Cooperatives

What was once a vacant corner lot is now home to an impressive 6,000-square-foot building – a monument to what can be accomplished when people work together to solve the challenges facing people living in rural areas.

Like so many small towns across North Dakota, many of Edgeley’s main street businesses had closed, leaving a row of vacant lots and empty, often deteriorating, buildings.

The community had hosted the local medical clinic for many years through a joint agreement between the city of Edgeley and Sanford Health.

There’s a catchy tune any kid who went to Farmers Union Camp will remember.

I’ve got the Farmers Union spirit up in my head / WHERE? / Up in my head! …

I’ve got the Farmers Union spirit up in my head / WHERE? / Up in my head to stay!

It didn’t take me 10 years of camp, earning my Torchbearer Award or being a Farmers Union Camp counselor, however, to understand how interchangeable “Farmers Union” is with “cooperative” in that song.

I owe my early understanding of co-ops to Farmers Union.

A bear hunt. Jiu-jitsu. Hitting the gym. Simply opting for a few extra steps at work instead of sitting or standing. These are all ways electric cooperative employees have incorporated movement into their lives.

But they’re not doing it for the health benefits alone.

Electric cooperatives across the country are urging members to stay alert as utility-related scams continue to evolve. Fraudsters are becoming more aggressive and more convincing – using impersonation, false urgency and digital deception to extract payments or personal information.

In Rolette and Napoleon, high school students are trading backpacks for bunker gear – and learning lessons in service, teamwork and courage.
 

This fall, students returning to school will say goodbye to summer and their cellphones.

In April, Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed into law a bill banning student cellphone use in the state’s public schools.

The law requires cellphones to be secured during instructional time, from the start of the school day to dismissal, or “bell to bell.” It does not include school-owned devices such as laptops and tablets used for educational purposes, but covers a variety of personal devices, including smartwatches and tablets, that could distract students during the day.

A historic June 20 storm brought thunderstorms, extreme winds, large hail, tornados and even a derecho – a term reserved for the most intense, widespread and long-lasting severe thunderstorms. Wind gusts were recorded up to 101 mph 5 miles northwest of Linton, 99 mph in northern Kidder County and 94 mph near Elgin. Tornados touched down across the region, including a fatal one that killed three people in rural Enderlin. Another storm-related death occured in Stutsman County.

It was the most deadly tornado North Dakota has seen in nearly five decades.

North Dakota’s new law banning student cellphone use in public schools took effect Aug. 1. North Dakota Living turned to students to ask their thoughts on the cellphone ban.

Each year, electric cooperatives from across the country sponsor high school sophomores and juniors to participate in the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. The all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., immerses students in the democratic process, teaches them about cooperatives and includes a full itinerary of monuments, museums and historic sites.

Tracie Thompson hasn’t gotten a paycheck in more than a year and a half – and it isn’t because she’s not working.

She’s working – a lot. And she’s trying to make things work in the small town of Westhope, 2 miles from the Canadian border in north-central North Dakota.

A few years ago, the Westhope grocery store, which Thompson managed, was in financial trouble, and the owner was forced to close in December 2023.

Kennedy DeLap has a little more hardware to lug with her camera bag.

The Bismarck native and North Dakota Living photojournalist was crowned Miss North Dakota 2025 on June 7 at the Bakken Auditorium in Williston.

“They put the crown on my head, and I just couldn’t believe it,” DeLap says.

She fully expected to be at work the following Monday, editing photos and dicing through interviews from a recent assignment in Medora. But instead, she was being interviewed by the Williston Herald about her new job as Miss North Dakota.