SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - MAY 16, 2016
BOTTOM OF THE BARREL Business Week reports that 90 percent of general fund revenue in Alaska is tied to oil. The oil price crash and the fall in the state’s oil output (which at 500,000 barrels a day is about half ND) has been devastating to Alaska. One resident said, “Every other state in the union pays for their government. We’ve had 40 years of a free lunch.” The free lunch is over and the state is dipping into rapidly declining reserves. ND substantially avoided the Alaskan trap by not using oil income for general fund spending. However, ND is hurt by a drop in certain revenues indirectly related to oil, such as sales taxes.
MEDICAL MISMATCH “The distribution of elderly leans to the rural more than the urban while medical facilities and services lean in the opposite direction.” -- Columnist Lloyd Omdahl describing the mismatch of medical needs and resources in ND. Omdahl says ND is ranked as an “old state” and is destined to get worse in that regard. The state may face “burgeoning medical costs” and a funding crisis for long-term care.
FIRST INTERNATIONAL BANK & TRUST, that's an impressive name, has 26 banks in Minnesota, Arizona and ND. First international will build a $40 million, 6-story bank in Bismarck. Where is this banking behemoth based -- in what financial center? Yes, Watford City. The CEO is Steve Stenehjem -- the name has a familiar ring.
ROB PORT has rocketed into public attention in ND. First, as an independent blogger, then as a correspondent for the Fargo Forum and now as a Forum employee and columnist. His political columns appear frequently in Forum papers around the state and receive a good deal of attention, part of a Forum policy of running provocative columns. Port’s columns fit that purpose, so occasionally there is kickback -- one reader wrote, “But one change has soured my reading of the Opinion section: the emergence of Rob Port.”
A BIG FISH STORY A Forum News Service photo shows a man struggling to hold a 131-pound fish. No, he’s not in the tropics, the man is holding a paddlefish caught at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers near Williston. The record fish was processed by a business in Williston which does the job in exchange for fish eggs. The angler walks away with the meat -- 27 pounds in this case. The paddlefish season ended when the limit of 1,000 fish was met.
WAITING You’ve seen the BNSF TV ads showing colorful, powerful locomotives pulling long trains through scenic western landscapes. Well, 45 of those locomotives are sitting on a siding in Fargo, a scene duplicated in other cities, waiting for the return of commodity demand and higher prices. BNSF is owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and reported quarterly earnings down 25 percent.
YIPPEE! Why the whooping and hollering in Jamestown (Buffalo City)? The President signed the Bison Legacy Act making bison the official national beast. Sen. John Hoeven was an original sponsor of the bill -- other ND congress members were co-sponsors.
WHAT’S GOING ON? A chubby 3-year-old boy sneers at the camera, his little arms bulging with tattoos. Isn’t he a little young for tattoos and attitude? Actually, he is wearing a product of TotTude, a West Fargo business the makes faux tattoo sleeve T-shirts which are the rage among small children. Tera Christianson is the entrepreneur owner of TotTude.
AND DON’T COME BACK Samantha Bergh couldn’t hold it any more -- the lines to women’s restrooms at the Fargodome were too long. Putting her head down, she slipped into the men’s restroom. Walking out, she was confronted by a female security officer. So, do you suppose there got a mild reprimand, like “naughty, naughty?” Nope, Samantha was ejected from the Fargodome. She was at a Garth Brooks concert, a Mother’s Day gift from her husband.
TIMES CHANGE The obituary of an 80-year-old woman stated she graduated from Litchville H.S. in 1953 and then worked as a nurse’s aid and telephone operator in nearby Valley City. This is an indication of occupations commonly available to young women at that time in rural ND. If she were a high school graduate today, there is a good chance she would be going to a university to train for careers ranging from computer science to psychology.
DECLINE OF PIONEER PRESS “There’s no reason to gloat from across the river about what’s happening to the Pioneer Press. This outcome isn’t good for our region and it’s not even good for the Star Tribune, which prints the Pioneer Press and distributes it in some areas.” -- From a business article in the Star Tribune indicating the Pioneer Press was being “harvested,” that is, the paper was being wound down and its assets sold with the objective of squeezing as much cash as possible before the paper’s final days. There is a slight chance new investors might revive the paper as a “niche” operation, one narrowly focused on a smaller market.
A MINNEAPOLIS JUDGE recruited a German researcher to figure out how local Somali youth are being radicalized and to recommend a form of intervention. Minneapolis is the single biggest U.S. source of terrorism recruits. The researcher has experience with the neo-Nazi movement in Germany. His recommendations may lead to different law-enforcement solutions.
SUSPICION The judges efforts are viewed with suspicion by parties at two ends of the spectrum: Advocates of public safety want prison time for terrorism recruits and think deradicalization by itself is too soft; at the same time Somali leaders believe intervention is a poor substitute for addressing larger issues, such as unemployment, that push young men to radicalization. The majority of ten ISIS defendants in Minneapolis have pleaded guilty to backing terrorism -- a trial is being conducted for three who have not.
