First rezoning, now dog park: Deja vu all over again

I've noticed some grousing about Grand Forks city leaders taking too long to come to a decision. First was the saga of the UND neighborhood rezoning, which took more than a year during which time the City Council tilted from wanting to rezone to not wanting to rezone and back to wanting to rezone. The epic of the dog park has taken two years, during which the city tilted from a dog park at Lions Park to one downtown and now back to the Lions Park idea.

Dakota Huseby had a posting today criticizing the city's chronic indecisiveness and some City Beat readers have expressed similar sentiments.

I'm sometimes seen as being too friendly to City Hall -- I don't think my pals at the Alerus Center would agree -- but I think there's a good explanation for this tilting back and forth. And the explanation is this: Sometimes the least worst solution doesn't seem like the least worst until you take a closer look at the alternatives.

The initial decision to abandon Lions Park site had to do with the relatively high cost -- $49,000 or so. City staff then went for a really low cost solution, a downtown site isolated enough that it doesn't require fencing. Well, it turns out the council hates the thought of dogs running loose more than the thought of paying $49,000 (or more). It just didn't realize it until the fenceless idea came up.

Calendar: Busy weekend ahead

* Meet and greet Grand Forks women candidates Sue Anne Frasier, Julie Jeske and Diane Knauf at 5 p.m. today at the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center. Map is here.

* Relay For Life benefitting the American Cancer Society starts Friday evening at University Park. Shameless self-promotion starts now: My team, Team Dewey (Kvidt), is raising money so click here to donate. More info on the event is here. See you there.

* The next day, Saturday, noon to 3 p.m., the city's celebrating National Trails Day at Lincoln Drive Park. There will be geocaching demos by Scheel's, biking gear demos by the Ski & Bike Shop and cheap bike helmets for sale by Safe Kids GF.

By the way, that pedestrian bridge by Lincoln Golf Course is open but there aren't any trails yet any connecting trail in East Grand Forks. I went off road this weekend to see what was on the other side and found a "No Trespassing" sign. What gives? Nobody lives there and you can see by the ruts in the dirt that construction crews have been trespassing. Somebody needs a reality check.

* As if the trail thing wasn't enough, there's all that music at the Town Square Sound Fair, 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday at Town Square downtown. More info here. Gentle music 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Northland Community and Technical College talent show 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., and rock and rap 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Oh yeah, it's FREE.

Holy heck! Are they trying to kill us?

Have your say on dog park

Man, the power of the people is potent.

You people said you hated that fenceless dog park proposal and -- WHAM -- the Grand Forks City Council came down on it like a ton of bricks.

City staff's now reviving an old dog park proposal at Lions Park, at the corner of 24th Avenue South and South 34th Street. It will have fencing and won't be anywhere near the river. Flooding river water is why they'd wanted a fenceless dog park in the first place, due to fears of flood debris snagging on the fences.

Only problem is there ain't a whole lot of parking spots at Lions Park, all of which are street parking used by apartment residents, most of whom probably aren't allowed to own pets. That means the city would have to spend a lot of moola to build a new parking lot. Total cost, including fencing and paving: In excess of $49,000.

Residents will have their say at two separate public meetings this week and the next.

The one for the fenceless park downtown will be at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, in room A101 at City Hall. The one for the Lions Park site will be at 7 p.m., June 6, in the library at Century Elementary School.

It's a race, so let's bet

Two weeks to go before the election, people. Who's gonna win?

Some readers asked what my thoughts were. My thoughts are: Your chances would be better with a Magic 8-Ball.

Therefore I defer to the wisdom of the blogosphere. Who do you guys think will win? Not who you think ought to win, but who really will win.

Click here to take the survey. It's anonymous and I won't know who voted for whom. That means I'm counting on your honor not to engage in any Internet shenanigans, like, say, that "freeping" incident back in 2004 in which a council candidate asked members of a conservative Web site to bombard a Web survey put out by KNOX radio's Dakota Huseby.

The survey closes at noon, June 7.

By the way, the Magic 8-ball says Mike McNamara will win Ward 2 and Art Bakken will win in Ward 6.

The 8-ball's not so sure about Mac, though. It wouldn't answer the first two times I asked but gave the thumbs up the third time around. It likes Art more, but would only say "outlook good" the first time around before settling on "signs point to yes."

Five questions for council candidates

The City Beat spent last week interviewing candidates for Grand Forks City Council and, frankly, they're all starting to sound alike.

I knew this would happen. Who doesn't want to cut property taxes this year?

So, to set these candidates apart, I decided to throw in a little political philosophy. All the candidates were given five statements, which they had to rank from 1 to 6, 1 being complete disagreement and 6 being complete agreement.

