Octo-what? Here we are in a new month! Right on cue, the leaves are falling and piling up, partly due to so much wind. The beginning of the week was a bit ridiculous, but I’m thankful we didn’t have a hurriweek.

Embrace the “pp!” I’ll let that thought sink in for a hot second until you’re feeling sufficiently scandalized before I explain. And no, Mitzel is not ghost-writing this article.

My weekend was full of ART, and I loved it! I started off early Saturday morning to Walhalla’s Farmers Market for Kids Day. I was geared up with my brand new face painting kit I had finally ordered online, as well as other various supplies.

By Bob Simmons, CEO, Simmons Multimedia I like to read, mostly about business. I enjoy learning from others’ successes and failures. This week we’ll look at Red Lobster. I can’t tell you how many times over the years Di and I have enjoyed dinner at the Red Lobster in Grand Forks, and perhaps, like you, we were saddened when we learned that the restaurant was being closed. Recently, David Segal, who is a business reporter for the New York Times, had a great write up on the demise of the franchise, ‘Greed, Gluttony and the Crackup of Red Lobster.’

We’re back to summer! Back in the day (as my six-year-old grandson would say), we had a name for this stretch of warm weather that shows up after you think summer is over. It’s no longer politically correct to use such a name, so I can’t tell you what it is.

As a lifelong township supervisor, I see passing Measure #4 as a monumental misdirection of tax policy. It will stop collection of property tax on home and property, create a statewide yearly $1.3 billion revenue shortfall and give our State legislature power to determine how to meet necessary funding levels.

With the 2024 election looming, the media has focused on the Presidential race, but one issue called ‘Project 2025’ is being tragically ignored. This defines Trump’s policy if the former President is re-elected. Chapter 10 of Project 2025 concerns agriculture and the changes that will define how the government treats farmers.

Do we want to talk about Monday’s rain? I’ll keep it short. I just know that on Monday afternoon I headed into a storm west of Langdon that I had no business being in and have never driven in before - at least not that I can remember.

One perk of working for a media company is that sometimes there’s leftover tickets to local concerts and shows. Last weekend Courtney and Brandi approached me asking if I’d like to join the girls in attending a hip hop show in Devils Lake at Spirit Lake Casino.

It has been one full year since my mother-in-law, Carol, passed away. The suddenness and shock have finally worn off a bit, and life has settled into a new normal for the family. I found holidays over the past year to be difficult and strange, and now that fall and harvest are here, I selfishly feel a little more overwhelmed and frustrated that she’s not here to help. She was always willing to handle a meal for the harvest crew, especially if I had other obligations in the evening to attend. Now the meals are all on me. She would keep me updated on the day’s progress, so I didn’t have to bug Greg all the time, and she’d run supplies out to the farm as needed since she made a daily trek into town for work. I think the hardest part of this whole passage of time thing is that it’s fall again. Fall was her favorite season, and it’s mine, too. All the fall things are happening, and it’s strange to not see her cheering on her beloved Bison and puttering around her house putting up her fall decorations while a pot of bbq simmers on the stove.