SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - NOVEMBER 18, 2019
THE USDA approved disaster designations for 47 of ND’s 53 counties because of major crop losses due to severe flooding this fall. A county must have a 30% production loss of at least one crop to get the designation, which allows farmers to receive loans under a federal Emergency Loan Program.
HIGHLY UNUSUAL CONDITIONS impact the ethanol industry in the Dakotas. Redfield Energy in northeast SD estimates that only 10% of the corn in that area has been combined. Fields have standing water, combines and trucks get stuck, and roads are often impassable. Some ethanol plants are beginning to run out of corn — a trickle of new crop corn keeps them going. Plants attempt to accommodate farmers by accepting corn with higher than normal moisture content.
OUCH! American Crystal Sugar (a cooperative) in Moorhead informed its members that harvest is over and it was no longer economic to process unharvested sugar beets because of their poor condition. Members will have to pay American Crystal $343 an acre for the beets they were unable to deliver. One farmer said he was unable to harvest 80% of his 1,050 acres because they were too wet and he will owe American Crystal roughly $280,000. American Crystal could lose share of the refined sugar market as its inventories of finished product run down early.
NO MORE FREE HERALD “Now, the internet has foisted incredible upheaval upon the industry. Media has changed. The Herald has to change. So we’re changing.” — GF Herald Publisher Korrie Wenzel. He was talking about the decision to put the Herald’s online content behind a paywall. Wenzel acknowledged that “Some are disappointed in the new approach,” but the change resulted in the biggest two-month boost in circulation, perhaps, in history. A membership with one Forum paper gives you online access to all.
WHAT’S UP? The pressure of declining advertising forces collaboration among daily newspapers. The majority of state news in the Bismarck Tribune, for example, comes from the Forum News Service. I’ve noted an increase in news originated in SD by the three Forum papers along I-94. It began with the Dickinson Press and is now seen in the Jamestown Sun and Fargo Forum. What’s the reason? The simple answer may be it’s merely an example of newspapers in both states sharing content to bolster small newsrooms. A more intriguing and conspiratorial view would be that it’s prelude to something bigger, like a newspaper consolidation in the Dakotas. The Forum companies look to be financially strong, perhaps they are going to extend their reach.
CONTESTED ELECTION Three of five justices on the ND Supreme Court will be on a ballot for a new chief justice. The winner will be selected by a vote of the five justices plus the state’s district court judges — altogether less than 60 individuals. The vacancy is created by the decision of Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle to give up his position but remain on the court. Columnist Mike Jacobs said this is the first contested election for chief justice since 1984.
EXHAUSTIVE OR EXHAUSTING? The UND Presidential Search Committee is leaving no stone unturned. Six finalist candidates will each hold forums for multiple campus audiences. The candidates will meet with the State Board of Higher Education on December 3rd at which time a president will be selected.
BOOSTERISM “Grand Forks -- all of North Dakota -- has been and can continue to be a leader in the UAS industry. Together we, as the best UAS community, will continue to be the epicenter of innovative, safe and exciting developments in this industry.” — GF Mayor Mike Brown.
RAISE THE VOLUME “They must feel comfortable talking about their exceptionalism and its importance. They must show, proudly, their intensity. They must exude confidence.” — Yee Han Chu, academic support and fellowship opportunities coordinator at UND, who contends ND students are too humble. They were taught not to boast and this humility handicaps them in competition for national and international scholarships. She says “they must be comfortable being loud.”
MORE PIPELINE FIGHTS “Dakota Access Pipeline’s request to expand the capacity of the pipeline up to 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day to accommodate growing production in the Bakken is a welcomed development in our state. The Bakken region continues to be a major economic driver and an investment that is welcomed in North Dakota.” — From a letter to ND newspapers co-authored by state Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner and House Majority Leader Chet Pollert. The pipeline expansion is challenged by the Standing Rock Sioux and certain national environmental groups.
PSC HEARING Energy Transfer, the owner of the pipeline, proposes to build a pumping station near Linton to facilitate doubling the capacity of the pipeline. The ND Public Service Commission held a hearing in Linton to consider a permit for the expansion. Hundreds attended — the largest delegation was from the Standing Rock tribe which chartered a bus for the hearing. Tribal representatives contend that larger pipeline volumes heighten the risk of spills and danger to their Missouri River water supply. Pipeline officials said the risk was not elevated and described procedures to minimize and control any spills. The pipeline has operated safely for 2-1/2 years.
HUNTER HANSON, the 22-year-old ND grain trader who committed an $11 million fraud, faces up to eight years in prison. The Co-op Elevator of McClusky lost $768,000 — General Manager Brian Larson wants Hanson to get the “maximum allowable penalty.” The ND Public Service commission which was responsible for regulating grain trading has been stripped of that responsibility.
JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED Edna Schmeets (90) of Harvey is nearly destitute because eight years ago Jamaican criminals scammed her $400,000 life savings. She was awarded restitution by a federal court, but has recovered crumbs. Guess how much of the award she will collect? Anguished and crying, she views the recovery process as “overwhelming, unfair and frustrating.”
DAKTOIDS: Last week we mentioned Bismarck had one of the state’s two remaining Kmarts — it was reported this week that the store will close in February . . . ND, along with SD, Iowa and Wisconsin, has no Tesla dealership . . . The Keystone Pipeline in ND, which had a nearly 400,000 gallon spill, has returned to full service of 23 million gallons a day.
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