This story --- today's date -- has been reported for the past three years in the Bakken.
Think it’s difficult to get a room in Dickinson? Well, it is.By the way, someone has noted that one cannot get a room in Bismarck when the legislature is in session, or when the Jehovah Witnesses host their annual convention there. Just saying.
People looking for a place to stay overnight have had a hard time finding one because Dickinson has the highest reported occupancy rate in North Dakota, officials said Friday.
“I would suggest whoever is (making reservations), make them as soon as they know what’s going on,” said Nodak Motel manager and owner Scott Martin. [Well, duh -- we've been saying that for three years.]
City Administrator Shawn Kessel said a star report, which is a voluntary survey for hotels, revealed that Dickinson had a 90 percent occupancy rate as of November. Minot was second at 89 percent and Bismarck stood at nearly 78 percent.
And then, this article -- wow! Again, remember The Dickinson Press is now published by the folks from Minnesota -- which explains everything.
Reflecting a growing concern about the pace and scope of western North Dakota’s oil boom, a weekly newspaper editor in northwestern North Dakota recently appealed for the state to declare the region “an economic disaster area” because of the burgeoning oil industry.All I can say is that smarter folks than I are solving these problems every day.
Cecile Krimm, editor of the Crosby Journal, wrote that the economic crisis facing the area is “a societal disease characterized by skyrocketing rents, an inadequate labor pool and the complete overwhelming of existing public infrastructure.”
She suggested that the state cap the number of drilling rigs that can be operating at any one time and take other steps to slow the pace of development.
“This isn’t about wanting to go back to the way things used to be, but about the government taking steps to ensure basic public safety,” she wrote.
The writer should look at how the industry is building 2,000 homes in Williston and 500 homes in Watford City with almost no local construction workers, just as a start.
It might open her/his eyes. The last line of the article: Haga is a reporter for the Grand Forks Herald, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.
It was also interesting to note that the writer quotes another source, but does not provide a link so readers can read the entire article, and not rely on someone else's reporting.
It appears, without question, that in the past six months The Dickinson Press has moved even farther into the anti-growth arena. In my mind, at least, it has lost its journalistic balance, and has become a tabloid at best, and a blog at worst.
My hunch is that the Minnesota folks are planning to buy the Williston Herald.
Chuck Haga used to be a reporter fir the Minneapolis, Star Tribune. I had a few run ins with him a decade back.
ReplyDeleteI agree the Dickinson Press is sounding a lot like the craziness of liberal media. The Minnesota insanity is spreading into North Dakota. They just don't give up and oh how love to tell others what should be done. After all the Dakotas can't possibly survive without the superior intelligence of Minnesota's progressive liberals. Most people look at them as a joke. Hopefully the Williston Herald doesn't fall into their hands.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to believe people buy into the anti-growth mentality. Send them to Detroit where there isn't growth, just decline. Even the Twin Cities is very anemic with houses still not appreciating in value.
Wow, the dots are starting to connect. Hmmm ... a writer once for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and now the Grand Forks Herald. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteTo CRC: it is my experience that the "haves" and the "elitists" are the first to be anti-growth.
ReplyDeleteIt is the "have-nots" and the 99% (as the Occupy Wall Street would say) that suffer.
There are a lot of great folks earning great salaries in the oil patch. The average salary in the North Dakota oil patch is $106,000. That's the average.
Chuck Haga first worked at the Herald, then at the Star-Tribune, and then back again to the Herald. Haga is the Herald's star reporter - as Haga wrote nearly every article that took down the Fighting Sioux nickname.
ReplyDeleteMike Jacobs, the editor of the GF Herald, has been reassigned to start a new news gathering operation for Forum Communications, which appears to be focused on the Bakken and issues in NW North Dakota. With the growth in the Bakken, that company sees visions of dollar signs dancing in their head. The Minot-Williston corridor may end up being more important economically and politically in ND than the Fargo-Grand Forks corridor, and they don't want to miss out.
Jacobs is originally from Stanley and is about as liberal as they come. He was a far left activist at UND during the late 60's and early 70's and his political leanings now probably are more closely aligned with Ralph Nader. In his view, Government always knows best.
I believe Chuck Haga is also from NW North Dakota (possibly Crosby), so its' not like Haga doesn't know the territory somewhat. The story originated in the Crosby newspaper, which is the historical birthplace of the Non-Partisan League (NPL): a decidedly partisan political organization that at its birth and even now can only be described as socialist with a populist twist. Although Williston is historically conservative, the Norwegian immigrants and their descendants in the countryside of Williams/Mountrail/Divide/Burke counties seen to be either rabid liberals or ultraconservative. The liberals made government their savior, while the conservatives made God their their savior.
The Forum Communications group is a powerful (owns WDAY, WDAZ, (TV stations in Fargo and Grand Forks), TV stations in Bismarck and Minot, the Fargo Forum, GF Herald, Jamestown Sun, Dickin Press, Aberdeen, Bemidji, a number of other smaller dailies in Minnesota, Duluth papers, as well as a ton of suburban MSP papers). The majority owner of Forum Communications, Marcil (first name escapes me) also has a number of real estate holdings in Williston.
Wow, a lot of dots were connected.
ReplyDeleteThat's why when I want real up to date on the spot news and not slanted opinions I read blogs and utilize youtube. The internet is changing the way people receive their information, for the better I hope.
ReplyDeleteBlogs? For up-to-date material, but not for "fair and balanced." Most blogs (including mine) have a strong editorial slant, one way or the other.
ReplyDelete