Looking Back at a Film Legend BY PAT HILL Blood and guts aptly describes the films of the late screen-writer and director Sam Peckinpah, who set the stage for movie violence during his career. Peckinpah earned the nickname Bloody Sam after production of the high-body-count western The Wild Bunch in 1969, and westerns are among his best films. Peckinpah was born in … [Read more...]

Drilling Increasingly Runs on H20 BY NICHOLAS KUSNETZ The first thing you notice in North Dakota's oil patch are trucks. They dominate a landscape defined not long ago by cattle and wheat, and not long before that by bison and grass. Trucks groan through Watford City all night. They pile up traffic on highways designed for the occasional car or combine and whip dirt roads … [Read more...]

Says He Expects to Hear Outrageously Racist Comments in Public BY DUSTIN HURST Politico  recently wrote that Montana Governor. Brian Schweitzer’s rhetorical prowess is a valuable asset and a dangerous liability for his future political ambitions. Case in point: On July 28, Schweitzer delivered the keynote address at the Ohio Democratic Party’s annual dinner. In the … [Read more...]

Milk Cows to the Milky Way BY MARS ROVER As you may notice by reading this September issue, there’s yet another David Lewis in our midst (see page 25). Long time readers know he isn’t the first interloper in the David Lewis universe that ought to fade into obscurity (or at least use a middle initial) if there is to be any justice in this world—dozens have come before this … [Read more...]

Fierce Predators Fighting to the Death and Causing Controversy PIONEER NEWS With more wolves roaming the tri-state area than have been seen in decades, and thousands of mountain lions competing for the same territory and prey, it stands to reason that the two predators cross paths. Wolves, more over, have turned up dead lately, with puncture wounds in their skulls, leading … [Read more...]