Extra, extra: 10/1/07
Look for these stories in tomorrow morning's Sun:
Local: "A moment in time," The Jamestown Sun's twice-a-month series on the area's history, looks at the North Dakota State Hospital, formally known as the North Dakota Hospital for the Insane. Not exactly politically correct now, is it?
State/Region: Consumer representatives want tougher conflicts-of-interest policies for insurance regulators -- especially after Jim Poolman's resignation -- and people across the region debate the risks of the Keystone Pipeline.
Also, North Dakota's governors have had term lengths very wildly throughout history.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 30, 2007 at 8:28 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Slow Sunday
I don't have anything worth blogging about yet, so here's a video of "The Matrix" done using computer animation to look like everyone is being played by muppets.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 30, 2007 at 3:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Saturday Smiles
Since you're checking my blog on Saturday, I'll treat you to something funny. These guys made a trailer of the movie "Pulp Fiction" but turned all the characters into Muppets. Really. And it's really funny, so have a look at it here.
I'll warn you, though, that while I couldn't hear any profanities or see any real violence or gore, I could have missed some, so don't watch this unless you can handle that sort of stuff. It's based on Pulp Fiction, after all.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 29, 2007 at 11:52 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, extra: 09/29/07
Local: A group of Edgeley first graders check out an old schoolhouse and see how education used to be done.
State/Region: A measure could put control of Worforce Safety and Insurance back under the governor, durum wheat prices surpass $12 a bushel and the state Centers of Excellence hands out some grants to state colleges.
Opinion: If you've done good, stand tall and walk proud. If you haven't been good, duck. It's time for some bravos and a buffalo chip. Also, Steve and Cokie Roberts say Hillary Clinton is looking like a stronger candidate.
Garden: Sandra Eckelberg talks about planting new trees and shrubs during autumn days.
Business: News on the economy nationwide and reports of business activity in our area.
Also, we'll have our weekly Food page.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 28, 2007 at 7:22 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
A Mighty Spud
Lora Morlock just came in not too long ago with this:
Morlock said it's a Pontiac Red Potato that grew in a horse pasture near Pingree, N.D. She said it weighed 3.3 pounds when measured on a car parts scale. She added that all her friends told her she should bring it to The Jamestown Sun for a picture, so she came. I can only imagine what kinds of french fries this sucker will produce.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 28, 2007 at 12:53 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
From the Pile
We get all sorts of weird stuff delivered in our mail here at The Jamestown Sun, but therre seems to have been a trend lately in that we're getting things about foreign stamps.
We received the "Korean Stamp Review" magazine just a few weeks ago, which had its title and most of its text in English but a lot of it was written in Korean. Why in the blazes this was sent to a newspaper in southeast-central North Dakota, I do not now.
Even more bizarre was a letter we got today from the Kiribati Philatelic Bureau, which tried to sell me some stamps being made on a small island in the Pacific Ocean. It even included some samples, which all had the word "specimen" printed on them.
Again, I haven't the slightest clue why this was sent here.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 28, 2007 at 12:05 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
My First Jamestown Sun Column
Read it here. Consider this the official post for commenting on it.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 28, 2007 at 10:16 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Happy (something) to me
It's Good to Be in N.D. just hit 1,500 page hits a few minutes ago after existing for a little over two weeks. Thanks to all you readers for making it happen.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 27, 2007 at 7:26 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, extra: 9/28/07
Local: A feedlot owner is Carrington is drawing criticism for the smell and conditions of his facility and a Jamestown Woman has already started decorating pumpkins to celebrate the season.
State/Region: The Small Business Administration will be giving more help to to North Dakota lenders and businesses, State Sen. Joel Heitkamp says there are many Democrats who are considering making a bid for North Dakota's governorship and the president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield refuses to work with a hospital being constructed in Grand Forks.
Opinion: A Sun editorial asks readers to support the United Way and a column by yours truly on whether Wal-Mart is good or evil. Also, columns by Clarence Page and Kathryn Jean Lopez.
