Dakota Beacon

Political contributions tend to be reported close to election time -- that leaves less time for opponents to analyze or react.  Nevertheless, donation patterns are emerging in ND races.  Incumbent US Rep. Earl Pomeroy is in a close race with State Rep. Rick Berg.  Through June 30, Pomeroy had raised $1.6 million out of state donations and $500,000 in state.  Berg had only $141,000 out of state, but matched Pomeroy within the state.  Gov. John Hoeven maintains a strong lead (69% to 22%) over State Sen. Tracy Potter in the US Senate race.  Hoeven has raised $750,000 out of state and $450,000 within.  Potter had raised only $60,000 from all sources.  This indicates out of state donors think the Senate race is already settled and neither party is making the race a priority.

The national Democratic party plans to spend $28 million buying TV time for representatives facing tough re-elections.  Pomeroy is one of 40 congress members selected for special help.

When the ND town of Heimdal was founded in 1910, there were high hopes, hence the Norse meaning of its name: “Watchman of Asgard, the city of the gods.”  Heimdal’s founding coincided with the building of the Great Northern Railroad.  The Wells County town did well and eventually had three elevators, a bank, a hotel and full range of retail services.  Today, as Heimdal celebrates its 100th birthday, the town has 28 residents, a part-time church, and a co-op elevator branch.  Is this Heimdal’s last hurrah -- another victim of the “too much” era?

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. needs no introduction in the Red River Valley.  He was sentenced to death for the 2003 kidnapping and killing of UND student Dru Sjodin.  Appeals of his sentence have been underway for years with accumulated costs probably in the millions.  At present, two attorneys continue to work on the original appeal.  Four more attorneys have been appointed to work on a “habeas corpus” appeal.  At the earliest, the appeals end in 2012.  The case illustrates the near futility of death sentences -- it’s the taxpayers who are sentenced.

What does it take to be a notable Nodak?  Apparently a month’s work, $400 and a late model car.  Curt Eriksmoen’s historical anecdotes appear in several ND papers -- he recently wrote a column titled “Quotes from Notable North Dakotans.”  You would recognize many: Angie Dickinson, Maxwell Anderson, Warren Christopher and Satchel Paige.  Wait a moment, Satchel Paige? That’s news!  It seems Paige played briefly in 1933 for a semi-pro baseball team called the “Bismarcks” thereby becoming, by Eriksmoen’s definition, a notable Nodak.

Are Minot police too nonchalant?  In separate incidents during the ND State Fair Parade, two overly enthusiastic little children toppled off floats and were hospitalized after being run over by the float trailers.  The police response: “There have been similar accidents in past years.”  Yawn.

“When life hands you lemons” was the title of a Devils Lake Journal article about Minnewaukan, a town which is being flooded so severely its future is uncertain.  The town normally recognizes summer’s midpoint with a SummerFest celebration and parade, but this year it will be called Floodfest and will feature a parade of boats.

The current norm for daily newspapers is to reduce staff and ask survivors to do double duty.  So it’s noteworthy that western ND newspapers are hiring.  The Dickinson Press has hired Lisa Miller, a recent U. of Mary (Bismarck) graduate, as a staff writer.  She shouldn’t have trouble accepting unusual hours -- Miller grew up on a dairy farm near Flasher where wakeup time was 4 a.m.

A NDSU study highlights the dilemma faced by a nation which unilaterally attempts to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  The study indicates that if carbon emissions are taxed as projected the domestic beet sugar industry would be badly damaged or demolished, but worldwide GHG would decline only slightly because sugar would be imported from Mexico and other foreign countries without GHG regulation.  A tax on imported sugar would shift the cost to consumers.  The report concludes efforts to reduce GHG “must be global.”

Coal and oil producing counties lead the list of ND counties with the highest average annual wages.  Oliver County (coal) is Number 1 with a $60,000 average annual wage, Mercer (coal) is Number 2 followed by oil counties Slope and Williams.  The state average last year was $36,000.

The main detention center for women in ND is in New England, officially the Dakota Women’s Correctional Rehabilitation Center.  New England is in the southwest part of ND just 50 miles from South Dakota.  How did the center get there?  A few years ago in slower economic times, New England needed the jobs and a former Catholic girls school was available, so the town of 500 was thrown a political bone by the Legislature.  It didn’t seem to matter that most inmates came from the eastern part of the state.  The Dickinson Press reports a rumor is circulating that the center is closing -- officials say ignore that rumor.

The “Big Guy” is doing his job -- the World’s Largest Buffalo, now named Dakota Thunder, has Jamestown tourism figures “way up.”  By the end of July, Buffalo City Tourism said visitor counts increased 19 percent from 2009.  A tourism executive said we must not forget the live buffalo, especially the three white ones, who are also part of the draw.   

What could be more appropriate?  Twins Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux will throw out the first pitch at a Minnesota Twins game against the Seattle Mariners.  Jo and Mo are Grand Forks natives, Oympic silver medal winners and members of the UND Women’s Hockey Team.  It will be UND night at the the July 30th Twins game.  The GF Herald reports more than 12,500 UND alums in the Twin Cities area.

As the two-term chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, Tex Hall ran the tribes into a financial hole before he was defeated in 2006.  Subsequently, the TAT has recovered its fiscal balance.  But now Hall is back saying “he’s running to restore financial integrity to the office.”

DAKTOIDS:  This could be getting monotonous -- ND May oil production was a record 9.2 million barrels, up from 8.5 million barrels in April . . . Builders in western ND held back wanting to be sure housing demand had legs, but no more, building permits in both Dickinson and Williston are setting records.

Minneapolis or Denver?  Two popular American cities -- both have good air service from ND -- which should you visit?  To assist with this question, I used the website of Travel+Leisure.  I had no preconception, so the outcome was a bit of a surprise: Minneapolis swamped Denver.  T+E found Minneapolis people friendlier, more intelligent and more attractive than Denver.  Grrr, but Denver people were much more athletic.  Don’t look for diversity in either city.  Culture and shopping, no contest, Minneapolis walks away.  One thought -- Denver has a very fine airport -- perhaps go no further.

What are top destinations for ND flyers: No. 1 Las Vegas, No. 2 Minneapolis and No. 3 Denver, trailed by Phoenix and Chicago.

A tale of two cities.  The GF Herald is bullish about the ND oil industry; The Fargo Forum is, well, something else -- we can’t be sure.  Herald economist Ralph Kingsbury was still excited from a trip he took with a GF delegation to the Williston-Minot part of the state.  Kingsbury clearly thinks the oil boom is the real thing, “What’s happening across western North Dakota isn’t just a flash in the pan . . . No one ever expected anything like this.”

The Forum had faint praise: “North Dakota’s oil boom is great news for the state’s economy, but the sustained, reliable economic engine that is Fargo is better news in the long pull” and  “Booms, by definition, come and go.”  The Forum was almost ominous when it predicted: “the blowback that surely will come when negative social and environmental impacts of accelerating oil activity assert themselves in oil zone communities.”

