Bakken Economy -- December 12, 2015; NDSU Going For 5-Peat In FSC Football

FSC Football: 2015 FCS playoff bracket final four: North Dakota State going for 5-peat.

The 2015 FCS Playoff Final Four is set. The 24-team field has been winnowed down to only four teams, and those final four include some surprises. Jacksonville State, the top overall seed in the field this year, will face Sam Houston State, and on the other side of the bracket, No. 7 seed Richmond will take on No. 3 North Dakota State.

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Bakken Economy

From the Williston Wire:

Proceeds from the voter-approved Public Safety Sales Tax are going to help purchase $3 million in new equipment and vehicles for the Williston Fire Department. 

The first phase of a new Williston wastewater treatment plant is complete, greatly reducing the impact the growing city is having on the Missouri River. New equipment at Williston's plant is allowing the city to significantly cut back on how much wastewater is discharged into a marsh where several fish kills were reported earlier this year. 

In Crosby, the days of $3,000 a month rent may be over. Landlords and property managers in Crosby last week shared their observations about the apparent bursting of Crosby's housing bubble. The developer of Crosby Flats and the Northern Lights Apartments placed the occupancy of his Crosby rentals at about 80 percent. Rents may be dropping about 30% in Crosby.

Minot: The Magic City Apartment Association is pushing for an end to the development of more low-income housing projects in Minot, arguing that the city has plenty of affordable housing already. 

The City of Tioga is gauging its rental costs and occupancy.  Olson Apartments and Olson Duplexes has been hovering around 60 to 65 percent full since the slowdown in the oil industry began last year. Like Williston, the Tioga Commission has signaled it's considering whether to eliminate some of the temporary housing in town.
  
Senator John Hoeven has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Agency has approved a $600,000 loan guarantee for Northland Health Partners Community Health Center in Ray. The funding will be used to renovate an existing building into a medical and dental clinic. 

Sears opens in Sidney, "store in a store" concept.

Delta suspended its twice-daily flights between Dickinson and Minneapolis on December 1, citing a lack of profitability and demand. Another issue weighing on the airport is a slump in boarding numbers. About 37,000 boardings were recorded through October this year, which is around a 24 percent decrease to last year's boardings over the same period last year.