Grand Forks Herald Presses On
By Dan Gunderson
May 12, 1997

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When floods and fire wreaked havoc in Grand Forks, the city's only daily newspaper was among the victims. The Grand Forks Herald building first flooded, then burned, losing all its files and photo archive. Amazingly, the Herald never missed an issue. The paper was delivered to shelters free. This week the Herald plans to get back to home delivery to residents who remain in the Grand Forks area. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Gunderson reports.

FX: BASEBALL

A FEW MILES NORTH OF GRAND FORKS, a handful of kids play baseball on the playground outside the Manvel, North Dakota, elementary school. Inside, children's artwork covers the walls, and a large group of adults loiter in the hallway outside a classroom. This is the Grand Forks Herald newsroom: reporters sit shoulder to shoulder at computers, trying to meet deadline for tomorrow's paper.

Editor Mike Jacobs spends his days running between the newsroom, other classrooms where the paper is edited, and his office, a small trailer parked outside.

THE REAL PROBLEM HERE IS I'VE GOTTA CARRY OUT MY OWN GARBAGE, AND I GENERATE A LOT OF IT.

Jacobs says even though he's visited the burned-out Herald building downtown, the loss of the newsroom he helped design hasn't set in yet.

I KEPT LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO TAKE, BUT THERE'S NOTHING. THE NEWSROOM IS TOAST; BURNT CRISP TOAST; THERE'S NOTHING LEFT; IT'S AN ASTONISHING FEELING.

One photographer lost 20 years of accumulated negatives in the fire; the paper's archive was destroyed. And many reporters aren't even sure what they lost. Regional reporter Kevin Bonham says he just realized his cameras were destroyed. He says there's been little time to think about what's happened.

WHEN YOU CAN SIT BACK AND REFLECT ON A RARE DAY OFF, AND YOU LOOK BACK THROUGH THE PAPERS AND WONDER HOW WE'VE GOTTEN THROUGH THE LAST THREE WEEKS; BUT WE'LL GET BACK, SOMEWHERE, SOMEHOW.

Reporter David Knutson has been on the job since he was evacuated from his downtown apartment by boat April 18. He says he's never worked so hard or long, but he says the camaraderie that's developed among the staff has carried everyone through the trying times.

ITS UNLIKE ANYTHING I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED, CAUSE THERE'S NO REFERENCE POINTS. IT'S JUST HARD TO BELIEVE IT; IT'S JUST AMAZING.

OVER A PERIOD OF DAYS IT JUST WEARS YOU DOWN. I THINK A LOT OF US ARE JUST WEARY.

Sally Thompson is the Herald's feature editor. Her historic Grand Forks home was flooded. She says it's been an emotional roller coaster.

Thompson says there's the excitement of covering the story of a lifetime, and the moments when the scope of the disaster hits home, like when she found out her home would be on the wrong side of a proposed new dike.

Thompson says she tries to remind herself every day she's more fortunate than many others.

ITS IMPORTANT TO DO THAT, BUT SOME DAYS IT'S EASIER THAN OTHER DAYS. I'M HAVING KINDA A BAD DAY TODAY, I'M REALLY TIRED.

OUR PEOPLE FOUND GREATNESS THEY DIDN'T KNOW THEY HAD.

Mike Jacobs says as editor he's not satisfied with the paper. It's been a little rough around the edges he says, but he is intensely proud of the non-stop work of his staff.

THERE IS NOBODY HERE WHO HAS NOT REALIZED THE STRENGTH OF HIS OR HER CHARACTER, I MEAN THIS IS A SITUATION THAT FORCES YOU TO GO ALL THE WAY, AND OUR PEOPLE HAVE DONE THAT.

Jacobs says the cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks will never be the same, Nor will he.

IT HAS BEEN FOR ME A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE. I SEE OUR ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY DIFFERENTLY, I SEE , I HEAR THE VOICE OF THE PAPER DIFFERENTLY.

Jacobs says he now strongly believes the newspaper's role is to help unite the community and focus people's attention on its strengths, not the weaknesses that can divide people.

The publishers of the Grand Forks Herald say they are committed to putting a new building in downtown Grand Forks, hoping to be a catalyst for redevelopment of the city's devastated business district.

Go to Flood of 1997.