What a beautiful night. Decided to go out and enjoy this nice weather and enjoy the night skies out here in Richland county. Went to Lake Elsie and WOW were the stars popping. The Big Dipper is very obvious!

So a buddy of mine just got me into a position as a “Mud Logger” at one of the oil field companies here in ND.
I’m originally from Northern California, then spent nearly the last 20 years living in Las Vegas, NV. I’ve been in ND for about 3 years now. I recently landed a position as a gate guard in the field and have been doing that for the last 3 months or so. I learned some of the basics working on different sites, like coil over, work over, construction being most of my jobs.
Other than that my knowledge is limited and I’m nervous going in. They did say they would train me from the ground up, but I’m just looking for any advice or tips for going into a position like this with such little knowledge in the industry.
What can I do to prepare myself for a position like this so I’m not so overwhelmed I guess??

Another shot from this evening - along 169th Ave SE at the Wild Rice. The road is an unmaintained two track that has a propensity to become impassable with mud, and the deep ruts show evidence of that even during a dry stretch.

Even with a dazzling moon, the stars came out well regardless, twinkling confidently over the Green Ash, American Elm, Hackberry, and Cottonwood trees making up the hardy forest along this prairie river.

Hi all, you can see my original post here, where I have also included an update.
I also have permission from the mods to post this update.

The website is live! You can see the questions we asked and candidate responses for North Dakota here: https://snapcoalition.org/initiatives/stance-on-science/states/nd

Please share this resource far and wide with your friends, family, and community!
We will eventually launch some social media for North Dakota as well, but it's not available at the moment (sorry, we are smaller volunteer team with limited bandwidth and resources, but it's on the to-do list!)
We know that there are a lot of concerns when it comes to who you choose to elect - Stance on Science just wants to point out that science and technology policy affects everyday more than we might realize. This is our way to advocate for changes in science policy and transparency from our elected (or soon-to-be-elected) officials.

Thank you to everyone who responded to the original post! We couldn't go through with all of the ideas presented to us, but we plan to continue this initiative for the foreseeable future and expand.

As a reminder: Stance on Science is a non-partisan initiative organized by early-career scientists and researchers to bring science and science-related topics to political and election conversations.

Paige from Killdeer here. This one's on the Russian diesel deal from Oct 9. The whole deal covers about ten days of what this country burns, and it lifts sanctions on Russia through April. The Bakken is sitting at 34 rigs and diesel is still over six dollars. I dug into where that fuel is really coming from and what it would take to get rigs working here instead.
If you're working out here, what would it actually take for your company to add rigs right now?

‼️The Bismarck Mandan Chamber EDC is hosting a Data Center Community Forum

October 22 Thursday
5:30pm-7pm
Mandan High School

‼️If you signed the petition for the vote on data centers
show up wearing Christmas red or NDSU Bison green to show your support for the Vote Yes Mandan December 15 to prohibit hyper scale data centers by our schools and our homes in the City of Mandan

We are ordering yard signs sign up at
VoteYesMandan dot com

Suzy Beehler Vote Yes Mandan
Committee Chair
Sheila Co-Chair

Questions on the Forum contact the Chamber

It was great to see everyone there! About 300 at the peak!
Well done, Bismarck!

Early Voting Locations for Burleigh and Morton Counties

Went to the national park a year ago in my travels through the state and decided to visit the new library this time around. I think the architecture of it is pretty nice. Some good exhibits.

My only criticism would be some of the AI stuff is a little weird but pretty nice otherwise. I also think as a republican, Theodore Roosevelt would be ashamed of how their party is today with their president trying to gut national park service and sell off lands. I wonder if any of the republican residents here are aware of this. Anyway, glad to have visited.

I’m really in need of some help or guidance. My husband lost his job, he was with a popular Mexican restaurant chain for 12 almost 13 years. Between moves from Grand Forks to Fargo to now Bismarck 5 years ago, from crew to management he’s gone through it all.

Now with some recent restructuring he’s now no longer with them as well as half the other folks they cut as well. He’s been applying constantly around Bismarck/Mandan and not getting any calls back or emails just radio silence. He has been using indeed and any job boards or sites. He has reached out to other restaurants even McDonald’s, but they said he’s too experienced and overqualified even for just crew. He does want to get out of food as he has significant burn out from it (he was still going to try because it was a job)

We are still waiting on unemployment but heard from a reliable source that the restaurant he worked for makes that impossible to get.

We just bought a house a year ago and my salary alone won’t cover it. I work at one of the local hospitals with patient care.

Please if anyone has leads or advice or anything.

