Free Republic

MINOT, N.D. — A handful of Dakota Access Pipeline opponents took over the stage Wednesday, Sept. 21, as North Dakota's top oil regulator spoke to an oil industry group's annual meeting. The elders of the Oglala Lakota Nation referred to the pipeline as the "black snake" as they took the podium and microphone while Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms was speaking to the North Dakota Petroleum Council. "We want you guys to hear our voice and see us," one woman said. "We're not just some hashtag out there just making a scene. We want to be heard. We...

WASHINGTON - Former MSNBC progressive pundit Ed Schultz has found a new television home. The former Fargo area talk show host who famously switched from supporting conservative to liberal causes, announced in a YouTube video today that he’s now working for RT America, formerly called Russia Today. RT America is funded by the Russian government. Standing by a set of railroad tracks, Schultz announces: “For decades the American middle class has been railroaded by Washington politics. Big money corporate interest has drowned out a lot of voices. That’s how it is in the news culture in this country now. That’s...

GRAND FORKS – Continuing to play as UND/North Dakota wouldn't violate any NCAA rules unless fans continued to cheer for the Fighting Sioux and other schools complained about it.The NCAA passed rules restricting its members from using Native American imagery in 2005, and after a drawn out battle with tribes, lawmakers and university representatives, the University of North Dakota ultimately reached a settlement agreement and retired its Fighting Sioux name in December 2012. The school has played as UND/North Dakota ever since. But it's common knowledge in the Grand Forks area that the end of the national anthem at UND...

FARGO – Two of three men who confronted a group of juveniles they suspected of terrorizing a south Fargo neighborhood Saturday night have been charged with a crime. The case puts a spotlight on the risk residents take when they intervene in what they believe is illegal behavior, police said. And because the confrontation between three men and three 15-year-old boys involved firearms, the incident has parents wondering how close their children came to being shot.

DILWORTH – Police arrested a man here after they say he used a backpack lined with tinfoil to bypass a store’s security equipment and steal over $100 in merchandise, according to a WDAY news report. Police say Antonio Ramirez, 21, stole $133 in items from Wal-Mart here. Ramirez faces felony charges and up to five years in prison. Using a bag lined with tinfoil to circumvent alarm systems automatically escalates the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony, WDAY reports.

BARNESVILLE, Minn. – If you want to be a Catholic, you have to be 100 percent Catholic. That’s the lesson one family here learned after their 17-year-old son was denied confirmation after the priest at the Assumption Church here found a pro same-sex marriage post on the teen’s Facebook. The decision by the Rev. Gary LaMoine to deny the religious rite of passage for Lennon Cihak in mid-October shocked his mother, who said her son has gone to church every week and volunteered around the community in preparation for his confirmation this year.

FARGO – Former Fargo radio and TV personality Ed Schultz slapped down speculation this week that MSNBC may replace him in its weekday lineup, according to media reports. The New York Times reported Sunday, citing anonymous sources, that MSNBC was considering replacing “The Ed Show” in the left-leaning cable news station’s 7 p.m. weekday time slot, opting instead for a show hosted by Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein. MSNBC denied there prime-time programming changes in the works, TVNewser reported.

FARGO – Police have identified the victim of Monday's fatal fireworks accident as Jesse William Burley, 41. An eyewitness here says a Fourth of July fireworks accident decapitated the Fargo man Monday night. Chris Hanson, who lives down the street from the victim, was packing up his car to leave north Fargo’s Riviera Heights mobile home park when the accident happened as tornado sirens sounded just before 9:30 p.m. Burley, Hanson’s neighbor, was getting ready to set off a second round of what Hanson said he believes was either a homemade or illegal artillery shell firework. “He went over into...

FARGO - Ed Schultz, the former Fargo radio talk-show host and sportscaster, is being sued by a man who claims he helped Schultz get his current gig as host of “The Ed Show,” a daily political talk show on MSNBC. In a civil complaint in federal court, a broadcast engineer for NBC, Michael Queen, alleges that Schultz owes him at least $100,000 for the 25 percent stake of the show’s profits Schultz promised him. Queen claims in court records that he approached Schultz in January 2008 to ask him if he had anybody trying to land a TV show for...

