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.