Diversions: Learn what will be happening this weekend.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 27, 2007 at 7:15 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Darn you to heck, Ultimate Warranty
When I started this post, I'd been on hold with Ultimate Warranty Corp. for seven minutes. UWC has been trying to fax something to us all morning, but they've been trying to send it to us through the number that goes to the editorial department. I can count at least 10 times all the phone in the newsroom rang only for some poor soul to pick it up and get an irritating beep in their ear.
10 minutes in: Oh, they just answered ... and put me on hold again!
11 minutes in: Left a message with someone named "Margaret" in tech support.
5 minutes later: Margaret called me back and deleted our number from their servers. Hooray!
Update: to be fair, Kudos to Margaret.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 27, 2007 at 2:14 PM | Comments (3) | Permalink
Finished the fight
I went on a sort of gaming binge last night and finished the campaign mode of Halo 3. It was a brilliant ending.
This morning, before work, I set up my XBOX Live account and played a few online games, which was very fun. I plan on playing it more, so if any of you would like to play against me, e-mail me and ask for my gamertag by clicking here.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 27, 2007 at 1:17 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, extra: 09/27/07
Look for these stories and more in tomorrow's issue of The Jamestown Sun:
Local: Mrs. North Dakota International 2007 will register people Saturday for the Memory Walk for Alzheimer's.
State/Region: Warning of a "constitutional confrontation," a Grand Forks legislator asked Gov. John Hoeven on Wednesday to consider calling a special session to intervene on "a small clique of legislators (attempting) to take control of North Dakota's traditional budgeting process."
Also, Forum Communications Co. has asked a judge for greater public access to information surrounding Moe Gibbs' upcoming second murder trial. In a motion filed Wednesday, the company also asked Southeast Judicial District Judge John Paulson to lift a gag order and unseal public documents pertaining to the case.
Religion: Learn about an upcoming Christian concert.
Opinion: Lloyd Omdahl discusses the new stadium for the Minnesota Twins and Cal Thomas writes about how liberals and conservatives are treated differently when it comes to free speech rights.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 26, 2007 at 8:10 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Oh boy...
Could White Cloud's potentially albino baby bison have some competition?
No, not really, but a semi-interesting video nonetheless.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 26, 2007 at 6:19 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Ouch
Anyone who shipped a package to Texas via FedEx in the past few days might want to give this a look.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 26, 2007 at 3:57 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
I've got the game
Well, Halo 3, the game I blogged about the other day, has arrived. I had to go to three different stores last night to find a copy, but I found one nonetheless.
I remember being flabbergasted at the difference in the quality of detail between the first Halo game and Halo 2. The scenery, characters, weapons and explosions were all so much more beautiful.
In Halo 3, however, this has been taken further than it should have gone. To make the game as real as possible, its creators developed a means of mimicking the dynamic range of the human eye. This means that, if you look at the sky or anything bright, the image on screen adjusts like your eyes would to a bright light. If you quickly look down, it takes a moment for your sight to adjust again. This was done to make the game more interesting, but more often than not it's just irritating.
The game comes with a trial run of XBOX Live, but I'm holding off on trying it until I'm more accustomed to the controls and such. I don't want to wind up getting decimated right off the bat by the army of foul-mouthed 12-year-olds who populate the online gaming world.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 26, 2007 at 12:50 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, extra: 09/26/07
Look for these stories in tomorrow morning's Sun:
Local: Work is almost complete on construction on U.S. Highway 281 between Edgeley, N.D., and N.D. Highway 46 and North Dakota will be represented in the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China
State/Region: Gov. John Hoeven will seek a third term.
Opinion: Nat Hentoff says Pres. Bush should not attend 2008 Olympics in China and Kathleen Parker discusses the freedom of speech.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 25, 2007 at 9:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
This Just In
I've received a report that Gov. John Hoeven will seek a third term. Details to come.
11:10 a.m. UPDATE: No official announcement, but the fact remains the same. One of Hoeven's aides left his position in the governor's office this morning to manage the governor's re-election campaign. I'll post the link once we have the story up on The Jamestown Sun's Web site.
