Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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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 mom took us to many activities and events led by volunteers, including 4-H and Sunday School. Both my parents served on church boards and committees, and I remember watching my grandmother prepare and serve meals at funerals and other special events in her church. We volunteer. It’s what we do. T...
For the last 4 months I have been traveling in North Dakota, exploring the ways that ordinary folks in rural areas are revitalizing their communities through immigration. It has been a heartwarming journey. Our state is made up of good people with abundant common sense, whose memories stir them to go extra measures time after time to help new neighbors. It is the North Dakota way. So many of our churches have an ethnic heritage and memory. As I started this journey and realized that a new wave of Ukrainians is entering North Dakota, it seemed...
This National Co-op Month, I recognize that many of the cooperatives operating today were established for the benefit of people. It didn’t take much effort to put together a list of cooperatives we do business with on a daily basis. After all, I’ve been a member of cooperatives since I was a young girl. My extended family have been members of Northern Plains Electric Cooperative (formerly Tri-County Electric) my entire life. The family farm and my parents’ home are served by this all-i...
When I read a news piece about the passing of longtime California senator Dianne Feinstein a few weeks ago, some of the comments left at the bottom of the online article made me sad. Feinstein suffered a very public health decline before she passed. Anyone with the slightest sense of empathy would think “there but for the grace of God go I” – as every one of us could suffer a similar decline before our time finally comes. Empathy is in short supply these days, however. I don’t recall the exact w...
The federal government has entered a new level of dysfunction. It’s like being in the middle of your favorite soap opera when the power goes out. For the first time in U.S. history, the House of Representatives has ousted its duly-elected speaker, Kevin McCarthy of California. “They don’t get to say they’re conservative because they’re angry and they’re chaotic,” McCarthy said of the eight Republican colleagues who voted against him. “That’s not the party I belong to. The party of Reagan was if...
This year marks the 83rd celebration of National Newspaper Week. From October 1-7, newspapers across the country are affirming their responsibilities to the communities they serve. I've written a lot about our industry in this space over the last year, yet I find myself compelled to do it again. So much has happened in the past several weeks. In August, we changed the distribution process for every newspaper we print, and that has affected when many of our readers receive their print edition,...
Nearly 220 million American adults turn to their local newspapers regularly for news and information they need to stay informed, feel more connected to their neighbors and improve their lives and communities. That readership number is based on a recent national study by independent research firm Coda Ventures for the America's Newspapers organization. Most likely, the number of readers is higher. Many people who say they receive news on their phone or from social media instead of newspapers fail to understand that the sources for those stories...
School has started and there’s a teacher shortage across the nation. It’s a well-known fact that burnout is a common reason. I might have a solution or two that could be tried. We have dedicated teachers who are reluctantly leaving their teaching positions heartbroken, physically exhausted and emotionally drained, and returning to their families who have sacrificed the attention and energy of their mom or dad for years during each school year. Teachers are not trained in emotional disturbances, extreme academic needs and trauma-affected chi...
I hear that a lot from people who regularly buy PowerBall tickets, spend hours at the blackjack table and make frequent trips to the casino. My grandfather bet on horses at the racetrack in Fessenden when I was little. There hasn’t been horse racing, except for maybe an Indian Horse Relay, at the Wells County Fairgrounds in decades. My husband and I went to the casino for our anniversary several years ago. We each put $20 in the slot machines. We were both broke in a few minutes, so we headed o...
Last week, the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball team set the world record for highest attendance at a women’s sporting event, EVER. The world was watching as they packed 92,003 people into their stadium. This is a college volleyball team, folks. Forget the WNBA! Yes, those players and coaches love their hometown crowds. New Rockford-Sheyenne and Carrington hosted their respective season home openers for volleyball this past week, and both put on a good show and defeated t...
Sometimes I wonder what people expect from local newspapers like the one I work for, and from local reporters like myself. While readers regularly thank us for our great coverage, we’ve also been told we’re too negative, and that our only job should be to “build up” our community with positive news. Recently I was reminded what it means to be a good reporter, and why I work for two of the best newspapers in North Dakota. Some may have heard about the small-town newspaper in Kansas that was rec...
I’m one of the lucky ones. I have been selected to be part of two surveys for the U.S. Census Bureau in the past year. No, these aren’t the types that ask nicely for your participation, offer you a free meal or a dollar or any token of appreciation for your answers. Rather, they are required by law, as is the decennial census that all Americans must fill out. Once you get “chosen,” you’re stuck. They send you emails and letters that don’t stop until you answer all their questions, sometimes m...
I would like to thank the New Rockford City Commission for allowing me to voice my concern about the city providing mosquito fogging at the golf course for free. It all started when the city minutes mentioned that the city fogged at the golf course. A telephone call confirmed that the city was mosquito fogging the golf course for free. My signed complaint letter addressed to the City Commission about the free mosquito fogging was filed in City Hall on July 5th. The City Commission has stated that no complaint will be addressed unless it is...
