Dakota Beacon

The cover of last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine pictures a somewhat forlorn, oil-stained worker sitting on a barrel in a desolate landscape -- the ironic caption reads “The Luckiest Place on Earth.”  It’s about ND and its oil boom.  The cover hints at the tone of a long, brilliantly written article within by Chip Brown.  No one will think better of ND after reading this article.  

The photographer for the cover picture and article is Minnesotan Alec Soth, he opined: “The place (Williston) didn’t look or feel any happier than most of the recession-stung towns I’ve been visiting of late.  If anything, it helped me appreciate the moderation inherent in the sluggish rebound of the economy at large.”  Pictures in the article emphasize crass social aspects of the oil boom.

The article was followed by an outpouring of online comment, much of it from environmentalists, horrified at the description of oil development.  A few readers were upbeat, here’s one: “Beautifully written piece. Especially liked the perspective from the two-seater airplane. No axe to grind, no hidden agenda - just first-class reporting, what I expect from and love about the NYT and what they deliver 90% of the time.”

The NYT article noted a lack of dissent in ND about oil development.  The article indicates Nodaks “appear to have weighed the benefits against the costs” and “given the state’s history of hardship, they don’t feel entitled to qualms about social and environmental costs.”  An article in the Bismarck Tribune by Lauren Donovan says two separate applications for diesel refineries in ND have resulted in no comments to air quality regulators.  In many states, those type of applications attract environmentalists like flies.

“North Dakota is setting the tone for solving America’s problems” -- Thomas Donohue, pres. of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during a ND visit.  It’s becoming clear that discovering oil makes you smarter (or at least more popular) -- J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) will back me up.

“Longtime North Dakota residents have learned to respect dangerously cold weather” -- Minot Daily News.  That may not be the case for new residents from Texas and Mexico when they face minus 50 degree wind chills.  The National Weather Service issued a “Wind Chill Warning,” adding this cold could kill you.  “Speedy” Quiroz of Texas said “It’s cold.  It hurts.  Real, real cold.”

Sunday in Oil Country.  West of Watford City on Hwy 85, a chain reaction pileup involved two semitrailers and two pickup trucks.  The highway was closed for two hours and a driver was hospitalized.  About the same time, on nearby Hwy 200, two men died when their pickup crossed the center line and collided head-on with a semi -- the highway was closed for several hours.  The victims were from Montana and New Mexico.  The NYT article contrasted today’s congestion on western roads with the recent past: “A decade ago you could have spread a picnic blanket on a lot of back roads in western North Dakota and safely taken a nap.”

The Minot trial of Somali national Omar Kalmio for murdering four American Indians came to a rapid end on Monday.  The jury deliberated only three hours before reaching a guilty verdict.  Kalmio had a history of violent crime.  His conviction will almost certainly be appealed -- his attorney’s view, "We have a lot of circumstantial evidence that doesn't work." 

Einar Swanson (84) considers himself “a good Samaritan.”  Wearing his good Samaritan hat, Swanson picked up 25-year-old Abdi Abdullahi, who seemed to be suffering in the cold, and in little more than an hour gave him a ride to five gas stations in the Fargo area.  Swanson claims he was unaware that Abdullahi was systematically robbing each gas station.  He started to catch on when his rider bolted out of one station yelling “Let’s get out of here.”  Soon after, they were stopped by 20 law enforcement vehicles and officers with guns.  Police weren’t sure if they buy Swanson’s story.

Secretary of State Al Jaeger is not happy with the penalties handed out to ten NDSU football players whose petition fraud derailed two statewide initiated measures.  Legislation has been drafted at Jaeger’s request which would make such fraud a felony rather than a misdemeanor.

The Democrats are in control again in Minnesota and are making themselves heard.  The WSJ says the governor has floated a plan to tax nonresidents on their investment income if they spend 60 days a year in Minnesota.  Stay away from the lakes.  The money from nonresidents won’t be enough, Gov. Dayton would like to also lift the state personal income tax to nearly 10% for the rich (singles making over $150,000 and $250,000 for joint filers).  ND border cities are rubbing their hands.

Does the list of ND deaths seem longer in January, particularly, this year?  The answer is yes and yes.  The Forum tackled the subject: The Centers for Disease Control shows January consistently has a high number of deaths compared to other months.  The Forum was prepared to back up that claim, in January 2013 the Forum ran 100 more obituaries than January 2012.  The number of obituaries in January 2013 of 277 exceeded the 2012 monthly average of 199.  You might think there is a ready explanation for the high number of January deaths -- there isn’t.

For nearly 75 years there has been a push and pull struggle between ND’s State Board of Higher Education and Legislature.  The Board was created by a constitutional amendment in 1939.  The struggle has entered a new chapter as Chancellor Hamid Shirvani attempts much needed reforms in the university system.  GF Herald Publisher Mike Jacobs says Shirvani failed to build political support and overreached his position.  Jacobs says Shirvani may have destroyed his “ability to make progress on any front.”  If this is true, higher education in ND will take a step backwards.  A state legislator has introduced a bill to buy out Shirvani’s contract.

“It is a rare opportunity to interview one of the great intellectual minds and human rights activists of 20th and 21st centuries.” -- UND Ass’t Professor Tamba-Kuli Bailey breathlessly describing Angela Davis who appeared last Wednesday at the school’s “Great Conversations.”  Davis was once on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list for procuring a shotgun used to kill a judge and was a leader in the Communist and Black Panther parties.  She is convinced there is a need for revolution against “America’s economic and political system.”

“When you separate yourself from nature your heart gets hard.” - - an Ojibwe tribal elder and member of the Brother Wolf group at a Bemidji protest against wolf hunting.  Minnesota has an estimated 3,000 wolves -- 400 were legally killed in the 2012 hunt.

DAKTOIDS:  The ND boom in ag and oil has buoyed R&R Contracting in Grand Forks, making it the nation’s seventh-biggest railroad construction and design company . . . The ND Legislature wants to jump-start highway construction -- they fast-tracked a $720 million transportation bill.