The statements are as follows:

1) The city should not provide services that the private sector can provide.
2) More mills must be cut even if that means reducing services.
3) The answer to a social problem is new laws.
4) Charging fees for services ("pay-to-play") is more fair than using tax dollars.
5) The current city government is open and transparent.

Here's how the candidates replied.

Just to amuse myself, I divided the statements into "conservative" and "liberal," ignoring the fifth one, which is neither. Then I graphed the candidates' answers and named the graph "Who's most conservative?" Don't take it seriously, I was just fooling around. Labels are stupid.

The idea came from some political orientation tests I'd taken in the past. The tests are supposed demonstrate that "conservative" and "liberal" aren't nuanced enough to describe a person's true political leanings. One example is the test at the Political Compass Web site. I took the test and it says I'm a Commie, just like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

Dike costs go up

The City Beat reported earlier this week that the House was contemplating allocating $12 million for the Grand Cities' dike project.

It was kinda late in the day when I got the news so I didn't have a chance to ask why we're getting that much when the $40 million we got for this fiscal year was supposed to get us to "substantial completion."

Looks like the main reason is that dike costs just jumped recently. The last update we got from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was in March when it was $407.8 million. But now the corps' estimating $416.7 million.

Bonnie Greenleaf, the corps project manager, said labor costs hadn't been updated in a while and, as the project progressed, engineers discovered it needed some modifications.

But the important thing is that the project is still on track for substantial completion at the end of the year.

No wait, we are No. 2

I was wrong. We probably are No. 2.

North Dakota is No. 2, at any rate, and has been since 1999.

But let's look at the stats carefully before we come to the conclusion that we're the second most drunk state in the union.

The data came from annual surveys conducted by state governments on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The question posed is this: "Considering all types of alcoholic beverages, how many times during the past 30 days did you have 5 or more drinks on an occasion?"

Among North Dakotans surveyed in 2005, 18.9 percent said at least once. That's down from the peak in 1999 when 35.7 percent said the same thing. I suspect there was some change in the question between 2001 and 2002, though, because of the dramatic decline in binge drinking everywhere.

But the general trend is this: Fewer North Dakotans are binge drinking, which closely tracks national trends.

Prior to 2002, the CDC also gather data on how often people were binge drinking. When it came to binging five or more times a month, West Virginia was tops in 2001, followed by Delaware and Arkansas. North Dakota was No. 26.

When you go to four times or less a month, we shoot up to No. 1 and stayed there with three times or less, two times or less or once a month.

Which looks like a lot of us like to whoop it up, up to four times a month. I'm assuming that's going to be every Saturday, though we must have drawn the line at drinking on Sunday.

But there's another category of data and it paints a slightly different picture.

Heavy drinking is defined as having two or more drinks a day for a man and one or more for a woman.

Here, North Dakota is virtually the same as the national average. Wisconsin has been No. 1 since 2003 while North Dakota is solidly in the middle. In 2005, we were No. 25, in 2004 No. 21 and in 2003 No.26.

Here the trend is the same as before: Fewer North Dakotans are drinking heavily.

You're probably wondering where I'm coming from with all this.

Full disclosure: I do drink and, once in a while, I do fit that description of the binge drinker.

But my problem is with the fixation on that No. 2 ranking. It has the potential to inflate a health issue into a public scare. I remember back in the late 1980s when my mom read a story in the paper about this chemical called Alar that was used in apples to make them look nicer. The story said Alar could cause cancer. So for a couple of months, we didn't dare eat apples and neither did a lot of our neighbors.

Quess what? It turned out that you'd have to drink 5,000 gallons of apple juice a day to get cancer from Alar. But, thanks to bad research amplified by the news media, people like my mom really thought they were in danger.

So, now that I'm a member of the news media, I'll be damned if I do the same thing to my readers.

That being said, drinking too much is still a bad thing. Here's how the CDC defines it. See if you fit the description:

A person may be said to be “drinking too much” or engaging in “excessive drinking” if they exceed either the guidelines for daily alcohol consumption, or the guidelines for average daily alcohol consumption. Among men, excessive drinking may be defined as more than 4 drinks per day, or an average of more than 2 drinks per day over a 7 or 30 day period. Among women, excessive drinking may be defined as more than 3 drinks per day, or an average of more than 1 drink per day over a 7- or 30- day period (NIAAA, 2004). However, current guidelines specify that certain individuals (e.g., youth under age 21 years, pregnant women, and persons recovering from alcoholism) should not drink at all. Among these individuals, any alcohol consumption may be too much. In addition, anyone who chooses to drink should be aware that individual reactions to alcohol can vary greatly. Therefore, when in doubt about whether it’s appropriate to drink, and if so, how much, it is always best to consult one’s own personal physician.

Also, for those that don't want to go through the CDC Web site, I've done some homework so here it is.

