Dakota Beacon

Forbes is just hanging on -- its school closed in 1987.   The town of 50 is perched on the South Dakota border in east central ND.  Like many of its small brethren, the town is held together by a community grocery store staffed largely by volunteers.  The Peoples Store was started years ago with a grant from the Lutheran Aid Association.  Many believe the store is kept afloat by WOLFF FAMILY SAUSAGE and 25-cent coffee.  Ted Wolff and various relatives make and sell the popular sausage at the store.  Wolff says, “So many of our people have died off.  And the farms are getting bigger with less people on them.”  Sausage customers from as far away as Aberdeen, SD, are needed to keep the doors open. 

Another small town has a more deliberate strategy for hanging on.  Westhope (500) is near the Canadian border in central ND and, like Forbes, has a community grocery store.  They didn’t stop there -- fearing the loss of its only motel, the town bought the damaged building, converted part of it for city use, and operates the remaining16-unit GATEWAY MOTEL.  Those projects, plus efforts to save other small businesses, won the city a $100,000 “Great Strides” award from the NW Area Foundation.

Napoleon (60 mi. SE of Bismarck) fell into an easier way to hold its 800 residents together.  REUBEN’S RESTAURANT opened on November 30 -- a $500,000 gift to the town from local benefactor Reuben Wentz (93).  The building has amenities such as TV monitors and wireless mikes for presentations, and houses the Logan County economic development coordinator.  Makoti (145) also has a community cafe which reopened after a year -- the Minot Daily News enthused that people “will appreciate the food because Carlsten (the new cook) brings the cooking skills honed with his former employer” . . . Denny’s.

Angela Stott was born in Montpelier (south of Jamestown) in 1919; she died Angela Brennan 90 years later, still in Montpelier.  MUCH HAPPENED IN BETWEEN.  Angela married and outlived three husbands, had children and in her 50s received a degree in genealogy from NDSU.  She authored “Montpelier, The First Hundred Years” while keeping an eye on 42 great-grandchildren.  Another testimonial to the hardiness and initiative of ND women of her generation.

INDIANS AND DRUGS are one of the most vexing crime problems in the upper Great Plains.  Jurisdictional confusion and weak law enforcement on the reservations are among the main problems.  The U.S. Attorney’s office in Fargo is wrapping up a massive prosecution of drug gangs at the Turtle Mt. Reservation and three dozen suspects have just been arrested at Montana’s Ft. Peck Reservation (about 100 miles west of Williston).  The Three Affiliated Tribes at the Ft. Berthold Reservation are seeking a federal grant, mainly to control drug-related crimes.

“O, what a tangled web we weave . . .”  Gary Tharaldson (one of ND’s richest investors), Brad Scott (a Bismarck financial advisor) and the Bank of North Dakota are all involved with ManhattanWest, a failed $350 million Las Vegas real estate project.  Tharoldson is being sued by an Oklahoma bank, he is suing Scott, and the Bank of ND is one of 29 banks that may try to make Tharoldson honor a $110 million guarantee to an investment pool.  The ND bank has $15 million in the pool.  This is BIG FINANCIAL STUFF FOR ND.  The federal court in Bismarck is allowing the suit against Tharoldson to go forward and, absent a settlement, the complex issues could take years to unwind.

ND’s mountain lion population is steadily growing.  The state has a limited annual hunt, principally, to gather more data about LION POPULATIONS in the state.  In late November, the Game and Fish Department killed a 100-pound lion in Bismarck -- the first time a cougar was taken out in city limits anywhere in the state.

Minnewaukan (300) held a special election electing a new mayor and city council member.  The GF Herald reported the “election ends a fiery chapter in Minnewaukan civic history that was prompted by City Council’s firing in July of longtime city employee Verdeen Backstrom.”  That got my attention -- WHAT SPARKED THE FIERY CHAPTER?  Answer, Backstrom allegedly swore at one of the council members.  Relief all around -- another scandal put to rest.

Sometimes, politicians are too eager to get favorable publicity.  ND Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer moved quickly when he learned that Minnesota’s Xcel Energy leased aircraft.  His clear implication was that corporate aircraft are inherently wasteful.  He wanted to know how much Xcel customers in ND were charged for the planes  -- the amount was not significant.  To its credit, the Fargo Forum pointed out that CORPORATE AIRCRAFT, properly used, increase efficiency.  The Forum should know -- Forum Communications also has a plane.

Prosperity does not necessarily lead to well-being.  A county level study found that half the rural counties in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa were more prosperous than the nation as a whole.  Nearly half the counties in ND scored equally well.  But a separate study, focusing on well-being, found the above states to be average or below.  ND RANKED #28 IN WELL-BEING.  On average, well-being was highest in Mountain and West Coast states.  Mississippi, Kentucky and W. Virginia managed to be near the bottom in both studies (they were also exceedingly neurotic).  Utah, not an especially prosperous state, led the nation in its sense of well-being and had a boringly low level of neuroticism.  

"Look, we're going to build a world-class company, and we're going to build it with Class B kids" -- Doug Burgum.  The quote deserves interpretation:  Burgum (53), the former CEO of Great Plains Software (now part of Microsoft), does not mean “Class B” in the sense of second-rate, he is talking about the rural and small town students who attend ND’s Class B high schools -- talented people with a strong work ethic, a spirit of service and concern about others.  Burgum repeated the quote when he became the 37th person to receive the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider award, ND’S HIGHEST HONOR.  Video messages from Microsoft founder Bill Gates and current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer greeted the tearful Burgum at an award ceremony headed by Gov. Hoeven.  Burgum shares the award with people such as Lawrence Welk, Peggy Lee and Phil Jackson.

Joe Belford is a Ramsey County commissioner who serves as the voice of that region on Devils Lake flooding.  In mid-November, he was moved to say, “We’ve got to do something different than we’re doing now.  WE’RE NOT GETTING ANYPLACE.”  Belford believes that a new commission may be needed to settle the longstanding disagreements between ND and Manitoba about the diversion of Devils Lake.  Belford thinks the International Joint Commission, of which former ND governor Al Olson is a member, moves too slowly and is not an option.

Back to the Jamestown Sun’s “Bravos and Buffalo Chips.”  In October, they awarded a “Bravo to the partnership of Christian leaders and their EFFORTS TO CREATE CLIMATE CHANGE.”  Silly me, I thought climate change was a thing we are supposed to dread.

The Tribune reports that the League of American Voters had a poll conducted that showed Gov. John Hoeven would win a Senate race against Sen. Byron Dorgan.  The poll gave Hoeven 55 percent to Dorgan’s 36 percent with 9 percent undecided.  If the poll is valid, it’s a SURPRISING NEW DEVELOPMENT.  Democrats clearly thought it was not valid and released a statement saying the poll was slanted and biased, part of a political agenda.

Minot State University--Bottineau has changed its name again -- it is now Dakota College at Bottineau.  Got it.  WHATEVER THE NAME, it’s a college with vague justification and purpose (in the 1889 state constitution it was specified as a school of forestry).  The school is uncomfortable discussing enrollment and prefers to say it has over 600 students (website).  A call to the campus about full-time enrollment was problematic -- after conferring, a spokesperson said about half the students are full-time.  The school is not alone up there near the Canadian border -- the Turtle Mt. Community College (“The Spirit Within Us”) is not far away.

If you want an awkward conversation, try to discuss ND restaurants -- residents will strongly defend their local cafes and steakhouses.  CRITICISM IS NOT WELCOME and is suspected of having an elitist or pretentious purpose.  Yet, when a new chain restaurant comes to town, loyalties quickly shift.  Where are the longest lines in towns like Williston and Dickinson?  Applebee’s.  Bismarck swooned when Olive Garden came to the city -- Grand Forks wishes it were so lucky.

ELLEN CHAFFEE had a seemingly successful 30-year career in ND higher education, retiring in 2008 as the president of Valley City State.  So it was a surprise, when her career ended with a burst of bitterness.  She said throughout her career she experienced discrimination, was underpaid and had to work twice as hard because she was a woman.  According to Chaffee, she was isolated and had her leadership questioned by the state board of higher education.

It was not surprising then, that Chaffee was back in the news again recently as the spokesperson for a group of women who had been presidents of ND colleges or were on the Board of Higher Education.  They protested the fact that most top spots in ND higher education are currently held by white men.  They directed a letter to the governor and the university system demanding “affirmative action” to assure women and minorities are among the finalists “for any leadership position.”  The demands went further, “We ask them to reopen the search when all the finalists are white men.”  The sum of their demands constitute a QUASI QUOTA SYSTEM -- something often held to be illegal.  The letter also contained an implicit threat, saying that if the state of affairs did not change “laws and policies should be enacted that prevent it.”

Lucas Littleghost (29), his brother Cheyenne and a friend were tottering on the Burlington Northern railroad bridge in Fargo -- alcohol may have been involved.  Lucas toppled into the cold Red River and appeared certain to drown.  Josie Green, an 18-year-old Moorhead State student, came jogging by, dived in and fished Lucas out.  SHE IS HAILED AS A HEROINE; he is hospitalized.

UND’S law school draws satisfaction from a national survey ranking it 140 out of 180 law schools on the number of “Super Lawyers” produced.  THAT’S NOT SO GOOD, why were they thrilled?  Answer, they beat out South Dakota’s law school, which came in a paltry 142.

THIS AND THAT: People who relish pie and are used to getting theirs at the Tower Cafe & Fuel Stop (off I-94 near the Cass-Barnes county line) have cause for hope.  The old cafe was knocked to the ground, but Fargo investors are rebuilding it bigger and better than ever . . . In the recession, boardings at the nation’s airports have dropped about two percent.  But not in Fargo, where volume has risen eight percent.  The airport’s executive director says, “We’re still a drop in the bucket” -- Hector ranks 145th nationally and is served by four carriers . . . The late Samuel Skaff (94) ran Skaff Apartments, a multimillion-dollar business in Fargo-Moorhead.  He was a ND eccentric -- the McClusky native distributed over 140,000 tiny, white bibles during his lifetime.  Just a thought -- we could change the words to the popular Hawaiian song “Tiny Bubbles.”

