Dakota Beacon

Ten years ago ND was gloomy and seemed to be dying. Terms like “outmigration” and “brain drain” added to the mood.  At the time, the Forum documented the mood in a special series called “Saving North Dakota.”  Forum writer Patrick Springer used the series as a benchmark in “Saving North Dakota, 10 years later.”  The article summarizes the remarkable changes in population, career opportunities, income and most importantly -- mood.  The state has achieved a “collective boost of self-esteem.”  The prosperity is not evenly distributed and tends to be concentrated in the 17 oil-and-gas-producing counties and the four largest cities.  Many rural counties are still declining -- the article describes how the “ag economy has been divorced from the rural economy.”  The economic benefit of large farms bypasses small communities.

Each Forum paper chose top 2012 stories for their city.  The GF Herald chose their own Marilyn Hagerty as top story, with the end of the Fighting Sioux name as No. 3.  The top story chosen by the Fargo Forum was the senate victory of Heidi Heitkamp, followed by the death of a W. Fargo family of three killed by a drunk driver near Jamestown.  The Jamestown Sun selected the announcement of a $1.2 billion fertilizer plant as their top story, followed by the deaths of the W. Fargo family and a more recent accident which killed six Mexican men.  The retirement of Carrington’s Jim Kleinsasser was their top sports story.  The Dickinson Press found it easy -- their top three stories related to the oil boom.

The Forum ended 2012 in a snit.  It awarded one anemic Prairie Rose (to those who help on New Year’s Eve), but hit ND oil regulators with a Leafy Spurge for minmizing the environmental impact of development.  Another Leafy Spurge went to Democrats in the Minnesota Legislature, who the Forum believes are prepared to fund pet programs making it difficult for the state to emerge from its financial crisis.

The Bismarck Tribune believes it is unfortunate Sen. Kent Conrad became a lame duck and “lost the ear of the White House.”  In a tribute to the retiring Conrad, the Tribune indicated he may have made a difference in the current budget controversy.  The Trib brushed off critics who point to Conrad’s support of Democrate spending programs by saying, “Fiscal responsiblity and social responsibility are not mutually exclusive.”

Do you yearn to live past 100?  If so, you need to be in the right state.  A cluster of four states -- with ND on the north, followed by SD and Nebraska, then swinging east to Iowa -- have the highest ratio of centenarians.  ND is No. 1 in the nation with 3.3 centenarians per 10,000.  The national average is 1.7; Minnesota comes in at 2.3.  In the 2010 census, ND had 221 residents over 100 of which 200 were women and 21 were men.

Evelyn Anderson Gilmore was born in Willow City and died recently in Fargo.  She was a career teacher in elementary schools in ND and Montana.  Gilmore died last week at age 108 -- a sister lived to 103 and her five other siblings all lived beyond 80.

The obituary of Alva Svedberg (88) of Larimore tells us she was a “Rosie the Riveter” in a West Coast defense plant during World War II.  Returning to tamer stuff, she married and worked as a clerk in a Johnson’s store in Larimore, where Marilyn Hagerty named her “Cheerful person of the week.”  Things got even better -- her obituary indicates she was “a dutiful daughter, cousin, sweet sister, loving wife, caring mother, darling daughter-in-law, amazing aunt, compassionate sister-in-law, fantastic friend,” and much, much more.  Keep in mind obituaries these days are usually written by relatives of the subject.

Richard Betting of Valley City will probably never be cheerful person of the week.  For a decade, maybe two, Betting has relentlessly attacked nearly every policy decision made regarding the flooding at Devils Lake.  He is slightly deflated at the moment because the lake has dropped three feet.  He notes “that more than a billion and a half dollars have been spent in the Devils Lake area on their water situation” (largely true), but then makes a leap of logic by saying that it will take that much money to repair future downstream damage on the Sheyenne River.  Betting warns about the horrors of rising sulfate levels and lake waters which “would flush straight into the river without any control.” 

Currently, farmers in five ND counties have to lock their fertilizer tanks to combat thieves making methamphetamine.  The law is tough to enforce and farmers don’t like it.  The law is likely to be repealed because officials find it easier to control the sale of cold medications which contain pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in meth.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple is both experienced and sly.  He studies the proposals of critics and opponents and moves just enough to take the wind out of their sails.  His legislative proposals are heavily focused on western ND.  He proposes 162 new positons of which all but seven are in the west -- they emphasize regulation and public safety.  He proposes ways of funneling more oil tax money into the oil-producing western counties -- highway money is also weighted toward the west.

“These are changing times for Minot and this region of North Dakota, with increasing numbers of people coming from out-of-state and looking for work. Many of them are simply not prepared for the North Dakota winters and this is what concerns the Highway Patrol more than the DUI numbers.” -- A Minot Daily News report about traffic fatalities.  Nothing could illustrate this concern more than the deaths of six men from Missouri in Jamestown this December when their pickup went out of control on icy I-94.  The men were from Mexican families and looking for work.  The state had 168 traffic deaths in 2012 -- over half of the victims were not wearing seat belts and about half of the incidents involved alcohol.

Gerald VandeWalle completed 20 years as chief justice of the ND Supreme Court and is the longest-serving chief justice in state history.  In August, VandeWalle will be 80 years old and will have been on the court 34 years.  He received an accounting degree from UND in 1955 graduating from the law school three years later.  I recall the Noonan native as a tall, friendly resident of Hancock Hall at UND.

“Did You Know That” written by Curt Eriksmoen is a Forum column commenting on historical oddities.  The most recent column was about 22 actors who were born in or moved to ND and appeared in science-fiction movies.  The most prominent actor on his list was Boris Karloff of Frankenstein and horror fame.  That didn’t sound quite right, so I did a little research.  Karloff was born in London and traveled to Canada in his 20s.  He lived briefly in Minot performing and working as a baggage handler, before Hollywood and stardom.  So Eriksmoen was technically correct, though barely.  Williston born Sally Fraser was a more authentic Nodak appearing as the leading lady in stunners such as “War of the Colossal Beast.”