Dakota Beacon

MOOSE MAKES FATAL MISTAKE  “They generally don’t do too well against large vehicles.” — Sgt. Ryan Panasuk of the ND Highway Patrol commenting on the fate of a dead moose that had squared off against a school bus on U.S. Highway 2.  Next to the moose was a badly damaged new bus which had been carrying the Dunseith volleyball team.  The student passengers squeezed onto a second bus and were dropped off in Devils Lake.

IN AN APPARENT MISMATCH, NDSU visited and defeated #10 ranked Illinois State 37-3 last Saturday.  No surprise as NDSU racked up its 26th consecutive football win.  What was a surprise was UND’s 38-36 home win over #12 U.C. Davis.  UC(D) must have nightmares about playing in ND, where it lost two very close games this fall.

WHAT MAKES FARGO GO?  In 1999, Fargo’s downtown property values were $150 million and declining; today, they are over $550 million and growing.  Supporters of tax incentives attribute the growth in most part to tax incentives provided by a Renaissance Zone established by the Legislature in 1999.  Block 9, a $117 million high-rise now under construction, will receive over $10 million of various tax incentives over 20 years and will be the single biggest beneficiary of Fargo’s tax breaks.  One Fargo Commissioner, Tony Gehrig, has been a steadfast opponent of the breaks believing most of the projects would have been built anyway.

KILBOURNE GROUP  The Kilbourne Group owned by Gov. Doug Burgum is at the center of much of the development benefiting from Fargo tax breaks.  Kilbourne’s president said the Block 9 project could not have happened without tax incentives — “There’s a reason it’s been a parking lot for 40 years.”  Block 9 is 60% complete and is expected to be finished in about a year.  The complex history of Fargo tax breaks was outlined in a Forum article by April Baumgarten.

THE $2.75 BILLION F-M DIVERSION PROJECT is one of the largest public infrastructure projects in the history of the Upper Great Plains.  Construction of the F-M flood control project has begun, although a lawsuit and administrative challenges are still unresolved.  A federal judge has allowed work to continue on inlets and control structures for the 36-mile diversion channel.  A  bidder will be selected for the channel a year from now.  Another contract will be awarded to raise a 2.5-mile stretch of Interstate 29 to avoid flooding.

THERE’S HOPE  Yah, you know, 35% of Nodaks are obese — a very chubby state.  But ND children, age 10 to 17, have resisted the influence of adults and are only 13.4% obese — below the national child average of 15.3%.  Still, ND children should do better — surrounding states ranges from 9.4% in Minnesota to 11.9% in SD.  Utah children at 8.7% are the nation’s leanest, while those in Mississippi are a tubby 25.4%.

GRAND FORKS IS NO “NEWS DESERT”  It sounded a little defensive, but the GF Herald assured readers that, while there have been some frustrating changes, the Herald still vigorously covers local and state news.  They mentioned the benefit of being part of Forum Communications which makes a push for local content.  Suspension of the Monday edition and charging for online content were given as examples of changes that troubled customers.

MYSTERY SOLVED  Last week, Mike Jacobs’ column left a question as to why college enrollment in SD was 20% lower than ND, although SD has the larger population.  His column this week answered the question.  Simplified, the explanation is that if you deduct the enrollment at technical and community colleges from each state’s total college enrollment, the remaining 4-year university enrollments are about the same.  A large part of ND’s college enrollment is in community colleges.

STRANGE PAIRING  Swedish environmentalist and child activist Greta Thunberg, who is either loved or reviled, joined Chase Iron Eyes, who has the unusual distinction of being both a felon and an unsuccessful ND Democratic candidate for the U.S. House.  Chase and his daughter Tokata joined Thunberg in appearances at SD’s Pine Ridge Reservation and ND’s Standing Rock Reservation.  They target pipelines, particularly the Dakota Access Pipeline.  In addition to his felonies, Chase was arrested and convicted in connection with the DAPL protests.  Columnist Rob Port said Standing Rock “has become something of a mecca for left-wing activists.”

SLIPPERY DOINGS IN JAMESTOWN  In the last five years, the city of Jamestown invested similar amounts in two nonprofit organizations: Frontier Village and the National Buffalo Museum.  The Museum prospered, the Village has not.  The city had concerns about management of the Village and hesitated to renew its lease.  Then the Village did something suspicious — in an unannounced meeting, it changed its bylaws to allow its collection to leave ND if the Village ceases to exist.  Previously, in such an event, its collection was to go to the ND Historical Society.  Village officers declined to explain.  Charges are flying — the Village is accused of violating open meeting laws and the terms of its lease.

PLASTICS are talked about in ND’s Oil Patch because much raw material for plastics (natural gas) in the state is being flared — an economic and environmental loss.  Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford lent a note of reality to the discussions.  He said ND has no petro-chemical industry and one must be developed in a “building block process.”  That means incremental steps over a period of years.

WHAT IS THE MIDWEST?  The Minneapolis Star Tribune addressed the question.  According to the Census Bureau the Midwest is a group of 12 states of which ND forms the northwest corner, Kansas the southwest corner and Ohio the eastern tip of the wedge.  The Census Bureau’s definition corresponds well with popular perceptions of the Midwest, although some people associate the Midwest with social or political viewpoints rather than geography.

DAKTOIDS:  Record September rainfall in Montana and the Dakotas caused Missouri River runoff to reach record highs . . . Directors of ag coops, common in ND, should be attentive to internal controls — members of the bankrupt coop grain elevator in Ashby, Minnesota, were not and may expect to lose all their investment.