DAKTOIDS: ND tourism grew by 11 percent from 2006-08 -- the second highest rate in the nation . . .  Nodaks pay their credit card bills on time -- their delinquency rate was only .66 percent, lowest in the nation; Nevada was 2 percent, three times the ND rate and highest in the nation . . .  Men in LaMoure County may be hopeless -- only 19 percent wear seat belts; women in adjacent Dickey County do much better -- 87 percent.  Overall, a majority of rural drivers in ND don’t wear seat belts.

A Forum article summarized the views of U.S. senators from ND and Minnesota on health care reform. All four senators expressed a solemn interest in cost containment, although at the time of their interviews, they could think of very few specifics.  None said a word about TORT REFORM -- all receive substantial contributions from tort attorneys.

No, No, not you, it’s the other guys -- THE BAD GUYS.  The Jamestown Sun quoted Rep. Earl Pomeroy as saying in a speech about health care that we are “being taken to the cleaners by providers” (hospitals, clinics, etc.).  Pomeroy hurriedly prepared a letter to the Sun stating that his comment, of course, did not pertain to ND providers, who are “outstanding” and “conscientious.”  He meant bad guy providers in Florida, California and Texas.

EARMARKS ARE WASTEFUL, except ours.  A Forum editorial said it more discreetly, “But while one person’s earmark is irresponsible pork barrel spending, another’s is a wise investment of public dollars.”  A $750,000 earmark secured by Sen. Byron Dorgan to map Red River Valley flood plains was placed in the “wise investment” category by the Forum.

COLLEGIALITY HAS ITS LIMITS.  The entire ND congressional delegation (Conrad, Dorgan, Pomeroy) and assorted Democratic appointees posed and smiled for a media picture at the groundbreaking for a new Jamestown hospital.  The 25-bed, $46 million facility will float on federal guarantees.  Gov. John Hoeven was there too, but for some reason they were unable to fit the Republican governor in the picture.

“The state’s fortunes then rose and fell, sometimes painfully, with the price per bushel.”  The Bismarck Tribune described THE DOWNSIDE OF A MONOCULTURE -- a ND economy that once relied almost exclusively on wheat.  The Trib noted approvingly that ND has diversified, not only agriculture, but business in general.  The Trib believes the same thinking applies to energy and the state is moving from reliance on coal to a basket of coal, oil, natural gas, wind, hydro and biofuels.

Amy Taggart, president of the NDSU Senate, said, “faculty would likely be uncomfortable with a college president who doesn’t have a doctorate.”  Her statement was most likely directed at Doug Burgum, possibly NDSU’s most prominent and successful graduate, who has been suggested as a potential candidate.  He obtained a Stanford MBA before helping found Great Plains Software and was its CEO when Microsoft acquired the company in 2001.  He has been active since in development in downtown Fargo, including NDSU expansion.  A NDSU alumnus in Minot expressed what was on the minds of many, “some faculty members think highly qualified individuals such as Burgum need three letters -- namely Ph.D. -- to prove their worthiness as a candidate.  If anything is uncomfortable, it is this myopic vision . . . “

Moe Gibbs is in the news again.  In 2007, he was convicted of strangling 22-year-old Valley City State student Mindy Morgenstern.  He also pleaded guilty to a 2004 rape in Fargo and assaulting female inmates at the Barnes County jail.  HE IS IN PRISON FOR LIFE.  Now, he is seeking $24 million for an old wrist injury suffered in a fall at the Cass County jail.

As late as 1950, a good share of ND children still attended PRAIRIE SCHOOLS.  I know -- I was one of them.  If you weren’t there, it’s hard to imagine what the schools were like.  The teachers might be green, just a summer out of high school.  The number of pupils could shift radically from one year to the next as families moved in and out of the district -- there could be five students in one grade, none in another.  The Minot Daily News describes a school currently open near Minot with a principal and one teacher . . . and five students in four grades.  The article said it was no longer feasible to keep the school open -- what that usually means is the district is running out of money.  There are few of the little schools left -- the state is pretty much hands off, district residents are allowed to decide when a school should close.

The counterparts of the little schools, PRAIRIE CHURCHES, are doing better.  Many stubbornly hang on, nursed by small congregations.  Sheila Schoenwald, a member of such a church near Minot said, “It’s a place where we come and it is calming to us.  It’s where neighbors meet neighbors.”  Schoenwald added, “The church is a source of pride.  We keep it up.”  A congregation may be no more than 20 families -- an ordained pastor is beyond their means and lay pastors keep the doors open.

You’ve heard of the “GRANDMOTHER SCAM” -- a call comes from someone impersonating a grandchild, begging the grandma to wire money to another country to get the child out of jail.  Nodaks are not immune, in the Jamestown area alone, about $100,000 was lost in one year.  But the rate of successful scams may be coming down.  Bernice Wipperling (84) of Carrington received the dreaded call and she and her husband Wilfred scurried to Jamestown to send the money from Wal-Mart, but employees refused service and cautioned the Wipperlings.  Undaunted, they raced to Hugo’s, too late, Wal-Mart had already warned Hugo’s.  Now that the Wipperllngs have recovered their senses, they view the employees as heroes.

RON, STOP DIGGING!  Ron His Horse is Thunder lost badly as a candidate for tribal chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux.  RHHT immediately ran in a special election for his successor’s seat on the tribal council -- he came in third.  It’s time for Ron to take a break -- he has led opposition to the UND Fighting Sioux nickname at Standing Rock.

DAKTOIDS:  In planning library services for Grand Forks, consultants assumed 20 years from now the city will have a population of 70,000 -- GF is now around 50,000 . . .  Oil companies in ND are doing a better job of capturing and selling natural gas instead of flaring it.  Good idea, the AP reports that enough natural gas was wasted each year in ND to heat every home in the state for two years . . . ND produces 75% of the nation’s sunflowers.

ITS GOING TO HAPPEN ONE WAY OR THE OTHER -- that’s the message Devils Lake is delivering to Valley City, the Red River Valley, and even Winnipeg.  The D.L. people note that the lake rose over three feet this year and is expected to continue rising next year.  If down river folks don’t become more realistic about controlled releases, then they may face vastly greater uncontrolled releases as the lake reaches its natural outlet.

“The Bakken is clearly the BIGGEST OIL PLAY IN THE U.S.” according to the ND Petroleum Council.  The state’s capacity to export crude is rapidly improving and production could soar 50% in 2010.  Pipelines are expanding and, very soon, a 100-car unit train of oil will leave Stanley each day.  The GF Herald urged eastern ND lawmakers to generously support oil-related infrastructure needs in the west, especially if the east wants help with its own future needs (think both Missouri River diversion and flood control).

President Obama met with the nation’s Indian tribes -- all ND tribes were there.  Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Levings appeared before the conference in a war bonnet and made a silver-tongued presentation.  First, he put his full name on the table: Marcus Dominick Levings -- Ee-Ba-Da-Gish -- White-Headed Eagle.  He then reminded Obama that Obama had received a quilt in patriotic colors from Levings’ mother.  Obama acknowledged the quilt and its beauty.  Levings then got down to business, saying his tribes, which had been so kind to Lewis and Clark, were living on hilltops in 77-below wind chill weather.  THE TRIBES NEED NEW HOUSES -- 1,000 would do for now.  Also, they want to develop oil and gas, would Obama please squeeze the bureaucracy and make the process easier?  Obama’s “to do” list grew.

Tribune columnist Ken Rogers can’t help noticing the sharp increase in the number of ND millionaires.  Mind you, he doesn’t begrudge them, but in his eyes their wealth “doesn’t necessarily equate with having lived a good life.”  Rogers says, “LIVING THE GOOD LIFE IN NORTH DAKOTA does not come from a bank balance . . . it comes from being in this place with family and in community, and sharing life here.”  His idea of ND is “working hard, and on a good day, being pretty much middle class.”

The Bismarck Tribune faulted REP. EARL POMEROY for voting for the House version of health care reform just “to keep the conversation going.” The Tribune noted the legislation “does not appear to effectively control the rising costs of health care or insurance.”  The Tribune said there is a belief floating around “that it doesn’t matter what the reform package ends up being, as long as something passes” -- that it can be fixed later.  “It was critical to get it right the first time,” said the Tribune, and Pomeroy should have voted no on the legislation.

Get thee behind me [Satan], Bible, Matthew xvi. 23.  Well not exactly, but this is close to what Forum Publisher Bill Marcil said in one of his infrequent editorials.  Marcil was talking about the recent problems with NDSU, its foundation, and its soon to be ex-president Joe Chapman.  More precisely, Marcil said, “We need to GET THIS AFFAIR BEHIND US . . . NDSU lost arguably its most successful president . . . It’s time to step back, take a deep breath, and start the healing process.” 

Joe Chapman has many admirers, particularly among Fargo business leaders and politicians.  But there are DISSENTING VOICES, John Calvert, a retired NDSU teacher and sometimes Forum columnist, put it this way, “Chapman himself never, so far as I know, uttered a single word about issues that are related to education.”  Calvert believes universities talk too much about growth and too little about education.

ND Legislators have important public jobs and should disclose material CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.  But it is a part-time job -- most members are intensely engaged only for a couple months every two years -- they are “citizen legislators.”  Therefore, it is unreasonable to ask ND legislators to annually disclose every detail of their family’s employment, clients and affiliations, income and asset values, and more, as recommended by the Center for Public Integrity.  The standards are difficult, even for full-time legislators.  Tom Dennis of the GF Herald flunks ND for not having these standards, although they discourage accomplished candidates with complex interests, but present little barrier to people without assets or income.

Someday, it may be a TV movie: Philip Gattuso, a widowed dentist living with his 3-year-old daughter in Fargo, was found brutally murdered, his car missing and his apartment ransacked.  His wife,  the mother of the girl, died this year after a lengthy illness.  Fairly quickly, police located an EX-CONVICT HANDYMAN in Oklahoma who appeared to have driven to ND, did the murder and trailered the car back to Oklahoma.  That last little bit got him -- a surveillance camera at a rest stop on I-29 captured the plates on the trailer.  The plot thickened, the handyman had been hired by the girl’s grandfather to make the hit.  Clearly, the grandfather didn’t like his former son-in-law.  Relatives of the deceased are battling relatives of the grandfather for custody of the little girl.

