The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
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It's December 4, and I still don't have my Christmas tree at home decorated. A bare evergreen stands tall in the corner of the living room, staring at me. I'll get to it soon, I say. Traditionally, we'd decorate it on Thanksgiving weekend. It's something we've done with our kids since they were little. This year, nobody was really feeling it. My oldest had put up the tree in her apartment weeks ago, and my middle child spent hours decorating the display windows in the newspaper office last...
We all know that Fargo is the state’s largest city and has been most likely throughout the state’s history. But now, we’re beginning to see that Fargo is larger than we think. The most recent population estimate puts the city of Fargo at 133,000. When the 2020 census was taken, the population was around about 125,000. So it has grown quickly in four years. But that’s not all. When we look at the Fargo metro, especially the city of West Fargo, we’re finding it’s making its way as a principal m...
It’s that time of year (while I’m still digesting Thanksgiving giblets and deviled eggs), that I unveil my yearly Christmas list of things that I really don’t want, but will probably get, anyway. Receiving what you don’t want for Christmas is traditional for fathers like me. When I was a kid in the 1970s Christmas shopping for my dad, I’m pretty sure his list never included Brut Soap on Rope or the Smokeless Ashtray by Ronco. But it doesn’t hurt to wish – and then be plagued by disappointmen...
Complaining has become a taboo in today's society, with an abundance of advice online about avoiding complaints during the holidays or managing frequent complainers. While it's easy to dismiss complaining as harmless, the reality is it affects how we connect with others – and even how we view the world. Will Bowen, author and motivational speaker, suggests that the average person hears 500 complaints daily. This staggering number reveals how deeply embedded complaining is in our culture. A...
You probably know by now there’s a new movie coming out in late January called “Trapped,” that was filmed in North Dakota. It’s about sex trafficking and happened to be filmed in Linton. There have been several news reports about this movie and the director was recently interviewed on TV, but the segment didn’t specify whether the trafficking was happening in Linton or whether this was a starting point for the film. Regardless, it’s most likely going to be a good movie to watch and bring aware...
One of the great benefits of streaming TV is that I’m able to watch old network shows that I enjoyed while growing up in the 1970s. One of my favorite shows was “The Waltons.” When I was 11 years old, that prime-time show was a central part of my weekly ritual. Every Thursday, after dinner, my father and I boarded our Plymouth Fury station wagon and headed to the Del Farm grocery store located in a small suburban plaza one mile from our home. I pushed the cart as I helped my father work throu...
With November being high school football playoff time in North Dakota, there’s been a lot of talk about the teams that have gone through their respective divisions and onto the Dakota Bowl. As many of us know, high school football has been re-aligned again and there are actually six divisions of North Dakota high school football. They include AAA, AA, A, 9-man, 6-man and independent. And after looking at every team in every division, there are hyphenated community teams almost everywhere. S...
Since the chaos of election season has ended, and we’ve stopped receiving daily text messages asking us to contribute a few dollars to our favorite candidate’s legal expense fund or celebrity endorsement financing plan, we can turn our attention to more important matters, like gravy. Seriously, though, I’ve read several articles recently warning that Americans should avoid discussing political topics during holiday gatherings in order to avoid conflict, hurt feelings and damaged sheet...
Taking home a state championship is something few kids ever get to experience. This past weekend, our boys of fall at New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock ended their football season in dramatic and dominant fashion, by shutting down the LaMoure/Litchville Marion Loboes and setting a state record for most points scored in a championship game. This season has been epic since the beginning, and this team was like none we've ever seen. I got to see it all from the sidelines, standing right in the midst...
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) released its monthly Small Business Optimism Index this past week. Small business owners are slowly regaining confidence, but with an uncertain holiday season ahead, there’s a degree of trepidation. “With the election over, small business owners will begin to feel less uncertain about future business conditions,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Although optimism is on the rise on Main Street, small business owners are still f...
When we talk about immigrants in North Dakota, we’re often referring to people who came here in the late 1800s from Norway, Germany, England and Russia. Most of us today are descendants of those immigrants and we maintain that proud ancestry through festivals such as Norsk Høstfest in Minot, Sauerkraut Day in Wishek and the Ukrainian Festival in Dickinson. According to U.S. Census data, 40 percent of us are of German descent while 30.8 percent of us are Norwegian. The remaining 30 percent ar...
I’ve officially sunk to the lowest level of humanity. Yesterday evening, despite the protests of my conscience, I went out and played — close your eyes if you’re squeamish — golf. No, I’m not a millionaire. I didn’t hit the links to network or plan business acquisitions. I just went on a golf course to hit a ball around and feel smug about myself. What a horrid thing for a respectable taxpayer to do. It wasn’t even a real golf course. It was a Topgolf place. But I had to try it. I had to know wh...
In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, D.C., became the focal point of reverence for America's veterans. Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation's highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November 11,...