So what’s going on here.  What is The Forum’s objective?  Does it feel western ND is getting too much press -- does it want to pull the center of attention back to Fargo?  Does The Forum think excitement over the oil boom masks an impending hangover?

The Forum is clearly right in one respect -- there is going to be a second stage to the oil boom where related costs and needs become apparent.  Incredible traffic and demolished roads are already on the screen.  The Minot Daily News spoke of the shortage of labor in the oil industry and the impact on other industries.  Job Service of North Dakota said,  “Agriculture can't compete with the kinds of wages paid by the oil companies either, but it isn't alone in that peril.”

The oil boom is accelerating.  Williston was ND’s No. 5 city in taxable sales in 2009 -- in the first quarter of 2010, it skipped over Grand Forks and Minot to become No. 3.  As mentioned here earlier, NY-based Hess Corp. is plowing $325 million into an expansion of its Tioga natural gas plant.  Now, Mistral Energy is proposing a 430-mile, $300 million pipeline to move ethane (a natural gas component) from the Hess plant to a Nova Chemical plastics plant near Red Lake, Alberta.  The Nova complex, one of the largest of its kind in the world, is owned by an Abu Dhabi investment firm. 

U.S. Highway 52 in ND is a workhorse -- from Portal on the Canadian border, the road slices southeasterly through Minot across two-thirds of the state before joining I-94 in Jamestown.  Hwy 52 has only two lanes, but is attracting heavy truck traffic.  On the same July day, a collision involving a semi-truck on Hwy 52 near Fessenden hospitalized two and another forty miles away near Carrington killed both drivers.

The Bismarck Tribune joined the editorial chorus calling for urgent federal action on Devils Lake flooding.  The Trib says if the lake overflows “water quality issues will be washed down the Sheyenne River no matter what the Clean Water Act or treaties with Canada say.”  The Trib sees federal regulation and inaction as the main problem, “The state has done everything it could to deal with the flooding.”  Gov. John Hoeven hopes for three recommendations from a White House interagency group: Waive the Clean Water Act, expedite permits and let water out the east (salty) end of the lake.

If you are bishop of the Western North Dakota Synod (70,000 members) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (pause for breath) you must deal with weighty policy matters like guidelines for gay and lesbian clergy.  Bishop Mark Narum also gets to hit some soft pitches, such as describing “God’s Global Barnyard,” a synod sustainable agriculture project.

We may have the makings for a new Halloween horror movie.  Imagine the heroine, amidst darkness and crashing lightning, fleeing rolling 1,300 pound hay bales.  Winds of 100 mph near LaMoure drove hay bales up to a quarter of a mile across fields.  Toss in a few grain bins for variety.

Some of ND’s little public colleges struggle to justify themselves.  Take Dakota College at Bottineau -- it’s considering a day care center for the elderly and disabled.  The college would help with toilet and meals.  A necessary public service?  Possibly, yes.  A necessary part of the mission of the ND University System?  You decide.

Yum, taste the slowly simmering buffalo tongue.  Try the buffalo liver, it’s “Indian Candy.”  These experiences were part of a camp where a buffalo was butchered as part of cultural training for Ft. Berthold youth.  Kids prepared the meat in traditional ways, cooking in a pit of heated rocks.

Is ND getting serious about battling its weight problem?  A 200-seat restaurant called Jake’s will be opening in Grand Forks, the featured specialty -- deep-fried polish sausage.

DAKTOIDS: In the annals of ND weather, 1936 stands out as the hottest and coldest.  In July that year, Fargo had eight straight days with temperatures exceeding 100; on September 22 the temperature went to 101 and temperatures have not reached 100 since (info from WDAY/Forum weatherman Daryl Ritchison) . . . Minot native Rear Admiral Mike Miller replaces Bismarck native Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler as Supt. of the Naval Academy . . . The Jamestown Sun (a Forum paper) silenced its 40-year-old press, released a few employees and moved its printing operation to W. Fargo . . . The front-runner attracts money -- Gov. Hoeven’s senatorial campaign has raised 30 times the donations of opponent Tracy Potter.

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SUPPLEMENT:  Summary of Fedgazette Article About North Dakota: “The little economic engine that could”

The Fedgazette is a monthly publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (the 9th District) covering ND, its adjoining states, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  The article was written by the Fedgazette’s editor Ronald Wirtz in the July 2010 issue.  The article attempts to explain why the ND economy is an anomaly in the 9th District and the nation.  Following is a summary: 

What a difference a decade has made

The state’s economy “sticks out like a diamond.”  During the past decade the state’s per capita personal income ranking has risen from 39th in the country to 19th.  ND’s has posted “top-of-the-class numbers” in unemployment, income growth and other categories.

Repositioning

For much of the decade ND’s growth was overlooked as the nation enjoyed a housing boom.  But when the country entered recession, ND continued against the tide adding jobs in 2008 and 2009.  In the past two years, the state had job growth in almost every employment category.  So, in part, it’s the contrast with the nation that has brought ND attention and praise.  The state easily has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

The state has not been entirely spared -- its manufacturing sector looks more like the nation’s.  Bobcat, the maker of small four-wheel drive loaders, is one of ND’s largest businesses and serves national and international markets.  It has severely downsized during the recession.  Many of the state’s small towns continue their death spiral as rural areas lose population.

Reasons for success

The quick and easy explanation for ND's out performance is the oil boom in the western part of the state.  The state has in a short time become the fourth largest oil producing state.  While oil is a large factor, the author points out that coal and agriculture remain big parts of the state's economy.

Fargo's economic diversity, with health care, the F-M colleges, and companies such as Great Plains Software and Scheels sporting goods, also contributes to a stable economic mix.

One of the biggest factors in ND’s success is what didn’t happen.  ND didn’t participate in the residential real estate boom.  As one Fargo banker put it “the housing market never got out of whack here.”

Outlook

Most people interviewed for the article did not expect the ND economy to unravel, although an extended drop in oil prices would be troublesome.  ND’s prosperity is relative and, as the country hopefully rebounds, ND’s growth could be expected to lag.  While most Nodaks are not farmers, the author believes the state maintains a farmer’s mindset -- “modest, perpetually optimistic, yet conservative.”  A tendency to discount prosperity, not project it.  Michael Solberg, president of State Bank & Trust in Fargo, said ND residents have “a steady mind frame.”

State water agencies sponsor the Devils Lake Solutions Tour -- a day long bus tour of areas influenced by the rise of the lake.  One individual on the tour, Dwayne Herman, was most impressed with the Tolna Coulee area.  He said, “Do you realize that all we’d have to do is clean out above five feet of the coulee for maybe the length of one mile and the outlet would flow?  I don’t think people realize that.”  Yes, that seems to be so.

Herman clearly joined the “let’s drain the tub” school.  Vicki Voldal Rosenau of Valley City is a particularly vocal member of a minority which says “let’s turn off the faucets before the tub overfills.”  The faucets of which she is speaking are farmlands draining into Devils Lake.  She’s one of the state’s busier letter writers and likes colorful phrases such as “Pardon me, but: Duh -- you crank down those faucets until your reach the desired tub level.”  Right now, Rosenau is not leading a very large parade -- Devils Lake and state officials are lining up to drain the tub, and yes, sorry, through Valley City.