MURDER, MURDER, MURDER dominated ND news in 2006 and 2007.  Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr. came first -- the sex offender and ex-convict murdered UND coed Dru Sjodin in 2003 and his nationally followed trial, conviction and death sentence occurred in 2006.  On his heels, ex-convict and sex offender Moe Gibbs murdered Valley City State coed Mindy Morgenstern.  He received a life sentence in 2007.  Aaron Nichols was next, the hothead Fargo truck driver drove to Sykeston in 2007 and shot and burned the former in-laws of his girl friend -- another life sentence.  The 2007 stabbing murder of Minot State coed Amy Knutson was similar to the Morgenstern murder, but remains unsolved.  Gibbs and Nichols are confined in Bismarck; Rodriguez is in federal prison and his death sentence appeals drone on.

THIS AND THAT:  Sounds right to me -- the Fargo Fire Dept. reports someone dumped a harmless red dye into Rose Coulee . . .  In hunting season in ND, a large number of men leave their homes -- this phenomenon is exploited in Fargo by a “Hunter Widow Vendor Sale.”  Widows flock to special deals on decorating items and makeup . . . Dickinson is experiencing more than “bad luck” -- the year is not over and the small city has had a tornado, homicide, murder-suicide, and a gun battle with escaped Alabama convicts.  The latest tragedy -- three Dickinson state women softball players drove their SUV into a pond and drowned . . . Herald Publisher Mike Jacobs reminisced about “Wild Bill” Langer, former ND governor and U.S. senator, on the 50th anniversary of Langer’s death.  Langer is a hero to some and an embarrassment to others.

DAKTOIDS: Military officials say up to 75% of today’s young people are not fit for military service, due to lack of physical fitness, criminal records or failure to graduate from high school.  Young adults in ND fairly shine by comparison, about 45% of them are not fit for service.

Minot AFB has a very sensitive assignment -- Minot is the only base with dual nuclear capability: land based ICBMs and B-52 strategic bombers.  This makes recent blunders at the base even more embarrassing.  Satirists refer to Minot as ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREAT NUCLEAR POWERS.  A series of mistakes began in 2007, when a bomber mistakenly flew six nuclear missiles from ND to Louisiana.  The base commander was removed, but other incidents followed.  His successor, Col. Joe Westa, who commanded both the base and a B-52 wing, has just been removed.  The Air Force said Westa was unable to “foster a culture of excellence.”  Two weeks prior, Col. Christopher Ayres, the missile wing commander, was also removed.  There have been two total changes of command at MAFB in the last two years.

Col. John Michel is enthusiastic about the future of UNMANNED AIRCRAFT at Grand Forks AFB.  The base commander told an economic development group in GF, “We are where Microsoft was in 1980.”  He wasn’t always so optimistic, when he arrived in GF 16 months ago, “I saw the movie ‘Fargo’ and I freaked out.  We have an image problem.”

For its size, ND probably has one of the most overextended higher education systems in the nation.  The state has six state four-year universities and five other state colleges, plus four Indian colleges and two private four-year universities.  These extremes were noted in a GF Herald column by Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University, who concluded the state gets “LESS BANG FOR THE HIGHER EDUCATION BUCK.”  He noted ND’s per capita spending for higher education was 57 percent above the national average and the state leads the nation in population-adjusted number of four-year state universities.  Two days later, Gov. John Hoeven countered with a letter aggressively rebutting Vedder.  Hoeven’s principal argument was the state’s healthy economy -- the redundant small colleges were carefully never addressed.

In fairness to Hoeven, there is not a lot he can do about a university system woven into the state’s constitution -- a system which ignores today’s population distribution, demographics, transportation and communications.  The SMALL PUBLIC COLLEGES are critical to the economic well-being of their host towns and any effort to curb them produces legislative gridlock.  It’s also politically risky to challenge the system while the state has a budget surplus.  Suggestion: Buy them out!  ND’s higher education system could be both leaner and better.

The Hope Lutheran Church is Fargo’s largest congregation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  Hope has followed other Lutheran churches in Fargo in suspending funding to ELCA, because of a CONTROVERSIAL DECISION at a recent Churchwide Assembly to allow homosexual clergy. 

A Bismarck Tribune editorial speculated about the cause of the city’s bad driving record.  Was it hicks from the sticks, squinting seniors, those “women” drivers, cellphones or crazy teenagers?  Before you express your outrage as a member of one of those groups, you should hear the Tribune’s conclusion -- IT’S ALL OF US.  The Tribune then blandly advised everyone to step up and become defensive drivers.

Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle met with students in Petersburg (45 mi. west of GF) and he issued a landmark opinion: TV Judge Judy is “rude” and “crude” -- “TELEVISION IS NOT REALITY.”  VandeWalle and other members of the ND Supreme Court periodically visit schools around the state.  The Petersburg visit was covered by Herald writer Marilyn Hagerty.

Just recently, I teased the Jamestown Sun for its parochial  “Bravos and Buffalo Chips” and reluctance to award chips to local residents.  Well, they showed me, after showering buffalo chips on the distracted NW Airlines pilots, they targeted unidentified local bad boys for . . . BLOWING UP AN OUTHOUSE.  The Sun gets this week’s courage in journalism award.

Many ND Indians and non-Indians alike still hope there can be a negotiated settlement to the UND Fighting Sioux nickname controversy.  One group has a CLOSED MIND on the issue -- they said "declare the old logo history . . . quit stalling."  Guess who it is, you got it -- the Fargo Forum editorial board.

The Forum writes “smash mouth” editorials -- you know where they stand.  The Bismarck Tribune editorials are, well, more ambiguous, if you like, nuanced.  Editor John Irby began a recent editorial by discussing the stigma attached to AIDS sufferers and the need to sometimes protect their identities.  It seemed as if Irby was headed for more privacy regulation, then he swung a U-turn and came the other way suggesting that well-meaning privacy laws had become a THREAT TO THE PUBLIC INTEREST.  He said, “The laws that have been enacted with good intent should be revisited and amended because the masses deserve protection.”

The problems of Blue Cross Blue Shield of ND and its former CEO are widely reported.  Now, a September audit report on the web site of the state Department of Insurance (exam #537) describes how BCBS PUSHED BOUNDARIES in many areas.  Some examples: BCBS directors, who represent consumers and providers, received $12,000 a year, plus $1,200 a day for meetings, +++, all presumably, on top of compensation the directors receive from their full-time employers.  In 2006, the board brought scathing charges against the CEO for drunken driving, excessive drinking, lying and engaging in conduct which harmed the organization.  Yet, the CEO was terminated without cause and given $2.2 million of termination benefits.  The report, addressed to Chairman Dennis Elbert and new CEO Paul Von Ebers, states board and management did not act in the best interest of members.

MEXICAN CRIME RINGS are generally not thought to be a ND problem -- it’s something that happens in Arizona or California.  Not so, Mexicans are active in ND drug crimes, but also other types of crime.  A group of illegal immigrants believed to be from Mexico have been operating a check fraud scheme in larger ND cities.  They broke in and stole payroll checks from businesses, forging and cashing them at unsuspecting banks.  After Fargo and Grand Forks were hit, police were clever enough to anticipate Bismarck would be next.  As a result of alerts, a drive-up teller in Bismarck called police and six members of the ring were arrested.

Oh Boy!  Makers of public policy are asked to find a balance between the public interest and that of individuals.  It’s not easy, and bureaucrats can easily cross lines of common sense.  Take barbed wire, thousands of miles of it -- part of the West for at least a hundred years.  Environmentalists believe BARBED WIRE is killing too many sage grouse in states such as ND, and they are pressuring the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the birds under the Endangered Species Act.  For starters, they want colored tags on wires to make them easier to see.

 DAKTOIDS:  Volunteer fire departments around ND are folding: shriinking towns and aging populations . . . Back to the future -- Stutsman County has purchased a machine to turn paved roads into gravel . . . Although the economy is good, the number of families in Grand Forks needing social services is rising steeply.  Much of the increase is attributed to out of state people who have entered the area looking for work . . . It makes the state Tax Dept. feel good -- the number of ND millionaires (adjusted gross income over $1 million) rose to 470 in 2008 compared to 270 in 2005.  The big reason, you guessed right, oil company payments.

Tribune columnist Clay Jenkinson sees the Badlands as ND’s greatest scenic asset and most important tourist destination.  So when the 4,400 acre Southern Cross Ranch was broken up and sold to six buyers, Jenkinson concluded, “THE GREAT BADLANDS BREAKUP HAS BEGUN” and “We are witnessing the front end of a storm of change that will shatter the magic of the Little Missouri River Valley once and for all.”  He believes the Badlands are best suited for cattle ranching -- any other use is a loss.  Urgent action is needed, according to Jenkinson, to start a broad conversation among stakeholders.  He believes traditional ranch families in the Badlands are its most endangered species.  The single action which could most save them: change ND law to permit conservation easements (purchase of development rights by nonprofit entities, allowing the continual use of the land for ranching).

“Defendants should be restrained from their parasitic efforts to usurp and undermine the decades-long work of the conservancy.”  Those are fighting words.  The defendant is the Minnesota-based Nokota Horse Association; the plaintiff is the ND-based Nokota Horse Conservancy.  “The NOKOTA HORSE is a distinct type of horse that once ran wild in the Little Missouri Badlands” according to one dictionary.  The fight is about who has the legal right to be the promoter of the Nokota breed.  The Association is relatively new, the Conservancy began promoting the breed in the 1980s.

Herald Editor Mike Jacobs found editorial fodder at the “Ralph”:  CRUDE AND VULGAR BEHAVIOR at UND hockey games.  Jacobs was reacting to the elevated level of disorder during recent UND Sioux- Minnesota Gopher games at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, but he was also thinking about another incident reported by the Herald.  After an October game which the Sioux won 4-0, a Gopher fan “sucker punched” a Sioux fan who was hospitalized in a coma.  The Gopher fan, Peter Chwialkowski, was arrested for felony aggravated assault, according to UND Police Chief Duane Czapiewski.  The editorial prompted an avalanche of response, much of it negative, so in a followup editorial, Jacobs relented slightly and lightened his criticism of arena management, acknowledging, “Individuals are responsible for their own actions, after all.”

