Community

This is not prairie golf. That becomes obvious with the first hole of Watford City’s Fox Hills Golf Course, which hugs the rugged western North Dakota landscape like a well-worn golf glove.

The par 72 course, with 6,980 yards from the back tees, recently expanded to an 18-hole municipal course and is served by McKenzie Electric Cooperative.

Expect to use every club in your bag on this course, which dates back to 1930.

A new study on the health and well-being of North Dakotans reports slight improvements in overall health, yet social and economic disparities persist across communities.

Learn how to make maple syrup at Fort Stevenson State Park Saturday, April 8, during Maple Sugaring Day.

Located 3 miles south of Garrison, along the north shore of Lake Sakakawea, Fort Stevenson State Park will hold the event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

State park staff will demonstrate how to tap a tree, collect sap and turn it into delicious maple syrup. Hear about the history of maple syrup and the equipment used. Maple talks take place at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m.

Akin to a Fitbit for cattle, an ear tag developed by a Fargo-based company is bringing smart technology to the most basic of places – prairie pastures.

The tags have been developed by 701x, a tech startup owned by Kevin Biffert.
 

If “rural electrification” was a buzzword spreading across the nation in the 1930s, “beneficial electrification” might be a buzzword of the 2030s.

Rural electrification in North Dakota held dreams of making life better for every farm family, and eventually, meant serving members in every pocket of this state, from the most remote to urban areas.

A 15-year-old Lansford girl has turned her love of writing into a successful first book.

Lindsey Undlin, a freshman at MLS-Mohall, had her book, “Stolen,” published by W. Brand Publishing last March. Since then, more than 1,000 copies of her book have sold.

If you’re a garden lover in North Dakota, the planting season may not be long enough to satisfy your yearning to connect to the earth.

However, you can extend the season by planning and preparing prior to planting.

Considering the season’s last frost usually happens between May 16 to 30, depending on where you live in North Dakota, you have some time over the next two months to get a few things ready to make your growing season more productive.

 
TAKING CARE OF YOUR TOOLS

It’s a Friday afternoon, and Brooke Hilzendeger plops a heavy bag on the dirt floor of the Lineworker Training Center in Mandan, kicking up a trail of dust. She opens it and pulls out climbing boots, a body belt, a pole strap, gloves and a hard hat. These aren’t the items most people would expect to find in a woman’s bag, but for those who know Hilzendeger, a 29-year-old single mom and self-proclaimed tomboy, it comes as no surprise.

“A child care crisis.”

That’s how Gov. Doug Burgum described the state of child care in North Dakota, speaking at a press conference in September 2022 to pitch his child care plan.

“In many cases, parents have to choose between working and paying for child care, or not working at all,” Burgum told the Legislature in his executive budget address in December. “Currently, child care costs account for 15% to 40% of the average household budget in North Dakota, which often isn’t sustainable for young working families.”