SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - AUGUST 12, 2013
“History has left tribes with a ‘huge mess’ that won’t be fixed with federal money. If we wait for a solution to come from Washington, we will lose another generation of our children.” -- U.S. Judge Ralph Erickson speaking at the Tribal Consultation Conference at UTTC in Bismarck. Erickson suggested the tribes find a system that best incorporates their customs and traditions. He also suggested eliminating the “spoils system” in which members of tribal governments award jobs and resources to friends and family, keeping judges and the judicial system independent from tribal government, and making sure tribal courts are adequately funded.
At the same conference, one federal appointee lauded another. U.S. attorney for ND Tim Purdon said the appointment of his counterpart in Minnesota as the new director of the ATF is a plus for ND because of Todd Jones’ familiarity with issues such as drug trafficking in the Oil Patch and violent crime on Indian reservations. Prior to the appointment, Jones was both acting ATF director and U.S. attorney for Minnesota. ND had a special role in the appointment, the U.S. Senate delayed its vote on Jones while Sen. Heidi Heitkamp flew from ND to cast the deciding vote.
“There is no question that this is the epicenter of many aspects of energy development in this country.” -- Sally Jewell, the new Interior Secretary, while touring the Oil Patch. She also said, “While North Dakota and other states are sophisticated, other states don’t have experience regulating fracking. U.S. Senators Hoeven and Heitkamp were at her elbow, nodding approvingly.
The percentage of natural gas wasted by flaring in ND is decreasing, but the absolute amount is increasing. In 2012, flaring resulted in a loss of $1 billion in fuel. It will take years to develop pipelines and infrastructure to tame the problem. This information is contained in a report called Flaring Up released by Ceres, a Boston-based nonprofit, and summarized in an article by Amy Dalrymple of Forum Communications. The report calls ND’s flaring regulations “unusually permissive.”
Who am I to judge? But Bravos and Buffalo Chips awarded by the Jamestown Sun in recent years often seemed trivial and pandering. Now they are gaining substance: This week the Sun spent a Buffalo Chip on the “inexcusable waste of natural gas” in the Oil Patch and gave Bravos to Dale and Ann Marks, a Ypsilanti couple who donated land with a value of $900,000 to the James River Library System.
“Fire-resistant, flame-resistant Carhartt gear is our biggest seller there. We sell other flame-resistant lines, but we’re known as the Carhartt store.” -- The president of Grand Forks-based Home of Economy, which has stores in six of ND’s larger cities. He was talking about their Williston store and the gear required for everybody who works at oil rig sites, including truck drivers. A full set of clothes costs about $800. Home of Economy is adding 14,000 square feet to the Williston store.
“In fact, I have to tell you, that this is one of the most enjoyable days in my entire life.” -- The prime minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, was carried away by enthusiasm of the moment as he spoke at the 114th Annual Deuce of August Icelandic Celebration in Mountain.
The expanded ND Heritage Center in Bismarck was scheduled to begin opening this summer. The expansion coordinator is not sure when the new front doors will open -- they hope for early 2014. Problems with labor, housing and scheduling are blamed -- the contractors aren’t talking. This type of announcement usually precedes more problems.
Another story that may have a bad ending. Market observers often note that prices that rise steeply often fall at a similar angle. Farm real estate in ND has been rising at double digit rates for several years. The AP reports that values increased 36 percent from 2012 to 2013. A number of factors, including higher interest rates, could drag values down.
The obituary of Gene Gerdon (74) of Colfax showed a smiling, mustached man in a big cowboy hat and said he built a log home on his farm and enjoyed working with horses and trailriding in the Badlands. It also mentioned Gene passed away enjoying a morning horse ride. Raymond Kessler’s (96) obituary is another reminder of ND’s rural school history and the hardships of the Depression. In 1936, he attended Ellendale Teachers College for one year and then taught in the Lehr one-room school where he had been a student. Near the end of the Depression he worked as a migrant farm worker riding the rail from job to job. Life got better for Raymond.
DAKTOIDS: Crime is increasing more rapidly in the Oil Patch than the rest of ND, but is still proportionate to the population of the 12 Oil Patch counties . . . Billy Bob Thornton will play a rootless con artist in the TV version of “Fargo.” The FX network says the series will be “remarkably true to the film” . . . Will they do it simply because they can? Slope County has a little over 700 residents -- their commissioners are considering spending $3 million on a new courthouse in Amidon . . . In Marmouth, also in Slope county, a school with 18 students is building a $1 million addition.
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