 What about those BRAVOS AND BUFFALO CHIPS handed out by the Jamestown Sun? They often conform to a formula, that is, lavish praise of locals -- sharp criticism of unpopular faraways.  An October  version illustrates the approach, 81-year-old Jamestown area resident Darrel Brown got a hearty bravo for “harvesting” an elk.  In the same article, the Colorado parents of “balloon boy” were given nasty buffalo chips for their poorly conceived hoax.

No Child Left Behind has stalled -- Lloyd Omdahl thinks “the American education system is at a virtual stand still.”  He believes the problem begins with the children’s families: “If learning is not a value in the home, it will not suddenly become a value in kindergarten.”  Omdahl noted over 700 ND students quit before they graduated from high school last year.  Parents are pre-occupied with their own interest and problems -- CHILDREN ARE IGNORED.  Adults are too willing to blame the education system and Omdahl says, “That’s leaving the problem at the school house door.”

A new problem has emerged in the ND oil fields.  Storage tanks for oil pumped from the Bakken formation are BURPING NATURAL GAS -- this does not happen with oil from traditional wells.  The releases are a pollution issue and puzzled state officials are investigating the problem.  The most immediate solution is to burn the gas.  The state Health Department hopes the companies will instead capture and sell the gas.

Nodaks are witnessing an IRONIC DEVELOPMENT:  liberals attacking ND’s Democratic congressmen for their stand on health care.  First, Rep. Earl Pomeroy, then, Sen. Kent Conrad.  A Forum editorial lashed out at the critics: “North Dakota Democrats who routinely are the senator’s allies have donned the blinders of the radical left. It’s a stupid, potentially destructive strategy. Conrad should have no part of it.”  Forum readers who responded to the editorial couldn’t decide who they disliked more -- the Forum or Conrad.

ANOTHER SURPRISING DEVELOPMENT-- Burleigh County commissioners turned down $9 million of stimulus money.  They said accepting the federal funds would send a mixed signal about the economic climate in Bismarck and Burleigh County.  The money can be reallocated to other areas of the state.  How often does local government turn down federal money?

Former Chairman Tex Hall left the THREE AFFILIATED TRIBES in a deep financial hole.  The tribes have been trying to claw their way out of the hole under the leadership of Chairman Marcus Levings, aided by oil development on the reservation.  Recently, they received a financial setback when arbitrators determined TAT must pay developer Dale Little Soldier $6.3 million, because TAT backed out of a planned casino.  TAT finances were frozen because of the judgment.  The tribes have been able to resume normal operations, in part, because of money obtained from the Southern Ute tribe in Colorado.  

In her GF Herald column, Marilyn Hagerty mentioned an event 100 YEARS AGO in which a 16-year-old boy, who operated a elevator in a GF office building, inherited a half million dollars (many millions in today’s dollars) from his grandfather in Norway.  His response to his good luck was unusually wise: “Taking care of a half million may be a lot harder work than running this elevator, you know.”

Her favorite place was ND with its “SPACIOUS SKIES AND WAVE OF GOLDEN GRAIN.”  The obituary of Helen Berger (89) of Grand Forks reflects two themes that recur in ND obituaries: love of the state and pride in Norwegian heritage.  Berger traveled the world, but reserved her greatest love for her home state.  She was a stalwart member of the Sons of Norway, sang Norwegian songs and made lefse.

DAKTOIDS: You recognize the familiar Indianhead which decorates the side of ND Highway Patrol cars.  Curt Eriksmoen reports you are seeing the profile of Red Tomahawk, the Indian policeman who shot and killed Sitting Bull . . .  Where are the state’s wildest drivers?  Apparently in Bismarck, which has proportionately more crashes than any other large ND city . . . ND edged out Louisiana to become the fourth largest oil producing state.

In the wake of NDSU President Joe Chapman’s resignation, a metaphorical dam broke at the GF Herald—it was as if the editors had been biting their tongues waiting for this time.  Humorist Ryan Bakken (“Say it ain’t so, Joe”) prepared a mock defense of Joe’s excesses.  A sample, “Didn’t you know the price of velvet robes has skyrocketed?”  Tom Dennis was right behind, making the more serious case that it was time for ND university foundations to commit to “openness, transparency and accountability” (the NDSU Foundation paid many of Chapman’s expenses).  Editor Mike Jacobs was the cleanup hitter.  He acknowledged Chapman’s exceptional leadership at NDSU, but then moved quickly to a LIST OF DEFERRED GRIEVANCES, including: “He (Chapman) exposed and exploited every weakness at UND” and his “breathtaking arrogance.”  Jacobs concluded that the embarrassing episode clears the way for a real university system in ND.

Forum editorials were all pro Joe—it was clear that no mea culpa should be expected from Chapman.  As it has for years, the Forum praised Chapman’s achievements.  As for blame, the Forum labeled the NDSU Foundation an enabler: “In essence, he (Chapman) had a blank checkbook, and he naturally made use of it.  In the context of his many contributions, the spending controversies are an unfortunate blemish.”  Blemish indeed!  James Ferragut, a Forum columnist, summed up his view: “CHAPMAN UNJUSTLY REVILED,”  casting the whole matter as another example of the sick pastime of bringing down public figures.

The Ralph Engelstad Arena just passed its eighth birthday.  The GF Herald says it’s THE BEST COLLEGE HOCKEY RINK—the 11,000 seat arena has developed an electric atmosphere and is a dreaded trip for any UND opponent.  In mid-October, UND was unbeaten at home in 16 straight games.  The Sioux-Gopher hockey games have become the state’s marquee sporting event.

The ND media routinely praise the state’s schools because students have high overall rankings on standardized national tests.  WHAT IS BEHIND THE RANKINGS?  As a generalization, top performing states, mostly near the northern border, have a high percentage of white students.  The worst performing states are along the southern border (Texas is an exception) and have a high percentage of Hispanic and black students who are more difficult to educate.  To get the most useful view of how ND schools are doing, comparisons should be made at the sub-group level, that is, white to white, black to black, etc.

To illustrate, in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, ND is ranked #4 in the nation for overall 8th grade math scores, while North Carolina is ranked #26.  But if you compare the scores of white students only, North Carolina (58% white) becomes #8 and ND (87% white) drops to #9—still respectable.  ND students also rank very high in science, but in reading and writing, white 8th grade students in ND rank #26 and #38, respectively, below the national average for white students.  THE MYTH OF SUPERIOR ND SCHOOLS is beginning to unravel.

Don’t miss a lengthy October 18 essay in the Minot Daily News by Kim Fundingsland about the CHANGING ND LANDSCAPE.  Some excerpts: “The setting sun once framed by the red barn, a windmill and an unobstructed horizon, now casts its rays through the churning blades of the wind turbine.  The silence of the land has been replaced by the rhythmic clatter of the oil well.”

Winter struck early and hard in some parts of ND in mid-October.  Icy roads and snow made driving hazardous.  Some visitors from southern states got ND WINTER DRIVING LESSONS the hard way.  State papers carried the following item: “The Highway Patrol says two men from Mission, Texas, who were working in the oil field died Wednesday after their pickup truck rolled in the ditch on icy U.S. Highway 2 near Stanley.”

When Barbara Deibert (74) of Fargo died recently, she left eight siblings living in six states and a Canadian province.  Her family had SCATTERED TO THE WIND ONLY TO BE REUNITED BY A FUNERAL.  This is not unusual and reflects how Nodaks have historically migrated to other states with higher economic growth rates.  ND constantly bemoans the loss of these young adults.  Should it?  Imagine what it would be like if Barbara’s brothers and sisters (and many others like them) had remained in ND competing for a fixed or shrinking number of jobs.  Employment rates, pay and job quality would be lower.  ND doesn’t need more people, it needs more productive, higher level jobs.  When that happens, as may now be the case in the energy industry, the number of people will take care of itself.

THIS AND THAT:  Higher prices have revived the ND oil industry.  The state is again setting monthly production records and may set a record for the year . . . The dean of UND’s School of Aerospace says the school is the national leader in the transition of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) from military to civilian applications.  “We now are the first university in the world to offer an undergraduate degree in UAS” . . .  The Army Corps of Engineers has comed up with three major alternatives for flood control in Fargo-Moorhead: a diversion on the Minnesota side of the Red River, a diversion on the ND side and a dike system.  The diversions are considered to be the most cost-effective.  The “waffle plan,” storage of runoff on farmland, is not considered cost-effective and has been left off the table.

A reminder—THE RED RIVER RUNS NORTH.  The following worried expression came from Pembina County Commissioner Andy Adamson, “I think there’s going to be water coming at us like we don’t know what.”  He is concerned that F-M may solve its flooding problems at the expense of downstream communities.  Do you wonder why the Red flows so slowly and floods so badly?  Outdoor writer Burt Calkins has the answer:  Glacial ice at Pembina, once 3,000 feet thick, depressed the land several hundred feet.  The area is slowly springing back, lifting the northern end of the Red River Valley and slowing the river.

Recently, I mentioned that yet another senior officer at the MINOT AFB was relieved of his command because of mishaps near the base.  A reader of a ND paper wondered,  “Where do you get sent as punishment if you screw up in Minot?”

DAKTOIDS:  Moody’s has placed ND in the recovery category, saying recession has ended in the state’s three largest cities . . . ND did not get along with outgoing Manitoba Premier Gary Doer—there is cautious optimism about his replacement, centrist Greg Selinger . . . The Microsoft CEO says Fargo is the company’s third-largest presence in the U.S.—the compay has 1,500 personnel in Fargo and is considered one of the most important businesses in ND.

