SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - MARCH 25, 2019
FACING THE MIGHTY The NDSU basketball team won its first game in the NCAA tournament, but they are about to be hit by a truck. Yet, fans are jubilant — why? Tonight in Columbus, North Carolina, NDSU will play No. 1 ranked and top-seeded Duke. The game is being heralded as the Bison’s biggest game in any sport during its 11-year Division 1 history. “We have an opportunity to showcase our great university, our excellent community, just the people of the Red River Valley and the Upper Midwest and North Dakota,” Bison head coach Dave Richman proudly enthused.
IT’S SANDBAGGING TIME Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney declared a state of emergency in anticipation of significant spring flooding. The city is seeking 200 volunteers to begin stuffing 1 million sandbags. At the rate of 10,000 bags a day the project will take 10 days — flooding is expected in April. The early start is an effort to avoid the surprises caused by flooding in a number of states to the south and southeast. Overland flooding in Cass County is expected to create a lake of 30-40 square miles.
THERE’S A LOT AT RISK “We implore state legislators in both states to do the right thing and provide the money needed to build the diversion.” — A Forum editorial supporting the F-M Flood Diversion project. The editorial noted that March 28th marks the 10-year anniversary of the record flood and said “We don’t want to relive the 2009 flood.” What’s at stake: $20 billion in property, including the region’s medical centers, airport, universities, more than 50 schools and more than 200,000 residents.
FLOODING is severe in many states in the Missouri River Basin. So far, runoff in Montana and ND has been slowed by colder temperatures. The Corps of Engineers says snowpack that will drain into the upper Missouri reservoirs is near average, so they are in good shape to catch spring runoff.
OPERATION PRAIRIE DOG is the name of new state legislation which funds infrastructure for ND local government funded by up to $250 million in oil tax revenue. It will be distributed based on populations and property valuations. In addition, Dickinson, Minot and Williston will retain special Oil Patch “hub cities” funding. The popular bipartisan bill was passed by the House 80-12.
LARGE IMPACT A Jamestown area state representative put a local face on Prairie Dog spending — he said Jamestown would receive $4.9 million, while Stutsman County would receive $3.2 million.
FELONS ON SCHOOL BOARDS The ND Senate has passed a bipartisan bill to prohibit felons from sitting on school boards. It’s no secret the bill is directed at the Belcourt School Board on the Turtle Mt. Reservation which has two felons, both embezzlers, and to a lesser degree the Twin Buttes School Board on the Ft. Berthold Reservation which has a member convicted of defrauding the district. Attitudes on the reservations are split, some see the bill as White interference in Indian Country, while others see it as an urgently needed reform. A delegation of Belcourt high school students came to Bismarck to speak out against felons because they said members of their community were afraid to speak up because they feared retaliation in the form of physical violence or loss of a reservation job.
GRANDSTANDING “For Ocasio-Cortez to use this important public spotlight to further her Green New Deal agenda — unrealistically based on phasing out oil in the next decade — was nothing more than grandstanding at the expense of an industry she detests but which is so important here in North Dakota.” — The GF Herald editorial had harsh words for both AOC and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.
WHAT KEEPS MINOT GOING? A list of Minot’s employers at the end of 2018 had Minot AFB at the top, way at the top, with 6,400 employees. The list dropped to Trinity Health (2,100), Minot Public Schools (1,100), the City of Minot (400) and Minot State (400) rounding out the top five. Note, no private companies are among the top employers — it’s all public employers and health.
GROWTH ISN’T EVERYTHING “Despite Grand Forks' slow growth, it is a great city in which to live.” — From a letter to the GF Herald. The letter writer said three developments had hindered growth: First, GF has only one interstate highway, while Fargo has two making that city a regional center. Next, the GFAFB head count gradually dropped from 15,000 to today’s 2,400. Lastly, a slow recovery from the 1997 flood resulted in population loss.
STICKY STATES Minnesota is a sticky state, i.e., 68% of its residents were born in the state. Going down the Central Plains, ND, SD and NE were all near 65%. The stickiest states were Louisiana (78%) and Michigan (77%). Nevada (26%) and Florida (36%) were the least sticky.
WELL-BEING Yahoo Finance determined Hawaii is the state with the highest sense of well-being (7th year in a row), followed by Wyoming, Alaska and Montana. ND, SD and MN were all in the next best tier. West Virginia had the least well-being (10th year in a row) closely followed by Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi.
CLUSTER OF DEATHS Minnesota is seeing record levels of suicides, drug overdoses and alcohol deaths clustered in the same communities. Drug overdose deaths in 2017 broke down this way: Whites 12 per 100,000, Blacks 28, and American Indians 76. These types of disparities are common across all of Indian Country according to a U. of Minnesota researcher.
DAKTOIDS: Under a new law, Nodaks with electric vehicles will have to pay an annual “road use fee” of $120 . . . ND oil production was steady in January . . . The Block 9 high-rise on Broadway in Fargo, now under construction, is ND’s tallest and most expensive private building . . . The St. Paul-based Bush Foundation awarded fellowships to two Fort Yates women trying to improve the Standing Rock Reservation health system . . . A law in effect since 1877 banning Sunday morning retailing in ND has been repealed . . . For the fifth year in a row, GF has been named the top hockey town in the country by SmartAsset.
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