Dakota Beacon

MONIQUE AND JOCELYNE LAMOUREUX have been named the 45th and 46th recipients of the Rough Rider Award -- ND's highest commendation.  The award recognizes Nodaks who have achieved national recognition in their fields of endeavor.  The 30-year-old twins rose to prominence as as key members of the gold medal-winning 2018 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team.  They are Grand Forks natives who played for UND's women's hockey team in 2010-13.  Monique said, “We are proud North Dakotans who were taught from a young age to work hard and be kind."

GRAND FORKS has new leadership.  Incumbent mayor Mike Brown will be replaced by Brandon Bochenski, a real estate developer and former pro hockey player.  Brown is a physician who served as mayor for 20 years without a great deal of controversy.  The GF Herald said Bochenski’s victory was “a seismic shift” away from Brown’s centrist style and more toward a free-market philosophy.  Bochenski, who received 50% of the vote in a three-way race, said “We’re going to get this city going again.”

GOV. DOUG BURGUM was the overall winner in the state Republican primaries.  He and running-mate Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford received 90% of the vote.  Candidates backed by Gov. Burgum also fared well.  Longtime House Appropriations Chairman Jeff Delzer was defeated by Burgum candidates.  Burgum backed Rep. Thomas Beadle who advanced as candidate for Treasurer over an opponent backed by U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer and endorsed by President Trump.  Both races were among those influenced by a PAC to which Burgum donated $1.85 million.

KRISTEN BAESLER, incumbent Supt. of Public Instruction, handily beat challengers in a three-way race with 54% of the vote.  Ordinarily, she should have expected an easy win in this nonpartisan race, but there was a note of uncertainty this year because Baesler pleaded guilty to driving under the influence in March.  In November, she will face Underwood Supt. Brandt Dick who received only 26% of the primary vote.

UPROAR IN FARGO  A Fargo Deputy Police Chief, a 31-year veteran cop, unexplainably changed into street clothes, joined demonstrators and held up a protest sign.  A behavior not well received by his department and fellow officers.  Todd “Ozzy” Osmundson was suspended for going undercover without authorization — the suspension led to his resignation.  Black Lives Matter allege there was a conspiracy and their demonstrations were illegally infiltrated by the FPD.  So far, the allegation appears frivolous and no evidence has been presented to support it.

OZZY’S NEXT PHASE  Osmundson met Sunday for a lengthy interview with Forum reporter C.S. Hagen.  The interview was not entirely rational.  Here is one quote from Osmundson: “Black Lives Matter wants my head, and the police department is coming apart. The community is in an uproar, and we need to keep the city from burning down.”  Among his many assertions was that the FPD had “deep-seated” bias toward people of color.  Later, he held a press conference  to clarify or change many of his statements.  He said he high respect for Police Chief David Todd and fellow FPD officers —Osmundson apologized saying it was he, not them, that had racial bias.

ALTRU HEALTH SYSTEM  The GF Herald interviewed Altru’s president, Steven Weiser, about the hospital’s financial challenges.  Weiser's main point was that despite staff reductions, the hospital was maintaining essential patient services.  In the past, Altru has been forthright about its financial difficulties including presenting current financial statements on their website.  The Herald noted “The company’s financial records have also been deleted from Altru’s website, where internet archival records show they had been for at least nine years.”  Altru said they removed a “redundancy.”

LOSS OF HIGH PROFILE EVENT  Medora, the Badlands site for the planned T. Roosevelt Library, was to host the Western Governors’ Association annual meeting later this month.  The meeting became another victim of the coronavirus.  Gov. Burgum is this year’s chairman of the association.

EVIL FROM THE NORTH  The president of the Sioux Falls Chamber confirmed the worst suspicions of the city’s residents.  They needed to prepare — buses of protesters were coming from Fargo, their evil counterpart to the north.  It turned out Sioux Falls had plenty of its own protestors and the police confirmed there was no indication of protestors from outside the city.  The city counselor who started the rumor said he "sincerely apologizes if anyone in Fargo felt offended” and “Fargo is a great community, with a great downtown and great people.”

HARD TIME FOR COBBERS  The shutdowns related to the coronavirus shutdown have been particularly hard on small, private colleges.  Concordia College in Moorhead was founded by Norwegian settlers in 1891 and has an enrollment of about 2,500.  Concordia is furloughing all full-time staff for three weeks this summer and  President William Craft is taking a 20% pay cut.  While Concordia enjoys strong financial support, some small private colleges are expected too lose their independence this year.

MUSICAL CHAIRS  Agricultural giant R.D. Offut plans to move into the new Block 9 tower nearing completion on Broadway in Fargo.  The Fargo School Board has decided it would like RDO’s old offices and has made an offer of $7.3 million.  The school district offices are a 1937 Red Owl warehouse -- will someone want that?

GRAIN BIN ACCIDENTS are a feature of rural life in ND.  Many result in deaths (usually men), but a death this week was unique because it involved a woman working in a sunflower bin near Pingree.  She was wearing the recommended harness, which was unfortunately not attached.

CORRECTION  Last week, the Bismarck Tribune reported that all 64 passengers on a westbound Amtrak train were injured when the train hit a tractor in Montana.  An updated story in the Williston Herald said the passengers were taken to Culbertson High School for triage and only four were treated for minor injuries.  The tractor driver was killed.

DAKTOIDS:  Delta Airlines provides service between Williston and Minneapolis — that service  will be suspended in early July . . . The ND Board of Equalization sets ag land values for property tax purposes — the board raised the value of Stutsman County ag land 5% to $800 an acre . . . Coronavirus cases in ND this week averaged about 40 new cases a day, up from 32 cases a day last week.