When is too much?  Nodaks are are very sensitive to perceptions of excess or impropriety among their public officials.  So, the news that the cost of the new house for NDSU PRESIDENT JOSEPH CHAPMAN had risen to $2 million raised eyebrows, particularly, outside the Fargo area.  Then, another shoe dropped, it was disclosed that Chapman’s wife Gale was receiving $50,000 a year as a fund raiser for the NDSU Development Fund—oops!  Her husband’s annual university compensation is over $400,000 and many of their expenses, such as country club dues, are also paid by the Fund.

Chapman’s life style appeared even more regal when it was revealed that he and his family spent $22,000 of Fund money to attend President Obama’s inauguration.  A charter flight, multiple hotel rooms, entertainment, you know, things like that.  Chapman found none of his expenses to be excessive and thought it entirely appropriate that the fund pay for his two daughters and a son-in-law, after all, they attended many celebratory events at the inauguration.  Meanwhile, UND PRESIDENT ROBERT KELLEY and his wife quietly traveled economy class to the inauguration for total expenses of $2,200—one-tenth of the Chapman entourage.  (On October 14, Chapman announced his resignation effective January 2—it was unanimously accepted by the State Board of Higher Education.)

REALLY BUGGED!  Oversized Air Force trucks ply rural roads in northwestern ND carrying rockets, rocket parts and fuel, but they have trouble staying on the road.  Last year, the Air Force spent $5.6 million recovering one of the vehicles.  In August, a truck carrying rocket engine parts and containers of liquid rocket fuel overturned west of Minot—now we learn why.  The driver claims a large insect flew into an open window landing on his back—distracted and panicked, he lost control of the vehicle.  The unidentified insect villain is still on the loose and the Air Force is working on cost estimates for the crash. (The missile wing commander at Minot AFB was relieved of his command on October 14.)

“How ya gonna keep ‘em down on the farm, After they’ve seen Paree?”  Tom Dennis of the GF Herald quoted from an old musical hit to describe the challenges facing a new ND YOUTH COUNCIL authorized by the Legislature.  The group is headed by Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple and includes four legislators and 16 people aged 17 to 24.  Their mission, broadly, is to discuss issues related to keeping young people in ND.

The Britney Spears concert at the Alerus Center was thought to be risky—it could end in PROFIT OR DISASTER.  It did neither, losing about $100,000.  Tom Dennis defended the decision to hold the concert because of its benefit to Grand Forks.  He said, “The Britney Spears concert was a calculated but reasonable and ultimately worthwhile risk.”  Readers responded in cynical, grumpy fashion, suggesting everyone bears the cost, while a limited few received the benefits.

The Norsk Hostfest in Minot is about Scandinavians and music, and, as the Minot Daily News reports, “the accordion reigns supreme.”  An accordion club with over 200 members meets at the Hostfest to play and honor, of course, Lawrence Welk, but also their PATRON SAINT AND STAR OF THE WELK SHOW, Myron Floren.  Lawrence and Myron have both passed on, but their melodies linger in the halls of the Hostfest.

The accordions hushed for a few minutes while KARL ROVE was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame.  Rove was selected by the Hostfest because of his commitment to Norwegian heritage—his great-great-grandfather was a Norwegian immigrant and Norway’s vice counsel in Milwaukee, Wis.  ND Democrats stirred political controversy over Rove’s selection, but he said it would “not dull the honor of his induction.”

The UND Fighting Sioux issue lurches on—the Standing Rock Sioux have a new chairman who is friendly to a referendum on the nickname.  In recognition, the State Board of Higher Education extended the deadline for a decision on the nickname by 60 days.  The board said it provided the extension “to give tribal democracy time to take place.”  Archie Fool Bear, a leading proponent of the nickname at Standing Rock, said, “I PREDICT A LANDSLIDE OF SUPPORT.”  David Gipp, president of United Tribes Technical College and a leader among nickname opponents, was agitated, declaring that the board’s decision “will whip up more division and dissension among good tribal people who need unity and cooperation.”

“We need to be lowering the lake, not raising the roads.”  This OUNCE OF COMMON SENSE came from Devils Lake-area resident Rick LaFleur testifying at a ND Department of Health hearing about increasing releases from Devils Lake into the Sheyenne River.  The strategy of confining the rising levels of the lake looks very much like an endless series of expenditures.

For those who are supporters of THE DEATH PENALTY there is at least one reason they might change their mind.  Most people sentenced to the death penalty die of natural causes while their attorneys file endless appeals.  Alfonso Rodriguez raped and murdered UND student Dru Sjodin in 2003.  Because it was an inter-state crime, Rodriguez was eligible for the death penalty and was sentenced in 2005.  Now, years and millions of dollars later, his appeals continue.  It is you and I as taxpayers who also received a sentence.

Clay Jenkinson is an anomaly, a liberal columnist in a state which leans moderately to the right.  Jenkinson recently mused about the four years and over 200 columns since he began writing for the Tribune.  He characterized that period as “THE HAPPIEST FOUR YEARS OF HIS LIFE,” but Jenkinson has major concerns about the state’s future.  He believes that as oil and coal industries pursue their interests and others scheme to turn scenic corridors into vacation homes, Nodaks are somewhat blind to what is happening to their state and its natural beauty.  They view these as “good times.”  Jenkinson also darkly asserted there have been attempts to silence him.  He quoted his hero Eric Sevaroid’s view of the life of a columnist: “He is perpetually at school and conducts his education in public, which is often hard on others and embarrassing to him.”

Investment literature speaks of “animal spirits” or “IRRATIONAL EXUBERANCE,” periods when investors get overly excited about new prospects.  There was some of this is in ND during the rush to build ethanol plants.  Wiser, more conservative investors wait patiently during these periods for the bubble to burst.  VeraSun Energy from Sioux Falls built an ethanol plant in Hankinson, ND; VeraSun went bankrupt and idled the plant.  In early October, Arkansas based Murphy Oil made a bargain purchase of the Hankinson plant and resumed ethanol production.

They look calm, alert and stoic—the Forum pictured six residents of the Sheyenne Care Center in Valley City who are ALL AGE 100 OR OVER. You won’t be surprised to learn only one was a man.  A significant portionof ND women are living into their 90s, men don’t do quite as well.

They were all there—Fighting Sioux supporters and opponents alike addressed the State Board of Higher Education in mid-September.  STEVE FOOL BEAR from Standing Rock asked the board for more time “for the sake of democracy.”  RON HIS HORSE IS THUNDER, the outgoing Standing Rock chairman, had a different democracy in mind and urged the board to stand fast and keep its promise to decide the fate of the nickname on October 1, 2009.

Meanwhile, the Spirit Lake Tribe raised the volume, seeming to say “we want to be heard and this is what we really mean,” as they issued a new resolution GIVING “PERPETUAL” USE OF THE FIGHTING SIOUX NICKNAME TO UND.  Not everyone heard them—an opponent from Spirit Lake said, “We will not quit until we get the results we want.”

Cost overruns on NEW HOUSES FOR UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS were at the top of the news in mid-September.  Both NDSU and UND ran past their budgets for the houses and were a little slow notifying the Board of Higher Education—Chancellor Bill Goetz demanded explanations.  Herald columnist Ryan Bakken doesn’t seem to think there will be any death sentences, he noted, “The last time a chancellor stood up to NDSU President Joe Chapman, the chancellor was told his services were no longer needed.”

WHAT ND COLUMNISTS ARE SAYING: TOM DENNIS of the Herald feels the board of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota and the State Board of Higher Ed have both performed weakly.  In each case, he recommended training for the directors.  Well, OK, that’s diplomatic and better than nothing, but wouldn’t it be better to appoint directors who didn’t need training.  Dennis also commented how Minnesota was losing its status as a progressive state with a high level of civil engagement.  Dennis believes the gist of the problem was captured in a 2004 report from the Minnesota Community Project founded by Walter Mondale: “Minnesotans are convinced that government is wasteful and inefficient, and squandering hard-earned tax dollars on programs that are not run well or do not benefit all people equally.”

CLAY JENKINSON of the Tribune held forth on health reform.  Here’s where he stands: “Personally, I’d like us to create a European-style full cradle to grave national health care system.”  Sensing that would not happen soon, he went to his backup plan:  “Trust the so-called Gang of Six.”  Sen. Kent Conrad is a leading member of that gang— Jenkinson called him “an Ideal Legislator to address the health care problem” and suggested putting Conrad in charge, saying he is a senator who can balance “idealism and common sense.”  Widely read ND columnist LLOYD OMDAHL commented on the loss of civility in public life.  He said, “Americans are running scared” and “we have become paralyzed with fear of losing our privileged world.  The incivility indicates that we have started eating each other.”

An earlier newsletter mentioned that a Canadian border station in ND, which handles a handful of vehicles each day, was to receive a $15 million overhaul under the guise of stimulus spending.  It had the appearance of having been handcrafted by someone like, say, Sen. Byron Dorgan.  That conclusion seems to be wrong or, at least, confusing.  Dorgan has denounced the project saying that Homeland Security was treating the economic recovery money like a “BOTTOMLESS PIT.”  Homeland Security has halted the project for review.

Former White House political adviser Karl Rove will be inducted in the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame at the Norsk Hostfest in Minot.  Is it straightforward?  Well, no, it has become a HOT POTATO.  The ND Democratic Party criticized Gov. Hoeven regarding the induction, calling Rove “a political attack dog.”  That may, or may not, be the reason Rove will be introduced at the Hostfest by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. None of this seems a problem at Concordia College in Moorhead where Rove is also speaking.

THIS AND THAT: Cathay is a Wells County town which has withered down to a grain elevator and a few houses.  One of the houses was occupied by Michael Tresenriter, the leader of a methamphetamine ring.  The Wells County state’s attorney has charged 22 members of the ring . . . What was a 65-man delegation from countries such as Kazakhstan and Ukraine doing in Jamestown?  The group spent a couple days at the Big Iron farm show in Fargo, after which they visited Dura Tech, a farm equipment manufacturer in Jamestown.  They were sponsored by the ND Trade Office . . . ND has this problem of Drinking, Driving, Rolling and Dying.  Larry Gruebele (53) of Lincoln gave it a new twist as he careened home from a bar in an all-terrain vehicle, rolling and dying.

