Dakota Beacon

GF Herald Editor Mike Jacobs looked around the state and saw water everywhere.  From Medora on the Little Missouri River to the Red River Valley there has been serious flooding.  Not to speak of Devils Lake, which is eating the northeast quadrant of the state and threatens everything down the Sheyenne River.  Jacobs voiced a fear: “Is it the new normal?”  He noted there is also flooding across the border in Canada and concluded, “But there can be no debate that the entire middle part of North America urgently needs to assess what continued high water means for the economy of the region -- even for our ability to live here.”

The Fargo Forum explained the background of the worst flooding Bismarck and Minot have ever experienced.  The article noted the Missouri River arises in Three Forks, Montana, 500 miles west of Bismarck and the runoff over that distance is the reason ND’s capital is battling flooding now.  Dams which normally control the river are full.  The Souris River is controlled by dams in Canada which are also full and causing unprecedented flooding in Minot.

Minot evacuated 10,000 residents -- a fourth of its population.  The largest long-term care facility in the state sent evacuees to facilities as far away as Grand Forks.  Evacuees are back, but wary and watchful.  As the spillway gates on Garrison Dam were opened for the first time ever, there were also evacuations in Bismarck-Mandan -- the two cities constructed 15 miles of earthen dikes.

The city of Devils Lake sent a pleading letter to Gov. Dalrymple saying the state’s efforts at controlling Devils Lake are too little, too late and the state needs to start draining the lake through the Tolna Coulee into the Sheyenne River.  Dalrymple pledged a fresh look at the situation.

We didn’t expect WikiLeaks to touch ND, but it did.  Leaked documents revealed the depth of diplomatic concern about water from Devils Lake reaching Canada.  Sen. Hoeven says relations with Canada are improving, he stated, “They (Manitoba) now realize they could get an uncontrolled release.”

Amtrak’s Empire Builder experiences big losses on its ND service, even when times are good.  Imagine what the losses are now with continued disruptions.  In early June, there was no service between Spokane and St. Paul.  First, waves from Devils Lake washed over the track, then freight trains backed up by flooding caused delays, then once again waves and debris from Devils Lake.  The future of the service doesn’t look good.

It’s been ten years since Microsoft acquired Fargo’s homegrown Great Plains Software.  The Forum extolled Microsoft’s contribution: “The company has been a catalyst and stimulus for other companies in the tech and computer sectors . . . The spillover from the company has generated a wave of entrepreneurship that has changed the business face of Fargo-Moorhead . . . The company’s need for educated workers presented an opportunity for universities.”

The Herald’s Mike Jacobs has an interesting insight.  Taking note of the low rate of business failure in ND, he quoted Bruce Gjovig of UND’s Center for Innovation: “North Dakotans are naturally cautious and conservative.  They don’t capitalize on all the opportunities in the market, but they also have a lower rate of failure.”  Here’s where Jacobs’ insight comes in -- he believes Nodaks make good business people because of risk management skills acquired from farming backgrounds.  I think he’s right -- farming is all about risk management -- fail and you are an ex-farmer.

To paraphrase former ND Lt. Governor Lloyd Omdahl: Nodaks like lots of government and they like it close.  The Wall Street Journal confirmed both assertions:  ND has the fewest people per unit of local government -- 370 versus a national average of 7,700.  The geographic size of ND local government units was also smaller than average.  The WSJ article described efforts being made around the country to reduce the number of local governments.  ND has been reluctant to push consolidation of local government, even as the population of some counties drops below 1,000.

Douglas (64) is little more than a spot at the bottom of Ward County, but has a post office.  The wife of the postmaster expressed the town’s view: "We need to keep this post office open or this poor town will die a little more.  The town doesn't want to die."  The U.S. Postal Service is considering closing in Douglas.  And that’s the question -- should small post offices in Douglas and others like it continue to be subsidized? 

CBS journalist Eric Sevareid, a member of ND’s Scandinavian Hall of Fame, said distant cities view ND as “a large rectangular blank spot in the nation’s mind.”  A small group of recent college graduates who are former Bismarck residents want to “fill in the blank.”  They will walk from the Montana border to Bismarck and chronicle their experience.  One member of the group said “that being in New York has helped him notice outstanding characteristics in himself and other North Dakota natives that he was unable to realize when he lived in the state.”  He hopes to help himself and others realize that distinction.  The group characterizes their effort as “The Black Rectangle Project.”

Only a few years ago, ND had no homes assessed over $1 million.  Today, Cass County has 23 homes assessed over that amount.  The home of surgeons Kay and Ahmed Abdullah, assessed at $1.8 million, is the highest.  The home of the NDSU president has a higher value, but is not on the tax rolls.

For ND hockey fans, the nearest NHL team was Minneapolis, but now Canada’s wealthiest man, billionaire David Thomson, has helped bring the NHL back to Winnipeg, only 60 miles from the ND border.  Thomson and partner Mark Chipman purchased the Atlanta Thrashers for $170 million.

Darin Erstad may be the best all-around athlete from ND.  The Jamestown native won nearly every high school athletic award in the state, played baseball and football at Nebraska, and went on to play on several major league baseball teams, including the world series champion Anaheim Angels.  Erstad will be Nebraska’s head baseball coach.

The flooding mentioned earlier has disrupted day-to-day life in ND.  But there are also long-term, less mentioned side effects.  Many graveyards in the Devils Lake area have either been inundated by water or have lost access.  Mention has been made of families making last visits to drowning graveyards.

DAKTOIDS:  More man camps.  Williams County (Williston) has approved new camps with 4,500 beds -- the biggest will be in Tioga with 2,500 beds and 70 buildings . . . ND is getting its first new newspaper in years -- the Great Plains Examiner will be published in Bismarck as a free tabloid size newspaper and website.