Former President Bill Clinton toured downtown Grand Forks on St. Patrick’s Day with hundreds of grateful admirers and supporters on hand. Clinton addressed onlookers on the banks of the Red River, and spoke of the amount of pride that residents from both Grand Forks and East Grand Forks should carry with them as a result of their rebuilding efforts. “No American who was ever alive then can forget the pictures of the town flooded while the buildings were burning. It wasn’t come hell or high waters, it was come hell and high waters,” said former President, Bill Clinton. Former Grand Forks Mayor Pat Owens was on hand to express her gratitude to the former President for all he had done in support of the rebuilding effort. “He was the right president at the right time and I know who put him there.” The Mayors of both Grand Forks and East Grand Forks presented President Clinton with the honorary keys to both communities. President Clinton was then the key note speaker for the North Dakota DFL Convention at the Alerus Center where he continued his praises for the cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.
Another Star comes to Grand Forks
Here comes another music legend to Grand Forks. Coolio will be appearing at the Crosstown Lounge on DeMers Avenue in downtown Grand Forks. Coolio, best known for his songs “Fantastic Voyage” and “Gangsta’s Paradise” will be appearing at the Crosstown on April 21st. He is scheduled to begin his performance at 10pm with doors opening at 9pm. I remember that song “Fantastic Voyage”! That’s a great song and hats off to the folks over at the Crosstown for landing this act in Grand Forks. Another nightclub in town, Big Ds has also as of late been bringing these national recording artists to town so it’s nice to see Grand Forks getting on the map for some of these headliners. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased before the show at JamBaseTickets.com
Supreme Court hears arguments in Fighting Sioux nickname case
Arguments were heard at the North Dakota Supreme Court in Bismarck on Thursday in regards to the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux nickname, and whether the law requiring the school to carry that nickname is legal. So now we have the Supreme Court involved in what should be the schools decision? Who truly knows what’s best for the University of North Dakota better then UND itself? Nobody that’s who! Why is the school, with all its administrators not given the choice of what the schools nickname will be? How about the students and alumni? Do they not know what’s best for the school? I attended UND for five years and I know that it is a great campus for learning, and a great campus for building great leaders. Yet the State Board of Higher Education, the Attorney General’s Office and now the North Dakota Supreme Court Justices have the nickname issue bobbling around like a Joe Mauer bobble head doll. The school has made its choice to let the Fighting Sioux nickname be a thing of the past. We should all honor that and let the school go forward in this process. Once again I say Enough is Enough! This issue has been dragging on for decades and it’s time it came to an end.
UND Men’s Hockey Team Gets #1 seed
After winning three games in three nights to win the WCHA Final Five impressively, the University of North Dakota Men’s Hockey Team has also impressed enough to secure a #1 seed in the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Hockey Championship. Their first match-up will be this Saturday March 24th at 1:30pm against Western Michigan. The Sioux looked amazing this past weekend and hope to take their great play with them this weekend into the NCAA tournament.
Bracketology 101
Well how’s everyone’s brackets heading into week two of March Madness? My brackets are in the top 15% in the country after week one. WOW, there were some incredible games in week one and hats off to Lehigh for taking down Duke. I had Duke picked to win that game but it’s still great to see an unknown underdog slay the mighty Duke. All of my Final Four picks are still intact and I still have North Carolina winning it all.
Send any questions or comments to mfranklin@ncppub.com