DAKTOIDS: The ND oil industry produces more than oil—it also produces salt water, over 500 million gallons a month.  About half is disposed, the other half is used in wells to enhance oil recovery . . . American Airlines will join four other airlines at the Fargo airport and will offer service to Chicago.  AA was in Fargo from 1992 to 1994.

If you were at UND on September 9th, you could close your eyes and imagine the Berkeley campus in the ‘60s.  A member of the Students for a Democratic Society denounced UND for encouraging imperialism and environmental degradation.  Matsimela Drop, director of Multicultural Studies at UND, wore an afro and dashiki as he protested poor treatment of black people.  The banner speaker was WINONA LADUKE, an American Indian activist who was Ralph Nader’s running mate in 1996 and 2000.  Her list of grievances was long—she criticized UND for “perpetuating the existing order” and lack of multicultural education.  UND was also criticized for helping the military and the coal industry.  LaDuke said the ND economy was unsustainable because it was based on a “consumption economy.”

LaDuke lives and works at the White Earth Ojibwe reservation, located between Bemidji and Fargo.  Her talks are spiced with references to her Ojibwe heritage and their wild rice culture.  SHE WAS BORN IN LOS ANGELES—her father was a supporting actor in western movies and her mother a Jewish artist.  LaDuke graduated from high school in Ashland, Oregon.

A period of experimentation by the ND dailies with comments from online readers seems to be ending.  The Bismarck Tribune attempted, often unsuccessfully, to screen the worst comments and the Forum tried a laissez faire policy.  THE CYCLE IS OVER.  Now, Forum comments must be pre approved and the Tribune will require registration by those seeking to comment.  By doing so, the Tribune hopes to decrease the “potential for obscenity, libel or slander, and spam.”  The GF Herald continues a cautious policy.

The Britney Spears “Circus” concert has come and gone—what might be routine in Las Vegas was very big in Grand Forks.  “The crowd seemed in awe of the spectacle,” according to the Herald, “THRILLED AND SCREAMING.”  Britney’s role was fairly minor: descending on a glittering platform, dragged in a gilded cage and disappearing into a magician’s booth.  The Herald decided, “What she was doing was more along the lines of strutting” with very little live music and much lip-syncing.  The audience, mainly women age 16 to 30, felt they got their money’s worth—even those in the $500 seats.

The tribal council at the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake) recognized the tribal referendum supporting the UND Fighting Sioux nickname—a potentially important step in retaining the name.  DOREEN YELLOW BIRD, a retired GF Herald columnist who has long opposed the nickname, is troubled by the Spirit Lake referendum and the possibility of another at Standing Rock.  She suggests there is a disconnect between those who live on the reservations and Indians who work and study at UND.  That is, reservation Indians are insensitive to the concerns of those on campus.

Tribal members at the STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION are trying to arrange a referendum on the nickname.  Reasonable voices encourage that end—both the GF Herald and state AG Wayne Stenehjem are urging the Board of Higher Education to allow Standing Rock to be heard before a final decision is made.  Sounds fair—who would be against it?  The Fargo Forum for one, they said: “A tribal referendum at Standing Rock on the issue . . . should have no significant effect on the university’s decision.”  In other words, an entire Sioux tribe should be ignored. 

The Forum has long opposed the nickname—you can speculate on the reasons.  The paper awarded its ultimate penalty, LEAFY SPURGE, to “North Dakota American Indian tribe members who are continuing to stir the University of North Dakota Sioux nickname pot.”  The Forum is referring to Standing Rock members supporting a referendum.

As expected, the state insurance department issued a damming report on BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD of North Dakota and documented millions of misspent dollars.  A draft of the report was leaked to and published by the Forum.  Forum Editor Matt Von Pinnon said they published the leaked report without getting a response from BCBS or the insurance department.  That may have been a mistake—in a letter to the Forum, the new CEO of BCBS, without denying the substance of the report, pointed out substantial inaccuracies.  The CEO during the period covered by the report has been fired, but his board is still around.  Current board chairman Dennis Elbert, a UND faculty member, is particularly on the spot.

Try this analogy: “Oil companies liken the technique to drilling through the top of an OREO COOKIE and turning sideways to get the creamy filling.”  The filling is the Bakken shale formation in ND.  Wells into the Bakken are drilled vertically for about 10,000 feet, then horizontally for another 10,000 feet.  The same technique is used to reach the Three Forks-Sanish formation which lies immediately below the Bakken.  As many as four wells have been drilled from one pad, reaching the two formations and tapping oil in a several-mile area.  This approach is used by Continental Resources to save money and lessen environmental damage.

Let’s hope the ND oil industry stays on a strong footing.  If it doesn’t, some western counties will face a rough adjustment.  Next year the MCKENZIE COUNTY BUDGET will increase by 35 percent.  Ordinarily, that would be alarming, but the county auditor says property owners don’t need to worry, their taxes are a minor part of the budget.  Only $900,000 of next year’s $17 million budget comes from property taxes, most of the rest comes from oil and gas taxes and royalties.

A large piece of the Badlands, a 4,700 acre ranch straddling the Little Missouri River, is coming up for sale.  Unless a single buyer emerges, the ranch will be auctioned off in 19 parcels.  There is very little the public can do to prevent the development of this property because ND laws severely limit the ownership of property by conservancy organizations.  Tom Dennis of the GF Herald observes, “But in North Dakota, NONPROFITS CAN’T BUY LAND unless they jump through absurd hoops, up to and including winning approval from the governor. Supporters hail this law as a triumph of ‘land rights,’ but it is in fact the opposite, a blatant and heavy-handed interference in transactions between willing buyers and willing sellers.”

Each year, an estimated seven million VORACIOUS BLACKBIRDS stop in ND, residing in cattail wetlands.  From the cattails, they raid surrounding fields of sunflowers.  The USDA estimates the blackbirds annually eat more than $10 million worth of sunflowers.  Federal laws regarding migrating birds prevent farmers from eradicating blackbirds, but the USDA plans to spray 4,500 acres of cattails this year—an application lasts about five years.  What comes next?  Wildlife organizations will sue the government alleging violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

When the State Board of Higher Education set October 1 as a deadline for resolving the status of the UND “Fighting Sioux” nickname, the GF Herald supported their decision.  At the time, many others felt the board was impatiently “rushing” the decision and playing into the hands of nickname opponents.  In early September, a Herald opinion piece signed by editors Mike Jacobs and Tom Dennis urged the board to extend the deadline.  Their reason: to permit consideration of elections that may be held by the Standing Rock Sioux.  This was a COMMON SENSE RECOMMENDATION—the Herald did not predict what might come out of the elections, if anything, or how it should influence the board.  Rather, they felt ignoring tribal members at Standing Rock would unnecessarily embitter a number of parties.

WHEN IS LOSING A WIN?  The UND football team played its opener in Lubbock, Texas, against highly ranked Texas Tech.  Congratulations and expressions of pride poured in for the Fighting Sioux after the game. It was as if the scoreboard did not read Texas Tech 38, UND 13—there was a great sense of relief that the UND team had gone on a national stage and left with dignity intact (and $350,000).  An AP sports article offered a different view of the matchup: “ . . . teams also need to sell tickets, and Notre Dame is better box office than North Dakota, which played at the Big 12’s Texas Tech.”  Translation: don’t book small schools.

It hurts when a small town loses a school, a grain elevator or a grocery store—all signs of the inevitable.  But adjustments are made and life goes on.  What really smarts is losing the last coffee shop—there is no easy way to adjust to the loss of a news and social center.  Small towns all over ND have formed COMMUNITY CAFES.  Usually, a nonprofit corporation is formed to buy a building, which is then leased to an operator.  Binford ( pop.185) is an example, the Binford Cafe is owned by the town’s Economic Development Corp.  Fessenden (pop. 600) is on the move—its last two restaurants, the Main Street Cafe and T-Bones Steakhouse, both burned to the ground.  A betterment association is constructing the Fessenden Community Cafe.

In 2005, Susan Bala was convicted in the largest illegal gambling case in state history.  She was ordered to serve 27 months in prison and pay back $99 million.  After she served 523 days, a federal appeals court reversed her conviction.  Bala and her attorney have been on a REVENGE MISSION ever since, including suing state and federal officials.  A federal appeals court has thrown out her suit saying that, while her conviction was reversed for technical reasons, “she’s not actually innocent;” therefore, Bala was denied the certificate of innocence required to sue the government.

Two ND newspapers heard the same report and came up with different views and conflicting headlines.  REP. EARL POMEROY returned from an official visit to Afghanistan.  The Forum headed its article, “Pomeroy: Afghanistan conditions worsening,” and reported that Pomeroy “warned that the United States is on its ‘last best chance’ to keep public support for the war effort.”  The Minot Daily News led cheerily with “Pomeroy supports war strategy.”  It said the congressman believes, “The United States is on the right track with efforts to rebuild Afghanistan and win back the support of its people.”

“Of the 5,800 North Dakotans in nursing homes, 55 percent are being financed by Medicaid.  Some of these 5,800 made themselves poor by transferring their land and money to family and relatives so they could get nursing home care at government expense.”  The quote is from ND columnist Lloyd Omdahl who says seniors, a group of which he is a member, are BAILED OUT BY SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE AND MEDICAID.  He notes seniors draw out more from these programs than is paid in for them—some never pay anything.  It was a little unclear where Omdahl was headed, but he seemed to be saying that seniors, the biggest complainers about bailouts to others, are themselves the biggest beneficiaries of bailouts.

Wheaton is a Minnesota town of about 1,500 located very near the corners of ND and SD.  It seems like a typical farm town, with one large exception.  In 2004, a black, career criminal named Danny Barnes left the Twin Cities and established THY KINGDOM COME CHURCH in Wheaton, devoted to the faith rehabilitation of alcohol and drug addicts.  The Forum reports the church became very controversial—by 2007, the Rev. Barnes was involved in 102 incidents investigated by the Wheaton Police Department.  Barnes believes he is treated unfairly because of his race and because he is disliked by the police.  Wheaton residents became increasingly concerned the church was hurting the town and would create tragedy.  Recently, two church members attacked another during a prayer service with a baseball bat and a 2-by-4.  In the milieu, the victim’s 14-month daughter was struck and killed by the man with the baseball bat.