The Forum made no secret about where it stands on Devils Lake:  “Please, no more of the ignorant nonsense about closing drains to hold back runoff.”  The Forum said there is a crisis that goes beyond Devils Lake and an outlet is needed: “The lake is rising . . . More than a billion dollars has been spent (to hold back the water) . . . It’s about time . . . Lower the water . . . And the people of Devils Lake . . . have every right to say ‘We told you so.’”

Another water problem, the $1.5 billion Red River diversion, received a hearing in Wash., D.C.  Two major messages emerged: The Corps of Engineers agreed the project is vital to protect the infrastructure of Fargo-Moorhead -- The Office of Management and Budget said the money is nowhere in sight.

Jack Dalrymple is ND Lt. Governor and likely to be the next governor.  He is also one of the founders of Dakota Growers, a cooperative formed in the early 1990s in Carrington to mill durum wheat into pasta products.  Dakota Growers is probably the most successful venture of its type in ND ag history -- in 2004 the cooperative became a regular shareholder corporation with Dalrymple as its chairman.  In May of this year, Dakota Growers was quietly sold for $240 million to Saskatchewan based Viterra, Canada’s largest grain handler.  Most of the sales proceeds will go to shareholders who are ND durum farmers -- Dalrymple is one, he said directly and indirectly he received $3.8 million. 

Dalrymple has many roles, as Lt. Gov., he is also chairman of the ND Investment Board which has responsibility for oversight of state pension funds.  Like almost all pension plans, the ND plans suffered heavy losses in the 2008 market downturn.  Although the two events are not necessarily related, the losses took on greater significance when the chief investment officer for the plans committed suicide in April of this year.  The Board announced in late June that it hired Clifton Gunderson, an auditing firm based in Milwaukee, to review the operations of the plans for $78,000.  At the same time, the Board hired a Denver based consultant for $86,000 to find a new manager for the plans.

Several ND newspapers have taken editorial positions on Arizona’s new law regarding illegal immigrants.  The Bismarck Tribune’s view is typical: “Congress has failed border states” and those states are telling the federal government, “If you won’t do your job, we’ll do it for you.”

Rick Berg is running against incumbent Earl Pomeroy to be ND’s next U.S. Representative.  Berg is campaigning on the theme “Washington should be more like ND,” you know, growing with a budget surplus.  Jack Zaleski of the Forum says unfortunately there is already little difference and ticks off the numerous ways ND lives on the federal dole.  He says, “The state feeds at the federal trough not because it’s wedded to pork, but because history, geography and climate put the state at a disadvantage.” 

The ND Petroleum Council joyfully released 2009 oil production data and their report was laced with comments like “off the chart.”  Among the Council’s many data points was the following: “517 new wells were drilled last year (in ND) at an average cost of $5.6 million.”  Pause for a moment -- that totals almost $3 billion.  When the approximately 50 oil drilling rigs now at work eventually leave the state, will there be a giant sucking sound?

Adeline Neumiller (90) of Sykeston illustrates the continuity of her generation’s life in rural ND.  She was baptized, confirmed and married in the same Sykeston Lutheran church, never living more than a few miles away.  Her obituary says she loved Sykeston, gardening, flowers and the things country living represented.  That was not to be the story for her three children who live in Manitoba, Washington and California -- their generation’s diaspora helps explain why the population of ND has remained essentially unchanged for more than 70 years.

If your name is “Buck” and you live in “Frontier,” shouldn’t we expect certain behavior?  Buck Ballantine (29) lives in the small Cass County town of Frontier.  Like any real frontier man, Buck got out his rifle and pistol and snapped off 15-20 shots into the air.  Cass County deputies confronted Buck who proved uncooperative.  They Tased him and charged him with firing rounds in a residential area.  Additional bad luck could be headed Buck’s way.

Do you know the way to Bowman?  It’s the county seat of a county of the same name occupying ND’s southwestern corner.  The town of Bowman has only 1,600 people, so you wouldn’t expect much trouble, but a gang attempting to look like the dreaded Los Angeles Crips wants to terrorize the little town with graffiti, gang colors and signs, and vague threats uttered in pseudo-Hispanic accents.  Some nervous residents fear an invasion.  The police chief thinks it’s a little early to panic -- the wannabe gang bangers are actually home grown juveniles who watch too much TV.  The chief advises storekeepers to send the kids home.

ND is holding its own -- weight, that is.  Annual national obesity rankings are out and the state stays in the middle, ranked 21st, with 28% of its adults obese.  Colorado continues to be the leanest state (19%), while Mississippi (34%) and neighboring states dominate the fat end.

The outbreak of tornadoes in northeastern ND and northwestern Minnesota on June 17th was one of the region’s “most significant in memory" according to the National Weather Service.  Forum weatherman John Wheeler said the outbreak was “one of the most destructive in this area in my 25 years as a meteorologist at WDAY.”  Wadena, Minnesota, about 90 miles east of Fargo on Highway 10, was the scene of greatest destruction.

Each month seems to bring a new crisis at Devils Lake.  Four inches of rain in mid-June added to already serious conditions.  Ramsey County officials have requested a helicopter for medical emergencies on isolated farms.  Snowplows are being used to clear debris floating onto roads and the Spirit Lake Casino road is precarious.  Gov. Hoeven toured the area and made it apparent where the state is headed, he said, “Ultimately, we’ve got to move more water out of Devils Lake.”  He said he and the state’s congressional delegation continue to press the Corps of Engineers to get the necessary permits to build a new outlet on the east end of Devils Lake.

Bring up the subject of NDSU’s recent problems, and the Forum twists, turns and acts very agitated.  The source of this angst is the state legislature, which the Forum believes is looking for a narrow excuse to attack NDSU while ignoring the school’s considerable growth and accomplishments.  Showing characteristic restraint, the paper describes legislators as less-enlightened, small-minded, myopic and punitive.  The Forum says former President Joseph Chapman is an easy target, but other guilty parties (unnamed) “have scurried for the weeds while pointing their dirty fingers at the former president” in a textbook display of “butt-covering.”  Other than that, everything is swell.

State Sen. John Andrist of Crosby responded to the Forum: “Some newspapers choose to byline their editorials.  The Forum doesn’t have to.  Editorial Page Editor Jack Zaleski’s pen is usually apparent. Mean. Nasty. Full of insulting adjectives.” 

ND has the third most young adults with college degrees, following only Washington, D.C. and Massachusetts.  Of ND residents age 25 to 34, 50% have college degrees, Minnesota is fourth (48%), while Arkansas is at the bottom (26%).  In the U.S. overall, 38% of young adults have degrees.  ND's trend is excellent, in an older group, all adults over 25, only 22% of Nodaks are college graduates, compared to 30% nationally.

