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Friday, July 16, 2010

SCHMID - LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST: JULY 16, 2010

You have to listen to both sides, so Sen. Conrad took his senate road show from Devils Lake down to Valley City to discuss the consequences of the lake spilling into the Sheyenne River.  Valley City residents told Conrad they disliked lake water and advocated their favorite solution  -- prevent wetlands from draining into Devils Lake.  Conrad was blunt: wetlands restoration “doesn’t come close” . . .  the situation is a “ticking time bomb.”


Lake Sakakawea is estimated to cover about 500 square miles, but, hold on to your hat, the latest satellite images indicate Devils Lake covers over 700 square miles.  Lauren Donovan of the Bismarck Tribune covered a less visible predicament: hundreds of square miles mostly north of Devils Lake that, while not part of the lake, are becoming a giant wetland.  She interviewed the family of Dan Erickstad in Garske, about 20 miles north of the city of Devils Lake.  Their farmstead is surrounded by water, some of last year’s crop is unharvested, and they are unable to reach this year’s winter wheat.  Erickstad said, “We seem to be expendable.”  Farmers like him are uncompensated -- he adds, “If politicians are going to delay decisions that would release water from the lake basin, landowners ought to be compensated.”


Through the years of Devils Lake flooding, Ramsey County Commissioner Joe Belford has been the voice of the Lake Region.  He is also paid by the State Water Commission.  Belford is promoting a spillway in the Tolna Coulee and says, “North Dakota has to really get behind us and get this water out of here.”  He worries that with years of design and construction ahead, “It could be too late.”


How to spot a slow news week: Hint -- modest events become prominent news articles.  “Fargo native climbs Mt. Rainier” was a breathless headline in Forum papers in three cities.  Justin Dimmer (26) scaled Mt. Rainier, a 14,400 foot peak near Tacoma, Washington.  Pumped by his experience, Justin extolled his climbing companions, “In essence, you really are putting your life into their hands.”  His father shared the moment, “He’s done something far more than I could ever imagine him to do.”  Yes, I can attest from personal experience that climbing Mt. Rainier is grueling, just as it is for approximately 10,000 climbers (Wikipedia) each year.


Haliday is a town of around 200 in oil and coal country, but its school enrollment continues to slide.  The Beulah Beacon reports that staff and teachers at the Haliday school outnumber the 15 students expected this fall.  It’s time to close.


From my faraway vantage point, it has looked for several years like ND has a growing problem with elderly drivers.  Someone agrees.  Herald columnist Lloyd Omdahl says there is a great deal of attention to the behavior of young drivers, but there is a fair share of mayhem at the other end of the age spectrum.  He says, “It's okay if some old people want to go out in a blaze of destruction as long as they are the only ones who go. Unfortunately, they end up killing innocent people who would prefer to stay around a little longer.”  He recommends, “Every one over the age of 70 should be required to take driver competence examinations whenever their licenses come up for renewal. As long as they can pass the exams, they should be able to drive until they are centenarians.”


Steele (Kidder County) is having a bout of crime: sexual harassment, corrupt practices, disorderly conduct, threats and intimidation -- and that’s only Sheriff Doug Howard.  He faces four misdemeanor charges and other accusations.  Rural counties like Kidder (2,400) have difficulty getting first rate sheriffs.  Jamestown is more gentle, but crime is also stalking its residents.  The city is plagued by a hateful wave of garden gnome thefts.


Despite an anti-incumbent mood around the nation, most incumbent candidates in ND enjoy significant advantages.   Tribune political writer Rebecca Beitsch says Gov. John Hoeven who is running for the U.S. Senate may have something even better than incumbency.  He can use the visibility and resources of the governor’s office, but doesn’t have to defend a messy record as a member of Congress.  Beitsch thinks Hoeven’s opponent Tracy Potter know this all too well.


Nodaks are concerned about $380,000 of out-of-state travel expenses incurred by the Legislature -- the total for an entire year.  A Bismarck Tribune editorial concludes that  the expenses appear mostly reasonable and necessary.  How does the $380,000 compare to other government expenses in ND, say, the cost of flying a B-52 bomber from Minot AFB to Quam and back?  I don't know, but here's an indication: the cost of a 12-hour mission by a B-1B bomber (the type kept at Rapid City, SD) is $720,000.  Our concern about government expenses depends a lot on whom we think is paying.


ND’s three largest cities squeaked into Money Magazine’s list of the 100 Best Places to Live with populations 50,000 to 300,000: Bismarck (74), Fargo (86), and Grand Forks (97).  Minnesota had five cities on the list; South Dakota had one (Sioux Falls).  It may only be a coincidence that the three ND cities on the list had the nation’s three lowest unemployment rates.


The GF Herald supports hiring a consultant to study “leakage” rates in the city.  This has nothing to do with adult diapers, it’s about retail sales which seem to be escaping to other cities.  The GF business community notices that its retail sales are not growing in line with other statistical indicators, such as travelers from Canada.  Fargo is very high on the GF list of suspects


Fargo-Moorhead is becoming older and blacker, but the two trends are unrelated.  People over 85 had the highest increase of any age group according to the State Data Center.  Canadians used to be the largest source of new legal residents in F-M, today, 48 percent of such residents are from Africa with Somalia holding the top spot.  Blacks are also a category with the highest poverty rates in the F-M area.


“We wonder if it’s worth it,” Doreen Yellow Bird’s reaction to the effect of the oil boom on the Ft. Berthold Reservation where she is semi-retired.  The former GF Herald columnist describes the influx of oil workers, heavily damaged roads, and environmental impact of the boom.  She concludes, “But we have no choice now; we can’t unring the bell.”


He stayed on the job -- a ND trait.  Stuart Clark (76) of Pingree graduated from the 8th grade and from then on until his death, except for a two-year break as an Army chauffeur, Clark worked as a farmhand on a local farm  -- 61 steady years.  One of his hobbies -- driving his CAT tractor.


DAKTOIDS: ND Commerce Commissioner Shane Goettle delivered the report of a study commission calling for the state to double its energy production by 2025 . . . The World’s Largest Buffalo will not remain nameless -- Jamestown residents chose Dakota Thunder as the name for their fiberglass behemoth.  Don’t laugh, Reader’s Digest named the buffalo the third best roadside attraction in the U.S.

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