SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - MAY 31, 2016
PESSIMISTIC “One can only hope that we’re going to bottom out.” -- ND OMB Director Pam Sharp’s reaction to a $33 million tax revenue shortfall in April -- 13.5 percent below a revised January forecast.
OPTIMISTIC Industry and government officials at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck were generally encouraging about industry prospects in ND. There seemed to be a consensus that the industry was about halfway through the down cycle and recovery would begin within a year. A real estate developer urged organizations to “do projects now,” while labor and other construction costs are low.
BOOM BROUGHT MORE THAN OIL “The oil boom brought thousands of hardworking people and countless benefits to North Dakota. But it left us with increased illegal drug use, prostitution and criminal gang activity that has showed no signs of slowing down along with the oil production.” -- From a Dickinson Press editorial headed “Time to confront ND's gang problem.”
NO WINNERS “I think everybody loses in a terrible situation like this. All the vendors who did work for WCE lost their accounts receivable. All the investors lost all of their money. The bank lost a lot of money.” -- Jack Helms, CEO of a Minneapolis company which was a major investor in bankrupt WCE Oil Field Services based in Fargo. He could also have mentioned 44 former employees who collectively have unpaid wages approaching $1 million.
DOUG BURGUM’S Kilbourne Group is part of a small group of investors who will receive $15.5 million of property tax relief to build a $100 million tower in downtown Fargo. The city commission narrowly approved the subsidy. Columnist Rob Port groused that Burgum could self-fund his campaign for governor, but not an office building.
YES, IT'S A BOOGEYMAN ND is one of the few states banning corporate farming. State Sen. Terry Wanzek sponsored Measure 1 to permit limited corporate farming for dairy and swine operations, which have unique financing needs. He noted that less than one percent of U.S. farms are corporations not owned by family farmers and fear of corporate farming was a “boogeyman.” Columnist Mike Jacobs traced the history of corporate farming legislation and agreed that opposition to Measure 1 is overblown.
"UNFORTUNATELY, THESE THINGS HAPPEN. But we're in a changing industry and we have to react accordingly. We need to right-size our staff according to trends." -- GF Herald publisher Korrie Wenzel explaining a staff reduction. Although the GF economy is largely steady, the newspaper must adjust to declining print circulation.
FORMER UND PRESIDENT ROBERT KELLEY continues to to collect demerits. One of the latest complaints against him is a bit strange -- he is accused of stifling the “Beer Grandma.” Beth Delano of Northwood, the grandma, is a UND hockey fan often captured on Engelstad arena screens while guzzling beer in the stands. Wild cheers broke out each time she appeared. A sports writer alleges Kelley attempted to minimize her appearances on the big screen. Kelley left ND earlier this year.
ANOTHER DEMERIT Acting UND President Ed Schafer indirectly fingered Kelley when the former governor described UND maintenance problems to a legislative committee. He said, “This isn't deferred maintenance, this is neglected maintenance."
HAPPY HARRY’S BOTTLE SHOPS are beverage stores at five locations in Grand Forks and Fargo. Owner Hal Gershman, a former GF City Council president, is selling the business to an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan). He will continue as CEO as the business vests with its 110 employees.
MICROBURST THRILL Power lines and trees were downed when a 100 mph straight wind hit part of southeast Grand Forks. The wind was labeled a microburst, an intense, localized downdraft within a thunderstorm.
WHITE CLOUD IS LEAVING TOWN Jamestown’s aging albino bison needs to get out of the sun and is headed back to its birthplace, a buffalo ranch near Michigan, ND.
COUNTING MINNESOTANS Minneapolis and St. Paul are not among the nation’s largest cities, but their metro area population of 3.5 million is the 16th largest in the nation and represents nearly two-thirds of Minnesota’s population. Minneapolis has a population of 411,000, 46th in the nation; St. Paul at 300,000 is 64th.
THE MAYOR OF MINNEAPOLIS titled her annual address “The Deep Truths of Minneapolis.” Star Tribune columnist Jon Tevlin paired each of ten quotes from her talk with excerpts from Saturday Night Live. He dared readers to tell which was which. Reader responses were biting. One said “Hodge's speech has the potential for becoming a classic in college communication classes as an example of the type of vapidness that the Twitter-addicted and the sound-bite nurtured mistake for substance.” Another called the mayor “an embarrassment.”
DAKTOIDS: The ND Mill & Elevator at Grand Forks is completing an expansion project that will make it “the largest single milling operation in the country” . . . Longer races that were part of the 2016 Fargo marathon were won almost exclusively by runners with East African backgrounds . . . James Henrikson, a close business associate of former Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Tex Hall, has been sentenced to life in prison for arranging two contract killings related to Bakken business deals.