In 2009, ND was one of only two states to have an increase in building permits; the other was Alaska.  Not entirely surprising, since ND also led the nation in per-capita income growth and had the lowest unemployment rates.  You might expect the housing starts would be in western ND where oil development is causing a tremendous housing shortage.  Not the case, according to State Data Director Richard Rathge housing starts took place mainly in eastern and central ND, because developers are still cautious about the energy boom.  Rathge expects to see strong growth in western housing in 2010, in fact, Williston housing permits to date in 2010 are double those in 2009.

Rathge said the housing starts are concentrated in larger communities.  Rural areas outside the oil development patches are not sharing the growth.  He used Wells County, a mid-sized county including Harvey and Fessenden, as an example, where only two building permits were issued in 2009.

Farm equipment, recreational vehicles, casino traffic, Minot AFB missile crews and, most of all, oil-field traffic -- Three Affiliated Tribes officials say traffic is overwhelming state highways on the reservation.  The main example, Hwy 23, the east-west route through New Town, carries more than four times the traffic of U.S. Hwy 85, the principal north-south artery on ND’s western side.  The TAT has a full push to persuade state and federal officials to create two four-lane highways through the reservation.

ND Budget Director Pam Sharp says, if oil production and prices stay where they are right now, at June 30, 2011, the state may have $500 million in its oil trust fund, double the $250 million previously estimated.

Darin Erstad of Jamestown was the first ND native to be a member of a baseball team that won the World Series (Roger Maris was born in Minnesota).  He is the only baseball player to win Gold Glove awards at three different positions.  As a senior in high school, Erstad was 1992 ND athlete of the year playing football, hockey and track, in addition to American Legion baseball.  He played baseball at the U. of Nebraska (which he recently gave $1 million) and was also the punter on their national championship football team.  After 14 major league seasons, Erstad is retired in Lincoln, Nebraska, but will be in Jamestown in July where he will attend an annual baseball tournament.

You might say Ben Klein (84) of Bismarck was a social being.  His obituary read like a politician’s with memberships including the Masons, American Legion, VFW, Elks, Moose and Eagles.  His ethnic bases were covered too; Klein belonged to both the Germans from Russia Society and Sons of Norway.  The Wilton native was a pipe fitter most of his life -- maybe he was just a “joiner.”

If you are a Nodak who recalls “Wild Bill” Langer you are probably drawing social security.  Langer may be the most controversial figure in ND history, having spent time in both the governor’s office and prison.  He died in 1959, but was active in ND politics from 1914 until his death.  Forum columnist Bob Lind interviewed Langer’s daughter Mary “Mimi” Gokey (85) of Fargo for an article written for Fathers’ Day.  It seemed appropriate for that day that Mimi recalled little of Langer’s blemishes, remembering him only as a “wonderful” father.

ND became a state in 1889.  Seven years earlier, in 1882, the last “great buffalo hunt” took place near what is now Hettinger.  Lauren Donovan of the Tribune reports that 2,000 Sioux rode out that year from Fort Yates, attacked a herd of 50,000 buffalo and killed 5,000 in two days.  Little did anyone know this was one of the last great hunts.  In the year of ND statehood, a bison census was taken by the Smithsonian Institute, only 1,100 remained, compared to the 60 million bison estimated to have once lived in North America.

In mid-May, a 92-year-old woman drove across the center line near Devils Lake, killing one motorcyclist and maiming two.  She received a $20 citation.  A GF Herald reader was outraged, asking “Is it because of her age” and wouldn’t a younger person be sitting in jail?  The reader hoped the family of the woman driver will pull her keys and not let her drive again.

In religion and music there is a tradition of “call and response,” a ritualized interaction between speakers and listeners.  A call and response dialogue has developed between Devils Lake and Valley City.  Joe Belford, a Ramsey County Commissioner, is the Devils Lake voice and advocates draining the lake in a controlled manner into the Sheyenne River.  Downriver, retired English teacher Richard Betting is the Valley City voice -- he doesn’t want any lake water and claims the real problem is the drainage of farm wetlands into Devils Lake.  The pair have exchanged volleys for years and both earnestly hold to their respective positions.  Independent studies seem to favor the Belford position -- the studies indicate the current wet cycle rather than wetland drainage is the main cause of the rise in Devils Lake.

It’s one thing to see reports over many years about the growth of Devils Lake -- it’s quite another to see the cumulative effect.  A newsletter reader sent photos from around Devils Lake taken from a light plane in early June.  The Spirit Lake Casino can be properly dubbed “Casino Island” -- it’s fortunate it was built on a knoll.  You can see the faint outline of old U.S. Hwy. 281, now covered by the lake.  Minnewaukan is shocking -- the town is on life support.  A cloud of black smoke rises from a house recently claimed by the lake -- it was set on fire by its owners.

Did the Republicans use a “diabolical strategy” to lose the 2008 elections and dump a host of problems on the Democrats?  Was the choice of Sarah Palin as a candidate for vice president the capstone of that evil plot?  These are the musings of Charles Linderman of Carrington, a Democratic activist and inveterate letter writer to the state’s papers.  He believes Barack Obama and CoDoPo, the ND congressional delegation, are unfairly saddled with responsibility for problems they did not create.

Fortunately, ND handles certain matters differently than other states.  Take the fatal police shooting of Keith Newton (55) of Belfield, after Newton shot a man and confronted the police with a gun.  In California, no matter the circumstances, a shooting by the police is usually followed by a lawsuit alleging excessive use of force.  There is a waiting line of attorneys whose careers consist of bringing this type of case.  In Belfield, Newton’s family said without hesitation, “They (the officers) had to do what they had to do and the family understands that.”  The family also said they were glad nobody else was injured and expressed regret that the officers had been put in the situation.

Former Lt. Governor Lloyd Omdahl had the last word on the late Gov. Link.  Omdahl said “City people have clock minds -- work is eight-to-five.”  He said Link was a farmer at heart and farmers don’t have clock minds; they have “chore minds” and focus on tasks until they are done.

ND’s Board of Higher Education wants to increase its control over individual campuses.  GF Herald Editor Mike Jacobs believes the board should avoid returning to micromanagement of the campuses.  Jacobs said, “Rather than more staff, the board needs more backbone . . . The debacle at NDSU occurred when a powerful force, the activist president, encountered a relative vacuum, a board uncertain of its mission and uncomfortable with its doubt.”

Fargo-Moorhead was shocked recently by the unexpected death of Concordia College President Pam Joicoeur (65).  The Forum said Joicoeur was a surprise choice for president in 2004 -- a woman without a Scandinavian name and a former Catholic nun from, of all places, California.  The Forum believes she turned out to be an outstanding choice -- she improved Concordia’s “reputation as a campus where education and life values converge” -- a visionary leader.

For a number of years, Clay Jenkinson has been a columnist for the Bismarck Tribune.  In early columns, Jenkinson chose meaty issues about ND’s economy, politics and culture.  More recently, he favors vignettes from his own life.  One of the latest was an essay on ND’s brief, but much appreciated summers.  He described a stop in Killdeer (for sodas and red licorice) where he said to the woman behind the counter “What a beautiful day in North Dakota.”  Her reply, “Yeah, that’s two this year.”

