SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - DECEMBER 21, 2020
GOOD JOB, BUT “Something remarkable has occurred in North Dakota over the past two months – we’ve gone from being the state with the worst COVID-19 numbers in the country (when adjusted for population) to one of the few states with plunging numbers of new and active cases.” — From a Viewpoint in the GF Herald signed by Dr. Joshua Wynne, dean of the UND Med School and ND’s chief health strategist, and two state health colleagues. The New York Times placed ND in a category of states with a high number of cases, but going down. The message of the Viewpoint was “we are not out of the woods yet,” fortitude and grit will still be required.
LACK OF ANALYSIS ND is making surprising progress in reducing its COVID-19 cases. Active cases are down roughly 70% from their November high. There are plenty of raw statistics in the state’s media, but little real analysis of why and where cases are occurring. For example, both new and cumulative deaths per capita remain extremely high. That is, overall cases have declined, but deaths have increased. This is generally unexplained.
WHERE DID THEY GO? Stutsman County (Jamestown) had some unusual employment data from 2020’s second quarter. Average wages were up a healthy 5.5% from the prior year, versus 3.3% for the state, but the number of people working in Stutsman County was down 6%. Most of the losses, as you might expect, were from the pandemic and were in the hospitality industry. You wonder where the laid off employees are, since unemployment was only 2.5%?
THE CLARION HOTEL AND CONVENTION CENTER in Minot is the largest convention center in the state. Because of the pandemic, the center is often dark and quiet. The closure of the Canadian border, general lack of travel and the end of events like banquets, wedding receptions and Christmas parties has taken the center’s revenues down to 10% of normal. The Minot Daily News said the damage goes well beyond hotels to restaurants, event centers and anyone catering to visitors.
MOONSHOT Forum columnist Mike McFeely said, “NDSU has to lay the groundwork for going FBS (the top level of NCAA Division 1) so if the opportunity arises it can pounce.” He acknowledges NDSU going FBS “would be a college athletics version of a moonshot.” Something that requires careful planning and consideration. A note to his column said, “This is the first in an occasional series of columns and blogs in which InForum's Mike McFeely will explore the possibility of North Dakota State's football team moving to the Football Bowl Subdivision.”
WHAT DO COUNTRY MICE PREFER? McFeely again — this time he asked Minnesota readers who live outside the Twin Cities metro area whether they prefer to be called “Outstate Minnesota” or “Greater Minnesota.” It was never clear from his column which name prevailed, although emails he received suggested the latter — “outstate” connoted “forsaken, rejected, ostracized.” But the responses also revealed an unanticipated bias: readers expressed intense dislike or resentment towards the Twin Cities (arrogance, and political and economic power).
LIBERTARIAN On its face, it seemed fairly routine. Bismarck police visited a bar which was ignoring the governor’s 10 p.m. curfew and kicked out 50 to 60 customers. The police considered the visit educational and did not issue a citation. Going a little deeper, it turns out the bar is owned by Rick Becker, a Bismarck plastic surgeon and Republican state representative, who is leader of the Bastiat Caucus, a small group of Republican legislators who sometimes oppose the governor. Becker is considered to have a libertarian outlook and said Gov. Burgum’s executive order closing restaurants at 10 p.m. “has no basis in logic, nor science.”
GLOOMY YEAR FOR OIL "All and all, it was a terrible year for the industry.” — Lynn Helms, head of the ND Mineral Resources Dept., summarizing the year 2020 for the state’s oil industry. October oil production at 1.22 million barrels a day was very similar to September. Helms doesn’t see production improving ”until well into next year or even 2022.” He said the oil busts in 1985-86 and 1999-2000 were worse.
WHEAT WIZARD She has a U. of Minnesota degree in public administration and a UND law degree, but chose to be a farmer. Rhonda Larson is a member of a family farm in East Grand Forks which grows sugar beets, soybeans and wheat — she is particularly active in management and marketing. Larson has served on a variety of committees and councils in the wheat industry; they have become a stepping stone to national vice chairwoman of the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW), which promotes U.S. wheat around the world. “U.S. wheat, which costs more than the wheat sold by many competitors, is valued for its high quality and reliability,” Larson said. She is slated to become USW chair in 2022.
THE ND FARMERS UNION held its 94th annual convention on a virtual basis. President Mark Watne of Velva expressed hope for “an agriculture future that is focused on diverse family farms and ranch operations with a fair and free market (emphasis added).” The NDFU adopted six policy resolutions, the majority of which called for further federal government subsidy or assistance. One resolution recommended state legislation that would improve rural infrastructure, such as expanded livestock processing, to be funded by state Legacy Fund earnings.
THE ENBRIDGE LINE 3 replacement in Minnesota is the largest construction project in the state both in terms of cost — at least $2.6 billion — and the number of people it will employ. By the end of the month, the workforce will near its peak of about 4,200. Enbridge expects oil to be flowing through the pipeline by the end of 2021 — a fast turnaround for a project that took six years of regulatory review — a lifetime in the industry.
DAKTOIDS: Great River’s decision to close its ND Coal Creek plant in 2023 will make it the first Upper Midwest electricity producer to exit coal completely.
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