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Monday, April 20, 2015

SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - APRIL 20, 2015

A REVERSAL Construction managers for the planned $1.85 billion Northern Plains Nitrogen fertilizer plant in Grand Forks have maintained that no nasty man camps would be necessary to house an expected 2,000 workers because GF had adequate housing. Now, they've made a U-turn and concluded that GF would benefit from man camps -- a conclusion already made in Jamestown where a similar nitrogen fertilizer plant is planned. Devils Lake is well along on plans for an oil refinery -- more man camps may follow.
 
PULLING THE WELCOME MAT The Lic Squad, the Fast Money Boys and the Squad 400 Boys are believed to be up to no good. Law enforcement agencies in the Fargo-Moorhead area are teaming to combat a growing problem with criminal gangs. A gang member interviewed by the Forum was bummed out by the news, he said, "It makes us feel like we have to move somewhere else." That was the idea!
 
FOLLOWING APRIL SHOWERS April winds on the northern plains can make routine activities quite risky. The Forum pictured a demolished mobile home laying in a ditch north of Bismarck, its wheels pitifully extended into the air. A gust of wind pushed the mobile home, disconnected it from the towing vehicle and tossed it on its top in the ditch. Meanwhile, Sunny, a colorful member of Fargo’s fibre glass buffalo herd, toppled into Broadway, another victim of April winds. This was ND and a helpful group of passersby tenderly carried Sunny from the street. In December, Sunny was attacked by vandals and had just been reinstalled in his home in front of Wimmer’s Diamonds.
 
DIFFERENT STROKES Students entering ND’s colleges and universities need a high level of remedial work -- at several ND colleges over 50 percent of new students need remedial work. In the overall Minnesota college and university system, 28 percent require remedial courses. The courses are expensive for both the schools and the students, and delay graduations. Both states are considering revising their system. The ND approach is to work with K-12 schools to better prepare students for college. The Minnesota approach is more paternalistic -- they are considering eliminating remedial courses (because they stigmatize low income and minority students) and placing students directly in college-level courses, but with additional help.
 
CONFLICTING NEWS from Concordia College: They are struggling with reduced enrollment and a $5.6 million operating shortfall. The other news, they are planning a $45 million renovation to their science building.
 
ONE DOWN Bismarck teacher Todd Tschosik is somewhat of a bad boy. He’s on probation for DUIs, has been disciplined by the school district, and then there’s all those things involving his former fiance, Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler. Tschosik was going down and he resigned. The remaining question -- how does the relationship affects Baesler’s political future?
 
A FRAUD ARTIST could easily persuade a doctor to prescribe prescription pain killers, at least once or twice. But 150 doctors and 6,000 doses, that’s hard to imagine. Nancy Dusso (50) managed the deception at Mayo Clinic satellite locations in Minnesota and Wisconsin before being detected by a nurse practitioner.
 
ODD MAN OUT Brent Jaenicke reports that “The North Dakota legal community lost a very smart, dedicated individual,” that is, himself. Jaenicke says he graduated from the UND Law School with honors, but was unable to find a job in the state. He’s concluded he was passed over because he is gay. He refers to himself as “odd man out.” His letter to the Forum mentions the Legislature’s decision to not pass protections for the LGBT community.
 
NO NEED FOR CHANGE We’re are in a world that is speeding up -- there are demands for fast everything, from food to news. But in rural ND many things still proceed at a measured pace -- change comes slowly. The Jamestown Sun awarded a Bravo to a Stutsman County couple for lengthy service to Bloom Township -- Roy Werner was a supervisor for 45 years, while his wife was the clerk/treasurer for 33 years.
 
THE PARTY IS ENDING Cropland values in ND have generally plateaued, some at very high levels. The average value in Cass County (Fargo) is $4,821 per acre, up from 2014. In Richland County (immediately south of Cass) the price dropped slightly to $4,063. Low interest rates support cropland values in two ways: First, land can be financed cheaply; secondly, land returns are superior to investments such as certificates of deposit.
 
NAUTICAL DREAMS In May 1880, Jamestown ambitiously labeled itself “River Port City,” as it launched the Nettie Baldwin, a 75-foot river boat, to ply the waters of the James River for 200 wiggly miles to Columbia, then in the Dakota Territory, but today in South Dakota just beyond the ND line. The Nettie didn’t work out, like Jamestown’s dream of being a busy port.
 
DAKTOIDS: Reduced activity in the oil industry and lower prices for farm products are starting to show in retail sales -- 23 of the 50 largest cities in ND reported a sales decline in the last quarter of 2014 compared to the prior year . . . Two-thirds of the primary care physicians in ND are in metro areas -- 13 counties have no doctor . . . Back to the drawing board -- Watford City badly needs a new hospital because of a population boom, but bids came in nearly 40 percent higher than estimated.

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