North Dakota

Chuck Haga: Tough decisions loom for school officials in Grand Forks

Published

2 years ago

March 16, 2024

Chuck Haga: Tough decisions loom for school officials in Grand Forks

A friend discovered some old scrapbooks recently, the pages filled with yellowed clippings of newspaper stories from 40 to 50 years ago – Herald stories about Grand Forks County Commission proceedings, mostly.

Some of the stories carry my byline.

I wish I could go back in time with a sharp No. 2 lead pencil and edit those stories – tighten them mostly, and eliminate some of the government jargon.

But one of the clips, a column that ran in 1985, reads pretty well today, I thought. It’s about teachers and schools, budgets and priorities, and when I finished reading I smiled and said, “Yeah!”

I don’t envy members of the Grand Forks School Board, facing a budget deficit today that apparently will require tough decisions. Who goes? What gets cut?

At the newspapers where I’ve worked, I never could understand why some of the best journalists wanted to trade the reporter’s pen for a manager’s responsibilities. Sure, the pay was modestly better, and you might get to shape the overall mission and quality of the paper. You wouldn’t get calls at midnight with orders to race off somewhere to cover a tornado or school shooting.

But as a manager, you might get handed a list of names, including names of friends, and told to decide where to cut. Move the scene from a newsroom to an elected public body and those decisions must be made – should be made – in the glare of public scrutiny, with that splintered public demanding competing solutions.

Grand Forks school administrators say the district must cut the equivalent of about 50 full-time staff positions to deal with a coming budget deficit. Some cuts under discussion would involve teachers, including music educators,

the Herald’s Joshua Irvine reported last Saturday

. The contemplated music cuts, especially, rankled many in the community,

and scores of people – including students – registered their dismay

at a Feb. 26 board meeting. They also objected to the “surprise” disclosure of tentative plans.

As I said, I don’t envy school officials the decisions they’ll have to make. I don’t know enough to offer alternatives. Nor do I care to join in the blame game regarding past decisions (or indecision).

But like most of you, I care about our schools and their mission, feelings I expressed in that column that ran in the Herald on Oct. 17, 1985, as more than 3,000 teachers converged in Grand Forks for a state conference.

“These must be confusing times for teachers,” I wrote back then. “They hear us demanding accountability, professionalism, high competence in their fields and deep caring for our children. But they wonder how much we truly value them when they look at their paychecks.

“They hear many of us preaching that traditional values must be nurtured, or at least not undermined, in the classroom. But they know that tolerance of diversity and respect for law are two of our most fundamental values.”

The teachers in town that week hadn’t asked me how I thought they should go about their jobs, but I told them anyway “because I had teachers who encouraged me to speak up.”

I spoke up then for reading and writing, for history and geography and music and art.

“The ability to read and write is fundamental to citizenship in a democracy. It should be taught in every class. In years to come, I want to be governed by a majority that has read and understood ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ ‘1984’ – and the U.S. Constitution.

“I want neighbors (in 20 years) who understand why ugly, offensive speech must be protected … why people must be presumed innocent until they are proven guilty by due process of law.

“Teachers are right to encourage creative self-expression. It is a vital part of communication. So is the punch of irony and the poetry of allusion. But we also need the common ground of standardized spelling, grammar and syntax if we are to understand each other.”

I was speaking to taxpayers as much as I was to superintendents, school board members and teachers. Don’t slash budgets, pile on extra duties and then complain that the kids aren’t learning.

“Long before they receive a diploma, students should be able to locate (Russia) on a map,” I wrote. “It’s important that they know where Israel is – and how it came to be. … They need to understand why the people of Central America envy, fear and distrust us. They ought to appreciate the awful consequence of drought, famine and war in Africa – and want to do something about it.

“They need to learn that their nation has made mistakes – and that it will do wrong again, in their name. (They must not) equate criticism with disloyalty. They should know Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson and Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King – and their words. But teach them, too, not to be so cynical that they can’t see and value the good in their country.

“Teach them that two plus two are four and the capital of Uruguay is Montevideo, but remember that at bottom you are encouraging them to think and feel, weigh and judge, see and hear and do, reach and touch and be touched.”

Then as now, I felt a violin concerto had as much to teach us as a chemical equation, a hockey program or principles of accounting.

Chuck Haga had a long career at the Grand Forks Herald and the Minneapolis Star Tribune before retiring in 2013. He can be contacted at crhaga@gmail.com.

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North Dakota

Donald Snyder Sr.

Published

2 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Donald R. Snyder Sr. 82 of Grand Forks, North Dakota died Tuesday, December 9, 2026, at Villa St. Vincent in Crookston, Minnesota.

Don was born on June 3, 1943, the son of Harrison and Gladys (Whittier) Snyder in Van Hook, North Dakota. He attended school in Van Hook and New Town, North Dakota. Don served in the United States Navy from 1960 – 1964 and was stationed in Hawaii during his time of service as a Military Police officer. He attended ND Police Academy and where he worked in Wattford City, ND and later was the Chief of Police in Parshall, ND. Don attended Minot State University and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1972.

Don was united in marriage to Greta Huseby on November 22, 1991, in Lake Tahoe, Neveda. He worked as a social worker in child welfare in North Dakota for thirty-five plus years in various roles in the state in Rugby, Minot and Bismarck as a Regional Supervisor to State Director in foster care. Don spent the many years taking care of family’s needs in North Dakota.