If you read the ND dailies over a period of years, certain patterns emerge.  One example, individuals on both ends of the political spectrum, who are INVETERATE LETTER WRITERS to the state’s papers.  Ellen Linderman (61) of Carrington is one such writer.  Ellen and her husband Charles are active members of the Farmer’s Union and Democratic Party and espouse liberal points of view.  Charles has been a member of the state Legislature—Ellen has run unsuccessfully for that position.  Ellen has new material to write about.  During President Obama’s speech to Congress on health care reform, Ellen sat next to Michelle Obama and other dignitaries.  Linderman was invited by the White House.

“It was real fun, until I got to the elevator,” comment of Mike Fleck, a farmer from Flasher (35 miles SW of Mandan).  Fleck said, “IT WAS REAL FUN COMBINING.  The wheat really boiled out of the hopper.”  ND farmers are harvesting bumper crops, but getting disappointing prices.

A BRITNEY SPEARS “Circus” concert, held in the Alerus Center in Grand Forks on Sep. 12, sold around 13,000 tickets.  One indication of the beneficial business impact on the city: one in three seats for the concert was sold to a Canadian.

Creighton University says economic recovery in the Midwest and N. Plains may be slower than expected, although ND appears to have been spared a recession.  However, not everyone in ND is unaffected.  BOBCAT has announced the closing of its Bismarck plant where 475 jobs will be lost.  The Bobcat plant in Gwinner may acquire 390 of those jobs.  Gwinner is the original home of Melroe Mfg., Bobcat’s predecessor.  Bobcat President Rich Goldsbury said, “We live in difficult and unprecedented times.  Our customers are hurting as the construction industry in North America is at a standstill.”

As a result of Bobcat’s closing in Bismarck, another shoe may drop.  Bobcat was the reason the City of Bismarck spent $15 million and went out on a limb to build the NORTHERN PLAINS COMMERCE CENTRE, a facility where freight is consolidated and transferred between carriers.  Bobcat is the principal user.  It was hoped Bobcat would provide core support for the facility, while other lines of business developed.  Other business has not become significant.

CLOUD SEEDING PAYS IN A BIG WAY—at least that is the conclusion of two NDSU economists who have studied the practice in six western ND counties.  They claim the program returns $20 for each dollar spent, increasing the value of crops from $5 to $8 per planted acre.  The benefits are increased rainfall and reduced hail.  Not so fast, say some meteorological groups, there are major uncertainties, including lack of substantial scientific evidence and concerns about unintended consequences, such as downwind effects.

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer is not a good friend of ND.  He is thought to have politicized issues such as water and trade to boost his popularity at home.  Doer has been nominated Canadian ambassador to the U.S.  Will he be more even-handed in the new position?  Tom Dennis of the GF Herald says at least one Canadian doesn’t expect it.  A Winnipeg Sun reader made the following posting: “Now, he can straighten out that PESKY GOVERNOR OF NORTH DAKOTA who illegally diverted the Garrison river into the Red.”  The facts are a little jumbled, but you get the point.

The Metis people are the descendants of American Indians who married Europeans, mainly French.  Most Metis (may-TEE’) live in Canada, although many live in the northern Red River Valley of ND and Minnesota.  In late August, the FIRST INTERNATIONAL METISFEST was held at the Peace Garden on the U.S.-Canada border.  The Metis influence explains the many French names in places such as the Turtle Mt. Reservation and the Pembina area.

It’s a familiar story: a ND farmer collects tractors most of his life and, in later life, must dispose of his collection.  Ed Dobrinski of Makoti has reached 90 and his COLLECTION OF 66 TRACTORS extends for one-third of a mile.  His less than pristine collection includes both current makes and forgotten names: Minneapolis Moline, John Deere, Case, Massey Harris, Ford, Co-op, Oliver, Cockshutt, McCormick, and Allis Chalmers.  Dobrinski will auction his tractors on Sept. 30.

Allis Chalmers was never big in ND, but the orange tractors still have loyalists in the state.  Twenty-seven antique ACs left Oakes, ND, chugging for three days before arriving at the “GATHERING OF THE ORANGE” in Madison, SD.  A squad of five joined them as they sped through Watertown, SD.  Two such events are held nationwide each year.

Warroad, Minn., is near the Canadian border and about 100 miles from Grand Forks.  The town is known for at least two things: hockey and Marvin Windows and Doors.  Chairman Bill Marvin was a joy to work for—literally—in 2005, the GF Herald reported that “EMPLOYEES ERUPTED WITH SPONTANEOUS JOY” when the company awarded bonuses which averaged $14,000 per employee.  In addition to generous employee benefits, Bill Marvin and his wife also endowed college scholarships for all Warroad high school students.  A Marvin plant in Grafton has about 500 employees.  Bill Marvin died August 31 at age 92.

Last year, an Air Force truck carrying an IBM booster rocket overturned southwest of Minot.  It took over a week for a recovery costing $5.6 million—ND’s most expensive traffic incident ever.  The accident followed a series of mishaps that damaged the reputation of the Minot AFB.  THEY’VE DONE IT AGAIN.  A semitrailer carrying missile parts from MAFB overturned recently on a gravel road in the same general area.  The military and police guarded the truck—the removal process was expected to take a week.

Financial tips are rare here, so pay attention: Don’t invest in radio personality “Wild” Bill Palanuk.  Wild Bill persuaded investors and creditors to back his scheme to form RADIO STATION WILD 105.7 IN DICKINSON.  The station never was unprofitable, in fact, it never was.  Doing business as Western Edge Media, Wild Bill plunged into bankruptcy before plugging in the station.  The words “Wild” and “Western Edge” took on new meaning for his investors. 

DAKTOIDS: For the past century, UND was the largest university in ND.  That is no longer so, with nearly 14,000 students, NDSU is quickly extending its lead over UND (12,500) . . . Here’s a progression of July unemployment rates: 1.6% in Slope County (small, with lots of oil), 3.9% for ND (lowest in the nation), 9.7% for the nation, and 15.6% for Michigan (highest in the nation) . . . If you are ready to go straight, start on Highway 46 at Gackle and proceed 123 miles east to I-29.  Roadsideamerica.com reports it is the straightest road in America.

ND has a population of only 640,000, a shrinking number of high school graduates, and, for its size, what may be the most overgrown public higher education system in the nation.  It has six 4-year universities and five community colleges.  Add two 4-year private universities and five Indian colleges.  Mayville State had 449 full-time students in 2008, THE SMALLEST PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IN THE NATION.  Yes, they will attempt to improve the situation by bringing students from China, but wouldn’t it be better to get past local politics and close Mayville or make it a community college. 

UND and NDSU are each about 50 miles from Mayville, and Valley City State is about 75 miles away.  As a community college, Mayville could serve the dual functions of preparing students for 4-year schools and providing technical training.  WHICH WOULD BE THE MOST VALUE TO THE STATE, a small, sub par university or an excellent community college?

Another ND congressman has been CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE over health care, an issue on which Rep. Earl Pomeroy has sidled right of center.  He says he is used to being attacked from the right, but, “Now I’m getting attacked by the left.”  The Tribune reports that Pomeroy received more donations since 1992 from the health care sector ($1.4 million) and the health insurance industry ($0.6 million) than any other Blue Dog Democrat.  He shrugs it off saying he has been in Congress longer than most of the Blue Dogs and, as for health insurance, he is the only member of Congress who is a former insurance commissioner.  So, naturally, “It’s not surprising an industry values a member who understands the industry.”

LEONARD STAYS WHERE HE IS.  Indian activist Leonard Peltier (64) is in federal prison for the execution slaying of two FBI agents in 1975 at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.  Supporters seeking his release claim he was framed—the Turtle Mt. Reservation in ND, where Peltier was born, has volunteered to provide a home for their ailing son.  Federal prosecutors say Peltier remains both guilty and unrepentant, has an escape and prison drug violations on his record, and is exactly where he belongs.  His parole was denied.

Goodrich (pop. 150) is near the center of ND—we should check its drinking water to see if it contains AN ELIXIR FOR LONG LIFE.  Eva Sorenson (102) and Lydia Unruh (100) both died on August 18 and both were born in Goodrich.  Both also spent their working lives with small retail businesses in the state.

Are we seeing A REVERSAL OF ROLES?  For decades, South Dakota grew more rapidly than ND, its prosperity driven by growth and taxes from financial institutions in Sioux Falls.  But now SD is scrambling to raise taxes to maintain its infrastructure, while ND contentedly counts its energy money and even lowers some taxes.

One form of argument is to demean an opponent, saying in effect, a flawed opponent has a flawed argument.  Forum editorial writer Jack Zaleski used this approach recently when he referred to those who question health care reform at town meetings as “carpetbaggers, mercenaries, liers.”  Later, he varied the approach by characterizing opponents of health care reform as ignorant rubes.  He did so by recounting a crackpot telephone call he received from an insistent reader who believed a “DEATH SQUAD” was after his aging mother (they’re coming to get granny).  By implication, others opposing health reforms are also angry wackos.  Zaleski’s columns on this subject are provocative and, for some, entertaining.  Lost in this rhetorical style is honest and thoughtful discussion of the issues.

YOU ARE BEING ROBBED.  Due to the influence of Montana’s senators, a Canadian bordercrossingborder crossing that averages about three travelers a day, will get $15 million of your money from the stimulus plan.  ND senators are not far behind, they obtained $15 million to renovate a Westhope, ND, checkpoint which serves about 70 people a day.

If you lived in Mayville, one way or another, YOU WOULD BECOME A CUSTOMER OF ADRIAN KNUDSVIG (89) who died recently.  Adrian was trained as a mortician and, along with his brother, ran Knudsvig Grocery, Knudsvig Hardware and Knudsvig Funeral Home.  Adrian was also waiting for you at the Luther Memorial Home where he was an administrator.