1:37 p.m. UPDATE: Gov. Hoeven himself has confirmed that Lt. Gov. Jack Dalyrymple will be his running mate once again.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 25, 2007 at 1:37 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Read all about it
Here's a story on our Web site about Hoeven's next run: Click here.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 25, 2007 at 1:20 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Fire call
I heard just over the scanner that a fire alarm has gone off at Central Dakota Village and that area firefighters are responding. Updates will be posted when available.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 25, 2007 at 1:01 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, extra: 09/16/07
Local: News on the city's 2008 budget, time is running out to get low prices for immunizations for children and staff at Jamestown College's newspaper react to controversial editoral from a college paper in Colorado.
State/Region: Violent crime has increased 15 percent in North Dakota in the past year.
Health: Jamestown Hospital has invested more than a quarter-million dollars in a new digital mammography machine.
Opinion: Morton Kondracke and Helen Thomas talk about -- you guessed it -- President Bush.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 24, 2007 at 8:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Traffic advisory
The traffic lights at intersection of First Avenue South, 10th Street S.W. and Business Loop West (next to Hardee's in Jamestown) are flashing red. it effectively means it's a three-way stop intersection where everyone stops and waits their turn. People who would like to avoid the confusion of having to look both ways a whole bunch would be wise to find an alternate route.
I've seen this happen with streetlights that were exposed to power outages or lightning, of which we've had plenty lately.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 24, 2007 at 4:16 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Stuff To Do
If you wind up bored out of your skull with nothing to do tonight, there will be an Iron Chef competition at 9 p.m. at Jamestown College's Dining Center. There is supposed to be plenty of music and games for the audience, too.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 24, 2007 at 2:09 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Incoming!
"Halo 3," the final act of a huge video-game trilogy, goes public tomorrow. Anyone more than a generation older than me will likely have trouble caring about this event, but it's actually worth attention for several reasons besides the fact that I really want to play this game.
"Halo: Combat Evolved" was released toward the end of 2001, when I was in the middle of my high school career. I didn't play it right away but tons of my classmates did. They especially loved the multiplayer version, which allowed them to hook up four XBOX game consoles and four TV sets, and, with four players per setup, 16 people could spend an evening shooting and killing each other in a virtual world. All in good fun, mind you.
I finally got around to trying out the game in college, and it was incredible. Bungie Studios, the company behind the game, had created a truly incredible piece of work. The storyline for the campaign was actually a great story and the environment was immersive and more realistic than any video game I'd seen before. The game certainly had its detractors, but the fact that it sold more than 6 million copies counts for a lot.
"Halo 2" was released in fall 2004 amid significant hype and, amazingly enough, met expectations and sold 9 million copies. Also interesting was popularity it found thanks to its support of XBOX Live, which allowed players to compete against each other through the Internet, and effect it is having on the culture of my generation. Science fiction writers have speculated before about a day in the future where are interactions in real life diminish while being replaced by interaction in the virtual world. Halo has produced many interesting examples of this transition. My favorite two are RedvsBlue and This Spartan Life.
RedvBlue was an Internet video series created by a group of young texans that ran for five seasons. They made it not through traditional animation techniques or live-action video, but by acting out their episodes using Halo using a process known as machinima. They moved the characters around in the game, had them bob their heads to simulate speaking and recorded the video. The also recorded themselves speaking to create the dialogue. The series has since ended, but you may view some of the old episodes -- as well as some other series they made as well as the Web comic they're doing about themselves -- but be warned, the language and content are not suitable for children or adults with no sense of humor.
This Spartan Life is another interesting take on machinima, but instead of telling fictional stories it is done in the style of The Late Show, with interviews done through XBOX Live. This means the show's host, Damian, can interview anyone around the world. The interviewee needs only to log on and make their avatar show up in the same map as the host because XBOX Live allows players to speak to each other during the game. Also be warned: only follow the link if you can handle virtual violence and rude language.
I plan on coming back to this topic in the future, because these technologies and trends are likely to have strong ripples with the future of our nation and world. In the meantime, are there any other Halo fans reading this?