OPTIMISTIC Industry and government officials at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck were generally encouraging about industry prospects in ND. There seemed to be a consensus that the industry was about halfway through the down cycle and recovery would begin within a year. A real estate developer urged organizations to “do projects now,” while labor and other construction costs are low.
BOOM BROUGHT MORE THAN OIL “The oil boom brought thousands of hardworking people and countless benefits to North Dakota. But it left us with increased illegal drug use, prostitution and criminal gang activity that has showed no signs of slowing down along with the oil production.” -- From a Dickinson Press editorial headed “Time to confront ND's gang problem.”
NO WINNERS “I think everybody loses in a terrible situation like this. All the vendors who did work for WCE lost their accounts receivable. All the investors lost all of their money. The bank lost a lot of money.” -- Jack Helms, CEO of a Minneapolis company which was a major investor in bankrupt WCE Oil Field Services based in Fargo. He could also have mentioned 44 former employees who collectively have unpaid wages approaching $1 million.
DOUG BURGUM’S Kilbourne Group is part of a small group of investors who will receive $15.5 million of property tax relief to build a $100 million tower in downtown Fargo. The city commission narrowly approved the subsidy. Columnist Rob Port groused that Burgum could self-fund his campaign for governor, but not an office building.
YES, IT'S A BOOGEYMAN ND is one of the few states banning corporate farming. State Sen. Terry Wanzek sponsored Measure 1 to permit limited corporate farming for dairy and swine operations, which have unique financing needs. He noted that less than one percent of U.S. farms are corporations not owned by family farmers and fear of corporate farming was a “boogeyman.” Columnist Mike Jacobs traced the history of corporate farming legislation and agreed that opposition to Measure 1 is overblown.
"UNFORTUNATELY, THESE THINGS HAPPEN. But we're in a changing industry and we have to react accordingly. We need to right-size our staff according to trends." -- GF Herald publisher Korrie Wenzel explaining a staff reduction. Although the GF economy is largely steady, the newspaper must adjust to declining print circulation.
FORMER UND PRESIDENT ROBERT KELLEY continues to to collect demerits. One of the latest complaints against him is a bit strange -- he is accused of stifling the “Beer Grandma.” Beth Delano of Northwood, the grandma, is a UND hockey fan often captured on Engelstad arena screens while guzzling beer in the stands. Wild cheers broke out each time she appeared. A sports writer alleges Kelley attempted to minimize her appearances on the big screen. Kelley left ND earlier this year.
ANOTHER DEMERIT Acting UND President Ed Schafer indirectly fingered Kelley when the former governor described UND maintenance problems to a legislative committee. He said, “This isn't deferred maintenance, this is neglected maintenance."
HAPPY HARRY’S BOTTLE SHOPS are beverage stores at five locations in Grand Forks and Fargo. Owner Hal Gershman, a former GF City Council president, is selling the business to an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan). He will continue as CEO as the business vests with its 110 employees.
MICROBURST THRILL Power lines and trees were downed when a 100 mph straight wind hit part of southeast Grand Forks. The wind was labeled a microburst, an intense, localized downdraft within a thunderstorm.
WHITE CLOUD IS LEAVING TOWN Jamestown’s aging albino bison needs to get out of the sun and is headed back to its birthplace, a buffalo ranch near Michigan, ND.
COUNTING MINNESOTANS Minneapolis and St. Paul are not among the nation’s largest cities, but their metro area population of 3.5 million is the 16th largest in the nation and represents nearly two-thirds of Minnesota’s population. Minneapolis has a population of 411,000, 46th in the nation; St. Paul at 300,000 is 64th.
THE MAYOR OF MINNEAPOLIS titled her annual address “The Deep Truths of Minneapolis.” Star Tribune columnist Jon Tevlin paired each of ten quotes from her talk with excerpts from Saturday Night Live. He dared readers to tell which was which. Reader responses were biting. One said “Hodge's speech has the potential for becoming a classic in college communication classes as an example of the type of vapidness that the Twitter-addicted and the sound-bite nurtured mistake for substance.” Another called the mayor “an embarrassment.”
DAKTOIDS: The ND Mill & Elevator at Grand Forks is completing an expansion project that will make it “the largest single milling operation in the country” . . . Longer races that were part of the 2016 Fargo marathon were won almost exclusively by runners with East African backgrounds . . . James Henrikson, a close business associate of former Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Tex Hall, has been sentenced to life in prison for arranging two contract killings related to Bakken business deals.
DakotaBeacon