Yes, they are tough, don’t mess with them.  ND women have a reputation for holding their ground, but sometimes go too far.  Alycia Buethner (30) of Fargo was arrested for pistol-whipping her husband. the bison market is back,

They are back, but maybe you didn’t know they were gone.  We’re talking about bison -- the industry grew into a bubble in the ‘90s and then crashed.  Tribune writer Lauren Donovan says the bison market is back and demand is greater than supply, rewarding those ranchers who stuck with the breed.  Donovan asked a producer about the hazards of handling bison, he said the animals give fair warning, “You watch the tail and if it’s straight up, you should have been running or gone already.” 

The Corps of Engineers St. Paul District includes parts of five states.  If the ND-side flood diversion goes through, it may be the most expensive project ever built in the district.  Then three of the districts most expensive projects will have been in ND.  The other two large ND projects are the Grand Forks flood system and emergency levees for Devils Lake.

“With all due respect, Sen. Dorgan, we have North Dakota covered.  Now we need you and your colleagues in Washington to do your jobs and rein in the federal government.”  What was this about?  ND representative Bette Grande of Fargo was responding to Sen. Dorgan’s statement that a special legislative session should be held to address problems caused by oil development in western ND.  She contends state leaders have taken adequate steps to address interim concerns, plus the regular session of the legislature is only six months away.

The UND Fighting Sioux nickname and logo is on its back and gasping for air.  So, who would come along and placed their foot on its throat?  That perennial enemy, the Fargo Forum -- the ever gracious Forum gave its Leafy Spurge Award to nickname supporters “who cling to the flimsy hope that the monkiker will be rescued.”

Even if it were half true, it would be great!  Gen. Wesley Clark told the Renewable Energy Action Summit in Bismarck that ND is the future energy capital of North America.  Do we need a little discount for hyperbole?

The Red River Basin Commission has representatives from states and Canadian provinces which adjoin the basin.  Devils Lake is part of the basin.  The RRBC met recently but did not endorse an east-end outlet to relieve the lake’s flooding.  Instead, the RRBC deferred to a yet to be established international task force.  This was disappointing news for people in the Devils Lake area.  As Ramsey County Commissioner Joe Belford put it, “We can’t wait for a two-year study.”  The lake is within six feet of an uncontrolled spill into the Sheyenne River Valley.

In a related matter, the city of Minnewaukan has asked for the state’s assistance in moving “out of harm’s way” of the flooding Devils Lake.  The city wants to move one mile west to relocated U.S. Highway 281, but lacks the means or expertise.  Minnewaukan is the county seat of Benson County.

Former ND Gov. Art Link (96) died June 1 and was uniformly praised in editorials across the state.  Tom Dennis of the GF Herald described Link as a fundamentally decent and honorable man.  “That sense of honor permeated his every act, including those as ‘small’ as always obeying the speed limit and never throwing his status as governor or congressman around.”  Link was governor from 1972 to 1980 at which time he was defeated by former Gov. Allen Olson, who remembers Link this way, “He gave the state a lot and didn’t expect anything in return.” 

When cap and trade carbon legislation was first introduced in Congress, it was seen as a direct threat to western ND’s lignite coal industry.  Although the legislation is sponsored by Democrats, ND’s Democratic congressional delegation has been squarely against it.  Now alarm bells have gone off in the eastern part of the state.  American Crystal Sugar says if cap and trade legislation as currently framed were to move forward, it would be the death knell to the sugar beet industry in the Red River Valley.  So, now there is border to border opposition to the legislation. 

Nodaks with German ancestry fall into two broad groups:  Those who immigrated directly from German and those who came from Russia (Germans from Russia).  Nationally, this latter group is represented by two heritage societies.  One of the two groups, The Germans from Russia Heritage Society, is holding its annual convention in Bismarck in late July.  They have hooked a big fish as keynote speaker.  Eureka, SD native Al Neuharth will address the group.  He is the former CEO of Gannett Newspapers and founder of USA Today.

Rugby is the center of North America, right.  We have taken it as a matter of faith ever since Rugby made the claim 80 years ago.  We probably also assumed the designation came from top minds and the best science.  Would you feel a little different if you learned a federal official took a cardboard map of the continent and found the point where it balanced on a pin -- somewhere near Rugby.  Two envious small towns south of Rugby are saying rude things about Rugby’s claim.  They are also annoyed by T-shirts, postcards, etc. boasting of Rugby’s fame.

How the great have fallen.  U.S. Highway 10 used to be the Main Street of ND. The east-west road entered that state in Fargo and exited into Montana near Beach.  Since the construction of I-94, it has been an alternative road maintained by the counties.  Stutsman County is using a new $400,000 Caterpillar machine to recycle its share of Hwy 10 from pavement to gravel --  an increasingly common practice in the state as old paving becomes too expensive to maintain.

In a much publicized case, Dana Deegan left her newborn baby to die in 1998 at her home on the Ft. Berthold Reservation.  Later, she returned placing the dead baby in a cheap satchel and abandoning it in a ditch.  Ten years later, Deegan pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for the crime.  A federal appeals court recently upheld the sentence saying it was in the guideline sentencing range.  One of the three appeals judges dissented stating that in his more than four decades as a federal judge, the sentence was the most unfair he had seen.  His dissent ran nearly 60 pages and states her crime was a special sort of homicide called “neonaticide,” the act of a mother killing a newborn child. 

A former Fargo district judge read about the appeals court decision in the Forum.  In a letter to the Forum, Ralph Maxwell said the dissent lists many mitigating factors overlooked by the trial court judge.  Maxwell said Deegan’s status as an Indian further worsened the sentence.  An Indian living on a reservation is is subject to federal law.  If she had been charged with neonaticide in a ND state court, she would have received a maximum sentence of three years and, possibly, only a few years on probation.  Maxwell agreed with the dissenting judge that the woman received discriminatory treatment.  The case could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lee Solarski is your standard bad boy.  He spent a year in jail for assisting ax murderers in Minnesota, has pleaded guilty to felony drug charges and has DUI charges pending against him.  He is reported to have crashed his car into a pickup and mailbox in Fargo and then fled the scene.  Witnesses got his license plate number and Solarski was quickly nabbed for hit-and-run.  Solarksi employed the basic tarantula defense, claiming he was bitten by a tarantula causing the incident.  No tarantula has been found and its not clear he was actually bitten.

A year ago the Bismarck Tribune profiled Dakota Prairie Organic Flour in Harvey as a success story in ND food processing.  At the time, the mill was expanding from 30 tons of flour per day to 175 tons.  The mill is back in the news, but for quite a different reason -- for not making timely payment to farmers who supply its grain.  The Public Service Commission is giving Dakota Prairie time to arrange credit to bring its payments current.  The alternative is a cease and desist order.

The Minot Daily News: “It was an embarrassing display, United States lawmakers and administration officials including Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on their feet applauding a foreign leader as he attacks our national policy.  Where's our sense of national pride?  Calderon was out of line and hypocritical in criticizing the United States for its immigration policy when his country's policy is much harsher. Shame on him. But shame on those lawmakers who applauded Calderon as he did it. They should all be embarrassed.”

