Dakota Beacon

HANGING ON  "That is our expectation ... that the general fund for the current biennium (ending June 30, 2021) will have adequate revenues to finish with an adequate balance to fund all appropriations that were authorized in the 2019 session,” — ND Office of Management and Budget Director Joe Morrissette.  At the end of August, biennium revenues to date were slightly ahead of forecast, although revenues for August were down sharply from forecast.  Budget analysts see revenues firming in the remaining 10 months of the biennium.

WEATHER & TRADE   There are further signs that farmers in ND are seeing a turnaround.  Weather heavily damaged corn and bean crops in Iowa and China has resumed buying soybeans to feed hogs.  This combination of events has pushed corn and bean prices up about a fifth since early August.  Farmers are seeing good early crops and the best prices of the year. 

WINNERS & LOSERS  The National Academy of Sciences forecasts a long-range outlook for agriculture under varying levels of temperatures and humidity.  If emissions are high, the corn belt will shift into northern tier states and southern Canada.  In 2040-2060, corn and soybean yields in ND may increase over 15% because of the climate — the effect will be even greater in ND’s northwest counties which may expect yield improvements of 20%.  Southern states may expect devastating losses of yield.

AIRLINE PASSENGER NUMBERS continue to recover in ND — August passengers were 43% of those in August 2019.  This was significantly better than the national average of 29%.  Williston’s new airport is having the most difficult recovery with only 16% of last year’s August passengers.

PROTEST AT FARGO FORUM  “Time is not a luxury people of color have in this country.” — The leader of an activist group which conducted a protest at the Fargo Forum Thursday evening.  Their grievance was that the Forum was taking too long to publish a study about who is suspended and expelled in area public schools.  The activists alleged the Formum was hiding information that proves systemic racism in area public schools.  The Forum acknowledged their study had gone on several months, but said they were experiencing difficulty finding people who would share their stories.

OIL PATCH POPULATIONS?  Preliminary data from the 2020 census will not be available until sometime next year.  In the meantime, local governments in the ND Oil Patch look to other measures to gauge their populations.  Fast growing cities such as Watford City have used school enrollment as a proxy for census estimates.  Enrollment there this year and in the region seems stable, but local officials are beginning to doubt that is a good indicator, because families with children have deeper roots in the community and are less likely to leave in a downturn.  Housing may be a better indicator — a large Watford City apartment complex reported a occupancy rate of only 60%.

TOP COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES  The Wall Street Journal produced its annual ranking of the Top 500 schools.  Schools 1-400 were ranked; those in the 401-500 range were unranked and listed in alphabetic order.  The Top 100 included two Minnesota schools: Macalester (#77) and the U. of Minnesota Twin Cities (#91).  Seven Minnesota private schools fell in the 201-400 rankings.  The over 400 alphabetical listing included three additional Minnesota schools plus Augustana in SD, Carroll College in MT, and UND and NDSU in ND.  Don’t try to find public schools from MT or SD in the Top 500— they aren’t there.  Hope this doesn’t dent any self-images.

HOSPITAL COSTS  A consulting firm made a comprehensive study of hospital costs in ND.  The study raised numerous questions, but provided few explanations.  For example, ND has the highest per-capita hospital expenses in the nation, yet has below average monthly premiums for health insurance.  Average hospital salaries in ND rank near the top and the state has the fifth highest number of hospital beds per-capita.  Next step, state health officials will try to explain and reconcile the findings.

FILIPINO NURSES are popular in ND and are a reason immigrants from the Phillipines are a large part of ND’s foreign-born population.  The nurses are recruited by firms specializing in the Philippines and the nurses work at ND hospitals on two or three-year contracts, often migrating to states such as California after completing their contracts.  The majority of ND’s immigrants work in health care.  Overall, only five percent of ND’s population was born in another country — a small proportion compared to other states.  

HOTSPOT  Burleigh and Morton counties (Bismarck-Mandan) lead ND with more than one out of four active coronavirus cases.  They also usually lead the state in daily new cases.  One startling statistic — last Saturday, Morton County had all of the state’s eight coronavirus deaths (due to a lag in reporting related to a nursing home in Glen Ullin).  Burleigh-Morton has the majority of the state’s active long-term care cases.  Cass County has 40% of the state’s coronavirus deaths.

“HIGH AND STAYING HIGH,” a reference by the NYTimes to the surge in the level of coronavirus cases in the ND region, including SD, Wisconsin, Iowa, Montana and Minnesota.  ND set records for new and active cases during the week and led the nation in new cases per capita last week.

EACH TO HIS OWN  Rich Solberg, a Minot sculptor of folksy metal work, has an idiosyncratic style, but is locally popular and has won Best of Show prizes at the State Fair.  To give you an idea of his work — his sculpture of the Last Supper has disciples formed from railroad spikes.  One of his eye-catching pieces is an intricate metal skelton astride a motorcycle.

DAKTOIDS:  Happy sounds — WalletHub designated Minnesota the third happiest state; ND the seventh . . . Among the states, MN has the most Norwegians, ND has the highest percentage . . . ND is capturing 88% of its natural gas — the target increases to 91% on Nov. 1.