Often times we focus on the negative and how nothing seems to go right. Instead, we should always try to think of the glass as half full rather than half empty. Sometimes good things do happen to us, but we tend to live in the moment then forget about it. An event like that happened to me a couple of weeks ago and I want to share it with readers. I was invited to spend a morning with the staff at the Mystician, the Bismarck State College newspaper. When I got there, I met editor-in-chief Kayden...
Now that Halloween is over and I’ve almost polished off that jumbo bag of snack-size Almond Joy bars that I “forgot” to distribute to trick-or-treaters, it’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving. And speaking of gorging on holiday fare, Thanksgiving is an occasion when Americans express our deep appreciation for our country’s blessings by eating most of them. In preparation for this event, I like to adorn the house with a few decorations that remind my family of the historical significance...
The United States of America is a nation of immigrants. My ancestors came from Germany, Norway and Scotland, among others. We have people coming to our communities from the Philippines, Ukraine, Venezuela and other countries right now. Yes, there are barriers. No, it isn’t easy to integrate new people, especially when language limits communication and the American way takes some getting used to. When I first heard about the Uniting 4 Ukraine program developed by the Carrington City Council, I w...
There’s no doubt we’re having a mild autumn thus far. How many times do we go into the second half of October with overnight temperatures remaining above freezing or just barely freezing? And daytime highs, on select days of course, have been “hot” for this time of year, especially when the sun is shining. We’ll take it, right? We love an extended summer here on the northern Great Plains. But, there’s one problem with this scenario. On sunny days we see box elder bugs plastered on the sides o...
My brother and I just experienced what I believe was our longest one-on-one, face-to-face chat ever. (Yes, even longer than the long-ago heart-to-heart conversation highlighted by “Throw another dart at me…and another…nyah nyah, missed me…”) We had our differences growing up (maybe I shouldn’t have been so dismissive of his taste in music and TV shows, and maybe I was overly sensitive when he named a cow after my first girlfriend); but it was comforting to be able to talk in a civil manner abou...
At the Foster County Independent, we are 90 days into this national experiment to revive local news. As I look at what we’ve accomplished so far and the work ahead, I am encouraged. This month also marks a milestone for me in business. As of October 1, I have been the publisher of this newspaper for three whole years, and I am approaching the 10-year mark of my career in the newspaper industry (which will happen in February). A lot has changed since. I’m starting to see how we can both con...
It isn’t often that journalists write about themselves, but in this case, it seems timely and necessary to describe something I’ve dealt with the past 6 1/2 years. On Friday morning the urology staff at Mayo Clinic declared me cancer free, and I’ve been switched to an annual checkup after three-month, then four-month and finally six-month visits. After getting that news, I wasn’t sure my mind or body could be that relaxed. I didn’t want to go dancing in the streets, but the relief was incredible...
According to the National Retail Federation (motto: “Proudly middlemansplaining since 1911”), Americans set a Halloween spending record of $12.2 billion in 2023. (And that didn’t even include earplugs for muffling the seasonal onslaught of “spooktacular,” “boo-tiful,” “to die for” and other undead “dad jokes” shambling in from Father’s Day.) But, citing research from Lending Tree, “Newsweek” magazine says 59 percent of Halloween spenders plan to scale back purchases this year because of tighte...
I have been following coverage of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in local newspapers in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida for the past three weeks. Just yesterday, I came across an essay written by producers that I wanted to share, because it goes far beyond what I’ve seen so far and particularly addresses the impacts on the agriculture industry there. Big Sandy Creek Dairy in Madison, Ga. posted the following to their Facebook page on Sept. 29, just three days after Hurricane H...
As I write this article, the family of Jim Hillestad was preparing for his funeral that actually took place the afternoon of Oct. 9. Normally this weekly article doesn’t focus on something like the death of someone or their funeral. It’s most often the opposite of that and is geared toward optimism, but in this case, I feel compelled to recognize Mr. Hillestad in this forum. Jim was no ordinary individual for a lot of reasons, most notably he was 104 years old when he passed away on Oct. 2. Sec...
My handy-dandy “column topic radar” lit up when I encountered an internet article called “12 Phrases You’re Using That Make You Sound Unprofessional.” (This is not to be confused with the equally intriguing online article titled “12 Phrases That Would’ve Been 13 Phrases If That %$#* Black Cat Hadn’t Revved Up My Superstitious Streak.”) The author helpfully pointed out a number of utterances that can make you appear immature, unfocused, unhelpful, inflexible, whiney, too casual or too something...
The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently awarded over $500,000 in investments to support small businesses in North Dakota through grants awarded to Grand Farm and the ND Trade Office. Grand Farm is a network of growers, government, corporations, startups, educators, researchers and investors all working together to solve challenges in agriculture with applied technology. Grand Farm is part of SBA’s 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) and received funds under the ‘Domestic Manufacturing and Production’ initiative to help prov...