4:20 p.m. UPDATE: I just went out and bought a 360 myself; half of it was a planned decision, half was on a whim. This game had better be good.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 24, 2007 at 1:45 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Back in action
Despite the actions of homicidal Huskers and the multiple near-death experiences that are bound to happen on a 700-mile road trip, I rolled in to Jamestown safe and sound this evening. In a surprising turn of luck, I pulled into town and unloaded my mere moments before the skies opened and turned our streets into streams.
The wedding was wonderful and the dance afterward -- held in true Kansas style in an old high-school gymnasium that my friends and I found after getting lost on a gravel road -- was a blast. I learned how to two-step while the lovely lady who taught me that particular motion learned how funny it is to see me dance, and I even got in a couple of dances with the bride, in part because I drove 11 hours each way to be at the ceremony.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 23, 2007 at 11:20 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
In Kansas
I made it back to Kansas in one piece despite the repeated attempts by the people of Nebraska and Iowa to turn me into a smear on the pavement.
I've heard that suspended State Veterans Affairs Commissioner Bob Hanson attempted to tender his resignation to his governing committee Friday only for them to refuse to accept it and fire him. As I am three states away, I can't say for certain what will be in Saturday's paper, but I believe this will most likely be in The Jamestown Sun come morning. No promises, though.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 21, 2007 at 9:19 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Road Trip!
Don't be expecting any new posts this weekend. I'm going to be spending all day Friday on the road driving home to Kansas, all day Saturday in Kansas taking care of some business in the morning and all afternoon, evening and night celebrating the wedding of a dear friend in college.
Sunday will then be spent driving all 720 miles back here. Thus, blogging is sort of out of the question.
So instead of multiple posts this weekend, I'm going to leave some links to a great big bunch of material for all you wonderful readers to peruse while I'm gone, just to keep you occupied.
First off, a quick laugh about weddings.
Second, a whole bunch of much longer laughs about weddings. This Web site is a collection of horror stories -- most of them about weddings -- of formal events that went terribly, terribly wrong. I promise a few minutes here is guaranteed to have you in stitches.
Finally, here's a video of me that I made for fun and practice a month ago. I'm rambling about the digital age and such and how it's affecting us. Please forgive the terrible quality of the audio, video, background and subject.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 20, 2007 at 10:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, extra: 09/21/07
Look for these stories in tomorrow morning's edition of The Jamestown Sun:
Local: White Cloud's ivory calf has been declared to be a boy, a campaign for disabled veterans will be this weekend and the City Public Works committee discusses snow removal.
State/Region: Sen. Carolyn Nelson, D-Fargo, was hospitalized in Bismarck today and had surgery for a bleeding ulcer and United Patriotic Bodies, a Fargo-area veterans’ group, writes to Gov. John Hoeven in support of suspended Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Bob Hanson.
Opinion: Clarence Page talks about fixing schools, Kathryn Jean Lopez is downright unhappy with how politicians acted during Gen. David Petraeus's testimony before Congress last week, and a Sun editorial comments on the emergency preparation guide going out to Stutsman County homes this weekend.
Diversions: Find out what's happening this weekend so you don't spend the whole time bored to death.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 20, 2007 at 5:45 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Oh Boy...
Hot news from the National Buffalo museum: White Cloud's calf is a male.
This means a naming contest shall begin to figure out what to call the little tyke. Still no word on whether he's a true albino.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 20, 2007 at 2:38 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Test your wits
Cal Thomas's column on Page 4 of today's Sun is about poor results by college students on a civics test administered by the Intecollegiate Studies Institute. Turns out you can take this test and see how you compare by clicking here.
I myself scored a 50, or 83.3 percent. Feel free to post your score and see how you match up with the rest of Jamestown.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 20, 2007 at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, extra: 09/20/07
Look for these stories in tomorrow morning's copy of The Jamestown Sun:
Local: Junk Fest is expected to draw many to Carrington this weekend, Austin Visser, a senior at Wimbledon-Courtenay High School, is expected to go far in rodeo competition, a booklet on what do to in case of an emergency will soon be distributed all over the area next week and "Paws in the Park," an event for dog lovers, is set for Sunday in McElroy Park.
