Dakota Beacon

TAKE BACK BROADWAY  Jack Zaleski is a peppery, often unpredictable columnist for the Fargo Forum.  This week he was dismayed by the negative impact of homelessness and bar patrons on downtown Fargo.  He said “Advocates preach that homeless people are ‘our friends and neighbors.’ That’s slicing the baloney pretty thick. Most of us do not have homeless friends.”  He acknowledged a responsibility to reduce homelessness, but said efforts are never enough because of “street people who resist help or are beyond help.”  Zaleski said 30 years ago downtown was unsafe and unwelcoming, but there has been a rebirth and Fargo should not let that progress be undermined.

RUSTING HOSPITAL  A letter to the GF Herald asked about the new Altru hospital where construction has ceased.  The reader asked “Is further work scheduled, or are we doomed to be the location of the world’s largest (rusting) jungle gym?”  The Herald contacted the hospital and a spokeswoman said it had no updates to share and "As it stands today we continue to focus on our operations, which have been improving over the last few months.” 

WHY NOT US?  Amazon appears to be well on its way to building a distribution center in Fargo, which at 1.3 million square feet will be the largest structure in the city.  A construction company representing Amazon has secured a permit on a large property in north Fargo.  An editorial in the GF Herald said, “Amazon should consider the northern Red River Valley, and specifically Grand Forks”  — an appeal that seemed a little late.  Amazon has shown an interest in drone delivery systems; the Herald stretched a point by saying one of the selling points was that Amazon could hookup with drone technology in Grand Forks.

SPIKING  “We're back to the numbers we had in May," said Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney. "We don't want to go backwards.”  He was referring to new coronavirus infections again pushing Fargo and Cass County to the top of the state in that category.  On Thursday, Cass had 81 new cases, 606 active cases and 77 cumulative deaths.  In July, 1% of Cass tests were positive, recently, it was 6 to 6.5%.  Public health officials were concerned that the spike could reach Fargo’s long-term care population.

STILL IN TROUBLE  ND continued this week to be one of the states with the highest number of new and active coronavirus cases per 10,000 residents.  In the state’s larger counties on Thursday, the number of active cases per 10,000, known as the “10K number,” was: Stark County (Dickinson) 96, Morton (Mandan) 79, Williams (Williston) 78, Burleigh (Bismarck) 72 and Ward (Minot) 34.  Some small counties had ridiculously high 10K numbers, for example, Emmons (Linton), a small county with a nursing home problem, was 206. 

THE PLAINS ART MUSEUM in Fargo is usually not able to obtain top traveling art exhibits.  So, its especially significant that its current show, “From Renoir to Kostabi,” includes work by Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso and Chagall.  The show does not have the most famous pieces by these artists, but they are representative works being shown for the first time in ND.  The work became available to the Plains when the exhibit was unable to travel to St. Petersburg, Russia, because of the coronavirus outbreak.

THE BANK OF ND has a Match Program to provide capital to launch new manufacturing, processing and value-added businesses and important infrastructure in ND.  The bank has $188 million of outstanding and pending loans under the program and $375 million of requests for commitments.  The $7.2 billion ND Legacy Fund is helping out by investing $100 million in the program — the fund’s largest investment in the state.  A spokesman for the fund said, "Our managers choose the best investment opportunities in the world, and if those investment opportunities are here in North Dakota, then they invest here in North Dakota.”

CARSON WENTZ and the Philadelphia Eagles play at San Francisco Sunday night.  Wentz is struggling — he has thrown six interceptions, but only three touchdowns.  The Eagles are winless through three games.  The Eagles coach refused any discussion of changing the ND quarterback. 

IMMERSION  There is recent recognition that our expectations of police may be unrealistic, for example, expecting police to deal with mental illness.  There may be broadening and equally unrealistic expectations of teachers.  In Fargo, students of color (mostly Black) are suspended at a rate 2-1/2 times White students.  Black activists want to totally eliminate suspensions, advocating instead that teachers “go into our communities in the same fashion (as police), learn about our different cultural backgrounds and how we discipline our kids.”

FRAUDSTERS  In recent years, ND has averaged about 200 cases of unemployment insurance fraud a year.  Through August of this year the state has confirmed 136 cases and is investigating 2,000 more.  The majority of the cases involve identity theft.

DON’T COME HERE!  If there is a change of venue for the George Floyd murder trials in Minneapolis, Moorhead is considered a potential location.  The Clay County Sheriff said it would be a “nightmare.”  A letter to the Forum implores the mayor and Moorhead City Council to fight any consideration of Clay County as a possible location for the trials saying “There will be protests, civil unrest, and likely rioting regardless of the outcome of the trials.”

CONCORDIA RESTRUCTURES  Prior to the pandemic, many small private colleges were already on the verge of failure.  The pandemic accelerated the crisis.  Concordia College in Moorhead does not appear to be one of those schools, but has chosen to restructure itself to deal with the pressures of higher education.  First, the school has reduced its tuition from $43,000 a year to $27,500 (a 36% reduction).  That makes the school more affordable and should increase enrollment.  Next, Concordia split itself into three distinct schools:  Arts and Sciences, Health, and Business.  Note: There are many colleges around the country that share the name Concordia.