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Tuesday, August 9, 2022 - The North Dakota Department of Commerce is inviting communities to apply for the “Artists on Main Street” program, which offers technical assistance and funding for local art projects. Each year a different community is selected. The first of the 5 planned grants went to Bowman last year. Special contributor Brandi Malarkey went to Bowman to gather interviews about the project for a feature we first aired earlier this summer. ~~~ Tom Isern shares a Plains Folk essay titled “Big History.” ~~~ Prairie Public music host Scott Prebys joins us to preview this year’s “Night of Great Jazz” ~~~ Speaking of music, we have a TellTale story from Germans-From-Russia folk singers Joe Gross of Bismarck and John Gross of Napoleon.

Monday, August 8, 2022 - We begin with comments from the public about former Main Street host Doug Hamilton, who passed away last Friday. Then Carrie Wintersteen, the executive director of Theatre B shares a heart-felt essay about Doug, an exceptional actor and an exceptional person. ~~~ We also talk about Doug with Bill Thomas, Prairie Public director of radio. ~~~ Minnesota author Brian Freeman took over the Bourne franchise, but that’s just one of his many writing projects. A new thriller released tomorrow is “I Remember You,” a gripping psychological thriller about a woman haunted by terrifying memories – of someone else's life. ~~~ Chuck Lura shares a Natural North Dakota essay about pocket gophers.

Few county officials in North Dakota have been removed from office, but one of the most dramatic cases reached the state Supreme Court. Sioux County State’s Attorney George H. Purchase was serving his second term when on this date in 1927 five voters filed charges against him for misconduct in office, malfeasance and habitual drunkenness. The accusations prompted Gov. Arthur Sorlie to suspend Purchase.

Thursday, August 11, 2022 - With the recent death of our colleague Doug Hamilton, we’re thinking a lot about grief. Here to talk about the stages of grief and how to work through them is Janna Kontz, a grief specialist and Chaplain with Hospice of the Red River Valley. ~~~ Farmers and ranchers try to protect their soil and land, sometimes getting paid by the federal government to do so. For decades, it’s been a pretty routine corner of agriculture. That may be changing, with President Joe Biden announcing a goal to conserve 30 percent of the country’s lands by 2030. Harvest Public Media’s Elizabeth Rembert reports from Nebraska, where a wary governor has a lot of questions. ~~~ Sue Balcom joins us to discuss problems with pickles.

Friday, August 12, 2022 - James Arnett is the author of Bean Fate, a novel based on a true crime, centered in the village of Bienfait in Saskatchewan, but involving towns in North Dakota as well. It’s the story of a prohibition-era murder investigated by a rookie cop. ~~~ Dave Thompson joins us for this week’s news chat. ~~~ Pride events are underway in Fargo. It comes at a time where a number of topics related to that community have been making headlines. We visit with Mari Hall, one of the organizers.

In the early history of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, the offices were in the basement of the original Capitol. It wasn’t a lot of space, which soon became a problem. In 1913, Secretary Orin G. Libby of the State Historical Society, reported, “the crowded condition of the museum rooms… made it impossible for the Society to enter into any considerable collecting …”

In 1913, Orin G. Libby, secretary at the State Historical Society, reported that the curator of the society was anxious to secure representative collections illustrating the early life of the state’s various nationalities. Only one had proper representation, according to Libby; and while you might think that it was the German, Norwegian or indigenous populations, you would be incorrect. The only group reported as having good representation was the Icelandic population.

On this date in 1995 the Bismarck Tribune reported that Nels Berger of Williston received a birthday telegraph from King Harald V (the 5th), King of Norway. Why would the king want to congratulate a retired farmer in North Dakota? Well, not only was Nels Berger originally from Norway, but he had turned 110, making him the oldest person in the state.

In the early history of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, the offices were in the basement of the original Capitol. It wasn’t a lot of space, which soon became a problem. In 1913, Secretary Orin G. Libby of the State Historical Society, reported, “the crowded condition of the museum rooms… made it impossible for the Society to enter into any considerable collecting …”

Have you noticed any beaver dams and ponds in your area recently? Beavers are often vilified for plugging up culverts and constructing dams that flood cropland, roads, and the like. And of course, they draw our ire when they drop or girdle our trees. So, it is no surprise that beavers are often shot or trapped, and dams and lodges destroyed. But in many cases, beaver activity can be quite beneficial.