[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 18, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S2231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MIKE JACOBS OF THE GRAND FORKS HERALD

 Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, the Herald's editor, Mike Jacobs, 
was in Washington recently to receive an award he richly deserves. He 
was named ``Editor of the Year'' by the National Press Foundation for 
his and the Herald's remarkable achievements during last year's flood 
and fires in Grand Forks. I want to add my words of thanks to Mike and 
to the entire staff of the Herald for their outstanding work during 
extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
  I saw firsthand how much it meant to the people of Grand Forks that 
their hometown newspaper never missed a day of printing throughout the 
city's crisis.
  When the Herald arrived at shelters and emergency centers it flew off 
the racks. Clusters of people would gather around and jointly read it. 
They were starved for news of their city and devoured the paper.
  Yet even more than a conduit of information, the Grand Forks Herald 
was a symbol of a community determined to survive and endure.
  That the Herald was there at all was wondrous. Its building was 
completely flooded and then soon burned to the ground. The homes of 
nearly every employee of the Herald were inundated by flood waters.
  Yet, the Herald, led by Editor Mike Jacobs, never faltered, never 
missed an edition. It found a temporary office in the grade school of a 
nearby small town, located alternative presses and devised creative 
methods of distributing the paper to its readers and flourished. In 
doing so, it gave hope, inspiration and purpose to its community.
  As the city has overcome the worst disaster in North Dakota history, 
its citizens have marched back with resilience, fortitude and 
inspirational spirit. Mike Jacobs, the Grand Forks Herald and the city 
of Grand Forks have triumphed and I salute them.

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