Dakota Beacon

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.