Today in Minot

Scientists may be one step closer to a future where cell therapy works for everyone — no matching, no rejection, no lifelong drugs. In a breakthrough study, researchers engineered human stem cells to hide from the immune system and restore muscle control in rats with Parkinson’s disease. The approach combines bold science with built-in safety checks, offering both promise and caution. If this universal cell line proves safe in humans, it could change how we treat not just Parkinson’s, but a host of diseases once thought incurable.

Dyani Lewis with Nature has the full story on the recently released research. April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month.

What makes art matter — not just in galleries or concert halls, but in the quiet moments of being human — is that it reaches deeper than reason. Carl Jung saw creativity not as a hobby or a gift, but as a force of nature. In every poem, painting, or song, he believed, is the trace of something older, larger, and far beyond the artist alone — the collective unconscious breaking through. To create is to surrender — not to what we know, but to what still sleeps within us. If the intro has you wondering, Maria Popova has some Sunday reading that’s at just the-right-speed.

Long before smartphones told us when spring had arrived, people on the prairie watched for something simpler — the first soft bloom of the pasque flower. It wasn’t just a sign of warmer days; it was a signal to pause, reflect, and greet the season with gratitude. Across generations — from Dakota elders to prairie settlers — this early flower carried stories, songs, and quiet wisdom. It’s a reminder that the most ordinary moments — like noticing a flower — can be the most sacred. Tom Isern with Prairie Public News shares comments on one of North Dakota’

For decades, Iceland has thrived by staying small, steady, and out of the spotlight — a bridge between continents, a quiet leader in renewable energy, and a model of resilient democracy. But the Arctic is changing fast, and so is the world’s attention. With global powers eyeing Greenland and jockeying for influence in the region, Iceland’s strategic location is suddenly a prize and a pressure point. The question ahead isn’t whether Iceland matters — it’s who will shape its future, and on whose terms. Ish Sveinsson Houle with Reykjavik Grapevine has the full story.

In Grafton, North Dakota, they’re not just trying to rebuild a hockey team — they’re trying to rebuild a way of life. For generations, Spoiler hockey was more than wins and banners; it was a shared identity, passed down from rink to rink, family to family. That tradition slipped in recent years, as numbers fell and state tournament trips faded from view. But now, with young players filling the ranks and old names returning to coach, Grafton-Park River is chasing something bigger — the return of a hockey culture built to last. Tom Miller with Grand Forks Herald has the full story.

In Ashley and Wishek, North Dakota — two small towns rooted in prairie tradition — the local newspaper isn’t just newsprint, it’s community memory. After the sudden passing of longtime publisher Tony Bender, his children are fighting to keep the Ashley Tribune and Wishek Star alive. They’re printing papers, taking calls, and holding on until a new owner steps forward. It’s a story about family, local pride, and the fragile future of small-town journalism — where losing the paper could mean losing part of the town itself. April Baumgarten with InForum has the full story.

There are places on the map where history feels especially close — not because it’s well remembered, but because it’s so often forgotten. The Lewis and Clark Trail winds through Montana and Idaho with plaques, signs, and statues, but too often leaves out the full story of Sacagawea — the Shoshone girl whose knowledge, resilience, and courage made the expedition possible. This thoughtful reflection explores not just the places Sacagawea walked, but the silences left behind, asking us to see her not as a symbol — but as a person. Tiya Miles writing for Places Journal takes you along on her journey of exploring Sacagawea’s path.