State/Region: Legislators and lawyers ponder over North Dakota's custody laws,
Opinion: Lloyd Omdahl talks about property taxes and Cal Thomas bemoans the low quality of education college students receive nationwide when it comes to civics and government.
Religion: We've got church listings, local church briefs and the news about the new bishop of Beijing, who is to be ordained Friday.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 19, 2007 at 7:17 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
In case you didn't know, matey
My frrriend Jessie, she'd be surrre to make me walk the plank if I didn't let you all know that today be Talk like a Pirrrrate Day. So get out tharrr and sharrre this rrridiculous day with all ye know, or rrrisk being sent straight to Davey Jones lockerrr.
Orrrr, just drink yourself plenty o'rum.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 19, 2007 at 2:09 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Railing against the trains
I've heard that trains have to slow down before entering Jamestown city limits, but the one that came through at about 11:40 a.m. today took it a little too far.
I saw the gates swing down a block away and figured it would be better just to wait it out than to backtrack my way to the viaduct. I pulled up to the gate and stopped, the lights flashing and the bell dinging. Two men on the sidewalk rushed across the tracks to avoid the delay.
And then, absolutely nothing happened. For the better part of a minute I sat and watched, wondering from which direction the train would come. I looked behind me, wondering if I should throw my car into reverse and make my way to Fourth Avenue East, but kept where I was because, with my luck, a police officer would show up just in time to spot my misdeed.
The train finally showed up, running at less than a quarter of its normal speed. The engineer looked slightly embarrassed as the behemoth slothed its way past First Avenue and the parked drivers glared. A pair of cars pulled up behind me. There was no escape. I shut off my engined and waited.
Ten minutes later, the last train car chugged by, and the time it took for the gates to go back up seemed to take as much time as the train did in passing the blasted intersection.
I've seen this happen before, and it has a way of getting under one's skin. I realize it takes quite a bit of time, distance and fuel to get a train up to speed, but it's not like they don't have any warning. Trains don't decide to roll through a city on a whim, they follow the tracks wherever they go.
Equally aggravating is when a train slows down on its way through the city, stops after blocking all the crossings and then slowly starts backing up. It makes me want to stick my head out the window and yell at the railroad workers:
"What, are you lost? Do you need directions? That's east, and that's west, now pick one!"
Update: Because I've received some concerned e-mails, I just want to stress that this post is sarcasm, folks. There is a logical explanation for why trains operate the way they do here. But logic does not unblock traffic any faster, now, does it?
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 19, 2007 at 1:50 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, extra: 09/19/07
Look for these stories in tomorrow morning's issue of The Jamestown Sun:
Local: The Stutsman County Commission unanimously approves next year's budget, the Newman Group has withdrawn its application for a water permit for an ethanol plant near Spiritwood and the Edgeley airport is open again after a two-week closure to allow construction for a crossswind runway.
State/Region: Gov. Hoeven's newly appointed "Empower North Dakota" policy committee will write a new state energy policy aiming at ways to double N.D. energy production by 2025 and the University of North Dakota is allegedly charging too little for its online courses (As a recent college grad, I fail to see the evil in that).
Also, the heads of North Dakota's three gambling regulation entities tell legislators that their areas are so different that combining them wouldn't accomplish much and the board that governs the state Dept. of Veterans Affairs will meet Friday to discuss Commissioner Bob Hanson's fate.
Opinion: There's a pair of op-eds, one on rail shipping costs and one on a proposed tax, and a pair of letters to the editor.
Family/Life: Weddings, School News and briefs, oh my!
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 18, 2007 at 6:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Fair Warning
It's hard to say for certain, judging by the latest radar maps and weather reports, but it looks like we ought to be seeing some rain in the next few hours here in Jamestown. Just so you know.
5:21 p.m. Update: No rain yet. This is why I'm a newspaper editor and not a meteorologist.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 18, 2007 at 2:16 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Cha-Ching
The Associated Press is reporting that the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 1/2 a point to 4.75 percent. The DOW was up 200 points shortly after the announcement.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 18, 2007 at 1:29 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
A flying saucer that got lazy?
