11/17/2017: President Abraham Lincoln signed the Northern Pacific’s company charter in 1864, making it the second continental railroad. The goal was to connect the Great Lakes with the Pacific Ocean. It was an engineering challenge.

11/16/2017: Nothing can be more frustrating for a police department than a cold case. Here in North Dakota, there have been three incidents of unsolved cases involving missing people since 1989. Two of those who disappeared are Sandra Jacobson and her son John.

11/13/2017: Returning soldiers face challenges when they leave the service. This has long been a concern. In 1776, the Continental Congress authorized pensions for disabled veterans, and in 1827 a hospital called the Naval Asylum was the first effort to provide continuing medical care. President Lincoln, in his Second Inaugural Address, called upon the nation to “care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” World War I spawned the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1918, recognizing that the veterans of World War I faced substantial challenges. Any honorably discharged disabled veteran was eligible for vocational rehabilitation training.

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.

11/9/2017: With the war raging in Europe, there was plenty to do for North Dakotan’s in the fall of 1917.

11/7/2017: If anyone visits North Dakota, it becomes apparent that many of the communities have a strong focus on church life. One shining example are church suppers, held every year, usually in the fall.

11/6/2017: On this date in 1914, most news took a back seat to election results as North Dakota newspapers were full of articles about the vote held the day before. The Washburn Leader reported that two more states had voted for prohibition, bringing the total of dry states to thirteen.

11/3/2017: Jennifer Grosz was born May 5, 1973, in Bismarck, North Dakota. For the first few years of her life she lived many places, including Ansbach, Germany, Kentucky, and Dickinson before finally moving back to Bismarck where she attended school until she was 13. At that age, she suffered a tragic accident that left her disabled. Nothing seemed unusual on this date in 1986, but for Jennifer, it marked the end of her life as typical teenager.

11/2/2017: With the troops now gone, those remaining in North Dakota took on the challenge of dealing with many concerns. Winter was fast approaching and a coal shortage was becoming critical. While the Great Lakes were still open for shipping, coal was slow in reaching the docks, and the demand was great across the Northern Plains. To make matters worse, coal strikes at Burlington, near Minot, were keeping six hundred tons per day of locally-produced coal off the market, and rationing was sure to follow.

11/1/2017: In the military, combat arms are the units that work on the ground, such as the infantry or artillery. One tactic employed by strategists is called combined arms. The idea of this tactic is to attack using differing units in such a way that the opposing forces, in defending against one of the attacks, becomes vulnerable to the other. It is a highly effective strategy and one of the primary tactics employed by the North Dakota National Guard. However, this strategy was not always part of the Guard’s training. We can credit Robert Schulte for introducing the strategy.