Headline Worse Than The Bite -- Moody's Downgrades Williston Public School District 1 -- August 23, 2017

A reader spotted this; thank you.

Link here.

It will make borrowing costs more expensive, but the reasons for the downgrade point out good news for the Bakken economy in the big scheme of things.

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Wow! No, WOW Air

Link here at USA Today. Can St. Louis support a non-stop route to Iceland? How about Cleveland, Cincinnati and Detroit?

Icelandic budget carrier WOW Air thinks so, and – with fares that begin at less than $100 one-way – it’s betting those Midwest markets will be profitable additions to its fast-growing U.S. network.

WOW Air announced service from the four cities on Wednesday, an expansion that will give it a total of 12 U.S. destinations.

WOW's new routes will launch this spring, with tickets going on sale Wednesday. One-way fares to Iceland will start at $99.99 from all four cities. Connecting flights to WOW’s other European destinations begin at $149.99.

"Icelandic Air" from wiki:

The late 1960s were an exciting time for Loftleiðir.

In 1969 the company acquired International Air Bahama, a small airline operating Douglas DC-8 jet aircraft out of the Bahamas with transatlantic nonstop service between Nassau and Luxembourg, and a year later Loftleiðir became one of the founders of Cargolux, a cargo airline.

Also in 1970, Loftleiðir entered the jet age with its first two Douglas DC-8 aircraft. During those years, Loftleiðir was often referred to, even by the company's own staff, as "the Hippie Airline" or even "the Hippie Express".

Loftleiðir was not famous for speed or punctuality, but flying with the company became a sort of rite of passage for young "hippies" from America traveling to Europe, one of whom was future president of the United States Bill Clinton.

I took "Icelandic Air" round-trip to Europe in the summer of 1973.  I took out a loan of $1,000 from my mother for one summer of traveling to Europe and back. That $1,000 included air fare to Europe from NYC, round trip; three months of traveling in Europe; flight from NYC to Minneapolics and Amtrak home from Minneapolis to Williston. I returned with $400 from the original $1,000. And yes, I paid my mom back, in full, the $1,000. I do not believe she charged me any interest.

My one book in my backpack: Europe on less than a dollar / day. and I stayed will below a dollar/day, average, while on the ground in Europe. I was probably in Europe for two full months, but a week or so on either end in the states, making NYC connections.

Except for two weeks in German hostels, I never paid for a room at night. The Germans hostels or inns generally set me back one dollar a night, and that included breakfast. All lodging -- except those ten nights or so in Germany -- was with friends in Europe; with a US Navy family member in Naples, Italy (two or three nights); camping out; with a Portuguese farm family for a week; overnight trains or plane flights.

I bought a Eurailpass stateside before leaving for Europe. 

I hitchhiked from Williston to NYC. A small amount of travel in Europe was hitchhiking. Other than the air flight, Amtrak back in the states on the return trip, and the Eurailpass, there were no other travel expenses. No credit cards. No cell phone. I must have carried about $600 in cash while in Europe. I don't recall.

Museums always had a "free day" but museums were not at the top of my list of things to do.

It's hard to believe, now, a backpack and a sleeping bag and that was it. I remember the backpack vividly. It was the best backpack I ever had.