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Friday, June 18, 2010

SCHMID - LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST: JUNE 18, 2010

In religion and music there is a tradition of “call and response,” a ritualized interaction between speakers and listeners.  A call and response dialogue has developed between Devils Lake and Valley City.  Joe Belford, a Ramsey County Commissioner, is the Devils Lake voice and advocates draining the lake in a controlled manner into the Sheyenne River.  Downriver, retired English teacher Richard Betting is the Valley City voice -- he doesn’t want any lake water and claims the real problem is the drainage of farm wetlands into Devils Lake.  The pair have exchanged volleys for years and both earnestly hold to their respective positions.  Independent studies seem to favor the Belford position -- the studies indicate the current wet cycle rather than wetland drainage is the main cause of the rise in Devils Lake.

 

It’s one thing to see reports over many years about the growth of Devils Lake -- it’s quite another to see the cumulative effect.  A newsletter reader sent photos from around Devils Lake taken from a light plane in early June.  The Spirit Lake Casino can be properly dubbed “Casino Island” -- it’s fortunate it was built on a knoll.  You can see the faint outline of old U.S. Hwy. 281, now covered by the lake.  Minnewaukan is shocking -- the town is on life support.  A cloud of black smoke rises from a house recently claimed by the lake -- it was set on fire by its owners.

 

Did the Republicans use a “diabolical strategy” to lose the 2008 elections and dump a host of problems on the Democrats?  Was the choice of Sarah Palin as a candidate for vice president the capstone of that evil plot?  These are the musings of Charles Linderman of Carrington, a Democratic activist and inveterate letter writer to the state’s papers.  He believes Barack Obama and CoDoPo, the ND congressional delegation, are unfairly saddled with responsibility for problems they did not create.

 

Fortunately, ND handles certain matters differently than other states.  Take the fatal police shooting of Keith Newton (55) of Belfield, after Newton shot a man and confronted the police with a gun.  In California, no matter the circumstances, a shooting by the police is usually followed by a lawsuit alleging excessive use of force.  There is a waiting line of attorneys whose careers consist of bringing this type of case.  In Belfield, Newton’s family said without hesitation, “They (the officers) had to do what they had to do and the family understands that.”  The family also said they were glad nobody else was injured and expressed regret that the officers had been put in the situation.

 

Former Lt. Governor Lloyd Omdahl had the last word on the late Gov. Link.  Omdahl said “City people have clock minds -- work is eight-to-five.”  He said Link was a farmer at heart and farmers don’t have clock minds; they have “chore minds” and focus on tasks until they are done.

 

ND’s Board of Higher Education wants to increase its control over individual campuses.  GF Herald Editor Mike Jacobs believes the board should avoid returning to micromanagement of the campuses.  Jacobs said, “Rather than more staff, the board needs more backbone . . . The debacle at NDSU occurred when a powerful force, the activist president, encountered a relative vacuum, a board uncertain of its mission and uncomfortable with its doubt.”

 

Fargo-Moorhead was shocked recently by the unexpected death of Concordia College President Pam Joicoeur (65).  The Forum said Joicoeur was a surprise choice for president in 2004 -- a woman without a Scandinavian name and a former Catholic nun from, of all places, California.  The Forum believes she turned out to be an outstanding choice -- she improved Concordia’s “reputation as a campus where education and life values converge” -- a visionary leader.

 

For a number of years, Clay Jenkinson has been a columnist for the Bismarck Tribune.  In early columns, Jenkinson chose meaty issues about ND’s economy, politics and culture.  More recently, he favors vignettes from his own life.  One of the latest was an essay on ND’s brief, but much appreciated summers.  He described a stop in Killdeer (for sodas and red licorice) where he said to the woman behind the counter “What a beautiful day in North Dakota.”  Her reply, “Yeah, that’s two this year.

 

Yes, they are tough, don’t mess with them.  ND women have a reputation for holding their ground, but sometimes go too far.  Alycia Buethner (30) of Fargo was arrested for pistol-whipping her husband. the bison market is back,

 

They are back, but maybe you didn’t know they were gone.  We’re talking about bison -- the industry grew into a bubble in the ‘90s and then crashed.  Tribune writer Lauren Donovan says the bison market is back and demand is greater than supply, rewarding those ranchers who stuck with the breed.  Donovan asked a producer about the hazards of handling bison, he said the animals give fair warning, “You watch the tail and if it’s straight up, you should have been running or gone already.” 

 

The Corps of Engineers St. Paul District includes parts of five states.  If the ND-side flood diversion goes through, it may be the most expensive project ever built in the district.  Then three of the districts most expensive projects will have been in ND.  The other two large ND projects are the Grand Forks flood system and emergency levees for Devils Lake.

 

“With all due respect, Sen. Dorgan, we have North Dakota covered.  Now we need you and your colleagues in Washington to do your jobs and rein in the federal government.”  What was this about?  ND representative Bette Grande of Fargo was responding to Sen. Dorgan’s statement that a special legislative session should be held to address problems caused by oil development in western ND.  She contends state leaders have taken adequate steps to address interim concerns, plus the regular session of the legislature is only six months away.

 

The UND Fighting Sioux nickname and logo is on its back and gasping for air.  So, who would come along and placed their foot on its throat?  That perennial enemy, the Fargo Forum -- the ever gracious Forum gave its Leafy Spurge Award to nickname supporters “who cling to the flimsy hope that the monkiker will be rescued.”

 

Even if it were half true, it would be great!  Gen. Wesley Clark told the Renewable Energy Action Summit in Bismarck that ND is the future energy capital of North America.  Do we need a little discount for hyperbole?

 

 

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