Gene Hanson sent us these pictures of two grain silos that were built in 1947 on the Quin Scallon farm, which he said is about 10 miles southeast of Edgeley, N.D. They have been empty since 1970.
Hanson said Quin Scallon's son Mike was driving to the farm about a week ago and noticed an object on top of one of the silos. It had never been there before. 
I've circled the strange round object with purple in this closer shot. Any ideas on what it could be?
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 18, 2007 at 12:45 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
Extra, extra: 09/18/07
This was supposed to be posted last night, but due to technical difficulties, it wasn't possible. Odds are, you already saw the real Sun itself. But if you haven't, here are some of the things you can look forward to.
Local: Rebecca Ternes, acting North Dakota Insurance Commissioner, stops by Jamestown for a seminar, The Alfred Dickey Library has been determined as an attractive location for the Alfred Dickey interpretive center and the Jamestown Public School Board approved the green space layout plan.
Opinion: Morton Kondracke and Helen Thomas write about Gen. David Petraeus's testimony before the Senate and House of Representatives and two letters to the editor; one assaults corruption in Washington and the other thanks everyone from this area who came to see the Buseum last week.
Also, a Sun Editorial on local citizens who've stepped up to help the soldiers of the 817th Engineer Company (Sapper).
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 18, 2007 at 11:15 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
A big Hiccup
As far as I know, you probably can't read this message. Something is not working correctly with the blog's hosting or something else that requires someone more knowledgeable than I. If you can read this, by some strange miracle, that means either A: it's fixed or B: your computer can get ahold of more info than I. We'll see how things are in the morning.
10:00 a.m. Tuesday update: We're back!
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 17, 2007 at 11:31 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
From the pile
The following is a post I made while planning this blog and meant to post earlier.
Ron Manson, Stutsman County Weed Officer, has put a hit out on purple loosestrife.
A.K.A. lythium salicaria l., this plant is the target of a “wanted” notice we received here at the Sun today. Manson’s submission provided some interesting directions for dealing with this felonious flora, which he said choke out other native plants.
The directions:
1. Get a positive identification of the plant.
2. “Calmly walk up to it and say your good-byes to it.”
3. “Take a picture, if you would like.”
4. Finally, pull the sucker out of the ground, body-bag it (a garbage bag will do), and deliver it to Manson.
If the loosestrife is your favorite plant and “your heart can’t take it,” Manson wrote that he’s willing to come by and do the deed for you himself. His note said the county is also willing to give you a similar-looking liatrus as a replacement.
Manson said the problem with the loosestrife is that its pepper-like seeds can easily travel through water systems like sewers and wind up in the James River, which dumps into the Missouri River, which drains into the Mississippi. This stuff isn't known to grow anywhere north of here, so Jamestown could wind up being blamed if this stuff were to spread down to the Gulf of Mexico.
Apparently, that would be a bad thing.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 17, 2007 at 1:20 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
From the pile
We get all sorts of interesting things in the mail here at The Jamestown Sun. We received a publicity magazine today called "symmetry" with the tagline "dimensions of particle physics." I can only guess that we wound up on a list of news organizations and they sent it to us thinking we'd be inspired to write about the things in their little magazine.
These things include dark energy (not evil, just really hard to find) and list of things particle physicists must see before they die (You just can't die before seeing Sir Isaac Newton's living room, which was moved to Massachusetts in the 1930s).
I once interviewed a scientist at K-State who was working on the design of the detecting device that would be used for a new supercollider that for all I know is still in the works. He was designing this detector with the goal of detecting a subatomic particle called a topquark (if memory serves correctly). Why it was important, I can't remember.
Half the stuff in this magazine reminds me of talking to that scientist -- although it lacks his heavy German accent -- in terms of its complexity and indecipherability. So the closest the people at Fermilab and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the entities behind this little publication, will get to coverage by The Sun will be this little blog post.
Tough luck.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 17, 2007 at 11:45 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Like we aren't even here
There was a sentence in today's top AP story, "N.D. Officials: Please return," that really caught my eye:
"The loss of North Dakotans is about equal to population of Stutsman County, North Dakota’s seventh-most populated county, he said."
