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Tuesday, December 09, 2014

SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - DECEMBER 9, 2014

 

THE ONLOOKER is the name of a new weekly political column inaugurated this week in Forum papers. The column is written by Mike Jacobs, retired editor and publisher of the GF Herald. He discussed dynamics of the budget proposed by Gov. Jack Dalrymple during the week. Jacobs said, “Two important players are the Association of Oil Producing Counties, whose interests are obvious, and the Valley Prosperity Partnership. This last is a coalition of Red River Valley cities intent on ensuring that North Dakota’s current wealth is shared around.” He noted that while the West is gaining, the East still holds more legislative seats.
 
GOV. JACK DALRYMPLE’S SPECIAL GENIUS is his ability to look down the political road and preempt potential conflict. The budget he proposes for the 2015-17 biennium has many examples of “splitting the difference.” One small example, water projects on both ends of the state received allocations well in excess of $100 million. Not necessarily what they asked, but enough to disarm critics. The total biennium budget of $15.7 billion nearly tripled during the last decade; the general budget of $5.7 billion more than tripled during that period. Senate Minority Leader Mac Schneider could only say, “So, better late than never.”
 
FARGO MAYOR DENNIS WALAKER (73) died unexpectedly. The three-term mayor was known as “the flood fighter of Fargo,” particularly, for his efforts during the record-setting flood of 1997. Walaker inspired an unusual degree of public trust. The Forum described him as “gruff, funny, shy, street-smart, respectful” while acknowledging the adjectives seemed contradictory.
 
NEW PRESIDENT AT UTTC “We are not here to make white men out of our students. We are here to help make educated American Indians and for them to retain and be proud of their culture as they move forward in regard to their education.” -- Dr. Leander "Russ" McDonald, president of United Tribes Technical College and only the second president of the college since it was founded in 1969. McDonald is a product of Cankdeska Cikana Community College in Fort Totten and also served there as vice president for academic affairs before spending over a year as Spirit Lake tribal chairman.
 
NO GUNSHOTS “If we see thug-like behavior starting to happen, we’re going to meet that behavior head on, and we’re going to address it.” -- Fargo’s interim police chief discussing the arrest of a black student who charged a white police officer in a Fargo high school. The confrontation had the potential to be a Ferguson type incident, but, instead of shooting, the officer wrestled the student to the floor. The boy’s mother, who has an outstanding warrant for felony drug charges, said, “He’s a kid and sometimes kids don’t listen.”
 
DEAN BRESCIANI, president of NDSU, is accompanied by a driver who serves as a bodyguard. Neither UND nor the U. of Minnesota employ security or drivers for their presidents.
 
DAKOTA PRAIRIE REFINING in Dickinson, the newest oil refinery in the nation, is in production. Marketing is not a problem -- a local truck refueling station has offered to buy the refinery’s entire diesel output. ND uses much more diesel fuel than is produced within the state.
 
CINDERELLA CITY What ND town was featured in a special advertising section of Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal? The ad describes Williston Crossing in Williston, “a mixed-use urban development in an area of surging job growth. This will be a $500 million open-air project with one million square feet of hotel, retail, office and multifamily options on 219 acres.” The developer said, “Right now, most national chain restaurants and entertainment are a 90-minute drive from Williston.”
 
BLUECHIP FINANCIAL is a company operating from the Turtle Mt. Reservation in Belcourt and makes short-term, high-rate (payday) loans online. Banking regulators are taking action against such tribal lenders saying they are “committing criminal usury and hiding behind this claim of sovereign immunity.” The loan business is operated by private companies which pay tribes a fee (usually about 1 percent of revenue) to use the tribes' sovereign immunity to avoid state regulation.
 
MINOT GETS EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Earlier, I mentioned that teams of shoplifters from Minnesota were working ND’s I-94 corridor. They are spreading out -- Davonte Derick Nelson (22) and Siearae Jashea Smith (24) of Minneapolis were arrested for stealing $8,000 of merchandise from a Minot Walmart. More stolen merchandise was found in their hotel room.
 
CARRINGTON has been in the news during the last year because of questionable dealings by Foster County officials. The county received renewed attention this week when six officials resigned including the sheriff, a deputy sheriff, a clerk of the District Court and the county auditor. Foster County has been the focus of the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
 
THE NEW YORK TIMES has reported that ND oil and gas regulators are too cozy with the industry they regulate and regulators frequently forgive significant fines against oil and gas companies. Gov. Jack Dalrymple met with the Forum Editorial Board to rebut those charges. He said the NYT article was unfair, in part, because ND reports spills in greater detail than most other states and requires needed corrections. Dalrymple says ND uses fines as leverage to force companies to remedy problems. He said If the problems are promptly corrected -- often at significant cost -- fines can be forgiven. The governor sees this as a pragmatic ND method of motivation which is more effective than just paying a fine.

 

 

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