody Ever Got Rich Betting Against Doug Burgum

I’ll pause on this Memorial Day to remember my namesake, Navy Aviation Machinists Mate First Class Carlyle James Fuglie. He was my dad’s “big brother,” although only about 15 months separated them. They joined the Navy together in the spring of 1942, just a few months after the U.S. entered World War II in response … Continue reading Remembering A War Hero

Old joke: What’s the difference between a bedtime story and a fishing story? A bedtime story starts “Once upon a time . . .” A fishing story starts “No shit, this really happened!” Okay, so here we go. No shit, this really happened! It was a Pandemic Friday morning. Much like this morning, grey and … Continue reading No Shit, This Really Happened!