SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - AUGUST 5, 2013
The New York Times discussed a new study which is the most detailed portrait yet of multi-decade income mobility in the U.S. The article is accompanied by a color-coded map identifying areas with the least mobility (red) and moves through a range of colors representing greater mobility to the areas with the greatest mobility (blue). It’s no contest -- the bluest state by far is ND and a blue streak runs down the Great Plains all the way to Texas. The Southeast and industrial Midwest are buried in red.
It’s hard to overstate ND’s lead in the upward mobility rankings. The nation was divided into 741 “commuting zones” (interrelated areas) of which 17 were in ND. The state captured six of the top ten national spots in “Absolute Upward Mobility” and placed high in other categories. Communities that you would consider to be in the Oil Patch (Williston, Dickinson and Bowman) took three of the top ten spots, but, before you jump to any conclusions, they were equaled by communities well outside the Oil Patch (Carrington, Linton and Rugby).
It’s never been well-proven, but residents and former residents of ND have always harbored a belief that the state’s rural culture and its German-Norwegian heritage are a source of special strength. Tom Dennis of the GF Herald notes that the study concludes that “Some of the strongest predictors of upward mobility are correlates of social capital and family structure.” Dennis believes ND has these qualities in abundance.
In the 2010 census, Williston had 15,000 residents. A NDSU study indicates the population today is in the 25-33,000 range headed for 44,000 in three years. The Census Bureau says Williston is the fastest-growing micropolitan area in the country. A micropolitan area has a population between 10,000 and 50,000. The Williston Convention and Visitor's Bureau this week adopted the theme "Boomtown USA."
ND Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle spoke to the Minot Kiwanis Club about the challenge of maintaining the state’s courts. District Court filings are rising at a double digit annual rate -- appeals to the Supreme Court are rising faster. It’s hard to appoint enough judges and staff to stay ahead of the caseload. For civil cases, out-of-court mediation is a partial solution. VandeWalle sees disputes over Bakken mineral rights as good candidates for mediation.
“There’s been a shift by criminal organizations into eastern Montana and western North Dakota, and federal law enforcement agencies need to respond by also shifting resources here.” -- An editorial in the Bismarck Tribune asserted Mexican drug cartels are bringing violent crime of every kind and federal coordination is needed. Crime in ND was up eight percent from 2011 to 2012; nationally, crime increased roughly one percent during the same period.
“Planning and work on the TR Expressway needs to pick up speed.” -- Another Tribune editorial said, get with it, make U.S. Hwy 85 four lanes from South Dakota to Canada.
"This boom will go bust. We are sitting on billions of dollars and we must invest in a sustainable economy that does not rely on oil and gas or we will be back in the same position we were." -- Retiring State Demographer Richard Rathge. ND’s population dipped to 633,000 ten years ago; today it is estimated to be 700,000.
“This blunder made Rathge unpopular in this space.” -- GF Herald Publisher Mike Jacobs upbraided Rathge for his gloomy predictions about GF and its recovery from the 1997 flood. He accused Rathge of chronic pessimism. Jacobs was on a roll. In other columns he belittled petty objections to the Keystone XL Pipeline and endorsed Lloyd Omdahl’s recommendation for a unicameral legislature in ND. Regarding the latter, Jacobs sadly predicted it won’t happen.
“But what’s not obvious in the online rhetoric is how some of the geological characteristics of these four sites highlight why North Dakota’s oil patch is a more favorable setting for fracking.” -- From a letter to the Herald by Scott Korom, a professor of geological engineering at UND. The letter explains how fracking in ND is conducted in safer circumstances than in, for example, Wyoming and Pennsylvania.
A battle of titans -- large health organizations struggle for position in a rapidly changing market. Sanford Health from Sioux Falls, SD, became ND’s largest health care provider in a relatively few years by acquiring large providers in Bismarck and Fargo. Sanford is viewed warily by the Mayo Clinic Network in Rochester, MN. Two years ago, Mayo established a collaboration with Altru Health in Grand Forks and, most recently, announced a similar arrangement with Trinity Health in Minot.
How not to deal with a problem faculty member. In April, the faculty and staff of the UND College of Nursing aligned against Dean Denise Korniewicz. A recent transfer from Florida, she was accused of ignoring policies and regulations, conflict of interest and creating a “climate of fear, intimidation and retaliation.” Thomas DiLorenzo, UND’s new provost, couldn’t decide what to do -- so he procrastinated. Now, several months later he has a solution, the discredited dean will work in his office as an expensive dean of research. A staff member from the nursing college told the Herald that Korniewicz has been absent for months.
The following, from a Herald article, undoubtedly holds some lesson -- I just don’t know what it is: “The victim of a crash involving at 1915 Model T outside Utah's Zion National Park has been identified as the president of a Minnesota antique car club. Karen Johnson, 51, of Owatonna, Minn., was killed in the wreck Friday.”
Today, it’s very hard for most Nodaks to remember or appreciate the state’s one-room school culture. The obituary of Lillian Hedquist (95) of New Rockford reminds us of those times. Lillian took advanced tests and graduated from Grace City High School when she was 15. She obtained her Two Year Teaching Degree at Valley City State Teachers College at 17 and began teaching in a one-room school near Mandan. That was the middle of the Depression and Lillian received room, board and warrants (promises of future pay) as compensation. Things could only get better -- and they did -- she taught happily for 37 years, mostly in New Rockford.
DAKTOIDS: The EPA reports ND’s six coal power plants are not a major source of pollution -- the plants are in Mercer, Oliver and Morton counties . . . The Minot Renaissance builds -- the State Fair set a new attendance record of 320,000 . . . The Amtrak Empire Builder continues to surprise, but not delight. The train hit a bulldozer near Williston killing the operator -- it was seven hours before another train picked up the 326 stranded passengers and crew . . . Be on the lookout for Anthony Weasel -- the 26-year-old shoplifter and substance abuser escaped from the Bismarck Transition Center.
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