Are we really No. 2?

I never really paid much attention to that story about Grand Forks' No. 2 ranking for binge drinking. But with attention focused on drinking at City Hall lately, I went and checked to see where we now stand. Didn't find what I wanted but I did notice that the data researchers used were from 1997 and 1999.

Now, I know that we do have more than a few beers around here but didn't anybody think that we had good reason back in 1997? Or even in 1999 when we were paying flood debt and flood insurance (and still do)?

So, maybe we're not really No. 2.

No. 10 is still bad but I don't think this much attention would've been brought to the issue without that No. 2 ranking.

Oh, the search engine also popped up a study on college binge drinking. What it says is a) students who go to college in binge drinking states end up binge drinking themselves and b) law that limit high volume sales of alcohol:

These laws include statutes that mandate registering kegs, make it illegal to drive with blood alcohol levels of .08 percent or higher, and place restrictions on happy hours, open containers, beer sold in pitchers, and billboards and other types of alcohol advertising.

After vainly scouring the Web for this report, which the moron press release above said would be fully available, I finally tried the state's Odin library network. If you want to see it, click here. From the menu, select Databases, then eLibrary, then eLibrary again. Enter your barcode and password, probably your last name, and do a search for "State sets the rate."

Keeping booze out of the hands of babes 2

Got a call today from The ANSWER's Dave Frisch, who wanted a chance to explain the Grand Forks alcohol taskforce's position without getting peppered with a billion questions by the City Council.

Fair enough.

First of all, he said, that whole bartender license thing was only the smallest first step in changing our booze-crazy culture. He figures the $10 licensing fee isn't that much money, especially stretched over the three-year life of the license, so he's not sure why the council was so upset about it.

At any rate, he said, the point of the training is to get those bartenders to help the cops catch minors trying to buy booze. With only about five cops on duty at night, he said, they can't be checking every bar. On the other hand, he also admits that they can't be answering every bartender's call, either.

East Grand Forks' Sgt. Mike Swang said he heard the GFPD doesn't even want to be called. Just keep those fake IDs and turn them in at the end of the month, he said.

OK, so what about the fact that 65 percent of minors say they get their booze from friends or a family member? Why don't you try increasing the fines on those people?

That's kinda the next step, Frisch said. There's a community discussion that needs to take place first.

I gotta a one-track mind but I keep thinking: Didn't we try that before with that town hall meeting in March? Organizers booked the Chester Fritz Auditorium, which seats, like, 2,400 and got 100 people to show up.

Personally, I think the problem's not the drinking -- kids in France drink wine at the table -- it's the reason for drinking. They're drinking to be drunk and that's the most dangerous reason.

In the meantime, the East Grand Forks City Council discussed the bartender license ordinance and didn't have any problems with it.

Council member Glen Trembath, like those council members in Grand Forks, asked about penalties for minors using false ID.

City attorney Ron Galstad said it's in a state statute but he doubts it deters anyone. "I'm telling you, there isn't a judge that's going to fine a minor $1,000!"

By the way, the humorous image above comes by way of the Strange Persons Web site.

Update 9:34 p.m., 5/24/06: Frisch sent over some data today about the rate at which bartenders in Fargo and Grand Forks checked ID. Tsk tsk, Grand Forks. You can't let Fargo beat you like that?? Where's the spirit, huh?

Going, gone in EGF

East Grand Forks City Council is talking about replacing retiring or retired or departing or departed department heads.

Ya gotta ask, which department head does EGF have that's not bolting?

Here's who's going or gone.

1) Fire chief: Frank Ringstad's gone. There's talk of consolidating the fire chief and fire marshal position to save $65,000. City leaders want to promote from within though they'll probably advertise just to get some competition. Acting chief Randy Gust is considered a strong contender.

2) Park and recreation director: Dale Skyberg is gone June 30. Council member Henry Tweten said the ideal candidate would be organized and get along with other department heads. Hmmm, is he implying something? Skyberg's gotten in some hot water before for seeking to spend money on things not in the budget.

3) City administrator: Craig Mattson is gone and finance chief Wayne Oberg has taken his spot in the interim. The city's posted the job and has gotten some calls, according to mayor's assistant Michelle Hall.

4) Police chief: No talk yet of replacing Mike Lealos, who's retiring Oct. 17, 2007.

5) Building official: Jerry Skyberg is retiring next year but there's some question of whether to replace him.

6) City planner: Ryan Brooks is taking another job. He's working for the city by way of the Metropolitan Planning Organization so MPO chief Earl Haugen will decide on his replacement.

Here's who's staying, so far.

