SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - MARCH 25, 2014
Well, what do you know! ND has two teams in the NCAA Division 1 basketball tournaments. The NDSU men won their first game with a 80-75 overtime upset of Oklahoma. The UND women play their first game Sunday. Both teams won their respective conferences.
Drugs, drugs, drugs! Illegal drugs and related crime are an increasing part of ND news. During the last week, the ND Bureau of Criminal Investigation, together with federal and local authorities, made 24 arrests on the Ft. Berthold Reservation and adjoining counties. This was the third phase of Operation Winter’s End -- the first two phases each resulted in charging over 20 defendants. The third phase also caught 14 people living in the country illegally.
Fargo also has drug problems. Last Friday, Fargo police arrested a 19-year-old Fargo man for the drug-related murder of 26-year-old black man. This was Fargo’s first 2014 homicide.
After many years of stagnant growth, Grand Forks is coming to life. Some of the new growth is a byproduct of the western ND Oil Boom. The city is experiencing a severe housing shortage for people of all income levels. Per capita personal income in GF lagged the national average for decades. In 2012, the city’s average per capita income of $44,000 nearly reached the national average of $45,000. However, both were well below ND’s average of $55,000 which was highly influenced by by the Oil Boom.
The Grand Forks economy may be looking up, but the outlook is not as good in rural GF County and surrounding counties. A UND economist said northeastern ND is facing “the potential loss of its economic status in the face of rapid, at times chaotic, growth in the Oil Patch of western North Dakota.” In his study, David Flynn indicated “Communication of priorities and carefully planned partnerships are likely important to maintain the economic vitality” of the northeast region.
The waning strength of the Canadian dollar is a small cloud over the Grand Forks economy. As recently as a year ago, Canadian and U.S. currencies were at parity -- today, the loonie is worth about 90 cents in U.S. currency. Retail and hospitality businesses in Grand Forks see real impact if the loonie drops to 80 cents. Canada has an economy which is largely natural resources -- its currency has been weakened by a drop in commodity prices.
What a deal! You can rent a two-bedroom trailer in Watford City for $2,350 a month.
If you don’t like living in a long row of trailers on the prairie, a two-bedroom apartment in Williston awaits you for $3,000 a month. The Wall Street Journal reports that an apartment portfolio in the Bakken yields annual returns of 10%. The article warns “that rents in North Dakota boomtowns are well above sustainable levels.”
A few years ago, Watford City was little more than a junction on Highway 85 between Williston and Dickinson. Watford City had 1,750 people in the 2010 census, but is looking at a permanent population of 17,000. The latest head scratcher -- the U. of Mary in Bismarck is setting up an Outreach Campus Program in Watford City offering bachelor degrees and graduate education.
More Wow! The planned CHS Spiritwood (near Jamestown) nitrogen fertilizer plant is estimated to have a value of $2 billion. $700 million represents machinery and equipment -- the remaining $1.3 billion is the cost of the plant.
Agriculture in Ukraine resembles ND -- the country is a leading wheat producer. As a result, a number of ND farm equipment manufacturers sell in Ukraine. Fargo’s RDO Equipment Co., a distributor, has four dealerships there. The ND companies are concerned their business may be hurt by unrest in Ukraine.
The ND congressional delegation is behind the Keystone XL pipeline. Sen. John Hoeven joined Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer in Bismarck for a renewed push on the pipeline. They indicated the pipeline would have an initial capacity of 100,000 barrels of Bakken crude and could take 1,400 railcars of crude oil off ND tracks each day.
The Minot Daily News is the lightweight among daily newspapers in ND’s four largest cities. MDN focuses on community news and is usually slow to cover statewide news or even big stories in its region. Inidividual articles or issues of the paper are no longer available online -- a subscription is required. The cost of a subscription is not available unless readers complete an enrollment form. Staff refer questions to the publisher.
DAKTOIDS: Forum columnist Bob Lind published a list of “some little-known facts” about ND. He revealed that 1936 was not a good year to be in the state: “Both of the state's temperature extremes occurred in 1936, when it was 60 below in February and 121 in July.”
DakotaBeacon