SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - SEPTEMBER 21, 2015
DOWNTOWN FARGO is enjoying a civic renaissance. No party is more responsible than Doug Burgum’s Kilbourne Group. The Forum published a map of downtown Fargo showing 18 properties acquired by the group -- Kilbourne buys historic properties for renovation. The Forum article was occasioned by Kilbourne’s purchase of the Black Building, an 85-year-old commercial building which has been Fargo’s tallest. WDAY once signed on by announcing “This is WDAY in the Black Building in Fargo” -- Peggy Lee sang on WDAY broadcasts. The former grandeur has faded.
KLEINSASSER “Usually, he listened to the games on a tractor while on his family farm in an area known as Hawks Nest, a butte a few miles southwest of Carrington.” -- From a GF Herald article about Jim Kleinsasser, a Carrington native who played 13 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. The quote was part of an article that revealed Kleinsasser never saw a UND/NDSU football game prior to becoming a UND player. The article said, “That all changed on Oct. 17, 1998, at the Fargodome in the rivalry between UND and NDSU when Jim Kleinsasser caught a touchdown pass that is still one of the most memorable moments in program history.” The rivalry resumes this weekend.
THE SKEPTICS WERE RIGHT When the ND State Historical Society was encouraged to take over the boyhood home of Lawrence Welk in Strasburg, there were plenty of skeptics, the home had only 650 visitors last year. This year, after extensive publicity, there were 730 visitors in July and August -- about a dozen a day. The SHS hopes to have to two to three employees at the site and 1,000 visitors a year.
WEAK LOONIE "When it goes below 80 cents, then you see it right away." -- A Grand Forks motel owner commenting on the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar. One Canadian dollar was worth around 76 U.S. cents this week. In recent years, the strong Canadian dollar has been a large source of retail and hospitality business for communities such as Grand Forks and Minot.
IT’S EITHER BLACK OR WHITE Fargo Forum editorials tend to be intolerant -- you are either with them or against them. There is no room for legitimate critique or reasonable disagreement with the Forum position. This week’s example, many in Fargo hold the view that Lutheran Social Services (LSS) has become a law onto itself, that is, it unilaterally establishes refugee and immigration policy for Fargo and the region without consultation. In effect, LSS sends local government a bill for education, social services, health and more without consent or negotiation. The Forum defends LSS and labels those who criticize it as nativistic and racist.
BREAK-EVEN OIL PRODUCTION COSTS What are they? It’s the level of cost which must be recovered before a producer can see a profit. If oil prices are less the producer is thrown into a loss and may be forced to end production. ND’s Dept. of Mineral Resources estimates break-even points for Oil Patch Counties: Dunn County ($24 per barrel) and McKenzie County ($27) are in good shape to ride out a period of low oil prices. Williams County ($38) and Stark County ($41) are probably OK, but, nevertheless, near the cusp. Bowman and Slope (southwestern corner) and Bottineau and Renville (north central) are temporarily doomed at $85 per barrel.
NOT PROMISING “While we continue to have productive conversations with potential investors, we do not have the financial backing needed to break ground.” -- Darin Anderson, President of Northern Plains Nitrogen. NPN is a $2 billion nitrogen fertilizer plant proposed for Grand Forks. A large Minnesota cooperative recently abandoned plans for a similar plant near Jamestown.
BIG IRON in West Fargo is the Upper Midwest’s largest farm show -- 600 exhibitors. There are 70,000 attendees including foreign visitors from 14 countries. John Deere rep Colin MacDonald said, "This is where the bulk of our customer base comes looking for new products." His newest machine was a John Deere 9RX, a giant tractor with four sets of tracks. It’s designed to pull large implements in wet fields. MacDonald said, because of growing farm sizes and a wetter climate, “customers are looking for different ways to put horsepower to the ground.”
CORRECTIONS The recent drop in the stock market is considered a healthy correction in the long-term direction of the market. A speaker at Big Iron noted prices for good-quality ND farmland have declined 20 to 25 percent from recent highs.
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT a small ND school system would face segregation problems. The Minnie H Elementary School in Devils Lake had such a high percentage of low income Indian students that the school acquired a stigma and parents avoided enrolling their children there. The cure was to make Minnie H the city’s only kindergarten school and shift older children to other schools.
DIVERSIFY THE DIVERSITY COMMISSION GF Herald columnist Tom Dennis is concerned that a proposed Grand Forks Diversity Commission will “be populated only by liberal Democrats” and may therefore be easily dismissed in a Republican state. Dennis suggests that to achieve some ideological diversity the commission should consider including a conservative or two.
BACKLASH "You've ignored the input of those with the most direct ties to UND; ties that will endure long after you've left." -- UND student Nathan Adams in an email to President Robert Kelley, his email is a moderate example of the backlash against Kelley for not allowing a vote on “UND/North Dakota” as an alternative to a new nickname.
TAKE THAT "As far as I'm concerned, Kelley will never get permission from me. I'll use every legal means I have to stop him from using the names." -- Former Bismarck mayor Marlan “Hawk” Haakenson registered nickname options to prevent UND from using them. Although he attended NDSU, Haakenson supports the Fighting Sioux nickname and hopes to see it ultimately returned to UND. Hawk’s action is thought to be largely symbolic and unlikely to influence events.
DAKTOIDS: What’s the connection between Moorhead and Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion?” Many years ago, on a Fargo visit, Keillor was inspired by Moorhead’s Prairie Home Cemetery . . . NDSU has snagged a new leader for its foundation -- John Glover will start at $215,000 a year and a box of yellow jerseys . . . ND July oil production held steady at 1.2 million barrels per day . . . U.S. Senator John Hoeven is leading a congressional charge to make “American bison” the national mammal.
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