Articles

More room in the pew: Even in N.D. and Minnesota, fewer are attending religious services

A new survey by the Association of Religion Data Archives finds that fewer people, even in highly churched North Dakota and Minnesota, are attending religious services, mostly in the traditional denominations.

• Aal Lutheran
• Church membership
• The biggest declines
• 30 years later

FAITH: Ike Harrington ... Rusty Chords ... 'Wade in the Water'

N.D.’s No. 2 ranking surprises even Oil Patch

The numbers and their increase are tantalizing and surprising, even to the experts in North Dakota’s Oil Patch watching the crude flow day by day. On Monday, North Dakota’s chief regulator of the oil industry announced the latest figures available showed that in March the state produced another record, 17.84 million barrels of crude oil — 575,490 barrels each day — pumped out of a record 6,636 wells. That pushed North Dakota past Alaska into the No. 2 rank among oil-producing states.

• We're No. 2
• Oil worker near Dickinson
• N.D. becomes No. 2 oil producing state, trailing only Texas
• Harold Hamm

Oslo man in serious condition after rollover in Marshall County

An Oslo, Minn., man was seriously injured in a vehicle rollover in Marshall County Saturday night.

FAITH: 'Heart of Worship' ... African Choir ... Ashley Robinson

“Heart of Worship,” a contemporary Christian singing group that has been active in the region for 10 years, will present its “Farewell Concert,” at 7 p.m. Sunday in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 112 Edward Ave. N.E., Red Lake Falls, Minn.

Fire again at rural Manvel farmstead

A grass fire Thursday at an oft-burned abandoned farmstead north of Manvel, N.D., took two rural fire departments to kill it. The call came in shortly before 8 p.m. today, said Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Deputy Dave Stromberg.

ND farmers to harvest record winter wheat crop this year

North Dakota farmers look to harvest a record amount of winter wheat from a record number of acres this summer, due largely to the late, wet spring last year that made the September-planted crop a better-than-normal option.

Fisher, Minn., high school senior charged with sexually assaulting kindergartener

A high school senior who attended the high school here is in jail in Crookston, charged with sexually assaulting a kindergarten student while helping out in the class. The charges spurred questions Tuesday night from parents of kindergartners during a 75-minute meeting with school officials over how Jarrin Boucher, 18, was given access to the student in her classroom through a special program.

• Jarrin Boucher

Grand Forks council approves Bakken Initiative

The Grand Forks City Council voted 6 to 1 to spend $75,000 in excess sales tax to promote the city’s potential among Oil Patch companies. In what it calls the Bakken Initiative, the city also is working to raise another $50,000 from private and other sources for the idea.

• City of Grand Forks logo

N.D. at odds with national church trend

What do North Dakota and Utah have in common? Both states, while highly religious, are bucking a national trend by having the lowest percentage of people who go to nondenominational and independent religious congregations.

Columns

District 43 recount coming later this month

Delmore holds 8 vote lead over Dietrich
The Grand Forks County canvassing board tallied up the vote in the District 43 House race Monday, adding one vote to the margin incumbent Democratic-NPLer Lois Delmore holds over Republican challenger Don Dietrich for the second seat.