Going down the line in the city directory, there's city attorney Ron Galstad, city engineer Greg Boppre, economic development chief Jim Richter, head librarian Charlotte Helgeson, streets and sanitation chief John Thompson, water and light general manager Dan Boyce and assessing is being done by Polk County's Terrie Bangen. The city attorney and city engineer are on contract, by the way, so not part of the city.

Ooh, 7-6! The stays win! But only because we're counting Bangen, who works for the county.

This is probably all a coincidence. Those retirement dates are kind of set.

Dragons on the Red

Be on the look out for some seriously cool looking boats on the Red River this fall.

Think of a cross between a war canoe race and some sort of oriental pageantry. The boats are skinny and long and decorated with scales and reptilian grins. Twenty sweaty paddlers provide the power, a guy banging Chinese drums provides the rhythm and a lucky guy in the back gets to steer.

Facility Marketing Group, the organizers of the Manitoba Dragon Boat Festival, said Tuesday that they're bringing their show to Grand Forks Sept. 30. They'll come back again in 2007 and 2008 and, if things work out for them, every year after that.

Credit goes to the Convention and Visitors Bureau for getting FMG down here. Scott Walker, the owner, said he was going to hit Minneapolis first but CVB people were so aggressive he decided to go with Grand Forks.

This would be yet another annual event for downtown Grand Cities. All summer we have the Farmer's Market. In June we've got ArtFest. In August we've got that Cats Incredible thing, which my stomach knows better as Chili Fest. In December we have First Night, which is really Last Night or First Morning. By attending, I'm suppose to avoid First Hangover.

Quickies: Casino update, EGF to keep PD, FD apart

* It looks like the idea of combining the East Grand Forks fire chief and the police chief position into one is no longer on the table.

Council member Henry Tweten said police chief Mike Lealos isn't retiring until 2008. And it might not be that easy to find someone who can run both the fire and police departments, he said. "That's the $64 question," he said. "It takes an unsual person to do both."

Eastside actually tried the combined chiefs position back in 1997 and 1998. Ed Leier, on loan from the state, temporarily filled the position for a year and a half before resigning.

* Whatever happened to that casino? Grand Forks City Council member Doug Christensen wants to know after months of silence from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. He's requesting the administration to get some sort of update within, say, a month. The tribe was supposed to come up with an economic impact statement earlier this year.

* If you noticed the brick flood memorial in downtown Grand Forks is gone, don't panic. City spokesman Kevin Dean said it's just been temporarily moved by contractors building the Elite Brownstones condos. The plaques that used to be on the memorial are on display in the north building of the Corporate Center at the corner of DeMers Avenue and North Fourth Street.

* Traffic signs (or lack of) is the big topic on My Grand Forks. If enough people post their gripes, maybe we can get together a wish list.

* What is it about the name Grand Forks and flooding? The town of Grand Forks, British Columbia, is on emergency footing because of the threat of flooding. Wikipedia says GF, BC, is a town of 4,000 on the border with Washington state.

* Sweet! Model U.N. enthusiasts in EGF. I used to be in Model U.N. in college. I got the Russians to stick it to the Serbs. That was cool.

Update 9:33 p.m., 5/26/06: Never too late to do a correction, I guess. Tweten actually said the chief is retiring "next year" and being the math genius that I am, I wrote "2008." It's supposed to be 2007.

Keeping booze out of the hands of babes

If you're a teen and you want booze do you a) walk into a bar knowing there's a good chance you'll get carded or b) ask a friend or a sibling to buy the booze for you?

Most teens surveyed answered "b."

So why is it that a Grand Forks task force looking to put a crimp on teen boozing proposing to license the bartenders?

That's the question some City Council members posed Monday at their meeting.

The task force wants all bartenders to get a $10 license from the city to continue doing their job. It said bartenders need training to avoid serving booze to minors and drunks, something that apparently happens more often here than in Fargo, where a licensing scheme is in place.

Under tough questioning by Council members Curt Kreun, Doug Christensen and Bob Brooks task force members, including Council member Dorette Kerian, said that the licensing is kind of the extent of what the city can do on its own.

The task force report stated that the biggest problems are cultural and PARENTAL and the city can't solve them alone.

Cultural is right. Council President Hal Gershman pointed out that the city had a town hall meeting about teen drinking in March and 100 people showed up, half of them people affiliated with community groups.

One thing the city can do is enforce existing laws more, but the question is where the money will come from.

Christensen said the city already collects $53,000 more in liquor licenses this year than the last so why not put that money to use? He figures cops could troll bars and do ID checks. If you do the math though, $53,000 is one or two extra cops and, as already established, teens aren't drinking at bars.

To see the task force's recommendations, download the council packet here and go to page 20.

I'm not supposed to have an opinion but Dakota does.

Memorial Day came early

I saw the little memorial to the left this weekend at Old Crossing Treaty Park near Crookston this weekend. Looks like someone had an early Memorial Day.

