Search results for

Tuesday, March 29, 2022 - In our final installment of the North Dakota Teacher Retention Crisis series, in partnership with North Dakota United, Tom Gerhardt visits with former Democratic State Senator and former teacher Erin Oban. ~~~ The US Department of Agriculture’s first-ever survey of hemp production found an industry worth more than 800 million dollars. But the recent report also showed a glaring diversity issue: Just six percent of hemp growers are Black. Harvest Public Media’s Corinne Ruff reports. ~~~ We share a Natural North Dakota essay, “Pasque Flower.” ~~~ Growing Small Towns is bringing art to Oakes, ND with the assistance of a North Dakota Council of the Arts Grant to host a "Creating Stories" event the first weekend in April. Rebecca Undem visits with Brandi Malarkey to share a little of the journey that went into creating this event.

Monday, March 28, 2022 - Thanks to member dollars, we’re able to expand our coverage and have a new reporter in Bismarck. We welcome Katie David to the Prairie Public family and share a conversation she has with Susan Wefald about an effort to identify the largest tree of its species in the Bismarck area. ~~~ We learn about the Dakota Media Access Film Festival coming up March 31st and April 1st with Bryan Keidel, one of the festival organizers.

Friday, May 6, 2022 - The annual PBS Kids Writers Contest is always a source of delight here at Prairie Public. We love sharing some of those stories, and joining us to do just that is Christine McClellan. ~~~ Drought is still affecting much of the Great Plains, as we hear from Harvest Public Media’s Elizabeth Rembert. ~~~ Matt Olien reviews “Val,” a documentary about the life and career of Val Kilmer, using archival footage often shot by Kilmer himself over the course of his career. ~~~ Mothers Day is coming up on Sunday. Did you ever wonder how it got started? We get the story from Nate DiMeo, host of the Memory Palace.

Tuesday, May 10, 2022 - Kate Adamala is a biochemist building synthetic cells. Her research aims at understanding chemical principles of biology, using artificial cells to create new tools for bioengineering, drug development, and basic research. ~~~ Sixty-six million years ago, a gigantic asteroid slammed into Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs. Wednesday on PBS, Nova presents “Dinosaur Apocalypse,” with host David Attenborough. The story explains how a discovery in North Dakota takes us to the very day the apocalypse occurred. Paleontologist Robert DePalma is featured in the program. He joins us with a preview.

It was early May in 1960 that the northernmost stretch of I-29 was dedicated. It was the first US Interstate to connect to an international border. But even though the stretch was dedicated, it still wasn't ready. It would take seventeen more years for the highway to be completed.

It was December 1916, just about the end of a leap year, in the rural Cavalier County community of Mt. Carmel. A local wag decided to offer some free advice to single ladies of the community who might wish to exercise the waning prerogative of the leap year and latch onto a likely bachelor.

Monday, May 9, 2022 - Imagine raising 10 kids during the depression. Martin and Asta Odnes did that in Van Hook, ND, after emigrating from Norway. Granddaughter Barb Solberg of Minot traces the family’s agonizing decision to send three children back to Norway, in hopes of a better life, only to have World War Two break out. She tells the story in What We Leave Behind. ~~~ With the passing of winter, horticulturist Ron Smith is here to help us get ready for spring.

According to the Bismarck Historical Society, on this date in 1912 there was something lacking in the city of Bismarck — a public library. The public could borrow from the state library at the Capitol, but the lack of a public library still marked Bismarck as less than modern.

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 - A Dusty Echo is a true North Dakota story. It won the 1976 North Dakota Bicentennial Playwriting Contest, and it’s written by Bismarck native Ev Miller. It focuses on a struggling family farm during the Dust Bowl. Alicia Hegland-Thorpe visits with director Amanda Perry and cast member Patrick Engelhart. A Dusty Echo opens tomorrow at Dakota Stage in Bismarck. ~~~ In an excerpt from the Prairie Pulse television show, John Harris visits with Marshall Johnson, the National Audubon Society’s chief conservation officer, who’s based here in North Dakota. ~~~ Speaking of birds, the country is in the midst of one of the worst bird flu outbreaks in years. Millions of wild birds and poultry have died. William Brangham has more in this story from the PBS NewsHour. ~~~ Future Business Leaders of America is an organization devoted to inspiring and preparing students to become community and business minded leaders. And it sponsors competition between its chapters. Teacher Wendy Grote is about to retire, and she’s doing so after leading her students of the Divide County High School FBLA chapter to 21 state championships!

North Dakotans have sometimes found themselves in the thick of historical disasters. In 1915, early in World War One, a German U-boat torpedoed the SS Lusitania off the Irish coast. The ocean liner sank within 20 minutes. Over 60% of the passengers died.