After retiring from Human Service in North Dakota, he worked for Multiband Inc. and Orangehook Inc. Don retired from OrangeHook Inc. as the Senior Vice President, responsible for HR Department.

Don enjoyed fishing (deep sea, rivers and lakes), hunting, woodworking (cabinetry and interior), coaching Tee Ball and soccer, and volunteering for the local honor guards. He was proud of his service in the military and always showed his gratitude for fellow veterans.

Don’s faith and family were his priority. He read the Bible six times and shared his faith with his family and friends. Don and Greta were active members of University Lutheran Church.

Don is survived by his wife, Greta Snyder; three sons, Donald Richard Snyder Jr., Scott (Nancy) Snyder and Tracy (Staci) Snyder; grandchildren, Megan (Rory) Selk, Katelyn Snyder, Gavin Snyder, Whitney (Chris) Crofts, Kaylee (Jon) Gappmaier and Jordan (Jen) Snyder, thirteen great-grandchildren, Kinley, Iyla, Jude, Gabby, Rowan, Sophia, Hunter, Kimber, Isaiah, Benjamin, Porshea, Addie and Mollie; numerous nieces and nephews.

Don was preceded in death by his parents, two daughters, Tunya and Mishell Snyder, granddaughter, Jessica Snyder and two infant sisters.

Visitation will be held from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at Amundson Funeral Home. Memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at Amundson Funeral Home.

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North Dakota

Wheeler-Thomas scores 21 as North Dakota State knocks off Cal State Bakersfield 80-69

Published

14 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Wheeler-Thomas scores 21 as North Dakota State knocks off Cal State Bakersfield 80-69

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — Damari Wheeler-Thomas’ 21 points helped North Dakota State defeat Cal State Bakersfield 80-69 on Thursday.

Wheeler-Thomas had three steals for the Bison (8-3). Markhi Strickland scored 15 points while shooting 6 of 11 from the field and 3 for 6 from the free-throw line and grabbed five rebounds. Andy Stefonowicz went 4 of 7 from the field (3 for 4 from 3-point range) to finish with 13 points.

Ron Jessamy led the way for the Roadrunners (4-7) with 18 points, six rebounds, two steals and four blocks. CJ Hardy added 13 points. Jaden Alexander also recorded eight points and two steals.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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North Dakota

Scientists discover ancient river-dwelling mosasaur in North Dakota

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Scientists discover ancient river-dwelling mosasaur in North Dakota

Some 66 million years ago, a city bus-sized terrifying predator prowled a prehistoric river in what is now North Dakota.

This finding is based on the analysis of a single mosasaur tooth conducted by an international team of researchers from the United States, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

The tooth came from a prognathodontine mosasaur — a reptile reaching up to 11 meters long. This makes it an apex predator on par with the largest killer whales.

It shows that massive mosasaurs successfully adapted to life in rivers right up until their extinction.

The mosasaur tooth was found in 2022 in the Bismarck Area, North Dakota. Credit: Melanie During

Isotope analysis

Dating from 98 to 66 million years ago, abundant mosasaur fossils have been uncovered in marine deposits across North America, Europe, and Africa.

However, these marine reptile fossils have been rarely found in North Dakota before.

In this new study, the large mosasaur tooth was unearthed in a fluvial deposit (river sediment) in North Dakota.

Its neighbors in the dirt were just as compelling: a tooth from a Tyrannosaurus rex and a crocodylian jawbone. Interestingly, all these fossilized remains came from a similar age, around 66 million years old.

This unusual gathering — sea monster, land dinosaur, and river croc — raised an intriguing question: If the mosasaur was a sea creature, how did its remains end up in an inland river?

The answer lay in the chemistry of the tooth enamel. Using advanced isotope analysis at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the team compared the chemical composition of the mosasaur tooth with its neighbors.

The key was the ratio of oxygen isotopes.

The mosasaur teeth contained a higher proportion of the lighter oxygen isotope than is typical for mosasaurs living in saltwater. This specific isotopic signature, along with the strontium isotope ratio, strongly suggests that the mosasaur lived in a freshwater habitat.

Analysis also revealed that the mosasaur did not dive as deep as many of its marine relatives and may have fed on unusual prey, such as drowned dinosaurs.

The isotope signatures indicated that this mosasaur had inhabited this freshwater riverine environment. When we looked at two additional mosasaur teeth found nearby, slightly older sites in North Dakota, we saw similar freshwater signatures. These analyses show that mosasaurs lived in riverine environments in the final million years before going extinct,” explained Melanie During, the study author.

Transformation of the Seaway

The adaptation occurred during the final million years of the Cretaceous period.

It is hypothesized that the mosasaurs were adapting to an enormous environmental shift in the Western Interior Seaway, the vast inland sea that once divided North America.

Increased freshwater influx gradually transformed the ancient sea from saltwater to brackish water, and finally to mostly freshwater, similar to the modern Gulf of Bothnia.

The researchers hypothesize that this change led to the formation of a halocline: a structure where a lighter layer of freshwater rested atop heavier saltwater. The findings of the isotope analyses directly support this theory.

The analyzed mosasaur teeth belong to individuals who successfully adapted to the shifting environments.

This transition from marine to freshwater habitats (reverse adaptation) is considered less complex than the opposite shift and is not unique among large predators.

Modern parallels include river dolphins, which evolved from marine ancestors but now thrive in freshwater, and the estuarine crocodile, which moves freely between freshwater rivers and the open sea for hunting.

Findings were published in the journal BMC Zoology on December 11.

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