Dakota Beacon: North Dakota

Steve Cates

Steve Cates is a consulting geophysicist specializing in natural resource evaluation, geotechnology integration, geophysics, environmental analysis, Geographic Information Systems, and technical writing. He has authored several scientific articles and publications and publishes this magazine.

Brett Narloch
Brett Narloch is a graduate student of history at North Dakota State University. Brett was born and raised in Minto, ND. He graduated from the University of North Dakota in 2004 as an Honors Scholar with a degree in History. He is also chief editorialist at Taking Back North Dakota, a conservative web-log. Visit TBND at www.takingbacknd.com.

Hal Neff
Hal is a ND native who grew up near McClusky. A Korean war veteran who served in the U.S. Navy from 1951 to 1955. Hal and his wife Lois have four children and eight grand children. Hal volunteers at the Bismarck Public Library doing book repair and restoration

Jan Schultz

Jan Schultz graduated from the University of North Dakota and was an English teacher at both Century High School and Bismarck State College. She is currently a free lance writer and editor with recent articles published in Horizons Magazine.

John Herndrickson
John Herndrickson received a BA and M.A. in History from UND. Interests include American political history, American conservatism, and the political careers of Herbert Hoover, Robert Taft, and General Douglas MacArthur. Intern at the Heritage Foundation spring 2005. Future plans include a possible Ph.D. program or law school.

John currently works as a political correspondent for several northern Minnesota newspapers and has been covering that state's legislative session.

Margaret Sitte

Margaret Sitte is a mother, an educator, researcher, a former newspaper columnist and a North Dakota State Legislature House Representative. She resides in Bismarck with her husband David.

Patti Armstrong

Patti Maguire Armstrong graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in social work with minors in psychology and journalism. She earned a Masters in public administration from Portland State University. She and her husband Mark moved to North Dakota in 1990. They have ten children ranging in age from 23 to 4-years-old; two of them are orphans from Kenya. Patti's books are available at most bookstores or through Ascensionpress.com and Scepterpublishers.org.

Rob Schmid
Rob Schmid is a North Dakota native and UND graduate who still maintains a lively interest in his home state. He is retired from an international consulting firm and lives in the Northern California wine country. Schmid writes from the perspective of an expatriate.

Rob Port
Born in Alaska, Rob Port has lived in North Dakota since 1990. He and his two favorite women, his mischievous daughter and beautiful fiance live in Minot. He spends most of his free time writing North Dakota's most popular political blog Say Anything (http://sayanythigblog.com).

Ruben Lackman
Citizen of ND since 1953, Ruben has BS and BA degrees from Dickinson State University, MA in English from University of Kansas, and was a Mandan High School teacher for 20 years, College faculty member at Dickinson State, Bismarck State, and the University of Mary. Married to wife Lois since 1958 with 5 children. Rueben ranches west of Mandan.

Timothy Sandstrom
Although, difficult for Tim because he grew up on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, he wanted to provide the facts to the issue at hand and looks forward to defending his passions in life and the state he truly loves.

Tim was born near and grew up on the family farm near New Town, where, "Growing up in New Town was a dream come true for me because I loved the farm life, outdoor opportunities, and all the community had to offer." New Town High graduate in 1997, he then attended Bismarck State College and the University of North Dakota.

His academic work in Information Systems resulted in being awarded a cooperative student appointment with the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium where he became involved with spatial analysis that provided agriculture and ranch management tools.

Since obtaining a B.S. in Business Administration he has worked for engineering firms and is currently a Senior Engineering Technician. He is also the general manager of a large Upper Midwest outdoor web-site located in Bismarck.

Tory Jackson

Tory is a Bismarck native, Century High graduate, Bismarck State College alumnus, and received his under graduate degree with distinction in Government from the University of Virginia. He is currently at Harvard to obtain a degree in Law. As an undergraduate, he was a staff writer for the Virginia Advocate, was active in the College Republicans, and currently is a Harvard Federalist Society member/officer.