"He" in this line is Richard Rathge, the state Census Bureau data center’s director and North Dakota’s demographer, who in a way is saying that the number of people who left this state since 2000 (21,000) are such that it's almost as if all of Stutsman County had just up and left.
I've been hearing since I moved here that the state is having trouble keeping people around, and I've learned some of the reasons for that. I found it interesting that the state seems to think it doesn't have a chance at getting outsiders to move here so it's focusing on North Dakotans who decided they wanted to move away years ago. This is because I was born and raised in the Flint Hills of Kansas, graduated from Kansas State University and moved here with my diploma to work at The Sun.
I moved here because of the job opportunity, to be somewhere new and different and because I wanted to challenge myself. Also, I'd heard stories as a kid that spit bounces when it's 40 below out, and I always wanted to see if it was true. I guess I'll find out sometime this winter.
I plan to revisit this topic in the future. For now, just know that you're going to have to do a lot more if you want to keep North Dakota alive.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 17, 2007 at 11:30 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Internet thinking
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 16, 2007 at 11:54 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, extra: 09/17/07
Look for these stories in tomorrow morning's Sun:
Local: We'll have an update on the construction going on in Jamestown on U.S. Highway 281 and a story about the Family Expo this weekend at the Civic Center (See "Seeking comment" below).
State/Region: The state is trying to talk expatriate North Dakotans into coming back to fill about 10,000 unclaimed jobs, BP America is pulling out of North Dakota entirely and the state Board of Higher Education is going to consider replacing or remodeling the homes of the presidents of North Dakota State University and the University of North Dakota.
Also, the coach of the Lake Region State College men's basketball team spends a night in Chicago waiting in line to meet Bill Clinton, a Liberian man is reunited with his long-lost family in Fargo and American Crystal Sugar Co. might have some farmers destroy healthy beets and plant fewer of them next year because of increased yields.
Moment in time: The Sun's series on Jamestown history tells the story of Dr. Helena Wink, the city's first female doctor, and the work she did for the sick here until her death in 1936.
Opinion: Marriane Means and Diana West offer a set of opinions about Iraq and a letter to the editor criticizes Northwest Airlines' pricing system.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 16, 2007 at 5:40 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Seeking comment: The Expo
To any of you lovely people out there who have thoughts about The Sun's Family Expo Saturday, feel free to post them here. I promise the event's organizers will read them.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 16, 2007 at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, Extra: 9/15/07
Look for these stories in tomorrow morning's sun:
Local: A new liquor store, Cork and Barrel, has opened on the southeast side of Jamestown.
Sun Country: There might be a frost this weekend, which surprisingly enough could be a good thing for many area crops.
Business: Deb Gletne, extended care coordinator at the South Central Human Service Center, received the 2007 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Service. Spiffy.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 14, 2007 at 5:17 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Seeking comment
"Seeking comment" will be the headline I use whenever I make a post specifically meant to ask readers a question and elicit comments.
It was cold outside last night. So cold, in fact, I had to pull my air conditioner out of the window and put it away for the winter. I had been dreading this moment for some time, because I pulled a muscle when I installed the blasted thing three months ago and had to spend a week being very careful how I stood, sat and slept. This time around, I escaped without harm.
I suppose that this act of relocating my refrigeration unit could act as a marker between summer and the onset of autumn in winter. It makes me curious, how others note the change.
What, for you, means the end of summer?
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 14, 2007 at 2:17 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Hiccup
Some of you might have had some difficulty logging on to IGTBIND this morning. Unfortunately, there were some problems with our hosting (It's actually a lot more complex than that, but I'll spare you the details, in part because I don't understand them myself).
Anyways, it's working again. Enjoy.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 14, 2007 at 1:39 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Housekeeping: Missing Coupon
I noticed in my copy of The Sun this morning that a coupon had been cut from an insert for Domino's Pizza. Two distinct possibilities appeared in my mind: One, it had been a misprinted coupon and cut out before delivery, or two, someone in my apartment building had cut it out before I picked it up from my doorstep.
