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In the olden days, when I was a young reporter for The Dickinson Press, one of the assignments for the newsroom staff was to check with the Police Department every day to see if there was any news. We’d wander across the street to the station and take a look at the daily log. Once … Continue reading Missing Girlfriends, Drunks and Locked Doors

Sometime later this month the State Historical Society of North Dakota is going to officially announce the approval of a new historic neighborhood in Bismarck. I’m pretty excited about it, because I live in it.             Two years ago last week, the Highland Acres neighborhood in west Bismarck was named to the National Register of … Continue reading YAY! I Live In A National Historic District!

This is a story of a tragic, ironic, almost unbelievable, twist of fate. Some of you remember I wrote a series of stories, beginning in July of 2017, about an illegal bridge across the Little Missouri State Scenic River west of the Killdeer Mountains, built by a fellow named Wylie Bice, a wealthy rancher with … Continue reading The Bridge That Should’ve Come Down

I should have been in Wahpeton today. I should have been at the funeral of my best childhood friend, Max Reinke. But I just couldn’t take another funeral right now.  I’ve been to too many lately. But, luckily, my friend Kevin Carvell says, none of them were mine. I know, it’s just a function of … Continue reading Too Many Funerals. Sorry, Max.

Well, I could write about the election just past, or I could write about bacon. I like politics—most of my readers know that. But ALL of my friends know of my bacon fixation. I’ve liked bacon all my life, but never so much as when we moved into this house 15 years ago with its … Continue reading Screw Politics. Let’s Talk About Bacon.

I’m stuck at home for a few days nursing some bruised-up ribs and a cut-up hand after a tumble in the Bad Lands, but I can type, so I’ll a share a few political thoughts with you in the days leading up to the June 11 North Dakota Primary Election. Congress First, you need to … Continue reading Election Thoughts

IN FLANDERS FIELDS By John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were … Continue reading The Wars, Remembered On Memorial Day

(NOTE: This article first appeared in the May issue of High Plains Reader.) I am an old man. I have been a politics junkie most of my life. I have been involved in many campaigns, but have not run for office myself. Each time someone has suggested I do that, I tell them the same … Continue reading SHOTGUNS, DEAD DOGS, LIARS AND COURTROOMS

What has been will be again,    what has been done will be done again;    there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 Hmmm. Nothing new under the sun. Perhaps North Dakota Governor Douglas Burgum needs to spend a little time with his Bible. Wise man, that Solomon. I’m referring to Burgum’s much ballyhooed announcement of the … Continue reading Much Ado About Nothing

In an attempt to share with you what’s going on in my phone’s text messages, without offending your sensibilities, I’m going to keep this short. As I mentioned in an earlier column, I continue to get text messages from the Trump campaign after North Dakota’s failed Presidential candidate Doug Burgum shared my personal contact information … Continue reading Headed For Mar-A-Lago?