WHEW, FAVRE ESCAPES THE BUTCHER.  Earlier, I claimed Nodaks were getting overly excited about Brett Favre.  I take it back—they now seem moderate.  In Winona, Minnesota, a mechanic discovered a goat in the trunk of a woman customer’s car.  The goat was painted purple and gold, had No. 4 shaved on its side and was on its way to be butchered.  Animal control saved the goat, named it Brett and placed it in foster care.

DAKTOIDS: ND does not have the capacity to process and transport the natural gas it produces.  As a consequence, the state flares one-third of its natural gas, enough to heat every home in the state for two years . . . The highest man-made structure in the world was the 2,063-foot TV tower near Blanchard, ND (south of Mayville).  No more, a 2,625-foot skyscraper in Dubai has that distinction.  The building has 160 floors served by 54 elevators.

When a Washington Post reporter covers job hunting in North Dakota, FACTS CAN GET SCRAMBLED.  The Post article was about Janet Morgan (63), who describes herself as “short, fat and old.”  Morgan chugged a thousand miles from Ohio to Bismarck in a battered 1991 pickup to take a job in a call center.  That’s where the article’s logic starts to break down.  Morgan is said to have driven through cornfields to make a $100 down payment on a house in Glenfield, a town of 75 roughly 150 miles from Bismarck (the commute will be interesting).  Glenfield is reported to be 45 miles from a grocery store (Carrington is 20 minutes away).  Morgan consulted Carrington attorney Fabian Noack on her house purchase.  He is described as the only lawyer in the area for 48 years (other lawyers presently and previously in the area will be surprised to learn this).

Morgan said as she entered ND the deserted horizon was interrupted by a towering road sign: “Welcome to North Dakota - Feel the Spirit!”  Morgan asked “AM I CRAZY?  There’s nothing out here but open space.”  Finally, she felt the spirit and called her mother, “I’m here.”  “How is it?” asked her mother.  “I don’t know yet, but it’s different.”

GF Herald Editor Mike Jacobs is fascinated and conflicted by the UND Fighting Sioux issue.  He has written about it for years and, like others, shifted with the tides.  He insists “the issue must be resolved,” but “any resolution is likely to deepen divisions.”  One by one, he explained how all parties (Indian critics of the nickname, campus opponents, Indian supporters and supporters in general) will be aggrieved by any resolution.  His editorial was entitled “NO HAPPY ENDING.”

Walgreens has a new store in south Fargo and customers stop in every day to have prescriptions filled.  Too bad, the store does not have a pharmacy.  ND law prohibits Walgreens and other chains from having control of pharmacies in their own stores.  Walgreens has space in the new store for a pharmacy in the event ND changes this OUTDATED LAW.

In early August, a 25-year-old man died in the early morning near Bismarck when his pickup rolled.  HE WAS NOT USING A SEAT BELT.  The description of his accident can be used again and again by doing little more than changing the name of the victim.  One-vehicle rollovers make up half of fatal ND crashes so far this year—80 percent of the people killed were not buckled in.  Fatal crashes in ND are up about 33 percent from last year.

NDSU opened in downtown Fargo in 2004 when the Art and Architecture schools moved.  This fall, they will be joined by the schools of Agriculture and Business bringing the number of students attending classes downtown to 2,500.  This will profoundly BOOST DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES and the general level of activity.

A large, sooty black cloud drifted over Bismarck-Mandan cause by an interruption of power at the Tesoro oil refinery.  The reason for the interruption: the refinery was installing equipment to avoid . . . LARGE, SOOTY BLACK CLOUDS.

Ramsey County’s economic development plan seems to be obtaining NEVER ENDING PROJECTS to tame Devils Lake.  The ND Water Commission gave the go-ahead to help pay for a $113 million dike project and will spend $16 million to install additional pumps at the lake.

The Minnesota Vikings are the favorite NFL team in ND, so the signing of quarterback Brett Favre was front page news in ND dailies.  Less noticed, trivia in the Star Tribune about Viking coach Brad Childress and tight end Jim Kleinsasser.  When Childress joined the Vikings, he encountered a large, bearded man in the locker room wearing overalls and a knit cap.  Childress assumed it was a maintenance worker—it was Kleinsasser.  The coach said BIG K MAY LOOK ROLY POLY, but is in great shape with a very low percentage of body fat.  He acknowledged that after ten years in the pros K had taken a beating.  Kleinsasser has signed a three-year, $9 million deal with the Vikings and is a member of the ND Sports Hall of Fame.

Maybe it’s because news is slow in August, or it could be PREEXISTING SILLINESS, but the ND reaction to Brett Favre and the Vikings seems overdone.  The usually restrained Minot Daily News editorialized that “die-hard Viking fans now face a dilemma”—deciding to root for or against Favre.  There was no indecision in Fargo, the owner of Sports City says the purple No. 4 Favre jersey “might be his best-selling jersey ever.”

There is a STEADINESS AND CONTINUITY in rural ND communities which is hard to find elsewhere.  Page native Joe Harbeke (93) is an example—his obituary indicates he began farming with his family when he was 13 and continued for about 70 years.  Harbeke served on boards of businesses, local governments and his church, many for 30 to 40 years.

DAKTOIDS:  Expect good times at the Tribal Leaders Summit in Bismarck—after admiring the contestants in the Miss Indian Nations Pageant, the leaders will be entertained by the South African Zulu dance group Soweto Street Beat . . .  The ACT college entrance exam tests readiness for college—ND high school seniors test close to the national average, but lower than students in surrounding states . . . ND crops in 2009 struggle against two obstacles: a wet spring which delayed planting and summer temperatures which averaged three degrees below average . . . The Sioux (if that’s still their name) will meet the Griz—UND and Montana have signed a home-and-home football contract beginning next season.

ND has a reputation for people who live healthy lives and report few sick days.  Herald columnist Ryan Bakken offers an alternative view.  MAYBE NODAKS ARE SIMPLY STOIC.  A health administrator said, “The people around here don’t complain much.  Sometimes, they don’t feel good, but just do what needs to be done.”  FEMA noticed many people in the state don’t ask for help, a FEMA lady said, “People up here just kind of take care of things themselves.”  Bakken’s take, “Not only will you live longer in this state, but you also have to listen to less bitching.”

We are well aware those in the “GREATEST GENERATION,” who served in WWII, are becoming fewer and fewer.  Usually, we think of men, but the obituary of Shirley Erickson (88) of Cooperstown reminds us of the WWII role of brave women.  She was pure Norwegian, her parents were Knute and Inga Ueland.  Shirley became a Registered Nurse and a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps, serving in Saipan, Okinawa and Japan.  After the war she married Lester Erickson and enjoyed a long life on their farm.  Shirley was active in almost every local civic and historical group you can imagine, including, of course, the Sons of Norway.

For other women, WWII presented different alternatives.  Helen Brandt Nelson (90) spent her adult life in Cass County, where she was a door-to-door ELECTROLUX SALESPERSON FOR FIFTY YEARS.  In retirement, she cooled down at Minnesota lakes and played golf.

In 2001 and 2002, the Herald reports UND and Grand Forks had the worst series of sexual assaults in memory.  The assaults resulted in the surprising arrest and conviction of Paul Sambursky, an ex-Marine and active Catholic, who was a leader in the criminal justice program at UND.  Sambursky was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2004.  STILL, HE DIDN’T CALM DOWN—at his sentencing, Sambursky attempted to attack a Herald photographer.  In July this year, Sambursky and a cellmate bent a bar in their cell window—they couldn’t squeeze through, so they attempted to crawl through an air vent, failed and surrendered.  Expect to hear again from this “Clint Eastwood” wannabe.

The Minnesota media was full of it—the next stage in the varied career of ex-governor JESSE “THE BODY” VENTURA.  Jesse will be the host of a reality TV show featuring conspiracy theories.  GF Herald Editor Mike Jacobs believes Ventura is more likely to spread conspiracy theories than resolve them.

The Cooperstown Country Club is plagued with deer on its golf course.  Sometimes,  as many as 60 to 80 animals.  About once a month, they have to remove a dead deer.  The club has a solution—YOU MAY LIKE IT OR HATE IT.  They have obtained permission from the Cooperstown City Council to start a youth bow hunting program.  Will life be better with kids firing steel arrows across the golf course?

OIL TOPS COAL.  Slope County, ND’s smallest in population, has the highest average annual wages in the state ($53,500), displacing Oliver County ($50,400) in coal country.  Slope County Auditor Lorrie Buzalsky said, “We’re not making that much . . . we assumed it has to be the oil field.”  Slope County has 770 people and average employment of 680.

Hopefully, by the time we are adults we learn that people who regularly describe events in extremes are either uninformed or untruthful.  So when someone says something “is the worst there ever was,” and his opposite says “it is the best there ever was,” we know how to interpret their statements.  JACK ZALESKI of the Forum devoted a column to citizens who question the health care bill at town meetings.  Zaleski said “the disrupters actually are in the employ of Washington special interests” and “are paid out-of-state agents,” in other words, “carpetbaggers, mercenaries, liars.”  Who is the extremist?

Alerus Financial of Grand Forks acknowledges it operates in a slow market, but it is still able to grow steadily.  The conservative bank moves cautiously, waiting and husbanding its resources.  When the time is ripe, it pounces and acquires failed institutions.  THE TIME IS RIPE—in the past two months Alerus has purchased businesses in Fargo, Minneapolis and Phoenix.  Since 1985, Alerus has averaged an acquisition every other year.

ND legislators may act a little slow and cautious, but their laws generally reflect prairie common sense.  There are a few exceptions.  As a state, ND is almost alone in its opposition to acquisition of land by wildlife and conservation groups.  The attorney general is SUING THE AUDUBON SOCIETY for adding 263 acres to a bird sanctuary near Jamestown in 1988.  Apart from the fact the acquisition is over 20 years old, the bird sanctuaries are considered to be an economic asset of central ND and attract bird tourism from around the nation.

DAKTOIDS:  Maybe things do move a little slower in ND—Dickinson police report a driver pulled a $139 gas-and-dash at a local Cenex station by speeding away—in a dump truck . . . The UND football team is in its second season of transition to Div I—the Sioux season opener could be a rude experience—they play the Red Raiders of Texas Tech in Lubbock.