Dakota Beacon

THE F-M DIVERSION took a big step forward with the selection of the Red River Alliance as the private partner who will design and build the diversion channel for a bid of $1.14 billion.  The entire project will be built by a public-private partnership — the public partner is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is designing and building the embankment and the three control structures.  Sen. John Hoeven said the public-private partnership will save $330 million and 10 years of time.  Gov. Doug Burgum called the project historic and said it will protect $20-25 billion in property, a quarter of ND’s hospital beds and almost 60 schools.

ADM IS COMING AT A COST  The Jamestown area is celebrating the ADM soybean crushing plant scheduled for completion in time to accept 2023 soybeans.  ADM will demolish the former Cargill Malt plant in order to build the new plant.  If the new plant paid property taxes at normal rates, the cost would be $600,000 a year.  Instead, ADM will pay $225,000 a year for 15 years in lieu of property taxes — that’s a $5.6 million break.  AddItionally, the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. will provide $2.5 million in incentives.

PROJECT TUNDRA RISKS  The ND Legislature approved $250 million of loans for Project Tundra, a venture to capture and store carbon emissions from a coal plant.  The Bank of ND said “no, thank you.”  The loan was too large and too risky for the bank.  Lawmakers hope Tundra will cover its costs, but in the worst case taxpayers could be on the hook for the loan.

THE STANDING ROCK SIOUX have experienced two recent disappointments regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline litigation.  Last month, a federal judge said Standing Rock fell short of proving the pipeline needed to be shutdown.  This week, the judge closed the case, although leaving an opportunity for the tribe to refile.  The next definitive event will be March 2022 when the Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to complete its environmental review.  Expect the Army’s conclusion to be challenged.

RECORD DEATHS  Births, marriages and divorces all dropped in ND in 2020, although the state maintained its place as having the second highest birth rate in the nation, edged out only by the prolific people in Utah.  ND had a record 7,934 deaths in 2020, up 20% from 2019.  Of the deaths last year, 1,157 were due to COVID-19.  Nodaks are hanging on, the oldest man and woman to die last year were 105 and 110, respectively.

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY was the main criteria for a WalletHub rating of 150 cities.  Nampa and Boise, Idaho, were the top two.  San Francisco and Washington D.C. were the bottom two.  Rapid City and Sioux Falls, SD, were No. 8 and No. 16, respectively.  Bismarck was No. 26 and Fargo No. 60.  The two ND cities fell down in Education.  Both ND and SD scored well for their Economies.

UPSCALE HOTELS IN FARGO The Hotel Donaldson and the Radisson will no longer have that market to themselves.  This week the 125-room Jasper Hotel opened in the new RDO Building.  At the same time, the Rosewild restaurant opened at the same location.  The hotel will occupy floors nine through 14 in the 18-story RDO Building.  Fargo’s Norwegian traditions are a large influence.  The hotel is said to have a Scandinavian aesthetic, while the restaurant has “a rustic Nordic-inspired menu.”

OPTIMISM REQUIRED  “Well, I mean, we are the forever optimists, right?  We’re always one day closer to rain and one day closer to nicer weather.” — Katelyn Larson, a Jamestown area farmer.  ND agriculture is risky because of low average rainfall and volatile rainfall and temperature.  That’s been well-illustrated this year where some farmers near Jamestown have planted soybeans three times.  The first crop was destroyed by frost and the second by flooding and wind.

“BAD DAYS ARE AHEAD” — Columnist Lloyd Omdahl said the declining number of college students in ND must translate into fewer faculty.  He said expect to see Ph.D. holders in the job market.  Omdahl noted, “With too many institutions running too many programs for too few students, we can be assured that institutional competition will mark the declining days.”  ND’s 11 higher education institutions will fight for survival.

MISTER MONEY HAD A GUN  Hunter Havisto is in the Cass County Jail for, among other offenses, a crime spree of robberies and burglaries.  His last robbery got him more than he bargained for.  Havisto held up the Mister Money payday loan and pawnshop with what appeared to be a gun.  As he sped away in a stolen car, a Mister Money employee blasted the car with a handgun.  Havisto was apprehended shortly thereafter.  The owner of shop said his employees are trained shooters and have concealed weapons permits.  He said his employee was not trying to shoot the suspect, rather mark the vehicle so it would be noticeable to police.  Cass County State’s Attorney Birch Burdick has a dilemma.  Should he charge the Mister Money sharpshooter?

GERALD FOLSTROM (80) of Moorhead, MN, passed away last September.  He retired in 1996 as Vice President of Operations of Minnesota’s Northwest Technical College system.  His career and life had a steady progression.  But there was one thing about Gerald that was a little different — although the child of Swedish-American parents, he was a member of the White Earth Tribe of Ojibwe Indians.  How did this come about?  His ancestor, one of the first (early 1800s) Swedish settlers in Minnesota, became lost in the wilderness as a young boy.  Fortunately, he was found by Ojibwe, taken into the tribe and later married an Ojibwe woman.  Gerald always kept one foot in Ojibwe culture.

DAKTOIDS:  Of the 50 largest cities in ND, 38 saw increases in sales in the first quarter of 2021 versus the prior year.  The decreases were largely found in Oil Patch cities . . . The Fargo-Moorhead flood diversion project has escalated from an initial 2011 estimate of $1.8 billion to $3.2 billion.  Mostly inflation — the project dragged out because of litigation and regulatory delays.