Dakota Beacon

1. THE ECONOMY -- HOW GOOD?  It’s too early to make precise comparisons, but in some ways 2009 may have been as good a year as the state’s banner 2008.  The state had great years in the past, but they were likely to have been one-legged wheat years.  In both 2008 and 2009, farming, energy, tourism and main street all turned in good reports.  What really distinguished 2009 was the way in which ND stood out among other states.  By most measures of growth and stability, ND was one of the top states in the country.

2. BAKKEN BOOM  The year began with lowered expectations -- oil prices were soft and drilling rigs were leaving the state.  Then prices firmed and production growth resumed -- 2009 was a year of record production and ND became the No. 4 oil producing state.  The Bakken Formation, which is mostly in ND, was hailed as the biggest oil play in the country.  The number of ND millionaires doubled and Williston had the highest wages in the state.

3. FLOODING  A geologist said the Red River Valley is made to flood: the river is a small, twisting channel on a flat flood plain.  It flows north and is prone to ice blocks, because snow first melts in the south.  In March, the Valley had some of the worst flooding in history -- schools closed in Fargo and 10,000 volunteers manned temporary dikes.  Disaster was close, but as one Fargo official said, “But nobody’s bailing.  We are Norwegians, Germans, stubborn and fighters.  This is our place and we’ll stay.”  They didn’t bail, but emerged tired and scared, prepared to make permanent flood control one of their first priorities.

4. BAD BOY OF THE VALLEY  That’s what a Fargo Forum writer called the Sheyenne River as it boiled out of its banks and brought Valley City to a standstill.  Valley City State closed a month early and 1,000 students went home.  It was near this time that a Devils Lake delegation warned Valley City of an additional danger -- the uncontrolled overflow of Devils Lake into the Sheyenne River.  Devils Lake officials proposed an alternative, slowly lowering the lake by draining it into the Sheyenne via the Tolna Coulee.  Devils Lake’s main point -- the water will come down the Sheyenne one way or the other.

5. THE UND FIGHTING SIOUX NICKNAME  It’s not over yet -- the controversy rages on with new legs.  Early in the year, it looked as if the Board of Higher Education was poised to drive a stake in the heart of the nickname.  Then a strange thing happened -- the real Sioux at the Spirit Lake Reservation donned their Fighting Sioux gear and voted to support the nickname.  If necessary, they were prepared to litigate to keep it.  This turned everything upside down.  Not withstanding the whining of the Fargo Forum -- the issue is still undecided.

6. NDSU HITS A BUMP  The university began the year at the top of its game:  Record enrollment, Division I football success and bold expansion into a downtown Fargo campus.  President Joe Chapman had anything he wanted, including a new house and a charter flight to Washington, D.C. for his entire family.  Life was good!  Then the wheels slowly began falling off.  The new house was way over budget, the charter flight was not a good idea, the football team tanked and Joe resigned.  At yearend, Joe’s successor was picking through a surprise budget shortfall and had suspended faculty hiring.  The year ended symbolically when the wall of a large campus building collapsed.

7. SINGING THE BLUES  Blue Cross Blue Shield of ND could scarcely have had a worse year.  It wasn’t enough that sales executives took luxury junkets and the CEO was accused of excessive drinking, lying and upsetting regulators -- he got a $2.2 million “golden parachute” when fired.  A special report by the state insurance department woefully concluded millions had been misspent and “board and management did not act in the best interest of members.” 

8. FARGO II -- a plot worthy of the Coen Brothers.  A widowed Fargo dentist was found brutally murdered, his apartment ransacked, his car missing and his 3-year-old daughter orphaned.  The alleged murderer and the car were soon spotted in Oklahoma, but it didn’t end there -- the little girl’s grandfather was charged with hiring the murder.  Now a court must decide who receives custody of the orphaned girl -- the victim’s family or the grandfather’s family.

9. TOM CLIFFORD was a man that got things done.  The legendary former president of UND deserves a big share of the credit for the university’s nationally recognized aviation program and its four-year medical school.  He was awarded the state’s Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award for his leadership.  Clifford died in February -- next May a jury will decide a dispute between his sons and their stepmother over his estate.

10.  BIG GET BIGGER.  Fargo’s MeritCare Health System merged with Sanford Health of Sioux Falls, S.D. -- each was the largest health care provider in their respective state.  Combined, they will be the largest rural health system in the country.  The merger has another significance.  It is an example of how health care providers are positioning for increased competition.

RUNNER-UPS:  Journalist Roxana Saberi, a former Miss North Dakota and Fargo resident, was imprisoned for four months in Iran . . . The Minot Air Force Base had continued slip-ups in managing nuclear weapon systems . . . Senator Kent Conrad struggled to remain a key ally of the president, while balancing the more moderate views of his ND constituents.