When guests start to stink…

I was pondering the other day how I'm going to manage the dozen guests who will be staying at our house before and after our daughter's wedding in July. Right now, my sleeping chart rivals a Super 8 guest list at t…

Miss USA? Or missing the old USA?

NARRATOR: There she is. Miss California. She has everything any woman could want… beauty… intelligence… poise… even a fancy swimsuit - but all that is about to be ripped away. In one moment, she will meet her desti…

Protecting parenthood

The Montana Supreme Court has a chance to set right a monumental injustice, and this time what hangs in the balance is not the fate of a death-row inmate, but something just as important - the future of the America…

Cookbook can fix a hankering for intestines

Through the years, readers have shared with me all kinds of unusual stories and family treasures.

A world without newspapers? Heaven forbid…

Fantasy novels often make the obscure obvious by means of a simple trick. What if electricity stopped working? What if children woke up one day and were all the size of adults? What if the moon were to disappear fr…

Let's look under hood of Constitution

Maybe it's me. I could just be missing something in the Constitution that authorizes the federal government to run private businesses or to enter into business on its own.

Fargo's fortitude not at all surprising

I've been preoccupied with the flooding in Fargo, N.D. the past couple of weeks. As many of you know, I grew up just down the road on the Minnesota side of Fargo and I've got plenty of relatives still living in the…

Senators and congressmen have 'AIG' on their faces

The word of the week is outrage.

Much adventure abounded in our mighty fortresses

I had a dream the other night that my family and I were living in an old brooder house that was torn down years ago on our Minnesota farm.

Divided loyalties … or just confused?

The hydra-headed monster we call our federal government is not going to be tamed by any one of us - certainly not by me, nor by Rush Limbaugh, nor even by someone as powerful as President Obama.

Principles and targets: When left meets right

Rush Limbaugh has been criticized for saying he hopes the president fails in his efforts to reshape the economy, most recently in this newspaper by columnist Ellen Goodman, who called Limbaugh "a talk radio host wh…

Loving boy bands is rite of passage

Conversation in the newsroom turned to boy bands this week when our entertainment editor mentioned she was doing a story on Stadium 14's new 3-D movie format. But to do that, she'd have to sit through "Jonas Brothe…

Invitation to a 'Tea Party'

Don't worry; be happy!

It's one thing to be optimistic and another thing to be right.

Wedding planning moves into overdrive

I got eight sheets of drywall for Valentine's Day and I'm thrilled - seriously.