You probably can't read it but the caption on the photo says: "In memory of our Good Friend Jim Nordlum, 5-30-1953 to 4-2-2006."

A quick search of our archives shows:

Nordlum, James O. ""Jim', 52, of Fargo, ND, and former longtime Crookston, MN resident, died unexpectedly at his residence on Sunday, April 2, 2006.

So long Jim. Your friends miss you.

Quickies: Tom Paine, Dial-a-Ride, bartender licensing

Slow weekend. Got done with my weekend story but it's been held. Making statistics sing is an art and I'm no artist.

So more quickies:

* Goody, another proposed ordinance goes before the Grand Forks City Council: Requiring bartenders to get training so they don't serve minors, which means they need to pay $10 for a license. Download document and go to page 20.

* The city merges Dial-a-Ride with Senior Rider and gets fewer riders.

DAR is a subsidized taxi service for the disabled and SR is a subsidized bus service for seniors. Last year, the city abolished SR, extended DAR to seniors and gave the whole thing to the lowest bidder, Grand Forks Taxi. Seniors approved while the disabled fumed, saying the old system had two taxi companies and therefore twice as much service.

The city staff report doesn't speculate why but the number of rides provided to the disabled has dropped by 10.5 percent while rides for seniors increased 13.8 percent. It might be related to the budget crisis down at the North Dakota Association for the Disabled, whose bingo parlors have been devastated by the smoking ban. Or it might be that the disabled aren't getting the service they want.

Update 3:31 p.m., 5/22/06: For a different perspective on Dial-a-Ride, click here. It's the city bus service Web site.

* A city official passed on a favorite quote by Thomas Paine this weekend: "A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason."

Paine, a pamphleteer during the American Revolution, was referring to British governance of the colonies. More pithy quotes here.

"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."

"That government is best which governs least."

"The greatest remedy for anger is delay."

"Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man."

"Character is much easier kept than recovered."

"If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately."

And the ever popular: "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."

* Here's a little something for you bloggers. When your readers are out to get ya and you feel like flaming them, The American Prospect says don't. Blog wars don't usually end in your favor.

Quickies

* Latest survey results from GF-EGF Chamber of Commerce: 72 percent oppose tribal casino based upon current information available. That's up from about 66 percent earlier this week. Significantly the number of respondents, nearly 400 of 900-plus Chamber members, is huge compared to past surveys.

The Chamber also posted a new survey asking how concerned members are about the landfill situation. So far: 114 respondents replied with an average score of 3.6 with 1 being "not worried" and 5 being "very worried."

Update 5:44 p.m., 5/19/06: Worry index on the landfill is up to 3.72 with 173 respondents. No change in tribal casino survey other than a few more respondents.

* East Grand Forks city leaders are thinking of starting an "Adopt-a-Camp-Site" program at the Red River State Recreation Area. City Council member Wayne Gregoire said he got the suggestion from a constituent. The RRSRA is being maintained by the city under a state contract but maybe some people think it could use a little more maintenance.

* Feds arrest five illegals at GF Wal-Mart Super Center construction site. They were not working for Wal-Mart but for Ahrens Concrete out of Iowa City, Iowa, a firm working for the general contractor. I was chasing the story earlier in the week based on a tip but Grand Forks Guy had it first here. Then I noticed WDAZ had it, too. Damn you Lacey Crisp!

I dreamed of Clarence Vetter

The City Beat had some seriously weird dreams last night.

I was walking with my dad on a flooded street that looked a lot like the business loop on U.S. Highway 2 in East Grand Forks.

Of all people, City Council member Clarence Vetter was talking my ears off on the cell phone, going on and on about some machinery he had to bring in to make repairs. Being that I had to make some repairs myself, I was desperate to get Vetter off the line. "Yeah, uh-huh, right, yeah, Clarence, right, right."

First of all, if the laconic-tempered Vetter is talking your ears off, you must be on drugs. Second, I don't know anything about repairing anything, so I must've been on drugs.

Then I was in some classroom teaching algebra to a manic little girl. It was a word problem where you had to figure out how many gorillas you'd have in a month if you had one gorilla and it had a baby a day.

I distinctly remember saying, "Look, it doesn't matter if they're gorillas, I'm just gonna treat them as objects that multiply." What an idiot.

I think I'm going to take it easy today and work on a weekend project instead of blogging so much.

UND dreams of Red Jarrett Field at Alerus Center

Way back in 2000, before the Alerus Center opened, UND had been pushing to honor athletic great Glenn "Red" Jarrett at the new facility. Not much has been heard since then.

Now the guy sports writers of the 1930s called "Red Rabbit of the North" is back.

UND is renewing its proposal to name the Alerus Center football field "Red Jarrett Field" as part of an effort to decorate the facility to give it a greater connection to the football program. But it could cost up to $400,000 and, so far, there's no clear source of funding.

