Dakota Beacon

NOT A SURPRISING DISCOVERY  Deborah White, a professor of social statistics at Minnesota State in Moorhead, was startled to discover that ND has more coronavirus cases per capita than Minnesota.  She shouldn’t have been — that relationship is obvious and has been reported here for the past two weeks.  ND tests its population at a rate 50% higher than Minnesota — a higher test rate is likely to identify more cases.

MINNESOTA GOV. TIM WALZ has expressed concern that three adjoining states (ND, SD and Iowa) have not issued statewide stay-at-home orders.  The governors of those states say the restrictions have not been needed to bend the curve of cases in their states.  Walz thinks it is only a matter of time before those states join his in issuing stay-at-home orders.

MEET IN THE MIDDLE?  As the week went on, Walz appeared to soften his stand.  He noted that Minnesota has one of the lowest confirmed case rates in the nation and he might allow some businesses to resume normal operations.  So far, that has not occurred.   The governors of ND and SD emphasized the rural nature of their states and relatively low infection rates.  However, those states have stay-at-home orders for selective groups and cities.  

SD MAY BE WAVERING — It had a 23% increase in cases on Wednesday and a 14% increase on Thursday.  SD has 61% of its cases in Minnehaha County (home to Sioux Falls) and, of those, at least 80 are in a single meat-packing plant.  The giant Smithfield plant employees 3,700 and processes pork from three states -- it's closed for several days of cleaning.  

SWEDEN has taken an approach to the coronavirus which is more like ND, that is, an effort to balance health and economic viability.  The jury is still out on the success of their effort.  Like Minnesota, Sweden has a high number of Somali.  Of the first 15 people to die of coronavirus in and around Stockholm, six were Somali (40%).  This is attributed to economic and cultural differences and some blame the government for failing to consider Somali residents in providing education and advice.

DAVID FLYNN, an economist at UND’s Nistler College, shared his view of the impact of the coronavirus on sectors of the ND economy.  He said the impact on the restaurant and hospitality industry was the worst and accounted for nearly 30% of all claims for unemployment insurance.  Moreover, their losses are permanent — the businesses will resume when restrictions are lifted, but they will be unable to recover the earlier losses.  Flynn gave grocery stores as an example of a sector doing reasonably well.  He said the oil industry has learned from experience and will adapt to the slowdown and make a comeback when the pandemic recedes.

ALTRU HEALTH SYSTEMS is circling the wagons.  The Grand Forks hospital cut its general-elective procedures 60%, delayed a new hospital construction project and declined to say when construction will resume.

RURAL MINNESOTA HOSPITALS have been thus far spared the brunt of  pandemic patients, but the ban on elective surgeries is causing signifiant financial pain.  A Minnesota rural health executive said, “Outstate hospitals were ‘right there on very low margins for many years’ even before the pandemic struck.”  Those hospitals serve older and less wealthy populations and are more dependent on public programs.

THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE said it will be the only newspaper in ND printing seven days a week, although it will furlough a portion of its staff.  The F-M Forum quietly announced it would cease print delivery on two days.  The publisher said, “We have had to make some extraordinarily difficult decisions in the past week to be able to sustain our journalistic mission. One of those decisions was to discontinue printing of the physical newspaper on Mondays and Fridays beginning April 6.”  Forum Communications is also closing or suspending certain weekly newspapers and shoppers in Minnesota.

PRINTED NEWSPAPERS ARE COLLAPSING  We are seeing a rapid diminishment of printed daily newspapers in ND and the region.  While all papers maintain an online presence, there is very little variety.  The online editions of the Forum papers in Grand Forks, Jamestown and Dickinson are largely an echo of the Fargo Forum.  Gannett papers in Sioux Falls and St. Cloud are furloughing reporters and editors, as are the Lee Enterprise papers in Bismarck and Rapid City. 

LIFE IS NOT GREENER . . .  Times are tough in ND’s oil industry, but it may be worse in Canada where prices for crude have hit historic lows.  The U. of Calgary reported, “Canada’s petroleum sector has never faced a greater threat to its existence than it does right now.”

YOUR’E GOING TO MAKE IT AFTER ALL  Some of you may recognize the theme song from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”  She is remembered in Minneapolis by a bronze statue flinging its hat in front of Dayton’s.  Mary was always proper, so today her statue is wearing a mask and a glove.  Star Tribune columnist James Lieks was slightly dismissive:  “The Mary Tyler Moore Show, for you kids, was a sitcom about a woman who was not really from here, did not really live here, did not really work here and pretended to do all sorts of Minneapolis things in a TV studio in California.”

TRAGEDIES WITHIN A TRAGEDY  Ava Donegan turned 16 in February and was a sophomore at Jamestown High School.  Near midnight on March 29 she was killed, run over by an old pickup driven by another 16-year-old girl.  Donegan was the mother of a 9-month old son.  The accident is under investigation by the Jamestown Police Department. 

MINNESOTA’S POPULATION grew by about 6% over the past decade, mirroring national population growth.  Most of the state’s population growth the past decade occurred in the Twin Cities metro area. The metro area’s population grew by about 9%, while the rest of Minnesota collectively saw a 3% increase.

DAKTOIDS:  What does the Digital Fabrication Lab at NDSU do when the school is closed?  It uses its lasers and 3D printers to make masks — 20 every three minutes . . . During the past decade ND was the eighth fastest growing state.