ND newspapers include regular, small reminders that illegal immigration is not merely an Arizona problem.  In Oakes, ND, 32 illegals were detained by the immigration service.  Four Stars Ag and its owner, Barry Vculek, had arranged for men to plant onions through an Oregon labor contractor.  Vculek said he thought all of the non-English speaking group were U.S. citizens.

In the last week of May, the big news in ND was the naming of a new president for NDSU in Fargo.  Dean Bresciani is a Napa, California native and a VP at Texas A&M, a school with 45,000 students.  The Forum newspapers have greeted Bresciani with editorial enthusiasm and high hopes that he will restore trust at NDSU.  However, the Fargo Forum can’t help itself -- it’s still grousing that NDSU is the victim of political and petty scrutiny.  We may learn more -- the State Board of Higher Ed has hired a former federal prosecutor to look into NDSU spending.

Using a Dept. of Energy grant, the ND Association of Rural Electric Coops has retained consultants to study the feasibility of a new oil refinery.  The state is already producing over four times the amount of oil that can be refined at the Mandan Tesoro refinery.  The study is not concluded, but it appears that business prospects for producing gasoline are very poor.  Refineries are notoriously difficult and expensive to build and gasoline demand is declining (blame Priuses).  But maybe, just maybe, a plant to produce diesel, for which ND farmers are big consumers, may be feasible. 

Soon there may be one near you -- a “man camp.”  Housing is so short in the ND oil patch that the Stark County Commission has approved a 100-person camp north of Dickinson to temporarily house oil field workers.  Yes, meals and laundry, but no alcohol or children.

ND obituaries often describe large families that disburse across the country.  Robert Messmer (84) of Kensal worked for the Soo Line Railroad (now Canadian Pacific) for 40 years -- his 13 children shot gunned to 9 different states.  Job opportunities in the energy industry may make such departures less likely in the future.

Too many churches.  Declining rural populations leave many churches with small congregations and difficulty finding pastors.  In the northeast part of the state it has become common for clusters of small churches to merge.  The latest merger is in Lakota where four Lutheran congregations and one Methodist church have joined together.  The Rev. Don Reynolds, pastor of a six-congregation parish in Edmore says, “It just makes sense in rural North Dakota these days.”  Money, of course, is a concern driving the mergers, but vitality is an equal concern. 

There is at least one report every month in ND newspapers that goes something like this:  Elderly person drives up to a (fill in the blank -- clinic, cafe or store) and drives right through the front door.  In early May, the Grafton Police Dept. said “a vehicle struck Granny’s Family Restaurant about 10 a.m.”  Coffee time!

Seriously, ND needs to do something about its elderly drivers, such as more frequent testing of drivers over 75.  In mid-May, a 92-year-old Oberon woman driver crossed the center line near Devils Lake taking out two motorcycles.  Two persons gravely injured, one dead.  The elderly woman driver had no apparent injuries.

In 2009, 20 ND counties increased in population.  Most of the increases can be explained with two words, Indians and oil.  The predominately Indian counties increased their populations and most of the remainder of the growth counties fell within the outline of the Williston Basin.

Twin sisters Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux (Mo and Jo) of Grand Forks won silver medals as members of the U.S. women’s hockey team.  When the Air Force Thunderbirds gave a demonstration at the GFAFB, they selected two outstanding citizens for supersonic rides in F-16s.  Mo got the nod.  The twins are accustomed to riding high, but this was something new.  As Mo staggered away after her ride, she said it was like an intense workout.  Jo was on a goodwill trip for UND.

Please, not Beauford.  That was one of the top five names in Jamestown’s “Name That Buffalo” contest.  The other four: Sir James, Dakota Thunder, Dacotah Spirit and Benny.  The good people of Jamestown will vote to select a winner.

THIS AND THAT: You may not think of it this way, but ND is an incline which gradually slopes from 3,000 feet above sea level at Bowman in the southwest corner to 900 feet in Fargo.  Forum weatherman John Wheeler says when eastern winds push up the slope in the spring they cause a cooling which can create snow in western ND as late as May . . . There was something slightly plaintive and ironic about the following May 7th announcement in Minot:  “The Tourism Day scheduled for today in Minot has been postponed and rescheduled for May 24 because of weather conditions.”  Welcome tourists! . . . Preservation ND says the most endangered places this year are a historic Pembina church, metal truss bridges and country schools.  The state once had 4,700 country schools (almost 100 per county), simple, one-room white frame buildings.  Most are gone or abandoned.

DAKTOIDS: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce designated ND as the national leader in job growth during the last decade.  High crop prices and oil helped, but sound policies were said to be the main reason . . .  May polls: Gov. Hoeven leads Tracy Potter 72-23 in the U.S. Senate race; Rick Berg leads Earl Pomeroy 52-43 in the race for U.S. Rep . . . The American Academy of Family Physicians says the UND medical school is tops in the nation for producing family medicine doctors (20% of grads).

While we are doing other things, Devils Lake (the lake, not the city) is busy acquiring new territory.  In late April, State Highway 20, a major route through the Spirit Lake Reservation, was closed due to high water.  The lake threatens to close the Churchs Ferry bridge used by Amtrak's Empire Builder -- the state’s congressional delegation is pressing Amtrak about the issue.  Meanwhile, the Devils Lake City Engineer raised the odds of a natural lake overflow into the Sheyenne River in the next 10 years to 10%.  He says a spillover is unacceptable for downstream areas, and his city will urge a controlled release.

“I got a preliminary copy of the performance from the state. It is very embarrassing,” Hanson said. “It’s just awful. It’s bad.”  What was NDSU Interim President Dick Hanson moaning about?  He was talking about an audit report soon to be issued by the state auditor regarding the NDSU president’s house.  For Hanson, there is very little cost to the awful, bad things -- they happened on the shift of his predecessor, Joseph Chapman.

When Helen Rice Sorlie graduated from UND in about 1938, she received a degree in Home Economics and Commerce, Art & Clothing -- quite a mouthful!  Sorlie (90), who died in Bismarck in April, became well known in her own right.  She was also married to Glenn Sorlie, the son of a former ND governor and owner and publisher of the Bismarck Tribune before its sale to Lee Enterprises in 1978.

Rich city cousins are giving to poor country cousins.  The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux, owners of the Mystic Lake Casino in Minnesota, make grants to their poor brethren in the Dakotas.  The Lower Brule Sioux in South Dakota will get $1 million for a convenience store and gas station; United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck will get $1 million for a technology facility, contingent on getting an equal amount from other sources.

A Sharon rancher has 500 cows, 300 have given birth, of those, 50 (17%) had twins.  A vet says 3% would be about a normal rate.  There is no clear explanation, the best answer NDSU Extension can muster is that “all the conditions encouraging twinning came together at the right time.”  The owner of the cattle had an interesting speculation, nothing more: He has been feeding the cows dried distillers grain from the Casselton ethanol plant.  The distillers grain is nutrious and improves the cows’ condition.  Cows with good condition are more likely to conceive twins.