Here's a few conceptual sketches from the people at JLG Architects.

Vertical banners above the main stair way. Cost: $6,500.

Display about Red Jarrett's life. Looks like this one is across the hall from the ticket office. Cost: $12,000.

Wall display featuring Grand Forks history from the 1880s onwards. Not quite sure where this would be located though it appears to be in the lobby area. The door to the right looks like the one leading to the main office. Cost: $40,000. Since this isn't UND related, the city would probably have to pay.

Main football display featuring old uniforms, the Nickel Trophy and Division II National Championship trophy. Not sure where this would be located. Cost: $65,000.

UND football timeline with audio-video feature. Check how long it is, in excess of 242 feet stretching along the concourse. Cost: $200,000.

Update 9:57 p.m., 5/18/06: See full story here.

Landfill opponent following paper trail finds... end of trail?

Looks like Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has put a bit of a crimp on efforts by landfill opponents to find out if the city of Grand Forks did something wrong in hiring the law firm Pearson Christensen.

According to information in an opinion filed by Stenehjem's office, Kyle Braaten, a member of the landfill opposition group Grand Forks County Citizens Coalition, had been trying to get records that prove:

1) Council member Doug Christensen was on the council when his firm Pearson Christensen was selected. The opinion said that state law "requires a unanimous findings be entered into official minutes of a governing body enters when it enters into a contract with an officer of a political subdivision or municipality." (That's in North Dakota Century Code chapters 12.1-13-03 and 40-13-05.)

2) The council ever made a unanimous finding that Pearson Christensen was selected because similar services could not be obtained from other firms at equal cost.

City attorney Howard Swanson said he didn't have any records of that nature.

Braaten then asked for any record of action taken by the council in regards to Pearson Christensen. Swanson referred him to minutes of the Dec. 14, 2005, council meeting where the council members decided to select attorney Ron Fischer to replace deceased attorney Jay Fiedler, both members of Pearson Christensen.

Braaten complained that Swanson didn't provide him with all the information because he limited his search to landfill issues and Fischer's and Fiedler's names.

The AG's office said that's reasonable because Braaten asked specifically for landfill documents and Fischer and Fiedler are the two attorneys involved in the landfill issue.

I'm contacting Braaten to figure out what he's going to do next.

Anyway, as far as Braaten's suspicions, I thought it was settled long ago.

Fiedler was the first Pearson Christensen attorney who worked on the landfill case for the city. Our archives show that the Herald first mentioned him in connection with the landfill on June 3, 2000. Christensen was first elected to the council on June 13, 2000.

So, it seemed like the council would not have needed a unanimous vote to contract with Pearson Christensen. If I recall correctly, the council did vote unanimously Dec. 14 to continue working with the firm via Fischer. I can recall that because it seemed like the obvious next step seeing as how Fiedler had passed away and the council was seeking some continuity.

Update 10:38 p.m.:I got a hold of Kyle Braaten. From what he wrote, it looks like he still feels Swanson should have done more to get some answers for him:

Think about a direct quote from the AG's opinion. After you read it, you try to justify Mr Swanson's limiting my request to Landfill, Fischer and Fiedler. [Ed.: Swanson said he did a search for documents fulfilling those three criteria. Braaten doesn't think that's enough. The AG said it is because Fischer and Fiedler are the only two attorneys involved in the city's landfill case.]

"I am not looking for every document that complies with the code, one or two relating to a proposed new landfill will suffice. If none specifically mention the landfill or waste management, I'd like a copy of one dated around the time that Mr. Christensen joined the Council. I felt I should further clarify and simplify my request to allow you to fill the request in a timely fashion. Again, if no
document exists, please let me know."

Did Mr Swanson specifically tell you that that the council never "made a unanimous finding that Pearson Christensen was selected because similar services could not be obtained from other firms at equal cost."? That is the question that I wanted an answer to. I still do not have that answer, transparent government? I think not.

Warning to city employees

The City Beat is aware some city employees in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks have been checking out the blog.

Before you go and make any naughty comments about your bosses be aware that:

1) If you do it from work, they can probably track you down.

2) And shop talk will likely confuse most readers so you won't really achieve what you're aiming for, by which I mean exposing that rotten bastard you work for.

Just so you know. Post away.

Update 10:55 p.m., 5/17/06: Um, just to make myself clear: I'm not encouraging naughty comments. I just don't want anybody getting fired on account of this blog. That being said, I will delete comments that get too personal or that might open the Herald up to a libel lawsuit. Venting is OK but settling scores is not, alright?

EGF Civic Center overhaul on the way

The East Grand Forks City Council has put out bid to overhaul of Civic Center.

