Dakota Beacon

TALES OF TWO CITIES  “In one city, the community has rightfully rallied to the fallen officer . . .offering support and thanks for doing a difficult and often dangerous job.  In the other city, anger led to looting, vandalism and the setting of fires, which will complicate efforts to bring about justice and a better world.” — GF Herald column by Chuck Haga contrasting behavior in the first instance, Grand Forks, to that in the other, Minneapolis.  Another Herald column by Roff Jeffries, a Minneapolis-based Forum News Service editor, wrote: “Please, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, as you watch from your homes, try to understand the outraged cries of the aggrieved are not one and the same as the violent outbursts of those who would do Minneapolis in under the cover of darkness.”

SIGNS OF TAPERING  In ND and its three neighboring states average new Covid cases were either steady or down.  New cases definitely slowed in MN and SD, although new cases in MN were still at a high level (about 400 cases a day).  In ND, new cases in Cass County (Fargo) remained stubbornly high — as of Thursday, Cass had 66% of the state’s total cases and 83% of its deaths.

THE ND SMART RESTART plan calls for the state to resume normal life in a phased approach.  Pursuant to that plan, the state has moved from “moderate” to “low risk” on a five-part Covid risk scale.  The move to the second-lowest risk category is based on the state’s high testing rate and low level of active cases.

SURPRISING ADMISSION  Norway’s prime minister said their policies should have been more like Sweden.  She said, "Our assessment now....is that we could possibly have achieved the same effects and avoided some of the unfortunate impacts by not locking down, but by instead keeping open but with infection control measures.”  Norway’s success came at a prohibitive social and economic cost; however, Sweden’s death rate was nine times Norway.

SOUTH DAKOTA has been slow out of the blocks on statewide Covid testing.  As of last Friday, SD had run 41,000 tests while ND had 90,000 tests.  ND is third in the nation in per capita testing.  ND has 2,700 infection cases while SD has roughly double that number; each state has a relatively low level of deaths (mid 60’s).  The states have similar demographics, although SD’s population is 16% greater than ND.  

CREEPING TOWARDS BEING A UNIVERSITY  Bismarck is ND’s second largest city, so it doesn’t seem quite right that Bismarck State College is only a two-year school, while much smaller cities such as Mayville and Valley City host four-year universities.  This is part of the distortion caused by having college locations baked into the state constitution.  BSC has a polytechnic mission, that is, it will specialize in technology, engineering and science fields.  The school is creeping towards four-year status and will offer a bachelor’s degree in automation in 2021, adding to preexisting four-year degrees in energy management, and cybersecurity and information technology.

ALTRU HEALTH SYSTEMS in Grand Forks “continued a years-long drift into financial difficulty” according to the GF Herald.  Altru has added 167 layoffs to earlier decisions to halt construction of a new hospital, cut executive pay 30% and reduce staffing hours.

THE GRAND FORKS AFB is being very tight-lipped about the shooting deaths of two air personnel in a base dormitory.  The family of one of those killed, a 21-year-old Arizona woman, called her death domestic violence.  The other victim is a 20-year-old Texas man.  Speculation is murder-suicide.  A similar incident has never occurred on the base.

SPARRING JUDGES  Jerod Tufte and Robert Bolinske are candidates for the ND Supreme Court.  In an appearance before the Ward County Bar Association in Minot, Tufte said “I have demonstrated collegiality and temperament” and then accused Bolinske of desiring to be a “wolf in a hen house” on the Supreme Court.  To Tufte’s surprise, Bolinske’s replied “You are right, I will be a wolf in the courtroom.”  Bolinske indicated he did not appreciate the quality of justice in ND.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?  In Oberon, ND, four members of the school board are charged with misusing $150,000 in school funding to hire an apparently unqualified firm for an audit.  The firm has the unfortunate name of Victim, Survivor and the Voice, LLC.  Oberon is about 25 miles southwest of Devils Lake.  Gov. Burgum took the unusual step of suspending the four board members and the state will appoint replacements.

JOHNNY ZIP MUST PAY  The former Wells County Sheriff has a plea agreement to make restitution for $750,000 he and his wife obtained from the state Dept. of Human Services by fraud.  It has something to do with their 13 children.  In 2013, Johnny Zip Lawson was arrested for using and delivering meth, bribery, giving false information to law enforcement and neglect of duty.  Most of those charges were dismissed.

DEAD LOOPS are those natural loops in the Souris River in Minot which are stranded by flood protection barriers and, consequently, have poor habitat and water quality.  The city has some loose federal dollars and the council wants to use that money for dead loop restoration.

WHERE ARE YOU SAFE?  WalletHub used five metrics to rate safety in each state.  Minnesota shined (#3), ND was middling (#18) and MT and SD weren’t so good (#38 and 40, respectively).  Generally, states in the Northwest and Northeast were the best, while southern states rated the lowest.

DAKTOIDS:  The good old Empire Builder continues its unreliable ways.  Westbound, not far out of ND, the train hit a tractor in Montana killing the tractor driver and injuring all 64 passengers on the train . . . The Long X Bridge replacement, where U.S. 85 crosses the little Missouri River, is expected to be completed late this year.  The state is trying to get funding to convert Hwy 85 to four lanes from Watford City to the bridge 15 miles to the south . . . ND is a leading wheat producer — 90% of durum is used domestically and 10% is exported; 30% of hard red spring wheat stays at home and 70% is exported . . . The GF Herald joined other Forum papers in delivery by mail.