Baby Boom In Dickinson; New Town, ND, Hits School Enrollment Record; Great News For Shut-Ins, Elderly, Folks Without Cars, Others -- McDonald's To Test UberEATS Delivery -- December 16, 2016

Link here. Test will be three sites in Florida -- lots of older, senior citizens: Miami, Orlando, Tampa -- 200 McDonald's restaurants; hopes to roll out system-wide in 2018. Story also notes fast food restaurants impressed with sales generated from "apps." Folks order food on-line, then pick-up at fast food restaurant. I've already seen that phenomenon here in north Texas. It's really quite remarkable.

***********************

Bakken Economy

From The Williston Wire:

Stanley, ND needs larger post office:

With the growth of the Stanley community, the US Postal Service is considering relocation of their facility in Stanley. They have outgrown their current space  which is 1,872 square feet. A public meeting was held at Stanley City Hall on Dec. 5 to discuss the options and reasons for the move. USPS Real Estate Specialist Greg Shelton  said they have identified five different potential locations, four of which would involve building of a new facility. The fifth would see them moving into the former Food Pride store just off of Main Street.

New Town school enrollment hits record:

The New Town School Board took another step to cope with an influx of students that continues to grow in spite of a drop in oilfield activity. Edwin Loe Elementary School Principal Rick Lindblad told the board that elementary enrollment in grades K through 5 exceeded 500 students for the first time this month. Superintendent Marc Bluestone asked the board to consider transferring $1 million from the district's oil revenue to the building fund. The board agreed to the request. "We are at an all time high with enrollment," Bluestone said.

Dickinson baby boom -- from myndnow:   

Since [oil] prices and production of oil dropped, many people left Dickinson, but young families decided to stay.

That caused a baby boom. Since 2008, CHI St. Alexius hospital have seen an increase in births every year.

This year, they're on pace to deliver more than 700 babies. That's the most since the last oil boom in the 80s.

CHI St. Alexius Dr. William Lowe has been at the hospital for three years, but has been a doctor for more than four decades. It's safe to say, he's been pretty busy.

"We've been doing about 40-50 deliveries a month. We've had 19 so far this month. We are on scale to have 40-50 this month.  Myself and Doctor Arnold have 160 due between now and June. We have 30 due in February and 25 due in March.  "