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!

I’m having a hard time concentrating these days with all these whistles being blown in my ears. My phone keeps ringing. People who work for Meridian Energy, or used to work for Meridian Energy, want to talk to me. So I listen. And I ask a few questions, about the status of that oil refinery … Continue reading Those Whistles Just Keep On Blowing

Billings County Commissioners have raised the stakes in their quest to build their “Bridge to Nowhere” across the Little Missouri State Scenic River north of Medora, but the family on whose land the bridge is proposed to be built is not taking it lying down. At a County Commission meeting last month, the Commissioners, without … Continue reading “Bridge To Nowhere” Takes A Couple Tentative Steps Forward

Four years ago today Doug Burgum was criss-crossing North Dakota in a motor home with “Burgum for Governor” in big letters on the side, running against Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem in the Republican Primary Election just a few weeks hence. His campaign theme: Get rid of the “Good Old Boys” network in Bismarck. In what … Continue reading A ‘Good New Boys’ Network?

I can’t quite figure out what is going on with the proposed refinery that Meridian Energy Group says it is going to build next door to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Just about exactly two years ago this week, a company called Martin Construction from Dickinson, just down the road from the park, went into the … Continue reading Whither the Refinery?

Here's a re-run from a few years ago. Because I can't think of a better story to tell on Mother's Day.   I’m thinking of my mom on this Mother’s Day, as we all are. She’s been gone more than ten years now, but it seems like only yesterday I was making those semi-weekly trips … Continue reading Body and Soul: A Mother’s Day Story

Geez, Doug Burgum must be really pissed off at Jeff Delzer. Burgum’s North Dakota’s Governor. Delzer’s a State Representative from District 8, and a powerful one—chairman of the important North Dakota House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. Some say he’s the most powerful of all state Legislators. Also one of the biggest. Kind of pumpkin-shaped. A … Continue reading Heavyweights, Lightweights, and Republican Squabbles in 2020

The newspaper stories this morning said “North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum sad he intends to allow closed businesses to reopen Friday, May 1.” Well, isn’t that special. A great big Maybasket for North Dakota. Happy May Day. The rest of the stories: “The State Health Department on Monday also announced 75 new cases of COVID-19, … Continue reading This Is Just F**king Stupid