Dr. Steve Hoffbeck

11/10/2017: One issue in a democracy is the balance of power between elected leaders and the citizenry. Shortly after the year 1900, a movement arose in North Dakota to establish a process of initiative and referendum, a method allowing voters to make laws themselves, rather than depending upon politicians and lobbyists. The key to initiative and referendum is found in the term itself – voters “initiate” a law. And referendum means a law already passed could be referred back to the people for a vote, allowing voters to “unmake” a law.

10/30/2017: The rivalry between UND and NDSU for football preeminence in North Dakota began long ago, in 1894. At first, UND and NDSU merely contended for bragging rights, but a new element arose after 40 years of gridiron competition. It was on this date in 1937 that UND hosted NDSU in for homecoming, with the winner getting a brand-new prize – a shiny “Nickel Trophy” shaped like a gigantic Buffalo Nickel.

9/13/2017: The year was 1863 and the Civil War raged, far away in the East. The Sibley and Sully military expeditions had driven Dakota tribespeople westward out of Minnesota in a number of battles following the 1862 Indian uprising. And in Dakota Territory there was a day when the Missouri River, near present-day Bismarck, ran red with blood.

8/24/2017: One of the new hazards on today’s highways involves distracted drivers who don’t pay sufficient attention to the vital task of driving a powerful automobile. Talking or texting on cell phones endangers other motorists, pedestrians, passengers – and the drivers themselves.

8/11/2017: Summer for some includes tennis. The ‘thwwwwack’ of a racket has echoed in North Dakota since the mid-1880s, when ‘lawn tennis’ infiltrated the region.

8/8/2017: Americans live in the dark shadow of nuclear weapons; developed during World War II for fear that Nazi Germany might get atomic bombs first. The idea of unleashing subatomic forces came from famous nuclear physicists, including Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi.

8/1/2017: There was a sailor from Rolla named George Raasakka who served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II. It was on this date in 1943 that the Navy launched the Callaghan, a brand-new destroyer, near Long Beach, California. George Raasakka became a coxswain on the Callaghan, helping steer the ship in every major battle in the Western Pacific from Palau to Okinawa, providing fire-support for troop-landings.

7/28/2017: The shock of exploding bombs on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941 brought the U.S. into the conflagrations of World War II. The subsequent fall of Asia’s rubber plantations “cut America’s rubber lifeline and brought the word’s most motorized nation face-to-face with catastrophe as its rubber reserve dwindled.”

7/3/2017: Today’s story is one of true love – a love story that unfolded near Bowbells, Kenmare, and in Minot. It begins in Bowbells in 1903. That June, an epidemic struck the town. A man got severely ill from typhoid fever, caused by Salmonella typhosa, a fearfully infectious bacteria in contaminated food or water.

6/26/2017: If a person knows how to swim, then nothing says “summertime” better than plunging into the water for a refreshing dive on a sweltering-hot day. Historically, one of the best places for swimming in Fargo has been the city swimming pool on the west side of Island Park – the oldest park in town.