Dakota Beacon

THE LEGACY FUND  In the two-year ND budget cycle ended June 30th, the fund had earnings of $872 million — $136 million greater than budget.  The impact of a rebounding economy on investments was the main reason.  The fund is valued at $8.8 billion.  Recent state legislation requires 20% of the fund to be invested in ND —10% in equities and 10% in fixed income.

NIL is the acronym for “name, image and likeness.”  It arises in the context of a NCAA decision to permit student athletes to be compensated for NIL.  A GF Herald editorial gives unqualified support to the decision.  The editorial observes that NDSU football players and UND hockey players will discover a variety of ways to to be paid for their NIL.  The Herald believes this is justified because the athletes must dedicate full time to their sports which produce significant revenues for the universities.  In addition, the relatively few who become professional athletes may have short careers.  It seems like the Herald examined only one side of the coin. There is no mention of any disadvantages from this decision.  It would be interesting to know if the Herald thinks the athletes will become more committed students because of the new benefits.  Will a higher percentage graduate?  Does the decision promote the primary educational goals of the schools?

THE LAMOUREUX TWINS are the newest recipients of ND’s Rough Rider Award and join earlier winners such as Angie Dickinson and Peggy Lee.  Jocelyne and Monique were honored by Gov. Doug Burgum as the 45th and 46th to receive the state’s highest honor.  The UND and Olympic hockey stars may be the state’s best-known athletes.  UND President Andrew Armacost also drew attention to their academic achievements — both have bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UND.

NURSING HOME FAILURES  Thus far the pandemic has killed 731 South Dakota nursing home residents and 615 in ND.  Half of nursing home residents in the Dakotas caught COVID-19.  This is part of a pattern which will likely close marginal nursing homes in the Dakotas.  Occupancy is down and costs are up.  Government reimbursement rates are not sufficient to keep them in business.  Shelly Peterson, president of the ND long Term Care association, stated the obvious, “That’s just not a sustainable model.”  The nursing homes in this category tend to be in small, rural communities.

LUCK NEEDED  Gov. Burgum has challenged ND to become carbon neutral by 2030 — a goal more ambitious than most states.  To achieve the goal, a breakthrough will be required in the unproven technology of carbon capture.  ND’s goal relies almost exclusively on carbon capture and storage.

SPARED  In March the federal government announced that Bismarck and Grand Forks would no longer be designated a “metropolitan statistical area” because their core populations were below 100,000.  They would join 142 other cities in the downgrading.  The Office of Budget and Management reversed itself this month and the two cities will keep their metro designation.

ALTRU HEALTH SYSTEM was in crisis at the beginning of last year.  Top management resigned, many employees were laid off and construction of a new hospital was suspended.  Altru is bouncing back with vigor, not only is it resuming hospital construction in October, but it announced this week the hospital will be seven stories.  The new $380 million hospital will open in 2024.

SEXIER LOANS  The Grand Forks Jobs Development Authority (JDA) makes loans on generous terms to tech startup companies.  A typical loan has these terms: a maximum of $250,000 with no payments or interest for three years, followed by two years of 2% interest, also with no payments, followed by a balloon payment at the end of five years.  The JDA wants to increase the potential return on new loans by adding a convertibility feature which would allow the JDA at its option to convert the loans into shares at a 20% discount.  Such a loan has been made to First-i, a drone/UAS data management company.  The JDA is not alone in supporting First-i — the state earlier made an $850,000 loan to the company.

HOLD OFF ON THE MEGA DROUGHT  Don’t forget the Red River Valley Water Supply Project.  The project will bring water from  the Missouri River to augment residential and industrial water supply for the major cities of the Red River Valley.  You may be surprised to learn work is underway at three locations: The inlet (Washburn), a difficult 1.2 mile pipeline stretch (Carrington) and the discharge into the Cheyenne River (Cooperstown).  The construction period will take up to ten years.

SPEEDING LADY  Amy Torres of Fargo was charged with going nearly 140 mph in a police chase on a Wisconsin freeway.  She  might still be going if she had not run out of gas on the I-90 bridge linking Minnesota and Wisconsin.  She provided police a totally implausible story.  The StarTribune did not identify the type of car she was driving.

NOVEL DEFENSE  South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is charged with letting his car drift to the shoulder of the highway at night and killing pedestrian Joe Boever.  Ravnsborg suggests the accident may have actually been a suicide.  Additionally, he is asserting his car went on the shoulder after Boever threw himself in front of the car.  Ravnsborg’s attorney is requesting psychiatric records that may show Boever had a “suicidal ideation.”  A relative said Boever had considered suicide previously.  A county judge has permitted Ravnsborg’s defense team to view Boever’s mental health records including a stay at a state facility.

DAKTOIDS:  ND officials expressed significant concern when the Biden administration pledged to end new drilling on public lands.  They needn’t — if trends continue this year, the Interior Department will have issued the most permits since 2008.