Dakota Beacon

ND MAY BE AN EXCEPTION  Economic growth is expected to slow, but remain positive, for the remainder of the year for nine Midwest and Plains states.  ND and Minnesota are the top of two tiers of states extending south to include Oklahoma and Arkansas.  The survey is conducted at Creighton University in Nebraska.  There are reasons to think ND may be an exception to the assessment for the group:  ND’s oil industry is pulling out of a multi-year slump and stimulating growth in the western part of the state.  The ag industry which dominates the eastern part of the state is enjoying better growing conditions than most of the other states in the group, as well as improved prices for its major crops.

THE KILBOURNE GROUP is the real estate development firm responsible for much of the revitalization of downtown Fargo and expansion of the tax base.  Gov. Doug Burgum has significant ownership in Kilbourne and was its founder.  Kilbourne is seeking property tax breaks for three proposed projects near downtown that are well along in the approval process.  Cass County commissioners, less acquainted than the city with tax incentives, are stalling the approvals.  A Forum editorial concludes the county needs to join the approval process at an earlier point.  The Forum said, “Businesses won’t go ahead with multi-million investments in the face of so much regulatory uncertainty.”

GOOD SCHOOLS IN THE REGION  WalletHub found most of the best school systems in the nation in the Northeast, while the worst were easily found on our southern border.  However, a cluster of states in the Upper Midwest including Minnesota, Nebraska, ND and Wyoming also made the Top Ten.

“DON’T DO IT” is what ND University System Chancellor Mark Hagerott said he told former UND President Mark Kennedy about pursuing a job in Florida.  Hagerott characterized that action as a “strategic error” by Kennedy who, at the time, had only been in Grand Forks two years.  His comments were part of a recent discussion with editorial staff at the GF Herald.

TERRIFYING FIND  A Los Angeles Times article featured the discovery of a dinosaur fossil in the ND Badlands by Michael Kjelland, a professor at Mayville State.  He was assisted by a 23-year-old student from UC Merced in California.  The discovery was the partial skull of a giant 65-million-year-old Triceratops.

HUNTER HANSON (22) said he was just an average student at New Rockford High School and never was in trouble with the law.  Hanson pleaded guilty this week to a $11 million fraud involving 60 farmers, grain elevators and grain brokers.  He said he “got overwhelmed.”  Federal sentencing guidelines in his case call for six and a half to eight years in prison.

RETURN OUR POSTMARK  Minot has nursed resentment ever since their mail processing was transferred to Bismarck.  A Ward County commissioner said he would like to see mail processed in Minot and not sent to Bismarck for screening before coming back to Minot.  The Postal Service says the volume of mail in Minot doesn’t justify the equipment required to process it, plus, the equipment is too large to fit into the Minot post office.  The commissioner sent a packet of grievances about mail reliability to ND’s congressional delegation.

CHEERLEADER  Columnist Lloyd Omdahl cheered the 100th anniversary of the state Bank in Bismarck and the state Mill and Elevator in Grand Forks.  He said the Bank is rumored to be the biggest between Seattle and Minneapolis.  He called the Mill the biggest in the Americas.  Both are 1919 creations of the Nonpartisan League.

THE THUGS WON  The Liquor Control Board, the city auditor and the police were against it.  Applicants for a night club license had felony convictions and bad credit, yet the Fargo City Commission voted to grant a liquor license to the Africa International Restaurant and  Night Club.  The license was granted, in part, “because the operation provided a nightclub for ‘an overlooked diverse population’.“ 

PROTESTS CAN BECOME SOMETHING POSITIVE  An executive from Nebraska’s Winnebago Tribe said the energy behind the DAPL protests that rocked ND should become something positive — renewable energy is one avenue.  The Standing Rock Sioux in ND received $470,000 from solar energy nonprofits to build a three-acre solar farm to power their Sioux Nation Community Center.

NATIVE AMERICANS  ND and neighbors MT, WY and SD are four of the five least densely populated states.  Alaska is the fifth.  The least densely populated states tend to be states with a high percentage of Native Americans.  MT, ND, SD and WY are among 10 states with the highest percentages, however they do not make the list of ten states with the largest Native American populations — California leads that list with 648,000.  Alaska is the state with the highest percentage of Native Americans and also makes the top ten population list.

BRAVOS AND BUFFALO CHIPS are awarded each week by the Jamestown Sun.  This week, a bravo went to the late Harold Newman (the billboard king) for his role 60 years ago in constructing the World’s Largest Buffalo in Jamestown.  A disdainful buffalo chip went to the news that Jamestown would not be the home of a soybean crushing plant.  A poll asked Jamestown residents for their view on raising the local sales tax from 2% to 2.5% (to a total 7.5%) — a weary 81% said “no, we’re already taxed too much.”

THE SPRING WHEAT CROP in ND is expected to be high in yield and quality this year.  In response, prices for spring wheat have softened, although still up for the year.

DAKTOIDS:  Should ND tap into the state's Legacy Fund to provide support to local governments?  About two-thirds responded “no” to this online Forum question . . . ND’s remoteness helps with illegal drugs — volumes are relatively lower than most states . . . A Colorado teenager walked between two fighting bull bison in the Badlands.  He was tossed 6 feet into the air and gored, but will recover . . .  NDSU was picked a preseason favorite to win the Missouri Valley Football Conference — a title they have won eight consecutive years.