Dustin Monke

Griemsman Sets Roughrider Days Barrel Racing Record

Tanner Aus, of Granite Falls, Minn., hangs on for an 85-point ride in the bareback riding on Flaxy Lady on Saturday in the Roughrider Days Rodeo at the Dickinson State Outdoor Arena.

When Jana Griemsman heard Dickinson received torrential rain on Friday night, she was discouraged.

The Piedmont, S.D., barrel racer said she and others scheduled to run Saturday evening at the Roughrider Days Rodeo were convinced they wouldn’t have much of a chance to finish in the money.

“We were all a little discouraged thinking we wouldn’t have a chance if the ground was wet,” Griemsman said. “But we got here, and we were all really impressed.”

Griemsman, however, was the one who left everyone dazzled. Three tight turns on a near-perfect path helped her set a Roughrider Days barrel racing record with a time of 15.51 seconds. Griemsman said her horse had struggled recently to make tight turns on the final barrel.

“I knew when she finished it tonight, my other two barrels were so close I knew I was going to have a good run,” Griemsman said. “I knew it was going to be good. I didn’t know I’d be winning it, but I was tickled when they announced my time.”

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New UND Logo a Missed Opportunity

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The University of North Dakota has a new athletic logo.

It’s plain. It’s simple. It’s uninspired. It’s, dare I say, everything the old Fighting Sioux logo wasn’t.

Yes, it’s serviceable, kinda sleek and very modern. But it’s just not all that great, especially considering the amount of money spent on the change.

UND spent more than $200,000 to change its athletic nickname from Fighting Sioux to Fighting Hawks, an already-unpopular move that elicited a collective shoulder shrug amongst the majority of supporters and alumni who would have preferred something as unique as the Sioux.

Then, the university dropped around $50,000 to New York-based SME Branding to design the logo. (That’s just a bit under the median household income in North Dakota, by the way.)

So forgive people who wanted something jaw-dropping and inspired that looked like it cost $50,000. Forgive them for wanting a logo that actually helped them embrace the blasé nickname forced upon the university and its supporters. Forgive the 71 percent of people who, in an unscientific Grand Forks Herald poll of nearly 6,700, said they “don’t like it at all.”

Some on social media even comically compared UND’s new logo to some weird mashup of the U.S. Postal Service emblem and the retired Burlington Northern Sante Fe logo. Others took to Photoshop and put “Just Say” in front of the logo because instead of the logo, critiquing that it looks more like a “NO” than “ND”.

Many people weren’t going to be happy no matter what logo UND trotted out. The Fighting Sioux logo and nickname removal will resonate for years. Some will never get over it. Others, including me, see missed opportunity in the Fighting Hawks nickname and logo. What drove it home for me was when a student-designed Fighting Hawks logo appeared on my Facebook page Friday.

UND student Blaine Durward of Trenton deserves a tip of the hat for designing his own Fighting Hawks logo that not only incorporated elements of North Dakota, Grand Forks and Native American heritage, but simply looked cool both on apparel and standing alone.

Durward even went so far as to show what UND football and basketball uniforms would like look with the his logo elements incorporated, as well as how it could be used on the Alerus Center football field and the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center basketball court.

His typography was solid, the colors were on point and the fact that he found a way to incorporate a negative space outlining the state of North Dakota into the Hawks’ beak and torso was brilliant. The only knock on Durward’s Hawk is that it was a bit on the cartoonish side. Still, it was a hundred times more powerful than the logo UND chose.

According to an article in UND’s Dakota Student newspaper, Durward didn’t even submit the design because he wasn’t part of a design firm — one of the stipulations UND placed on those who wanted to submit logo designs. Just think of the positive outpouring the university would have received if Durward would have been allowed to compete and actually won.

While the logo UND chose isn’t great, its decision isn’t the end of the world either. All of us — alumni, supporters and fair-weather fans alike — will deal with it.

Because at the end of the day, it is only a logo. It just isn’t a very good one.

Insight Interview With City Commissioner-Elect Sarah Jennings

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This week, Brock and I sat down to talk with Sarah Jennings, who was recently elected to the Dickinson City Commission at age 26.

Here’s the rest of the episode:

Kat Perkins Makes Waves With Musical Tribute to Late Friend Christina Grimmie

Kat Perkins is back in North Dakota on a week that her newest song is making waves in the music industry.

Perkins, a Scranton native, was featured on the homepage of music magazine Rolling Stone’s website throughout Tuesday for an article about the release of her song “Angels.”