It turns out that it was the former, but it appears a lot of people thought our newspaper carriers had clipped the coupon straight out of the paper. Jeremy Feldman, our circulation manager, said more than 100 people have called in so far to complain.
Although, as several people have put it, this certainly shows just how much attention people pay to advertisements in The Jamestown Sun.
Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 13, 2007 at 2:19 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
This Just In: U.S. 281 closure
Here's a news release from the Northern Improvement Co. regarding the construction here on U.S. Highway 281:
The Northeast Frontage Road between 18th Street Southwest and 20th Street Southwest closed starting today. This closure will be in affect for approximately two weeks. Access to the businesses on this frontage road will be maintained at all times during this closure. NDDOT officials are requesting the public use the 18th Street intersection, the 20th Street intersection or 6th Avenue Southwest to access the businesses in the area during this closure. Directional signage to assist with alternate access, for both southbound and northbound traffic on US 281, will be in place.
A Web site has been established and can be accessed at www.jamestown281.com.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 13, 2007 at 2:14 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Don't be like this
We received four copies of a letter today that I found most interesting. It was one of those form letters that people use when they want to complain but have no ability to compose their own original thoughts. The names of the people who wrote these letters are being omitted to protect the guilty.
They were addressed to the "television manager" of The Jamestown Sun. This letter, said they all were "highly offended" by the sexual content of certain advertisements by Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurants known as "Patty Melt" and "Flat Buns."
They demanded that we refuse to air these ads or, if we already have started airing them, stop. They also ordered us to put the letters in our "station's public file" so the Federal Communications Commission can read it the next time our license comes up for renewal.
In case you haven't figured it out already, this is funny because we are not a television station. We are a newspaper. We also have a Web site. The FCC has no say regarding the contents of our advertising or reporting on either medium, and the people who sent these letters were only wasting their time and making fools of themselves.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 13, 2007 at 2:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
The Baby Turtles That Ran Around the World
We ran a story in Friday's Sun last week about a Jamestown woman who had 44 baby turtles hatch and dig their way out of her garden. The Associated Press picked up that very story and it has since shown up in newspapers and news Web sites all over the United States, some with this brazenly sensationalist headline:
"Baby Snapping Turtle Swarm Invades Woman's Yard"
Here it is in The Washington Post.
Here it is in the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News.
Here it is in the Times-Picayune of New Orleans.
Here it is in The Boston Globe.
Here it is on Sify.com, an English news Web site for people in India!
Who says a turtle can't get around very fast?
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 13, 2007 at 11:30 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra, Extra: 9/13/07
Look for these stories in tomorrow morning's Sun:
Local: A trio of girl scouts are putting together care packages for soldiers in the 817th Engineer Company (Sapper), a new campground near Pipestem Reservoir is meant for horses and horse lovers and the Jamestown Regional Airport Authority Board learns that a conscruction project on the airport's taxiway will be delayed.
Religion: Jamestown Youth Ministries is sponsoring a four-band concert of Christian Rock
State/Region: Corn surpasses wheat as North Dakota's biggest crop, and the bottlenecks that make it difficult to get oil of North Dakota by pipeline are easing up.
World: Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes things up in his nation's government.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 12, 2007 at 9:05 PM | Comments (4) | Permalink
Worth Repeating
"212, we got a report of a black lab urinating in a yard .... and headed west."
-Heard over the scanner in Jamestown at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 12, 2007 at 1:32 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Worth a Look
The 817th Engineer Company (Sapper) made a pit stop in Maine on its way to Iraq last month when a flight attendant had a health issue. Lucky for them the "Maine Troop Greeters" were there to meet them, shake their hands and take pictures.
Check out the picture gallery from the day they were there right here.
Also, you can look at their main Web site here: www.mainetroopgreeters.com.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 12, 2007 at 1:20 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Worth Repeating
"Where is your puke powder?"
-Heard over the scanner in Jamestown at 4:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007.
Posted by: Logan C. Adams on September 11, 2007 at 4:30 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
