Category: Monke

A presidential race without any winners

Like me, you’re probably getting sick of hearing about a presidential election still 17 months away.

Maybe that’s because, so far, the options have been pretty bad. None of the candidates throwing their hat in the ring are in any way captivating or world-changing, and no one has put forward a true vision for our country’s future.

Longtime readers know I’ve never been Obama’s biggest fan. But I’ll always acknowledge his ability to be presidential when he absolutely needs to be, and I respect how he stands up for his ideals and vision — whether or not I agree with him.

Not one candidate — Republican or Democrat — has displayed a truly presidential quality the American people want and need as we gear up for what’s sure to be the most talked-about election in history. Some look good on paper, others on TV. A few speak really well and know how to fi re up their base.

But are any of them actually presidential material?

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Young plans unique additions to Players

James Young, the new general manager of Players Sports Bar and Grill in Dickinson, stands in Players’ bar area Friday night. He hopes to bring more consistency to the business, as well as new flair.
James Young, the new general manager of Players Sports Bar and Grill in Dickinson, stands in Players’ bar area Friday night. He hopes to bring more consistency to the business, as well as new flair.

James Young’s earliest memories are cracking eggs in a large mixing bowl at his family’s restaurant in suburban Chicago.

Forty years and a lifetime of food service and hospitality industry jobs later, Young has brought his experiences to Dickinson as he takes over as the general manager of Players Sports Bar and Grill.

His biggest challenge, he said, is establishing a consistency throughout the food and customer service aspects of the business.

“In my opinion, there are three things that are going to make a restaurant successful … good food, reasonable prices, excellent customer service,” Young said.

That, he said, and reasons for people to keep coming back.

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Hike with Mike: Actor Michael J. Fox joins Parkinson’s fundraiser trip up White Butte

Submitted Photo by Roxee Jones Actor Michael J. Fox, middle, walks with Denise Lutz of New England, left, and Sam Fox, who is bicycling throughout the country raising money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation while also climbing the highest peak in every state, walk toward White Butte near Amidon on Sunday afternoon.
Submitted Photo by Roxee Jones
Actor Michael J. Fox, middle, walks with Denise Lutz of New England, left, and Sam Fox, who is bicycling throughout the country raising money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation while also climbing the highest peak in every state, walk toward White Butte near Amidon on Sunday afternoon.

 
AMIDON — Roxee Jones drove from Dickinson to White Butte in rural Slope County on Sunday morning expecting a quick hike up North Dakota’s highest point.

The Grand Forks woman never thought she’d spend time with a famous actor who is the face of a cause near to her heart.

Actor Michael J. Fox fl ew into southwest North Dakota on Sunday to join Sam Fox, the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s outreach and engagement offi cer who is making a threemonth journey across the United States to raise money for Parkinson’s disease research.

Jones said the actor actually led the hike up the butte, which is 3,507 feet above sea level.

“It was just an awesome experience — overwhelming that he showed up there,” said Jones, who teaches Parkinson’s wellness classes at the Grand Forks YMCA and whose father, Donald Lutz of Dickinson, lives with the disease.

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Storm knocks down tree, power lines in Dickinson

A strong thunderstorm that moved through Dickinson in about 15 minutes on Tuesday evening left downed power lines Tuesday night near the 600 block of First Street East.

A nearly 100-year-old tree took down lines near one residence. Less than a block away, lines were down across a car and in the middle of the street.

Linda Schroeder said when she walked out of her home after 9 p.m., she didn’t even notice the tree that had taken down the power line in her yard. She had called the Dickinson Police Department about the street being blocked by her small fl at-bed trailer that had been pushed into the middle of the street by high winds.

“He (the officer) helped me push the trailer up the street and he goes, ‘Hey, you’ve got a big branch laying over the tree,” Schroeder said.

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Stop trashing our town and pick up your $#!+

No one has ever considered me a hippie environmentalist. But if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s people who treat the land like it’s one big trash can.

Growing up on the farm, it was pointed out to me from a young age that my grandpa wanted the farm to look clean. The grass was always to be kept cut and neat, machinery was parked in rows or in a shed, garbage was meant for the can and junk shouldn’t be left sitting around.

I often wish some people I encounter around Dickinson would have grown up in a similar atmosphere, where lessons about cleanliness and respect for the community and land sometimes go out the window — quite literally in one case.

Continue reading “Stop trashing our town and pick up your $#!+”