SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - OCTOBER 23, 2013
“It has never been so cool to be from North Dakota.” -- A quote from U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer. Tom Dennis of the GF Herald said, “That’s certainly true in the oil business, as the world now knows. And it’s becoming true in unmanned aviation, too.”
The ND Museum of Art in Grand Forks has an exhibition consisting of a single item: “Through the Eye of the Needle to the Anvil,” a 17-by-46-foot painting by artist James Rosenquist. He returned to GF, the town of his birth, to celebrate his 80th birthday. Rosenquist is the most famous living artist associated with ND.
“I find it hard to believe that there could ever be a name that would replace the Fighting Sioux.” -- A typical response to a column by former Herald sports columnist Virg Foss when he asked if UND needs a nickname to replace the Fighting Sioux. Foss said, “Even though officially North Dakota’s teams are no longer the Fighting Sioux, the majority of the fans always will be.” The longer the look-back, the more irrational it seems to have dropped the name.
The UND football team had its fifth straight home loss, but sports columnists say there’s good news -- blessedly, the team is leaving town for the rest of the season.
Disgraced former Dickinson State President Richard McCallum, among other things, ran a diploma mill for Chinese students. He slinked out of the state, but has appeared as vice president at Iowa Wesleyan College.
“The federal government has been growing in size at a rate that’s unsustainable.” -- A Bismarck Tribune editorial said now that shutdown theatrics are over, Congress needs to concentrate on the nation’s “growing financial instability.”
ND’s low unemployment and general prosperity draw all types. West Fargo and Fargo have seen especially sharp increases in burglary making security companies very busy. They attribute part of the crime rise to the metro area’s “transient community.”
“We are overwhelmed.” -- ND Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says applications for concealed weapons permits have soared out of the grasp of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Permits are legally supposed to be approved or denied within 60 days -- it’s taking months. The state granted 5,300 permits in 2011; so far this year they have received 12,300 applications.
Most Nodaks see the oil boom as an overall good thing with some problems that need to be ironed out. But all along, there has been a steady, but negative minority drumbeat. Al Sapa of Bismarck is one of the drummers, he says, “We are rapidly losing our outdoor heritage by the energy boom and intensive agriculture and not doing anything about it.” He sees a time when the oil industry leaves and commodity prices fall and Nodaks discover they have not taken care of their land.
“Why not pull out all the stops – call the Legislature together for a special session – to help out our neighbors?” -- Karen Olson of Fargo urged ND to show “the true meaning of its name” by making no-interest loans (using oil money) to farmers devastated by recent snowstorms. What farmers did she have in mind -- those in South Dakota. The SD Stockgrower’s Association estimates direct cattle losses approached a half billion dollars as the result of an early October blizzard.
Do you know what crop swathing is? Perhaps you recognize it by the name windrowing, where crops are cut and left in rows to dry for threshing. The U. of Minnesota says swathing is becoming “a lost art.” Now, most grains are harvested by combines which both cut and thresh. As farming becomes more scientific, it has been learned that swathing leads to lower test weights and a 10 percent loss in yield.
It’s nearly over. Mandan had 285 oil wells beneath its downtown -- now it’s time to close them down. The wells were the result of a 2004 settlement with the BNSF railroad in which the city received $25 million to remediate a longstanding diesel oil spill. The money was adequate for the cleanup and the city has $2.5 million left to improve green spaces.
The Concordia College admissions office entices prospective students with “glossy brochures of Happy Cobbers.” Concordia’s student newspaper, the Concordian, says that’s not the entire picture and featured a story about the prevalence of alcohol on campus. Always on their toes, the admissions staff confiscated copies of the Concordian before an event for the families of prospective students.
THIS AND THAT: Minnesota hiked its cigarette tax to $2.83 a pack (ND is 44 cents) as a way to reduce smoking. It’s unclear if it’s working, but what is clear is that cigarette sales are down in MN, but up in ND . . . Dickinson is building a small new hospital. Why small? There were numerous explanations about rapid recoveries, small is beautiful, etc. But then the real reason emerged -- the hospital must have 25 beds or fewer to qualify for premium Medicare reimbursement . . . After the 1997 flood, the city of GF built two new office buildings -- now, 14 years later, they are finally filled.
DAKTOIDS: ND has a larger portion of its population in the 20 to 24-year-old range than any other state -- MoneyRates.com picked ND as the best state for young adults, the state was followed by SD and Montana . . . Are you tiring of ND boasting, just one more -- a nonprofit coalition picked ND and Minnesota among the top three states for supporting young people . . . We all need something to hoot about -- for Crookston, MN, residents, it’s the discovery of a 32-pound sugar beet.
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