Dakota Beacon

Has any Minnesota Viking ever had so many nicknames?  Saucer, Sausage, Kleinsausage, Cup ‘N Saucer, Klanksauser, Big Jim K, Jimmy K and on it goes.  Carrington and UND standout, Jim Kleinsasser, will retire from the NFL after 13 seasons.  Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman called Jim one of the real leaders of the Vikings and one real class act.  In 2009, when there was a possibility Kleinsasser would leave, a fan wrote “That guy is a viking, he bleeds purple and gold.  Pure North Dakota blood.”

A quote from Kleinsasser in the Star Tribune says a lot about his ND background: “My attitude has always been, ‘Whatever they ask you to do, do it.’ I just take pride in the fact that I work hard and I figure that if you’re willing to do anything, there’s value in that. I think a lot of guys get caught up in themselves and don’t really realize it. I try to adapt to whatever it takes to get the job done, or as good as I can get it done.”

Another Jimmy, bad Jimmy Baldwin, fell into disfavor at the Aspen Homeless Shelter in Colorado due to “a poor attitude and bad behavior.”  You could add heavy drinking and menacing to his report card.  Aspen had a $190 solution -- a bus ticket for Jimmy on the “long dog” to Williston, ND.  Dee Ann Grundstand, director of a homeless center in Williston, said, "I encourage people not to come ... until they have a job and have housing lined up."  Jimmy should have listened -- he was jailed in Williston for disorderly conduct.

In other ways Williston is very welcoming.  Step off Amtrak and you are immediately in front of two sleazy, neon-lit strip bars named Whispers Nightclub and Heartbreakers Gentleman’s Club.  The clubs are crowded with oil workers.  Whispers has gambling and half the proceeds go to Williston State.  Cringing nearby are the chamber of commerce and a senior center.  Some Williston leaders are unwilling to talk about the clubs, but the mayor said, “I wish they were not located in town, period.”

Sports writer Lowell Cohn predicts San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh will be selected NFL coach of the year.  He also picks 49er general manager Trent Baalke, the man who hired Harbaugh, as NFL executive of the year.  At this point you are stifling a yawn, looking for a hint of relevance.  Baalke (47) is a Bemidji State grad who was AD at Shanley H.S. in Fargo, then assistant coach at NDSU.  Prior to the 49ers, Baalke was a scout for the N.Y. Jets and Washington Redskins.

Oh, No!  Not the forked-tongue charge again.  Rob Port’s “sayanythingblog.com” has a carefully written article alleging that UND President Robert Kelley misled the ND Legislature and general public about risks associated with UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname.  Frank Black Cloud, a spokesman for the Spirit Lake Sioux, implied to the GF Herald that Kelley was “speaking with two tongues.”

The Bureau of Land Management leasing chief for the Bakken Formation is named, ready, Teri Bakken!  Now that we’re past that, you will be glad to know that Teri arranged $100 million of oil and gas leases in ND in the year ended September 30.  She said, “In North Dakota, every little nook and cranny of available federal land is being leased.” 

Sen. John Hoeven said that Grand Forks is on its way to being a hub for unmanned aerial systems technology and the goal now is to make the city a premier northern center for the national UAS industry.  Well and good -- UAS is a big industry and GF will benefit from getting even a small slice.  Grand Forks sees itself as a national UAS center, although the city is rarely listed among major UAS locations.

Sen. Hoeven keeps busy -- the Minot Daily News pictured him at a podium in front of seven smiling members of the Minot Base Retention Committee, in turn backed by a large helicopter.  His good news: MAFB will receive $134 million of improvements, that’s in addition to hundreds of millions of upgrades which will be made to the base’s nuclear missiles and bombers.  Hoeven was happy to report that MAFB remains a “huge part of nation’s defense.”  Some call ND a major nuclear power.

An editorial in the Daily News lamented the lack of parking at the Minot Airport -- the airport advises travelers to use taxi, shuttles, anything but parking.  Last summer the airport asked for bids on a million-dollar parking project -- contractors were so busy with flood repair and oil patch work there were no initial bids.

Don’t leave your car on the street in parts of big cities -- it will be stripped.  Jamestown, that’s a different matter, people not only feel safe leaving their cars on the street, they may not lock them.  Jamestown police rounded up a gang of juvenile thieves that entered 53 unlocked cars in one night.

Refugee advocates hail new immigrants as an “underutilized resource” with “knowledge to share.”  Supporters say refugees contribute diversity which is a critical experience in the modern world.  Critics say there can be too much of a good thing, that refugee families are a costly load on education, health and human services, and many refugees will require public assistance the rest of their lives.  Skeptics blame Lutheran Social Services for unfocused refugee programs that burden host communities.  One percent of the Fargo metro population are students who are English Language Learners (mostly refugees).  The children and their parents speak roughly 50 languages -- their needs must be accommodated by every level of human services.

DAKTOIDS: A stained glass window in the First Presbyterian Church in Minot receives special attention during the Holidays.  Why -- it is nearly 800 square feet, of unusually high quality and beauty, and one of the largest east of the Mississippi.  The church insures it for $1 million . . . A Wheatland man already has his New Year’s resolution: “Be careful with fire.”  Trying to get rid of a few weeds and grass, he burned down his barn . . . The gang that can’t shoot straight.  T. Roosevelt National Park selected 200 volunteers to thin elk herds.  One out of every ten volunteers was dismissed for lack of shooting proficiency.