Dane Boedigheimer is a Fargo native who has achieved instant fame -- it remains to be seen if it’s fleeting.  Dane is the creator of a You-Tube video character called “Annoying Orange” which has a million and a half viewers in the course of a weekend.  Annoying Orange makes taunting comments about other fruit and is a favorite of schoolchildren -- a commentator says “The awfulness of the orange is what brings the enjoyment.”  Dane is a college film major who now practices his wicked craft in S. California.

“From North Dakota, the immigration issue might seem overblown,” said a Bismarck Tribune editorial, “But in Arizona, there are an estimated 450,000 illegal immigrants, a number equal to 70 percent of North Dakota's population.”  The editorial said Arizona’s tough new law is what happens when Congress fails to address the ongoing issue of illegal immigration.

The Tribune thinks it’s great that ND’s oil pipeline and rail capacity is now 400,000 barrels a day, well in excess of February daily oil production of 260,000 barrels.  But the state shouldn’t rest, greater oil production is coming, plus the challenges of pounded roads in western ND, housing shortages for workers, and a variety of social ills that come with the boom.  The state produced 80 million barrels of oil in 2009 and is moving toward annual production of 100 million barrels.

In an article headed “Employed, but homeless,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune highlighted one of the problems of the ND boom -- nowhere to put the people.  Many well-paid workers cannot find housing at any price.  They sleep in cars and campers.  The article indicated the situation is worst for locals who do not have lucrative oil jobs; they have seen their rents soar -- in the midst of prosperity ND saw a spike in homelessness.

It will be Bismarck’s biggest conference of 2010 -- the 18th annual Williston Basin Petroleum Conference will be attended by 2,500 people -- twice the 2008 attendance.  The theme is “Bakken & Beyond” and the expo will have people from 40 states and 6 provinces.  Ron Ness of the sponsoring ND Petroleum Council says business development will be pursued by 300 exhibitors.  The director of the state Oil and Gas Division added sensation to the conference by doubling his estimate of the state's recoverable oil reserves from 2 billion to 4 billion barrels.

If ND were to have a patron cartoonist, it would have to be the late Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts.  With a German father and a Norwegian mother, the St. Paul native would have fit right into ND.  Like ND, Shulz was a little melancholy.  Here is a quote: ”Yesterday I was a dog, Today I’m a dog, Tomorrow I’ll probably still be a dog.  Sigh!  There’s so little hope for advancement.”

DAKTOIDS: West Fargo snuck up -- in 2000 the city had about 15,000 people, today, the city is estimated to have 26,000.  W. Fargo swept by slow-growth cities such as Dickinson and Jamestown to become the state’s fifth largest . . . The 450 Minuteman missiles in Montana, ND and Wyoming are supported by 9,000 personnel -- that’s 20 per missile.  The missiles first arrived in the 1970s -- the Air Force has committed $6.2 billion (yes, billion) to extending the life of the Minuteman III missiles . . . The Los Angeles and Phoenix areas have the worst air quality in the nation.  Want to get away -- go to North Dakota -- Fargo, Wahpeton and Bismarck have the nation’s cleanest air.

The Fighting Sioux nickname issue has been trivialized by some as a silly argument about a college sports name.  They have said that if even a few were troubled by the name it should be retired.  Imagine if that test were applied to other public policy issues.  Others have said there is a broader issue here, it’s not just about sports, it’s about whether a small, but loud and persistent minority can have their way with a quiet majority.  One of the purposes of elections is to get beyond obstreperous noise and determine the people’s will.

The nickname issue has turned into a colossal mess -- hardly anyone is covered in glory, but one group distinguished itself.  Before it all ends, if it ends, that group deserves to be recognized.  The Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe stood up and were counted.  They held a referendum on the nickname and, when a majority of their members voted for the name, the tribal council forthrightly got behind the decision.  While others ducked, the tribe courageously tried to help settle the issue.  Somehow, sometime, I hope they are acknowledged, not for the outcome of their vote, but for their willingness to take responsibility.

Other voices have entered the nickname debate, a few for their own purposes.  Winona LaDuke, a civil rights activist and two-time Green Party vice presidential candidate, said she “would like to feel sorry for . . . UND mascot (her words) supporters, but I can’t muster up that sympathy.”  Her view: the angst of the Fighting Sioux supporters was inconsequential compared to the historical suffering of native Americans.  Columnist Lloyd Omdahl was much more benign -- he once considered the logo oppressive, but completely reversed that view when Spirit Lake tribal members indicated otherwise.  However, he feels the costs and uncertainties of continuing to defend the logo will be too great.

People write the darndest things.  Josephine “Jo” Wheeler (90) of Bismarck led a long and varied life.  She graduated from NDSU in 1940 with a degree in home economics, a hint of many accomplishments to come.  That is why a statement in her obituary is so odd: “One of her most ‘notable accomplishments’ was winning a gold medal in the Senior Olympics downhill skiing competition (emphasis added), where she was the only participant.”

As mentioned before, we are losing many members of the Greatest Generation, men and women who served their country during WWII.  Olaf Berge (95) was one.  Berge was born and grew up in the Valley City area -- he was all-state in basketball and is in the Jamestown College Athletic Hall of Fame.  He was trained as a bombardier and navigator and was highly decorated for 79 combat missions including bomber support of D-Day in 1941.  After the war he returned to farm and teach near Valley City.  It’s astonishing how men of such epic adventures modestly returned to their homes and fit into everyday life.

Many members of the Greatest Generation in ND did not serve in the military, but migrated to the West Coast defense industry.  The obituary of Herbert Scherbinske (90) says, “After World War II began, Herb and Catherine went to Portland OR along with many friends and relatives, to build ships in the Kaiser Company shipyard.  Herb and Catherine were married at the conclusion of the war and were said to be kindred spirits and perfect mates for 62 years, “Like two peas in a pod.”  Herb rose to superintendent of the Knife River Coal Mining Co. in Beulah.

This is a difficult time for daily newspapers -- many hang in a fine balance.  For the smaller papers, this means double duty for the staff and management.  Mike Jacobs is Editor and Publisher of the GF Herald.  On a recent Sunday, Jacobs wrote in three capacities:  As editor, he discussed the challenges of ND’s oil boom.  His biggest concern seemed to be that ND will be  timid with its oil revenues -- it will save too much (and benefit outsiders), and invest too little (and not benefit its citizens).  He slipped into another role to review a biography, “Mr. Wheat,” about Milton Young, ND’s U.S. Senator from 1945 to 1981.  A “vague figure in the state’s history . . . little understood and little appreciated.”  Finally, Jacobs fell into what is probably his favorite role -- bird columnist.  He wrote about song sparrows in an introduction to the sparrow world.

ND needs to be aggressive in dealing with the agendas of environmental groups -- that’s the gist of a Bismarck Tribune editorial.  The state has been flaring a lot of natural gas -- the Tribune acknowledges that is bad practice for two reasons: climate change and waste of energy.  In 2008, ND flared 30 percent of its natural gas, last year, it was down to 10 percent, and further reductions are being made.  Because of flaring, the Bureau of Land Management has just pulled 91,000 acres in Montana, SD and ND from an expected oil-lease auction because of pressure from environmental groups.  This will cause a loss of revenue for the state and prolong the nation’s dependence on imported oil.  The Tribune believes the state should be more proactive in finding solutions to head off this type of federal regulatory intervention.