Perkins recorded “Angels” as a tribute to her friend, the late singer Christina Grimmie, as well as the victims of the Orlando, Fla., nightclub shootings. She said Tuesday afternoon that the response to the song — which was written by her boyfriend, producer and guitarist Eric Warner — has been “overwhelming.”

“It was one of those cool, spontaneous moments for us to do what we know how to do and that’s make music and help people heal through music,” Perkins said. “It was helping us heal at the same time. It was a cool moment to see it come together like that and make an impact on others, because that’s what we set out to do.”

Perkins’ popularity rose after she appeared on season six of NBC’s singing competition show “The Voice.” There, she met Grimmie. The two were not only competitors but roommates who became fast friends.

Grimmie, a 22-year-old Christian pop singer, died June 11 in Orlando after being shot while signing autographs following a concert. Her shooter, 27-year-old, Kevin James Loibl, took his own life.

Perkins said “Angels” won’t be released on iTunes until Wednesday, at the earliest. When it is, proceeds from the single’s sales will be given to Grimmie’s family through a GoFundMe website. Perkins said Grimmie’s mother, Tina, is not only dealing with the loss of her daughter but has also been fighting cancer.

“She was everything to that family, not only as a daughter and an awesome human being, but her career was something that was taking off,” Perkins said. “They moved to L.A. for her. They fully supported her passion for making her music.”

Perkins will perform “Angels” live for the first time Saturday during a concert that begins at 3:30 p.m. at Medora’s Burning Hills Amphitheatre.

Leading up to the concert, she’s hosting the Badlands Rising Star Music Camp. It begins today with 28 singers from across the upper Midwest and as far away as California.

Perkins will coach and mentor the campers throughout the next three days. They’ll then perform as the concert’s opening act and alongside Perkins during her concert.

“It felt so right,” she said of the camp. “I’ve never been so excited about something in my life. Now in the light of the last week or so, it’s kind of a shining light in my life and I feel like I can carry on a really cool legacy for not only myself but for Christina and the other musicians to help our young ones not only become better singers and performers, but to be better people and to be kind and choose love.”

If you go

What: Kat Perkins concert

When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Burning Hills Amphitheatre, Medora

Opening act: Participants of Perkins’ Badlands Rising Star Music Camp, which is being held this week in Medora.

Online: Visit www.thedickinsonpress.com to watch the music video for “Angels.”

Mott-Regent Passes $8.7 Million School Bond Issue by Thinnest of Margins

MOTT — Mott-Regent is getting a new elementary school and making major improvements to its high school.

The district’s school board made that official Monday after a canvassing meeting found that 61 percent of the district’s residents voted in favor of the $8.7 million bond referendum. The project needed a 60 percent “yes” vote to pass.

Viola LaFontaine, the district’s new superintendent who is just settling into her role and doesn’t start full time until July, said she has heard the mixed opinions about the bond passing.

“When you get a vote this close, you know there’s opinions out there,” she said. “I’m hearing different things.”

The bond calls for a 32.01 mill levy increase, or about a $143 increase on $100,000 in residential property. Cropland will see an average tax increase of 93 cents an acre.

A total of 639 district residents in Hettinger, Adams and Stark counties voted on the bond referendum, with only 390 voting yes. It was such a thin margin, the school board waited to receive additional mail-in ballots at Monday’s canvassing meeting to officially announce the results. They received just one mail-in ballot.

Mott-Regent has 240 students in its system.

With the funding, the district will construct a new elementary school, remodel and renovate the high school building, and demolish the old elementary school.

Work could begin immediately, LaFontaine said. Though she and school board president Kevin Roth said the school is likely going to ensure all the legal aspects of the project are shored up.

“We’re not going to rush into anything,” Roth said. “We’re going to do our due diligence and do everything properly. Hopefully everything will come in under bid.”

Consolidated Construction was hired as the contractor at-risk for the project. LaFontaine said the company wants to start soil borings and sight surveys soon.

“Some of those things, I think we can do pretty quickly,” she said.

The school will officially approach the Bank of North Dakota this week about a 2 percent, 20-year loan.

“The main thing is we just move forward from here,” she said. “I’m a very open and willing to listen to people, and am looking to make this a positive move for the Mott-Regent School District. … This is an opportunity for the school to celebrate education.”

The district also canvassed the election of incumbent school board members Garret Swindler and Lucas Greff, as well as newly elected Jeremy Ottmar. All three ran unopposed.