SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - MAY 5, 2015
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER ND has an unusually high percentage of very old residents. It is not unusual for women to live past 100, for men, less so. Last week, Arthur Rice, a Devils Lake farmer, died at 108 and was believed to be the oldest man in the state. His obituary stated that Rice was present when President Franklin Roosevelt made a whistle-stop in Devils Lake and promised to get more fresh water into the draught threatened lake. It took 70 years, but the fresh water got there.
TIME TO RELAX Myrtle Farrel of Mapleton is bent over a sewing machine cranking out baby quilts -- she makes 100 a year. She was born when Teddy Roosevelt was president. At 106, she is the oldest business person in ND.
JAMAICAN SCAM ARTISTS are charged with bilking elderly, naive (gullible, if you like) Americans. Edna Schmeets (86) of Harvey, ND, is one. She forked over $300,000 to get $19 million of lottery winnings and a new car -- she lost her life savings. Sanjay Williams, leader of the Jamaicans, is on trial in federal court in Bismarck.
GOING DOWN WITH THE SHIP “We’re getting into a position where we’re about to sink. We’re going to be run over.” -- The mayor of Sidney, Montana, expressing a despair shared with other eastern Montana officials at the refusal of the Montana legislature to offer any infrastructure assistance. Eastern Montana communities face the same Oil Patch growth challenges as western ND.
FERMENT The Wall Street Journal reports the Somali community in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area numbers about 75,000 (others say 100,000). Last week, it was mentioned here that the FBI arrested six young Somali men from Minneapolis for conspiring to support a terrorist group, in this case the Islamic State in Syria. The Somali community in Minnesota is divided about the arrests:
Many Somali young people contend the six men are innocent and were framed to intimidate their community. Friends and relatives of the six men hold this view. Somali activists blame local and federal government for neglecting young Somali men and failing to invest in the Somali community.
Another segment, usually older, has almost the opposite view. A spokesman said: “The community doesn’t like it. Muslim religion is a peace religion. America gives us residence, health insurance, food stamps, school, jobs, opportunities for business. Why do they go to Syria? It’s no good.”
SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF REQUIRED Minnesota Public Radio interviewed mothers of four of the six men -- the interviews illustrate the difficulty of dealing with the Somali community . The Somali mothers had multiple visits from the FBI prior to their sons arrests and the FBI disrupted earlier efforts by the sons to leave the country. When asked by the FBI to “work with us,” one mother responded “we don’t work with anyone.” Another mother, when asked about her son’s whereabouts, responded that he was an adult and she didn’t know where he was. Yet, the mothers described their sons as dutiful and obedient -- each of the mothers said they couldn’t believe their son was headed down a dangerous path.
SERIOUS STUFF Another young Somali man has been arrested for threatening “to assault and murder a Federal law enforcement officer” in Minneapolis. An informant has also been threatened. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a black muslim representing Minneapolis, had a closed-door meeting with friends and relatives of the accused plotters “In an effort to smooth frayed relations between the city’s Somali-American community and law enforcement.” Ellison has been criticized for failing to speak out about the terrorist recruits.
“LAND OF 10,000 TERRORISTS” Former Minnesota U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman made this reference to Somalis in Minnesota according to Abdi Warsame, a Somali member of the Minneapolis City Council. Warsame accuses Coleman of fostering racial stereotypes.
WANT TO LEARN MORE? GF Herald columnist Marilyn Hagerty had a flattering profile of UND Associate Provost Thomasine Heitkamp, older sister of U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp. Last year I wrote: “Heidi and Thomasine Heitkamp look somewhat alike. Both have round smiling faces and ample figures. Both have red hair and favor red clothing. Want to learn more about Thomasine? No problem -- her online profile . . . runs 34 pages.”
"I DON’T SEE IT REVERSING. We're going to be North Dakota." -- The mayor of Menahga, Minnesota (about 70 miles east of F-M), expressing concern about thousands of acres of forests which have been converted into potato land by the “Potato King,” R.D. Offutt of Fargo. The Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources estimates that Offutt has purchased about 12,000 acres of forest. The agency estimates another 15,000 acres of woods are at risk of being sold and cleared for cropland.
WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT MINNESOTA From the StarTrib -- with 66,000 Hmong, the Twin Cities metro area is known as the “Hmong Capital” of the world . . . Infant death rates among U.S. born blacks in Minnesota are roughly three times whites and double foreign born blacks -- among the widest infant mortality gaps in the nation.
RECRIMINATION It was mentioned here last week that UND President Robert Kelley negotiated a compromise with Student Body President Tanner Franklin after Kelley was threatened with a “no confidence” vote. Kelley’s public statements about the compromise were positive, but emails obtained by the GF Herald indicate Kelley was “discouraged” by the confrontation and appeared to blame the incident on political interference by legislators. Franklin denied that was the case.
DAKTOIDS: Fargo’s acting mayor Dr. Tim Mahoney was elected mayor. Tony Gehrig, a 31-year-old pilot with the ND National Guard was elected city commissioner from a field of six.
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