The winds of change are howling. Last Friday, Aug. 18, was the last time our staff had the opportunity to see and inspect our newspapers before they entered the postal system. Effective with the Aug. 28 edition and for the foreseeable future, we will no longer be unloading totes and bundles of addressed newspapers off pallets and delivering them to the local post offices in Carrington and New Rockford. Instead, our printing company will take all the print copies of both the Independent and the...
Both newspaper offices have been a flurry of activity lately. We’ve had many visitors this summer going through our bound files, or newspaper archives, to gather information published over the past 100+ years. I’m sure our guests in Carrington have heard their share of newsroom banter, as noise flows through those uninsulated faux walls like the North Dakota wind through a screen. Author Karri (Bye) Theis brought her daughter and a friend to the Carrington office to do research for a book she...
I have many concerns about the proposed merger of CenDak and Fessenden Co-op. The joint letter sent out to members claims that a merger will maintain local control, expand access to talent, and allow the implementation of best practices. The past acquisition of Equity Co-op by Fessenden Co-op, resulted in a complete lack of local control at the Sheyenne house. With no onsite manager I have seen many things deteriorate, and locals have disagreed with hiring, safety and day-to-day operational decisions. What is meant by "expand access to...
It was altogether fitting that James Wilson, second in importance only to James Madison as an architect of the Constitution, would be nominated by President George Washington to the original Supreme Court. From this position, Justice James Wilson could defend the Constitution, which he had done so much to shape and define. As it turned out, Wilson’s leading role as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention was his greatest achievement, the high point of his life. Not that such influence is without cause for celebration. Hardly. It’s rather th...
Hello everyone! I’m definitely a new face around here, but for the past nine weeks, I have had the opportunity to intern at the Foster County Independent and the New Rockford Transcript. This summer internship has been amazing, and I have learned so many valuable skills. I am a 2022 graduate of Carrington High School, and I just completed my freshman year of college at Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. My plans in the future vary a little bit from the status quo. Eventually, I hope to obtain a degree in Graphic Design a...
Are you tired of financing a tank of gas? Are you afraid your armpits might burst into flames if you leave the air-conditioned confines of your home? Or maybe, like our family, you blew a decade’s worth of vacation savings on a trip to New York City over the Christmas holidays, and you’re still having night terrors about subway rats dancing to Broadway show tunes. Whatever your reasons, if you are in the midst of a summer staycation this year, the following is a brief guide for enjoying the exotic destination of your home address. First, a stay...
John Jay: first Chief Justice, diplomat, founding era giant When the newly-elected President George Washington turned his attention to the historic opportunity of nominating citizens to fill seats on the first U.S. Supreme Court in 1789, he knew exactly whom he wanted to name the nation’s first Chief Justice: John Jay. Jay enjoyed Washington’s confidence in a way few of his contemporaries did. Apart from Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who was elected as the United States' 27th president before ascending to the High Bench, nobody has com...
This Tuesday, Carrington is one of 17 communities across North Dakota hosting National Night Out events. The National Night Out program celebrates its 40th year of connecting law enforcement with the broader community. It all began with Matt, a volunteer with the Lower Merion Community Watch in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, Penn. in 1970. As one of a thousand volunteers in his area program, he prepared a newsletter to keep his colleagues informed about what was happening, and he learned...
As a heat wave hits America from coast to coast, it’s hot outside – but cool inside, thanks to the triumph of air conditioning. For most of human history, there was little people could do to avoid heat. During the day, it drove people outside of their homes to enjoy the shade of a tree or to take a refreshing dip in a lake or river. At night, folks in cities slept outside on their porches, roofs and even fire escapes. When I was a kid in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, few homes had air con...
Judicial profiles to better understand the Supreme Court We citizens know a lot about our presidents – their background, philosophy and character – and sometimes more than we care to know. The same is true of our congressional representatives. By comparison, we know relatively little about our Supreme Court Justices. This needs to change. A better, indeed, more fully-informed historic understanding of the views, experiences, temperament and character of the men and women that have served on the nation’s High Bench will, in the name of civic...
It’s been a wild week of baseball. I photographed the Babe Ruth District 4 Championship on Sunday in Hillsboro. The contest spanned two games, 17 innings and nearly six hours from first pitch to last photo op. Hats off to the New Rockford Black Sox for hanging tough against the HCV Blue Sox and finding a way to come out on top! The Legion district championship was played in Steele just as this edition of the Independent was going to press, and it was Carrington Post 25 vs. New Rockford Post 3...
Don’t thank Hollywood for “Sound of Freedom.” The movie, about a former Homeland Security agent who goes to Colombia and rescues more than 50 kids from child sex traffickers, is an action-thriller – a drama. But it is based closely on the true story of Tim Ballard and his personal fight against one of the planet’s most evil and profitable criminal activities – human sex trafficking. “Sound of Freedom” was actually finished in 2018. But because it couldn’t get Netflix or a major studio in Hollywo...
