SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - DECEMBER 16, 2019
AMERICAN CRYSTAL SUGAR (a cooperative) held it annual meeting in Fargo last week with 800 in attendance. News was bleak. CEO Tom Astrup acknowledged “everybody” would lose money on beets this year. Payments per ton to members were reduced from $55 a ton in 2018 to $37 this year and because of a smaller crop total payments will be cut 60%. About a third of member acres were left in the field. On top of the reduced payments, members will be required to pay the cooperative $343 per acre on unharvested acres. The cooperative’s chairman referred to an “unruly harvest” which would be “just a bump in the road of our history.” For some individual growers the bump seems like a disaster.
TRICKLE-DOWN The Grand Forks region of the Red River Valley had a soft economy prior to a wet fall followed by untimely snow and freezing. The loss of 100,000 acres of sugar beets and potatoes is creating additional negative economic impact on the region. The lost acres have a “trickle-down” effect on regional employment, retailing and services.
GRAND FORKS leaders are cautiously optimistic about the future of the city’s economy — downtown is reviving and more younger adults are being retained. Having said that, the city’s economy has been stalled for two decades. The civilian labor force is close to its level before the 1997 flood. Fargo ate Grand Forks’ lunch — Bismarck has also grown steadily. UND economist David Flynn said Grand Forks is falling behind and needs to compete more.
PLEASE SHOP LOCALLY “So this holiday season, please, think about it: Shop local. Fly local. Attend local.” — If the GF Herald editorial sounded plaintive, it’s because it was. The Gap follows Sears, Macy’s and many other stores closing in Grand Forks. The Herald told folks to drop their petitions and start shopping locally. A letter to the Herald noted that over the years customers moved from downtown to malls and then to big box stores. The writer said, “People will always move on to what works best for them” and implied online shopping may simply be retail’s next phase.
NEW CHIEF JUSTICE John Jensen was elected Chief Justice of the ND Supreme Court. On January 1, he succeeds Gerald VandeWalle, who resigned the position after 25 years, but will remain on the Court.
A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT In his column this week, Lloyd Omdahl made a scathing criticism of the process used to select a new UND president, although the process Is complete and Dr. Andrew Armacost was selected. Omdahl would have selected Interim President Joshua Wynne. Omdahl concluded with this biting comment: “And because we let procedure control the process, we passed up the best possible candidate and will mark time training a new president for some bigger school.” Separately, columnist Mike Jacobs expressed mild approval for Armacost and indicated he had “obviously already won affection at UND.”
BISON FOOTBALL kept rolling with a 37-13 playoff win over Nicholls State before the smallest home crowd in 10 seasons. It was the Bison’s 34th straight win — an FCS record. Saturday, Dec. 14, NDSU hosts a quarterfinal against Illinois State.
YES AND NO That was the answer to the question is it time for NDSU football to move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and face tougher competition? The impetus comes from fans who appear to be bored by Bison competition in the FCS. Attendance at the Fargodome has softened and fans often leave before the end of games.
THE GRASS IS NOT GREENER NDSU President Dean Bresciani gave two reasons a move to the FBS is unlikely. First, they would not be playing in the Power Five conferences, they would be playing at a lower level and "I don't think anyone wants to see us play the University of Akron," Bresciani said. Secondly, even if they could play the power schools, the Bison, with a current athletic budget of about $25 million, could not compete with teams with athletic revenue over $100 million.
TIP OF THE ICEBERG? Public colleges, in general, are seeing declining enrollments and tight budgets. Dakota College at Bottineau has cut its football program as have a college (Thief River Falls) and two universities (Crookston and St. Cloud) in northwestern Minnesota. The combination of declining enrollments and game attendance have reduced athletic department revenue, while expenses have risen. In a GF Herald article, Tom Miller said he is surprised the closings haven’t happened more often and suggests “Perhaps this little pocket of schools in North Dakota and Minnesota are the tip of the iceberg.”
BOBCAT BOY Why is Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz shown perched on a Bobcat tractor? It’s part of a deal in which he will be featured prominently in Bobcat marketing. The former NDSU quarterback is “ND tough,” Bobcat is “ND tough” — get it? As part of the deal Wentz will be given a fully-equipped Bobcat tractor — he also has partnerships with Scheels and BlackRidge Bank.
QUEASINESS In ND and Minnesota, county officials are required to decide whether their county will accept refugees. Some of the responses are less than courageous — “we shouldn’t be placed in this position” is one. Why not? That’s their job. After a controversial meeting with 500 residents, the Burleigh County Commission (Bismarck) voted 3-2 to allow 25 refugees next year. A Minot Daily News editorial said, “It was a tough decision for Burleigh County.”
A “LITTLE” PROBLEM Dickinson residents are also struggling with a question: Should they drop Midgets as their high school mascot? Little People of America are offended by the nickname. Residents are weighing 70 years of near and dear tradition.
DAKTOIDS: It looks as if homicides in ND in 2019 will be the highest in four decades — there is no particular pattern, although western ND has an increased proportion . . . A survey of Minot residents found more than 86% of respondents view Minot favorably, and two-thirds consider Minot to be growing and improving. Respondents gave a low grade to community leadership . . . ND’s eighth medical marijuana dispensary has opened in Dickinson . . . The ND corn crop — 60% is still in the fields.
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