Council member Henry Tweten said the place needs more toilets because people were peeing in the grass the other weekend.

Council member Clarence Vetter annoyed funds would come out of Water and Light. You want lower rates but you keep taking money, he complains.

Mayor Lynn Stauss says one of Water and Light's missions is to take care of city buildings.

Whether Water and Light pays is still a decision for the future. For now, the city is just putting out the bid. One potential argument against using utility fees: fees are a kind of regressive tax on residents. The argument for: Water and Light has plenty of moola and wouldn't need it all. Otherwise, it's property tax hike time.

Here's what the city would get for the estimated $750,000 cost:

1) Waterproofed foundation with new drainage system. The place has been leaching water for years.

2) Outside metal paneling and insulation. Leaching water and moisture meant repainting every summer.

3) More toilets and better accessibility for the disabled.

4) New HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system. There's a reason those locker rooms didn't smell so nice.

Quickies

* UND Research Foundation's new $11.7 million tech park gets preliminary support from the city to the tune of $500,000 and five acres of land.

* More info on the city's efforts to lobby the Pentagon for more UAV missions from my friend Elisa Rineheart.

Dig those citizen-journalists.

* GrandForksGuy has a bunch of renderings of the new UND student housing complex.

Update 10:13 p.m.: Just noticed the Guy got a story I was trying to pin down yesterday about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation the Wal-Mart Super Center construction site. Since I haven't heard back from the one ICE public affairs guy that's apparently at work and I don't know what the Guy's sources are, I can't vouch for the story, but he does good work so make of it what you will.

* JGS reports that the Point Bridge is to be closed Friday. I was going to mention something about it today but it looks like he got to it first. I did hear it might close again this summer. Still waiting to hear from city of Grand Forks though.

Update 4:27 p.m.: City spokesman Kevin Dean says the schedule is as follows:

May 19: Closed during the day but reopened at night for weekend traffic.

May 22: Closed until May 24 to allow for Memorial Day weekend traffic.

May 30: Closed until July 24.

The first two closings is for prep work and the final one is for the big paint removal/repainting project. It's kinda odd but otherwise it'd have to stay close longer. Prep work doesn't require total closing. But the sandblasting and repainting does. Now you know.

Dog park fencing versus flood protection

Readers of the City Beat sounded off recently on a fenceless dog park in Grand Forks.

Council musta heard ya. A bunch of them said they want to see some fencing even if it pisses off the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps frowns on anything that might catch flood debris on the wet side of the dike. At least that's what city engineer Al Grasser and Council member Curt Kreun says.

But Council President Hal Gershman says dog owners have waited two years already so he's prepared to see exactly what the corps will say.

Kreun replied that maybe now is not the time to test the corps because the city's on the fast track for getting its floodplain remapped. That means when the dikes are done, homeowners wouldn't have to wait very long to stop paying for flood insurance.

Some readers suggested building a dog park with fencing somewhere where it won't get flooded. City officials had looked at that but can't find the parking needed.

Sound off: So, anybody got an idea where to put that dog park? Let's hear some ideas, eh?

Update 5:46 p.m., 5/17/06: Here's a thought. If you watched Council TV a few weeks ago, you'll remember Council member Doug Christensen wondering where those park dedication fees that developers have to pay go. He said he wasn't seeing new parks in the south end, where his ward is.

Well, couldn't they put up a dog park in the south end somewhere? To do so, I imagine the city would have to buy some land or take a chunk out of an existing park, assuming the park has adequate parking.

By the way, the answer to Christensen's question was that the south end has plenty of parks: Sunbeam, Optimist and Ulland, not to mention the Kings Walk Golf Course. Also, many homes in the south end are towards the east and that's where that thing called the Greenway is coming in.

Update 2:29 p.m., 5/18/06: Former East Grand Forks Council member Laura Driscoll was trying to get a dog park going over there or anywhere before she left last year. She weighs in here:

I was home last weekend for graduation and heard that there is still debate about the dog park. Casper has an off-leash dog park that seems to function well without a lot of regulations. The park is along the river, which provides swimming opportunities, and there is no fencing. The dogs just stay in the park with their owners. The most interesting thing about the dog park is that the walking/bike trail goes right through the park. There are signs alerting people that they may encounter dogs off leash for this segment of the trial but this doesn't seem to deter people from using the trail. Not everything needs to be regulated.

Turn overs in East Grand Forks

There's gonna be a lot of new faces at City Hall this year, that's for sure.

Tuesday night was the last formal meeting for Council member Glen Trembath and city administrator Craig Mattson. Trembath is retiring to Clearbrook, Minn., and Mattson is taking a new job in Wyoming, Minn.

Craig Buckalew, the owner of Hardware Hank, will take over for Trembath June 6. He joins freshmen Council members Wayne Gregoire and Greg Leigh.

