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Monday, October 13, 2014

SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - OCTOBER 13, 2014

THE CHIEF OF POLICE IN JAMESTOWN is a supporter of “man camps” for the 1,800 workers expected over the three-year construction of the CHS fertilizer plant. He said “having a well-managed crew camp near the construction site would help minimize any impact on the Jamestown community“ by regulating the people on site. “A good camp will have more things for workers to do when they aren’t working.” His remarks were made in the context of Jamestown's rising crime rate.
 
ND SHOULD DO BETTER The WalletHub website considers Wyoming to be the best state for teachers; Minnesota at No. 3 is not far behind. You have to drop to No. 38 to find ND; SD is the fourth worst state. Teacher pay in ND hasn’t kept pace with the state’s rising salaries -- some teachers have left for higher paying jobs in the private sector.
 
A GIANT SUCKING SOUND UND economics professor David Flynn said Williston’s double-digit wage growth has affected Grand Forks, which has had negative growth rate in labor for several years. Flynn said by 2018 Williston’s labor force could be larger than Grand Forks’.
 
IMPERIAL CASS New census estimates show that, while population growth rates were high in western ND counties, the big absolute growth took place in Cass County (Fargo). The population there increased by 13,000 in 2010 through 2013. Williams County (Williston) and Burleigh (Bismarck) each increased by 7,200 during that period. Ward (Minot) increased by 6,300 and Stark (Dickinson) by 4,000. Interestingly, Clay County, Minnesota, just across the river from Fargo, had only slight growth during the period. Business leaders point to ND’s lower taxes and lighter regulatory environment as the main reasons for the difference.

PESKY NORTH DAKOTA Candidates for governor of Minnesota debated at the MSU Moorhead campus -- ND was often the center of attention. The candidates discussed challenges of being on the border with ND: oil boom, pipelines, F-M flood diversion and interstate competition were among the topics. Gov. Mark Dayton said, “North Dakota is a very special situation right now," adding that "Minnesota was very competitive with the other states it borders.”
 
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR Alexander is a town on U.S. 85 between the larger cities of Williston and Watford City. The town has been clogged by 12,000 vehicles a day on Hwy 85. Residents dreamed of the day when a bypass would calm the town. Well, the bypass (and the calm) came and was especially noted by the owners of the Hi-Way Lounge and Grill -- their restaurant was dead. The owners were pictured standing in the middle of the formerly busy highway. Business is slowly seeping back into town.
 
GO FOR IT Alexander is located in McKenzie County, ND’s largest oil producing county. County commissioners approved a $189 million 2015 budget, nearly double 2014. Watford City, the county seat, went one better by approving a budget of over $100 million, triple the previous budget. The McKenzie County budget was approved with crossed fingers -- the budget anticipates the state legislature will approve a surge funding bill. If it doesn’t, the county budget will be dramatically reduced.

 
FARGO SOMALI A professor at the U. of Illinois studies young people from Minnesota who go to fight in Africa. He says recruiters tell young Somalis, “What are you doing there? That’s not your place. Your place is back home. You’re always going to be a second-class citizen in the United States. Come to Somalia or come to Syria and be a hero.” In the Fargo-Moorhead area, the FBI has an ongoing dialogue with the local Somali community, but unlike the Twin Cities, there is no indication that Fargo Somalis have traveled overseas to fight.
 
GIVE SOMALIS MORE HELP A community organizer from the Somali community in Minneapolis said the press is converging on the Twin Cities to get stories about Somali youth traveling to the Middle East to join terrorist groups. Jamal Abdulahi warned in a commentary in the StarTribune that Minnesota has “a second chance to get it right” by devoting more resources to the Somali community where families are weakened by divorce and a language gap between parents and children. He says lack of economic opportunities in the U.S. has resulted in political alienation among Somalis.
 
A DIFFERENT VIEW Abdulahi’s article was countered in an article by Gayle Thompson of Lakeville who said taxpayers should not have unlimited responsibility to correct problems in the Somali community. She suggested that the Somali had failed to accept the responsibility of American citizenship and learning English.
 
SURPRISING RESPONSES There were over 100 responses to the two articles; the responses were unusually consistent with at least 75 percent supporting Thompson’s view. Here are some of the comments: “An enormous financial burden has been placed on us. This has gone too far,” “America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, not the land of guarantees,” “Nowhere in the article (Abdulahi’s) do I read any hint of placing responsibility on parents and community,” and “You (Somali) are coming here to transfer the culture you had there to here.” Overall, this was a surprising response from otherwise tolerant Minnesotans. There was also frequent criticism of Lutheran Social Services and Catholic charities for overwhelming the Twin Cities with African refugees.
 
MY FAVORITE WHINE This newsletter is getting harder to prepare. A subscription is now required to view online articles at the Minot Daily News and the Bismarck Tribune. Among the largest ND cities, only the Forum papers (Dickinson, Grand Forks, Fargo and Jamestown) have free online access. They are good papers, but much of their coverage is the same. It’s difficult to get diversity in news and opinion. Publishers at the Minot and Bismarck papers have not responded to my inquiries about obtaining limited access to news and editorials.
 
DAKTOIDS: The GF Herald reported, “The UND football team took another step toward gaining respect in the Football Championship Subdivision on Saturday afternoon.” Translation: they are losing by smaller margins . . . College enrollment in the F-M area fell in Minnesota, while rising in ND. The enrollment drop at MSUM and Concordia is part of a statewide trend in Minnesota . . . ND derives 12 percent of its gross product from ag production and food manufacturing -- more than any other state.
 

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