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Tuesday, September 09, 2014

SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

MUSHROOMING TAX REVENUES ARE HARD TO ESTIMATE ND appears headed for a general fund surplus of $600 million at June 2015 -- greatly above the initial forecast of $80 million. There were two distinctly different political reactions: State Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, said “forecasts are based on what’s known at the time . . . and we like to be conservative.” Sen. Minority Leader Mac Schneider, D-Grand Forks, said the forecasts are “entirely unreliable” and are used to “shoot down arguments for sending more funding to oil-impacted counties.”

WHOA NELLIE! A measure on ND’s fall ballot would allocate a portion of oil taxes to conservation funds -- backers initially estimated about $75 million a year. More recent estimates suggest it could be as much as $150 million a year. Higher estimates make passage of the measure less likely -- voters may consider the measure too rich and potentially wasteful.

IS MINNESOTA BULLIED? “If you’re going to kick sand in the face of Minnesota ... it will come back to haunt you. I’m certain of that.” -- This scary talk was directed at ND by Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton at a public meeting in Breckenridge, MN, largely attended by people opposing the F-M flood diversion project. The image of “kicking sand in someone’s face” comes from old advertising aimed at selling body building equipment to bully victims. Updating the image, Dayton suggests ND is the bully and MN is the frail victim. Let’s see, MN’s population of 5.4 million is about eight times that of ND; their economies have roughly the same proportion. Who is the likely bully?

WHERE’S THE MONEY? The Fort Berthold Reservation produces nearly a third of ND’s total oil production and oil revenues are rolling into the Three Affiliated Tribes. Damon Williams, the tribal attorney, is one of the candidates in this fall’s chairman race, he said, “Revenue has steadily increased over the past several years, but no one knows where the money’s going.” Another candidate said, "The people are looking for a change in leadership, they really are. They want transparency, they want to know and they have the right to know." The tribes are notoriously secretive.

HAMID SHIRVANI, the former chancellor of the ND University System, was essentially run out of the state by supporters and administrators at schools wanting to protect their turf. But Shirvani left behind a powerful set of recommended reforms called Pathways to Student Success. The most notable feature would raise admissions standards at UND and NDSU.

LISTEN TO SHIRVANI Tom Dennis of the GF Herald interviewed Grant Shaft, a member of the State Board of Higher Education, and asked Shaft if he would like to see the board assert more authority in implementing Pathways. Shaft said “the answer is a very strong yes” and he believes that while enrollments might dip, they would come back strong with more academically qualified student bodies.

THE TWIN TO THE SOUTH Since statehood, ND and SD were two peas in a pod. In 1980, SD’s economy began pulling away from ND due to legal reforms which attracted financial companies to SD. Choke on this, the Economist says SD has more bank assets than any other state. The situation abruptly changed again about five years ago. Now, it’s ND and its oil industry that are loud and boisterous.

DOING WELL However, SD quietly remains one of the more successful states in the nation. It has a better location than ND -- SD is well situated for transportation and is closer to population centers. SD taxes are low and the state stands to gain business from Minnesota. The most glaring negative in SD is the Indian reservations -- some predominantly Indian counties have the lowest per capita incomes in the country. SD has a larger and poorer Indian population than ND.

 

BRAZILIAN GOES WEST Bill Marcil Jr., the publisher of the Fargo Forum, writes occasional editorials -- they are often personal and sometimes emotional. Last Sunday he described a family rode trip to Medora to see the Badlands and attend a summer outdoor musical, a tradition of his family. The motor home trip included his Brazilian mother-in-law as well as his immediate family. One of their stops was Jamestown and the buffalo museum. Marcil reported the reaction: “My mother-in-law, who speaks very little English, was in heaven. She had read about the American west all her life and here for the first time, she was walking down a small slice of what our beautiful country once looked like.”

 

LOLA FORGOT SHE WAS A VICTIM We hear it every day -- growing up in a poor community with weak schools dooms your future. The late Lola Schott (79) of Mandan didn’t know that -- her generation was not informed. Lola attended a one-room school in the Standing Rock Reservation and graduated from a boarding school in McLaughlin, SD. She persevered and attended colleges in Oregon before marrying and raising three sons. After her children were grown, Lola graduated with honors from the U. of Mary in Bismarck with a degree in education. She taught for nearly 20 years, became a leader in national and international service projects for the United Methodist Church and was also president of the Women’s Auxiliary of the International Conference of Police Chaplains. Too bad, Lola didn’t know she was doomed by poor circumstances.

 

MINNESOTA TERRORISTS The puzzling behavior of Somali men with Minnesota connections continues. Previously, over 20 young men from Minnesota left to fight in Somalia -- they are presumed dead. Another cycle appears to have started. Abdirahmaan Muhumed (29) and Douglas McCain (33) have been killed fighting for the terrorist group ISIL in Syria. The men were not considered to be ideological, rather they were viewed as light-hearted, somewhat goofy individuals. The StarTribune generously said they had minor criminal records -- in McCain’s case, that meant eight arrests in ten years in the Minneapolis area. Muhumed leaves nine children. The FBI in Minneapolis is heavily involved in trying to understand and limit the radicalization of young Somalis.

 

WARRIORS While the behavior of the young men is generally viewed with alarm, there is a different view among some Minnesota Somalis. A friend of Muhumed’s complimented him for going to fight and, according to the StarTrib, described him thusly: “Beautiful strong Somali soldier is what you are, your a warrior, a brave-heart Muslim warrior.” One of the obvious concerns -- some of the warriors will trickle back into the U.S. and may land in Minnesota.

 

SWEET NORTH DAKOTA Those words are usually not in the same sentence, but perhaps they should be. ND leads in honey production -- 22 percent of the national total. You could be stung -- over 500,000 bee colonies are registered in the state.

 

DAKTOIDS: Where are the Fighting Sioux? In their season opener, the UND football team lost 42-10 at San Jose State. NDSU won 34-14 at Big 12 Iowa State . . . Lay off the chocolate cake -- ND's adult obesity rate was 31 percent and 14th highest in the country. Both were the highest in state history.

 

 

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