Dakota Beacon

“The city of Minot will never be the same.  It can't be.  The residents will return, whether it be in days, weeks or months. They will return to destroyed homes and shattered lives. But we have no doubt that they will return.  They are, after all, Minoters and North Dakotans.” -- Editorial in the Minot Daily News.  The national news media found Nodaks hard to fathom and slightly unbelievable.  Almost every article and broadcast noted the astonishing spirit and cooperation.  One oft repeated story was about a Minot family that had just lost their home -- they  hurried to Velva, the next larger town downriver, to help with evacuations.  Nodaks are people that have a tradition of coming together to fight drought, blizzards, and everything nature and man throws at them.

If you would like to help Minot flood victims, you can direct donations to the Mid-Dakota Chapter of American Red Cross, P.O. Box 456, Minot ND 58702.

Since March, each of ND’s six largest cities experienced major flooding or worse.  Since 1993, 27 presidential disaster declarations have been issued for ND -- every year during that time, except 2008.

Even if a second Devils Lake pumping outlet becomes operational, there is still a 15% chance of a natural overflow by 2015.  In the absence of any pumping, there is a 30% of a 2015 overflow.  These estimates were made by the U.S. Geological Survey.  A west end outlet is now operating at a cost of up to $400,000 a month.  An uncontrolled overflow could be catastrophic for downstream cities  such as Valley City and Lisbon.

“It makes more sense to begin to manage the level of Devils Lake now from where we are, rather than waiting until we have an impending disaster.  We are hopeful that our downstream neighbors will recognize the value of beginning to manage Devils Lake in this way.”  Gov. Jack Dalrymple laying the political groundwork for a gravity-flow outlet from Stump Lake (an appendage of Devils Lake) through the Tolna Coulee to the Sheyenne River.

Before the Minot flooding, three giraffes, two lions, two tigers and two leopards skipped town.  The beasts are calmly waiting out the flood in a wildlife park in Wichita, Kansas.  The Minot zoo is flooded -- officials wisely evacuated the animals in early June.

The People of ND vs. the Usual Suspects.  Who stirred up the Big Sky Conference about the UND Fighting Sioux nickname?  It’s not a surprise to learn that Tex Hall, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, is involved; Sharon Carson, a UND professor of English, may be another.  The GF Herald reports that state Rep. Al Carlson is pursuing the possibility that UND President Robert Kelley may have been working against the name behind the scenes.  He has obtained Kelley’s e-mail exchanges with Big Sky and the NCAA.  Kelley has been cautioned by Grant Shaft of the Board of Higher Education that his recent comments about the name may have gone too far -- the same caution has gone to certain other members of the UND administration.  This is a rapidly evolving story that is neither clear nor ended.  A spokesman said Kelley “has no more to say at this time.” 

Next year, Nodaks will vote on eliminating property taxes -- a difficult issue to understand from afar.  In a long, confusing column, GF Herald economist Ralph Kingsbury argued that property taxes should be abolished.  He thinks people in ND with high incomes but modest property holdings are avoiding paying their fair share of taxes.  Who does he have in mind?  Doctors, other highly paid professionals, as well as college professors, school administrators and so on.  Oh, yes, he hasn’t forgotten about “out-of-state oil types” who walk away with monthly royalty checks.  

Wind and ice frequently knock out ND power lines, so why aren’t the lines underground?  The big reason is cost -- underground is 2-3 times more expensive than overhead, but there is another reason you may not have thought about -- underground cables act as lightning rods, attracting strikes that blow the cables.

Is there a shortage of book learning in the ND Legislature?  And does it make any difference?  The Chronicle of Higher Education says the education level of state legislators is 40th in the country.  Many of ND’s part-time legislators have farm management backgrounds and bring a great deal of practical experience, common sense and natural intelligence to their legislative duties.  ND has the lowest percentage of any state of lawmakers who are lawyers.  Now, if the state only had more lawyers making laws, like California and Minnesota, ND could share those states’ sterling results.

Be careful about retiring in Minnesota.  Kiplinger picked the Gopher State as the second least tax friendly state for retirees.

Bismarck-Mandan has been dodging waves of the Missouri River.  Tribune Editor John Irby spotted another threat -- a wave of stupidity.  In his editorial, “Stupid is as stupid does,” Irby listed the many ways B-M residents turned June into stupid month:  A couple went at each other with cars, turning a front lawn into a demolition derby.  A misogynistic man choked one woman while punching another.  It wasn’t just men -- a woman convicted of beating her boyfriend with a metal pipe came back to finish him off by stabbing him in the neck.  And so on, you get the drift --  flooding affects some people this way.

Forum columnist Tammy Swift hears way too much whining and believes a little tough-love is in order.  She proposes a self-help book, an Upper-Midwestern German-Russian guide to emotions -- she even suggests a title: “Snap Out of It, or I’ll Give You Something to Cry About.” 

Most Nodaks are modest, but there are exceptions.  Fargo Forum Editor Matt Von Pinnon seems to believe talk show host and former legislator Joel Heitkamp may be one.  In a self-revealing moment, Heitkamp said: “I mean, I know I’m a talk show host. But I’m also somebody who, if I chose to tomorrow, could be one of the top-running politicians in the state in terms of endorsements and in terms of opportunity, and be one of the 100 people in this nation to serve in the United States Senate.”  Gentlemen, start your engines.

Silly but tragic.  Over and over again, Nodaks stage spectacular crashes in the middle of the night.  Latest example: two Carrington drivers did a beautiful head-on after midnight on a rural road.  Both men went to the hospital, neither wore seatbelts and one was charged with DUI.  This may have something to do with ND being number two in the nation in per capita beer consumption.

DAKTOIDS:  Over 4,000 homes in Minot have been flood damaged -- less than 10% had flood insurance . . . Minot’s mayor announced that over 800 of the damaged homes will likely be demolished . . . Let him eat cake: grateful Velva residents bought cake for their dike contractor.