MEDICAL MISMATCH “The distribution of elderly leans to the rural more than the urban while medical facilities and services lean in the opposite direction.” -- Columnist Lloyd Omdahl describing the mismatch of medical needs and resources in ND. Omdahl says ND is ranked as an “old state” and is destined to get worse in that regard. The state may face “burgeoning medical costs” and a funding crisis for long-term care.
FIRST INTERNATIONAL BANK & TRUST, that's an impressive name, has 26 banks in Minnesota, Arizona and ND. First international will build a $40 million, 6-story bank in Bismarck. Where is this banking behemoth based -- in what financial center? Yes, Watford City. The CEO is Steve Stenehjem -- the name has a familiar ring.
ROB PORT has rocketed into public attention in ND. First, as an independent blogger, then as a correspondent for the Fargo Forum and now as a Forum employee and columnist. His political columns appear frequently in Forum papers around the state and receive a good deal of attention, part of a Forum policy of running provocative columns. Port’s columns fit that purpose, so occasionally there is kickback -- one reader wrote, “But one change has soured my reading of the Opinion section: the emergence of Rob Port.”
A BIG FISH STORY A Forum News Service photo shows a man struggling to hold a 131-pound fish. No, he’s not in the tropics, the man is holding a paddlefish caught at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers near Williston. The record fish was processed by a business in Williston which does the job in exchange for fish eggs. The angler walks away with the meat -- 27 pounds in this case. The paddlefish season ended when the limit of 1,000 fish was met.
WAITING You’ve seen the BNSF TV ads showing colorful, powerful locomotives pulling long trains through scenic western landscapes. Well, 45 of those locomotives are sitting on a siding in Fargo, a scene duplicated in other cities, waiting for the return of commodity demand and higher prices. BNSF is owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and reported quarterly earnings down 25 percent.
YIPPEE! Why the whooping and hollering in Jamestown (Buffalo City)? The President signed the Bison Legacy Act making bison the official national beast. Sen. John Hoeven was an original sponsor of the bill -- other ND congress members were co-sponsors.
WHAT’S GOING ON? A chubby 3-year-old boy sneers at the camera, his little arms bulging with tattoos. Isn’t he a little young for tattoos and attitude? Actually, he is wearing a product of TotTude, a West Fargo business the makes faux tattoo sleeve T-shirts which are the rage among small children. Tera Christianson is the entrepreneur owner of TotTude.
AND DON’T COME BACK Samantha Bergh couldn’t hold it any more -- the lines to women’s restrooms at the Fargodome were too long. Putting her head down, she slipped into the men’s restroom. Walking out, she was confronted by a female security officer. So, do you suppose there got a mild reprimand, like “naughty, naughty?” Nope, Samantha was ejected from the Fargodome. She was at a Garth Brooks concert, a Mother’s Day gift from her husband.
TIMES CHANGE The obituary of an 80-year-old woman stated she graduated from Litchville H.S. in 1953 and then worked as a nurse’s aid and telephone operator in nearby Valley City. This is an indication of occupations commonly available to young women at that time in rural ND. If she were a high school graduate today, there is a good chance she would be going to a university to train for careers ranging from computer science to psychology.
DECLINE OF PIONEER PRESS “There’s no reason to gloat from across the river about what’s happening to the Pioneer Press. This outcome isn’t good for our region and it’s not even good for the Star Tribune, which prints the Pioneer Press and distributes it in some areas.” -- From a business article in the Star Tribune indicating the Pioneer Press was being “harvested,” that is, the paper was being wound down and its assets sold with the objective of squeezing as much cash as possible before the paper’s final days. There is a slight chance new investors might revive the paper as a “niche” operation, one narrowly focused on a smaller market.
A MINNEAPOLIS JUDGE recruited a German researcher to figure out how local Somali youth are being radicalized and to recommend a form of intervention. Minneapolis is the single biggest U.S. source of terrorism recruits. The researcher has experience with the neo-Nazi movement in Germany. His recommendations may lead to different law-enforcement solutions.
SUSPICION The judges efforts are viewed with suspicion by parties at two ends of the spectrum: Advocates of public safety want prison time for terrorism recruits and think deradicalization by itself is too soft; at the same time Somali leaders believe intervention is a poor substitute for addressing larger issues, such as unemployment, that push young men to radicalization. The majority of ten ISIS defendants in Minneapolis have pleaded guilty to backing terrorism -- a trial is being conducted for three who have not.
DAKTOIDS: ND and Montana are the most dangerous states for teen drivers; Massachusetts and Maryland the safest . . . NDSU quarterback Carson Wentz signed a 4-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles for $27 million, and don't forget an additional $18 million signing bonus. Hopefully, the Bismarck boy can make ends meet.
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