Dakota Beacon

A STATE’S NICKNAME should mean something — both in and outside the state.  Nicknames should be recognizable and a source of pride.  Hawaii’s Aloha and Texas’ Lone Star are both strong identifiers.  How do ND neighbors do on that scale?  Montana’s nickname is Treasure — that gets by; Wyoming is Cowboy — one of the best; South Dakota is Mount Rushmore — no mistake there; and Minnesota is North Star — it works.  How about ND’s Peace Garden nickname?  Not so good, it’s fading — few people outside the state make the connection.  Here’s a suggestion, If the Teddy Roosevelt Library moves forward in ND, reinforce it with a new state nickname: The Rough Rider State.  It will reflect Nodak ruggedness and become a source of pride.

ARE NODAKS SAFE FROM VIOLENT CRIME?  Yes and no.  The state has 281 violent crimes per 100,000 residents each year; well below the national average of 394.  But Fargo is a different story, its 406 violent crime rate is slightly above the national average, while Grand Forks (322) and Bismarck (351) are below the national average, but above the state.  Sioux Falls SD blew away cities in the region — it’s 450. 

AGING STATES  Last week, I mentioned ND was the fourth youngest state and the only state where median age decreased in 2018.  The three younger states are Utah, Alaska and Texas — do you smell oil?  ND’s median age is 35; neighbors MT, WY, SD and MN are in the 38 to 40 range.  The three oldest states, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, are all in the northeast and in the 42 to 44 range.  The national median age is 38.

ASPIRATIONAL  “As the city’s retail tourism is threatened by various store closures, Grand Forks must concentrate on "experiential visitation.” — GF Herald editorial.  The Herald went on to say that means “concerts, business conferences, sporting events and the like.”  The city is fighting “no growth” — it had the lowest population increase in recent years of any larger ND city.

CLICKITY CLICK, CLICKITY CLICK, that’s a poor imitation of the sound of feet tapping to celebrate ND’s first and only billionaire.  Gary Tharaldson of Fargo was added to the Forbes billionaire list.  No, he didn’t go to Harvard Business School, he went to Valley City State and started as a high school teacher.  Later, he began to develop hotels and that’s where the billion came from.  Gov. Burgum thinks Gary is a great Nodak.

SHAMING THE FORUM  The Forum published a story (and a video) about two Fargo memory care patients who fought and one was killed.  In a letter to the Forum, Donnavon Moser called the reporting unnecessary.  He noted the impact on relatives, “One family lost a loved one twice — once to memory loss and secondly to a tragic accident. The other family lost a loved one to dementia.”

TORNADO SEASON in ND is June-July.  Since 1950, 1,600 tornadoes were reported in ND; 1,800 in Minnesota.  The number of reported tornadoes increased each decade, but that may be the result of better reporting more than anything else.  Cellphones, which both report and document tornadoes, are thought to be a significant factor in the increases.  The Red River Valley has the most tornadoes with Cass County leading.  The most serious recent tornado was the 2007 Northwood twister which killed one and damaged 431 of the town’s 460 homes.

“BERKELEY OF THE ROCKIES” is a name given to the University of Colorado because of its leftist ideological bent.  Bruce Benson, the most recent UC president, attempted to temper the ideology and make the school more vibrant and diversified by establishing a faculty position called Visiting Scholar In Conservative Thought.  The Wall Street Journal said Benson’s objective was “teaching students how to think, not what to think.”  Mark Kennedy, UND’s outgoing president, succeeds Benson.  South Dakota recently passed a law to promote “intellectual diversity” on its campuses.

JERRY HENNESSEY, the big game hunter whose fraud bankrupt the Ashby, Minnesota, cooperative elevator, has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison.  An elevator board member said the damage goes beyond the $5.3 million loss, “Jerry Hennessey has caused a giant rip in the social fabric of our rural community . . . (he) has destroyed the work of past, and future generations of local family farms.”  There is another shoe to drop: the board clearly failed its fiduciary role — they should be next on the list.

PRESSURE BUILDS AGAINST OMAR  Allegations have persisted for years that Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar married her alleged Somali brother (Ahmed Elmi) to skirt immigration laws.  The Star Tribune has been criticized for not fully investigating the allegations.  The Trib now appears to be making up for lost time.  In a 2,700-word article this week, the Trib said new documents gave fresh life to questions about Omar.  It Is increasingly likely Omar married a relative.  She, her family and campaign attempted to hide the issue, refuse to discuss it and dismiss it as a conservative conspiracy theory.  A sidebar, Omar and Elmi both attended NDSU in Fargo.  He can’t be located.

BACKLASH  Somali refugees spread from the Twin Cities to smaller Minnesota communities filling unwanted jobs such as those in meat packing plants.  St. Cloud is a city of 70,000 about 75 miles up I-94 from Minneapolis.  Over 12,000 Somalis live in St. Cloud.  A lengthy NYTimes article describes a backlash which developed there against resettlement of additional Somali refugees.  The Somali are seen by some as a cultural threat to the values and way of life in a previously Scandinavian community — the article quoted a party who said St. Cloud was the “epicenter” of anti-Muslim sentiment in the state.  

CLOSE TO F-M  Similar sentiment may be developing in Pelican Rapids, a town of about 2,500, also near I-94 and about 50 miles from Fargo-Moorhead.  The question becomes when do cultural concerns cross the line into racism. 

DAKTOIDS:  The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline is nearly doubling capacity to 1.1 million barrels a day (close to ND’s daily oil production) by increasing pumping power . . . The Forum expressed concern at Fargo’s rising violent crime rate — they urge more police on the street.