A Fargo police officer is facing an internal-affairs investigation after leaving her department-issued gun in the bathroom of a sporting goods store on Friday, police said Monday. Jessica Homan, a nine-year veteran of the Fargo Police Department, left the handgun in the bathroom of Scheels in Moorhead, said Lt. Tory Jacobson. Store officials contacted Moorhead police when the gun was found, Jacobson said. Homan, who was not on duty, had already realized she had misplaced the weapon, and Moorhead police returned it to her on Friday, he said. Jacobson said Moorhead police contacted Fargo officers about the incident, which he...

October 14, 2009, the 30th annual awards ceremony of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund took place at the Asia Society in New York City. Lu Guang (卢广) from People’s Republic of China won the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his documentary project “Pollution in China.”

BEMIDJI, Minn. – One of the nine beaver sculptures placed throughout Bemidji has been removed, apparently for not meeting community standards. City Manager John Chattin said he made the decision to have “Gaea,” a sculpture done by Deborah A. Davis of Blackduck, removed from its location at the intersection of Fourth Street Northwest and Beltrami Avenue on Thursday. “Gaea” featured forms of the female body and natural elements including a tree and flower. The focal point of the front of the sculpture, located on the belly portion of the beaver, is a human figure rising from a sea of pinkish-red...

FARGO – A Fargo woman is accused of beating her husband with a handgun early today, causing bruises to his abdomen and a cut on his head, Fargo Police Sgt. Jeff Skuza said. The man had three loaded handguns in the couple’s apartment in the 4400 block of 47th St. S., Skuza said. The couple were arguing just before 4 a.m. when the woman took one of the guns, unloaded it and struck the man with it several times, he said. The man did not seek medical treatment. Alycia Marie Buethner, 30, was arrested on suspicion of simple assault.

A Moorhead man reported to have crashed his car into a pickup and mailbox on Monday told Fargo police he was being bitten by a tarantula at the time, Sgt. Mark Lykken said. The hit-and-run incident happened at about 6:50 p.m. Monday at 18th Street South and 29th Avenue in Fargo. Lee Alexander Solarski, 27, was reportedly driving a 1998 Dodge Stratus northbound on 18th Street when he lost control of the car, hit a Nissan pickup and a mailbox and fled the scene. Witnesses provided the car’s license plate number, and police were able to identify Solarski as the...

Banta Tile & Marble closed this week after the bricklayers union won a $2.9 million judgment against it. The small Loop Road firm laid off its 25 workers Tuesday and filed for bankruptcy liquidation Wednesday. "It's obviously devastating to all of our employees and their families, and to our customers," said Banta president Ken Morris. Banta installed luxurious tile and stone surfaces at thousands of homes and companies across the region during its 80 years in operation. But it was forced to close after U.S. District Judge John Jones III in Harrisburg agreed with earlier rulings in a case that...

Tim Kedrowski and his sons, Peter and Casey, are not pushovers for Bigfoot stories, but a frame on a game trail camera set up on their hunting land north of Remer has left them in a quandary. “To us, it’s very hard because we lean toward the skeptical type,” Kedrowski said in a telephone interview from his Rice, Minn., home. But after checking with neighbors and any other hunters who might have been walking through the dense woods at 7:20 p.m. on the rainy night of Oct. 24, he said they couldn’t imagine what else the image could be. Tim...

MADISON, Wis. -- The older brother of comedian Chris Farley says he's contemplating a run for lieutenant governor in Wisconsin as a Republican.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was recovering Sunday morning after he was beaten with a pipe after leaving the Wisconsin State Fair with his family Saturday night. The mayor is said to be in good condition this morning. Patrick Curley, Barrett's chief of staff said the mayor was resting at the hospital Sunday morning. Although he could not give details on the injuries, Curley said there were "no signs of major trauma." "He's exhausted obviously, but he's resting," Curley said. "All his vitals are good - he can carry on brief conversations." The incident occurred about 10:45 p.m. in the 8800...

GLENFIELD, N.D. – For the first time in five months, Janet Morgan was on her way to work... Open space and open jobs, which is why Morgan and thousands of others have moved to North Dakota during the past year. The state, once known primarily for its remoteness, is enjoying a new reputation as a haven amid economic collapse. It has the country’s lowest unemployment rate at 4.2 percent, a budget surplus of $1.2 billion and more than 9,000 unfilled jobs.

North Dakota’s only American Civil Liberties Union office in Fargo closed in February, a closure blamed generally on the poor national economy, but also to losses major contributors suffered in the Bernard Madoff scandal.... “The ACLU got hit pretty hard in this economic downturn as far as fewer donors,” Ring said. “There were a couple of really big donors that were really affected by the Madoff scandal.”