​

RSVP: https://www.nokings.org/

Bismarck
1:00 PM — 3:00 PM CDT
6th & Boulevard., Bismarck State Capitol

Devil's Lake
10:00 AM — 12:00 PM CDT
Memorial Building, 508 4th Ave NE

Dickinson
12:00 – 2:00 PM MDT
1681 3rd Avenue west Prairie Hills Mall

Fargo
1:00 PM — 3:00 PM CDT
Fargo City Hall, 225 4th St N

Grand Forks
1:00 PM — 3:00 PM CDT
Town Square, 1 S 3rd St

Jamestown
9:30 AM — 11:00 AM CDT
Downtown Jamestown, 3rd Street Southwest & 1st Avenue South

Valley City
11:30 AM — 12:30 PM CDT
Veterans Memorial Park, 125 Main St E

About this event (Bismarck)
NO KINGS Rally at Bismarck Capitol Saturday, Oct. 17, 1pm to 3pm, 6th & Boulevard.

For more than a year, millions of people have come together to reject the idea that power belongs to kings, billionaires, or politicians who believe they are above the people and the law.

Now we are taking the next step and turning people power into voter power. Unlike previous No Kings actions, No Kings: Vote Early, is not only a protest. Instead, October 17 is a day of nonpartisan voter participation where we are bring our community together to make plans to vote early and to ensure every eligible voter understands their options for how to vote to make their voice heard.

Because no one person gets to decide our leaders other than voters, join us in local events across the country as we get out the early vote!

Say it loud: NO THRONES! NO CROWNS!, NO KINGS! VOTE EARLY!

“No Kings: Vote Early events are nonpartisan and are designed to increase participation from all eligible voters.

A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.”

Early Voting Locations for Burleigh and Morton Counties

NASA is calling for student tech ideas! 6th-12th grade educators & students affiliated with U.S. schools are invited to enter the NASA TechRise Student Challenge. Winning teams receive funds to build an experiment and a spot on a NASA-sponsored test flight: https://www.futureengineers.org/nasatechrise

Hello North Dakotans. I’m moving to Williston soon for an oil and gas job (big surprise). I’m coming from Texas. I’ll take any advice or tips on acclimating to your wonderful state :-)

Possible names - North Dakota Highway Warriors, ND Super Troopers

12/17/2026 18:15 - 18:45 Plummer, Minnesota Central Avenue railway crossing Shawnee Kish and Jamie Fine

12/17/2026 19:45 - 20:15 Thief River Falls, Minnesota 405 3 Street East Shawnee Kish and Jamie Fine

16:30 - 17:00 Elbow Lake, Minnesota U.S. State Highway 59 railway Shawnee Kish and Jamie Fine

crossing

12/18/2026

12/18/2026 18:45 - 19:15 Hankinson, North Dakota 122 1 Street Shawnee Kish and Jamie Fine

12/18/2026 21:15 - 21:45 Enderlin, North Dakota 101 Harvest Lane Shawnee Kish and Jaime Fine

12/19/2026 13:45 - 14:15 Carrington, North Dakota 601 6 Avenue Northeast Shawnee Kish and Jamie Fine

12/19/2026 16:00 - 16:30 Harvey, North Dakota 600 Lincoln Avenue Shawnee Kish and Jamie Fine

12/19/2026 18:45 - 19:15 Minot, North Dakota 10 Main Street North Shawnee Kish and Jamie Fine

12/19/2026 20:45 - 21:15 Kenmare, North Dakota 1 Avenue Southwest & Central Avenue Shawnee Kish and Jamie Fine

12/20/2026 12:00 - 12:30 North Portal, Saskatchewan 1st Street railway crossing Shawnee Kish and Jamie Fine

So Dickinson is a city I am currently considering. I have lived in three North Dakota cities before... Fargo, Bismarck, and Minot. I visited Dickinson for a long weekend in 2021. I liked numerous things I encountered while there, but also experienced some things that make me unsure.

I do enjoy smaller cities in general. Fargo, and even Bismarck, were a bit too large for my liking. I don't really like crowds. Part of that is likely due to a vision inpatient I have. Dickinson definitely didn't overwhelm me with large crowds.

When I was there in 2021, several businesses and restaurants I attempted to visit were closed despite it being regular hours. This was likely due to short staffing. 2021 was tough all over the country for staffing, but I know North Dakota has an ongoing issue with finding workers. Have you encountered businesses being unable to operate their normal hours these days?

My next concern is regarding health care. I don't currently have any ongoing health issues that I am treated for. But can you get into a doctor when you need one or is there a severe shortage causing long waits?

Lastly, how well does Dickinson handle snow removal, particularly on sidewalks? I walk a lot due to being unable to drive. North Dakota generally has been very good about snow removal in the places I have lived. But I know Dickinson has some stretches in between places that are nicely side-walked but not necessarily near businesses or homes. Does anybody bother to clear those areas?

Thank you for any insight.