Edward Lotterman is a St. Paul economist who writes a weekly column for the Bismarck Tribune.  In a recent column, he discussed the ups and downs of farming.  How ND wheat farmers saw astonishing prices in 2008, but are seeing disastrously low prices this year brought on by a world glut. Despite these harrowing fluctuations in income, Lotterman says most full-time commercial farmers have annual incomes and net worths well above other households.  He mentions the adage “farmers live poor but die rich.”

Nodaks are farmers and ranchers, coal miners and oil workers.  For that reason, the Bismarck Tribune says ND residents have a different relation to the environment than Americans who mostly live in cities and see rural America as a huge preservation park.  The remarks were in the context of Earth Day.  The Tribune said Nodaks are equally concerned about the environment, but their concerns are directed at realistic, workable solutions for caring for the Earth. 

Lest we forget: Devils Lake has risen about 27 feet and tripled in size since 1993 because of a series of wet years -- the price tag is near $1 billion and growing.  The Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board is considering preparing a documentary video to help make their case to a larger audience.

Tracy Rankin of Fargo named her day care business King of the Jungle.  Now we know what she meant -- Tracy has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for defrauding five banks and stealing the identities of two friends.  Federal Judge Ralph Erickson said, “I’ve never seen anything like it,” and called her a “pathological liar.”

They are back -- a group called the Red River Freethinkers continues a relentless battle to remove a 1958 Ten Commandment monument from public property in downtown Fargo.  The Freethinkers lost a lawsuit in 2005 which determined the display was secular in nature.

A Bismarck Tribune headline proclaimed “North Dakota reading scores high” followed by an article saying ND students have achieved some of the nation’s highest reading scores.  This is an illusion repeated from year to year.  ND’s white 4th-grade students scored 228 and 8th-grade students 271 on a national reading test -- almost exactly the national average for white students.  California shares last place in the nation on an overall basis, but its white students scored about the same as ND's.  On an apples-to-apples comparison, ND scores are anything but the nation’s highest.  

The scores of ND students are mediocre.  The state appears to rank highly only when its scores are compared to those of other states on an “overall” basis -- this comparison ignores large minority populations in many states which bring down overall scores.  White students make up 85-90% of the students in ND.  Indians are the only significant minority students in the state (9%) and their scores are below the national average for American Indians.  The state and its press are slow to acknowledge something is amiss in student achievement in ND.

Tribune columnist Clay Jenkinson has consulted with advisors: “North Dakota is going to be awash in cash” from coal and the Bakken oil field and “wealth is shifting from the Red River Valley to the carbon corridor.”   He quotes a former ND governor who refers to this activity as a “one-time harvest.”  Jenkinson invited his readers to submit brief memos addressing two questions: “How can we manage this decades-long extraction boom” and “what should we do with the money?”

Time for a reality check.  Spirits are high at political conventions -- Sandra Donaldson, a delegate to the state Democratic convention from Grand Forks, gushed about the prospects of state senator Tracy Potter, a candidate for U.S. Senator.  “I almost have no words to describe how excited I am about Tracy Potter,” she thought he would win the seat and keep it under Democratic control.  About the same time, Rasmussen Reports released a survey showing Gov. Hoeven leading Potter 68% to 25%.

Earlier, CoDoPo, ND’s congressional delegation, professed degrees of uncertainty about the health care bill.  Sen. Conrad said a bill would not be worthwhile unless it had bipartisan support, Sen. Dorgan (retiring) was strangely reserved, and Rep. Pomeroy said perhaps it was time to start over and advance the reform in pieces.  They refused to take a position until vote time -- all voted for the bill.  Bismarck Tribune Editor John Irby said CoDoPo “must now live with the good, bad and ugly of the bill.  That could result in career changes.”

Charles and Ellen Linderman of Carrington are a husband and wife team who are Democratic activists and prolific writers of letters to editors of ND papers.  Both have been outspoken advocates of the health care reform bill -- Ellen has spoken of her difficulty, as a farmer with a pre-existing condition, to purchase health insurance.  Some newspapers have policies which limit the frequency of letters from a single individual.  The Forum published a letter from Charles praising Rep. Pomeroy as a hero for voting for the health care bill.  Several days later, a letter from Ellen appeared in the Forum, again, hailing Pomeroy as a courageous leader for his vote on health reform.

Drake (300) is located about half way between Harvey and Velva on U.S. Hwy. 52.  Typical of ND towns of it size, Drake lost its grocery store.  Neither grocery chains nor private investors were interested in replacing the store.  A new community store opened in Drake with a $185,000 grant from the USDA -- other small ND communities have received similar grants.  Advocates see the grants as a way of preserving underserved communities.  Critics see the grants as a waste of money which threatens the viability of stores in neighboring towns by denying them sales.

It happens every couple years -- a national publication tallies federal convictions of public officials in each state, divides that into the state’s population and calculates a corruption ratio.  ND is usually deemed to be one of the most corrupt state’s by that measure.  Last year USA Today reported that ND public officials are the most corrupt in the land -- a conclusion that doesn’t make sense to most people living in ND.  Lloyd Omdahl is among those who have looked into these conclusions in the past; ND Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem did the same recently.  What they usually discover is that the ND numbers are inflated by convictions of tribal officials.  In certain prior years, almost all the federal corruption convictions in ND related to the reservations.

During the 1980s oil boom, the city of Williston invested about $20 million to build infrastructure to spur housing development.  The subdivision lots sat empty for many years at a heavy cost to local taxpayers.  This time around Williston wants someone else to take the risk -- they are asking the state to guarantee about $100 million in municipal bonds to help solve what they describe as a housing crisis.  Approval would require a special legislative session.  Williston officials say the guarantee would benefit the state because it would facilitate faster oil development and greater extraction and production taxes.  Gov. Hoeven says existing state programs can do the job until the next legislative session in 2011.

Tom Dennis of the GF Herald beats the drum for unmanned aerial systems.  He ranks UAS as a “revolutionary” technology just as computers were in the 1980s.  He said, “Unmanned systems deserve all of the time and attention UND, North Dakota and the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corp. can muster.”  Specifically, he wants Grand Forks county and city to pony up for a new position to coordinate UAS opportunities.

“Feathers ruffled” was the caption on a Forum photo of fighting geese -- just below was a headline “Hanson ‘disappointed’ to be removed from consideration for NDSU president.”  Dick Hanson, NDSU interim president, was scratched from the list of finalists for president.  Selection committee members said Hanson did not have the breadth of experience of the eight candidates who will be considered in the finals.

A UND philosophy instructor is using the low-brow movie “Slap Shot” for a high-brow discussion of hockey culture.  Slap Shot stars Paul Newman as the coach of a dubious, fictional pro hockey team with three violent Hanson brothers who specialize in bloodying themselves and others.  Prof. Jack Weinstein will use the movie and a panel to explore issues such as fighting and sports loyalties.