Dakota Beacon

Monday, December 31, will be New Year's Eve.  It will also be the day you get "The Ten Biggest North Dakota Stories of 2012."  Be ready!

A Bismarck Tribune editorial marveled at growth in Williston.  In the third quarter, taxable sales in Williston were double Bismarck and well ahead of Fargo.  The Tribune pondered the challenges: “Should we be surprised that there have been growing pains — snarled traffic, housing shortages, increased crime, long lines at retail shops?  These figures present a picture of a city bursting at the seams, a city that’s humming with business.”

Thirty percent of ND oil and gas taxes go into a Legacy Fund expected to reach $1 billion next year.  The fund could have a major impact on state revenues when withdrawal of earnings is first permitted in 2017.  A Tribune editorial said, “Given the craziness of the oil boom, it was a wise choice.  By craziness we mean housing shortages, heavy traffic, endless construction, worker shortages, population surges and month after month of record oil production. The intensity is startling. Our flyover zone became a destination for workers and their dreams.”

Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Kaiser said it was the worst crash in terms of fatalities in recent memory.  On Wednesday, six men in a crew cab pickup were killed on icy I-94 in Jamestown.  The driver lost control and the westbound pickup crossed the median into the opposite lane where it was broadsided by a semi.  The men, all members of Mexican families in the Springfield, Missouri area, were looking for work.  They were not wearing seatbelts.  Highway deaths this year in ND will be a high for recent years.  Many of the victims are from other states. 

“An adverse police action” -- lingo used to describe the destruction of a rather nice house in New Town in order to flush out a fugitive.  The tribal police had been busy bees: they tear gassed the house, cut electricity and heat, shot out the windows and bullied the fugitive with a megaphone.  Then it was time for prairie practicality -- police used a front-end loader to tear the house apart -- that did it.  The police let it be known they don’t take reckless actions on their own -- Tribal Chairman Tex Hall fully participated in the decision.

Talk about scary -- the Native Mob terrorizes reservations in ND and Minnesota.  But the Mob may be liquidating itself -- Shaun Martinez pleaded guilty to killing Jeremee Kraskey to keep him from squealing.  Shaun faces life imprisonment -- he follows 20 other Mob members who have pleaded guilty to amusements like racketeering, violence and intimidation.

One more way ND-Minnesota people eliminate themselves: Michael Olsen of Fridley, Minnesota was scooting along the shoulder of the road when his snowmobile hit a mailbox.  Michael was wearing a helmet, so he will live, but spent Christmas in the hospital.  Jerome Kotalik of Fargo was not wearing a helmet and was not so lucky -- he was killed when his snowmobile unexpectedly accelerated and he fell off.

Two views of development:  The Blackfeet Indians in the Rocky Mountains near Glacier National Park would like to enjoy an oil-and-gas boom like the Three Affiliated Tribes in ND.  Glacier Superintendent Chas Cartwright wants some restrictions on the development -- he points to T. Roosevelt National Park, in the middle of the Bakken, as a future he would like to avoid for Glacier.  A representative of the tribe’s oil and gas department said,"I don't go to your backyard and tell you what to do with it, right?  But everybody on the outside that comes to our reservation tells us what to do on our reservation."

A head shaker.  Meredith Holt’s column in the SheSays section of the Forum dwells on her weight.  The current crisis -- what size bridesmaid dress should she order?  She intended to lose 120 pounds, then lost only 60, but squeezed off 40 more, then gained part of it back.  She goes on about effort, agony, feelings of self-worth, etc.  I have two reactions.  First, the sensitive California reaction: the discussion of her struggle is candid and touching, hundreds of women must identify with the story.  My ND reaction: for heaven’s sake lady, people are starving and dying, enough about the bridesmaid dresses!

When Herald columnist Ryan Bakken learned that no restaurant in ND earned AAA Five Diamond rating and only one (Ho-Do in Fargo) got a four, he had this response: “Well, lad-di-da.  I beg to differ.”  He then awarded his Five Forks rating to a burger and beer joint, a truck stop and his favorite bakery.

The chancellor of the ND University System wants to hire 30 more staff members -- lawyer and auditor types.  The Bismarck Tribune was succinct, the proposal “isn’t fiscally responsible.”

Dickinson State is not out of the woods.  It was discovered this year that DSU had awarded hundreds of bogus degrees to Chinese students, since the discovery there have been major changes in the school’s leadership.  However, a recent employee survey indicates only a little over half of the employees are satsified with their jobs and one out of four think quality at the school is below average.

Grand Forks Airport is the 17th busiest in the nation, ahead of NY’s LaGuardia airport.  Whoa, you say, what am I missing, since when was GF one of the busiest air hubs in the nation.  There’s an explanation: 90 percent of the traffic is UND student pilots.

DAKTOIDS: There’s little doubt -- ND is the fastest growing state.  The state’s population reached 700,000 topping its previous peak population of 680,000 in 1930 . . .  Community college students in Miles City, Montana, use interactive video to take technical medical courses at Bismarck State . . . Williston will be annexing around 7.5 square miles, that is greater than the size of the entire city in 2006.  Currently, the city is 12.6 square miles . . . Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in ND.  Of course, it must be the wild Oil Patch.  Nope.  Cass County (Fargo) and Indian Country are the culprits.