Occasionally, one must be a local columnist and cover some of the local characters who prance across the stage to their own unique beat.

Here last week, I bumped into an old character, Lonnie Swanson, who I worked with at the Times-Region beginning around 1987 when Duane Mattson's dad bought the paper from Jan Dutcher.

It was an exciting time with Duane as the young publisher.

He was a beautiful character and a laid back dude, who sent me on interesting assignments.

Lonnie and I were inside Mattson's Pharmacy when I mentioned that Duane, fresh out of UND with a journalism degree, ruined a g...