Dakota Beacon

WHAT A DEAL! Minot native and movie star Josh Duhamel was paid nearly a half million dollars for one week of work for the ND Dept. of Commerce tourist division. The director of the division hastened to assure everyone that “Duhamel's fee was a ‘hugely discounted rate’ compared to what he could secure through other commercial and film projects.” She said, "He is an A-list celebrity who is a genuine ambassador for North Dakota.”

A BUSY HEIDI “Last week, I felt that same sense of community and calling as I heard Pope Francis of the Holy See speak during his visit to Washington.” -- U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp equated her mission with that of the Pope in a letter to ND papers. In a busy week, she also met with Cuba’s Raul Castro to urge him to “loosen trade” with the U.S. and buy more ND farm products.

BLOOD AND OIL That’s the name of a new ABC television series about life in Williston. It’s an oil field soap opera with a Gold Rush flavor. Williston Mayor Howard Klug was less than enthusiastic, "Obviously, the show's creators haven't been to Williston." The show was filmed in Utah and snow-capped mountains frame the horizon. Utah offers a generous TV production subsidy.

UNEMPLOYMENT "I think the next four to five months are going to be a struggle." -- ND Petroleum Council President Ron Ness referring to the oil industry slowdown. Baker Hughes and Halliburton, both oil service companies, announced layoffs in ND. Baker Hughes sent the mayor of Dickinson a letter announcing 117 cuts in that city.

NUVERRA is a company which supports oil drilling rigs in ND. Drilling is down and so is Nuverra’s stock which plummeted from more than $15 a share in September 2014 to just $1.40 this week.

LEADERSHIP VACUUM UND’S unpopular president retires in January amidst a storm of controversy surrounding the nickname. His successor is not in sight. The State Board of Higher Education announced a replacement will not be available until the summer of 2016. The SBHE said, “A timeline isn't set yet because the focus right now is on appointing a Dickinson State University president.” Apparently, the SBHE can’t do two things at one time.

IS DICKINSON NEXT? The “Little People of America” showed no mercy when they pounced on McLaughlin (SD) for using the school mascot name “Midgets.” Under withering pressure, the school board dropped the name. McLaughlin is on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Will the Dickinson Midgets (ND) be the next target of the little people?

THEY DID WHAT? West Fargo postponed a high school soccer game because it conflicted with a Muslim holiday. Now why would they do that? Half the soccer team is Muslim. Easy call -- they could postpone or go with half a team.

DEEPENING POVERTY “It’s painful to know that in prosperous, fair-minded Minnesota, poverty deepened for one — and only one — racially distinct subset of the population between 2013 and 2014.” -- From a StarTribune editorial about the jump in black poverty and unemployment. Minnesota has a black population of 312,000 (6%) of which the majority are in the Twin Cities metro area. Of those, 96,000 are foreign born. The number of foreign-born African-Americans in Minnesota increased 14,000 during 2014 -- the majority are believed to be migrants from other states.

THE CAUSES Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has directed the state demographer and state research department to attempt to identify the underlying causes of the state’s unusually high black poverty. The StarTribune attempted its own explanation: First, the number of single-parent black households has risen sharply and the rate is as much as three times greater than non-black households. Black Minnesotans are handicapped by poor education -- only 39% of Minneapolis blacks graduate from high school on time and they earn college degrees at about half the rate of the general population. Segregation was also mentioned as a factor and language was a challenge for foreign-born blacks, who represent about one of every three Minnesota blacks. Finally, one of every four potential black workers is an ex-felon.

THE CONGRESSIONAL HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE reports that Minnesota is the national hotspot for terrorist recruiting. The committee indicated there have been at least 250 recruits and one out of every four comes from Minnesota.

THINGS HAPPEN! “His brother said Karmen Redshirt began to have hard feelings against police after watching fellow Turtle Mountain tribal members suffer what he felt was mistreatment at their hands.” -- From a Forum article about a Fargo police shooting involving a drunken man with a stolen car and a fake gun. Redshirt has a long list of serious felony convictions and had previously been in trouble for carrying a fake gun. Redshirt’s brother was philosophical, "My brother's a good guy. You make your life what it is. He made some mistakes."

SHOULDN’T BE HARD TO FIND An armed Grand Forks bank robber is on the loose and is described as a woman 5 feet tall, weighing 200 pounds, “possibly Hispanic,” and wearing baggy gray sweatpants. Police have a rather good picture. Money stolen during the robbery was scattered around the crime scene.

A HUGE MESS, BUT NO MONEY A stolen forklift was used to demolish a Wells Fargo ATM in Dickinson. The large piece of CAT equipment was driven from a construction site a mile away. The ATM station was totally destroyed, but the attempted robbery failed to get any money.

DAKTOIDS: Kristi Magnuson Nelson is ND Grocer of the year. She is the president of the Grand Forks Hugo’s grocery chain and the granddaughter of founder Hugo Magnuson . . . Minnesota’s White Earth Indian Nation is planning a third casino conveniently located on Star Lake about 50 miles southeast of the Fargo-Moorhead metro area.