Foster County Independent - The Official Newspaper for Foster County

Last week, I got to see “how the sausage is made.” As a member of the media, I was invited to watch DPRCA’s “The Christmas Show” before anyone else. This time, I was on assignment, shooting...

There was a recent funeral I attended and before the service, I was chatting with the funeral director, who has been a friend for many years. He was telling me that he was dealing with a separate...

Here’s an unpleasant holiday statistic: Average Americans are giving significantly less to their favorite charities this year than they did just four or five years ago. Average Americans have long b...

The countdown to Christmas is on. As I write this, December 25 is exactly 27 days away. That means I have a lot of shopping to do, and very little time. I came across this meme on Facebook a couple...

In this day and age you wouldn’t think something so simple as cellular telephone coverage would be so spotty, but it is. There are numerous “dead spots” across North Dakota, and depending on...

With every purchase you make — at coffee shops, fast food restaurants, chain stores and more – you are presented with a digital payment screen that asks you to leave a tip. On one hand you feel gu...

I’m sure just about everyone can remember the Dakota Access Pipeline protests that took place in 2016 and 2017. They lasted a long time and things got ugly. I’m sure some of you reading this were...

Well, that didn’t take as long as expected. In case you missed it, our federal government is now estimated to pay more than $1 trillion a year to service just the interest on our national debt ...

We’ve been blessed with beautiful fall days lately. I can’t help but smile as I run around doing errands and buzz from one meeting to another. The only thing that could have made this past week...

When I moved to Langdon in 1995, the company that owned the newspaper put me up in a hotel until I could find a place to live. It didn’t take but a couple of weeks and I found a decent apartment...

Yes, it’s that glorious season that so many pumpkin-spice addicts claim to be their favorite. I must admit that, I, too, succumb each year to the autumnal charms of fall, except for my seemingly nev...

Frustration is the word of the day in the newsroom. It’s Monday, and subscriber newspapers have not been delivered to New Rockford, Fessenden and other rural post offices on time for the second...

We have some friends who grew up in northeastern North Dakota, went to college at the University of North Dakota, then worked in Grand Forks for many years. Then, the husband got a job in Minneapolis...

According to my extensive research (approximately five minutes on Google when I should have been folding underwear), the Chinese zodiac system assigns an animal symbol to each year. It is believed tha...

Would it surprise you to know that a significant amount of the newspaper has been written via iphone these past few weeks? Well, unfortunately it has. In fact, any article written by me since the...

As a writer, this piece of information is, well, really stepping outside the box. It’s about an Australian magpie who took Melbourne by storm. Many of us know that Australians love their animals...

Hopefully, the rugged beard I’ve been sporting will motivate at least one of my fellow men to take better care of his health this November. Every November, you see, two charitable organizations,...

Somebody help me out here. I’ve been a football fan for a lot of years and honestly don’t know what is going on right now. Why is there so much hatred for Carson Wentz? My guess is it’s people w...

Kicking and screaming were not involved, but it did take our 19-year-old son Gideon an interminably long time to show an interest in soloing with the drivers license he obtained at age 16. Finally,...

I grew up understanding that being part of a community meant giving of your time and talents whenever possible to enrich others. My dad was a member of the Robinson Lions Club when I was a kid. My...

Dickinson State University was recently in the news for all of the wrong reasons. Five majors have been eliminated and several faculty laid off because of it. Students who were interviewed on TV were...