Finance director Wayne Oberg will fill in for Mattson until a replacement is hired. The city will be posting Mattson's job until July 7.

Next week, the city will talk about replacing retired fire chief Frank Ringstad and retiring parks director Dale Skyberg. Police chief Mike Lealos has made it known he'll retire this year so there's some talk of combining his position with Ringstad's.

Also, the city is expected to hire a mall manager for the Riverwalk Centre at some point but that hasn't come up yet.

Follow up: As a going away present, Mattson got a plaque, some nice words from council members and no retroactive raise. The council forgot to give him a job review so he hasn't had a raise for two years. Council member Henry Tweten tried to give him a retroactive raise of $6,182.99 that he woulda gotten if he'd gotten the job review, but couldn't get the vote. Only Tweten, Trembath and Leigh voted "yes."

Quickies

Criminy, there's so many little bits of news my poor little head is spinning! Either that or it's this stupid case of the snots I caught after going for a run today.

* It was in the paper but I forgot to mention it in the blog. Grand Forks Mayor Mike Brown is to ask the City Council for more moola to reactivate the city's Council on Military Relations. Those are the guys that helped save Grand Forks Air Force Base from getting axed by the Pentagon. By the way, I called it the "Military Affairs Committee" in the story. That is WRONG. MAC is with the Chamber of Commerce. CMR is with the city. CMR chief John Marshall was not amused.

* Speaking of the Chamber, preliminary results on a survey on the tribal casino are in. A third said they support the idea, a third said they hated it and a third said they want can't support it without more information.

* Tomorrow is Syttende Mai, otherwise known as Norwegian Constitution Day. On this day in 1814, Norway became an independent country again after 364 years stuck with the Swedes and Danes. Norway gave us lutefisk, cross-country skiing and "Ya sure ya betcha."

* Former Grand Forks City Council member John Hoff goes off on North Dakota in the "Minnesota Daily." "America's rural ghetto"? "The economic hurt bag of the nation"? Dude, that's Mississippi. In per capita income, the Flickertail State is 32nd in the nation and the Magnolia State is dead last. Nothing against Mississippi, of course. I'm sure it's nice.

* Looky a new cultural calendar for Grand Forks! The Culture Pulse Web site is live.

* Last but not least, Grand Forks city administrator Rick Duquette celebrates his birthday this week.

Quickies

* Bakken sez "no" to the student vote -- and the poor vote and the rich vote and the short vote and the tall vote and the fat vote and the skinny vote.

No link at this time of night but check out Page 5A in the Herald or go to www.gfherald.com in the morning.

Update 11:14 p.m., 5/16/06: Click here for the column.

* I'm a little tardy but looks like Dakota Huseby weighed in here and, to some extent, here. Sweet shout out to the City Beat, too.

* Herald editorial: Native prairie = tourist attraction. (Reference to Oakville Prairie.)

* Speaking of which, UND's associate VP for research Barry Milavetz says there's been some changes in the fed's plans for the germ lab. It looks like the Department of Homeland Security might pick several candidates to submit fuller proposals, not just a couple, and it might not decide this summer as expected.

* GF City Council to county and parks: Pay for your own darn trees! An advisory committee said the council should spend $39,000 of the $132,000 from beautification funds for shade trees at Ulland Park and landscaping at the county fairgrounds entrance.

Council member Eliot Glassheim: It's one city and the money is for beautifying the city as a whole so let's pay.

Council Prez Hal Gershman: The county and parks get to collect taxes, too, so let's not.

The council vote: Gershman's right. What's N-O spell? NO.

Cop beats mayor

Officer Travis Benson on his bicycle beat Mayor Mike Brown in his car today.

The two kicked off National Bike to Work Week with a successful demonstration that you can get to work faster on a bike -- and burn some calories to boot.

Brown said Benson beat him by a good minute during the race from City Hall to Altru Health System during the afternoon rush hour. He said his fellow racer "wasn't even breathing hard."

The race rules require that Brown a) not speed and b) find a parking spot and walk to the doors. I'm guessing he lost at least a minute on "b" because it usually takes me a little longer than that.

Not to knock biking to work but I think the bicyclist should have to take a shower and count that in his time, too.

Bob Brooks tunes in

Ain't it nice? Grand Forks City Council member Bob Brooks gave a plug to the City Beat on Council TV tonight.

Bob is the one that looks like Detective Andy Sipowicz on "NYPD Blue."

Council member Doug Christensen asked about the blog Web address later, so I guess he's looking at it, too.

Besides feeding my ego, I'm mentioning this mostly because it might be nice for y'all to know that your comments/discussions are being followed by your elected officials.

East Grand Forks Council member Greg Leigh also mentioned that he'd checked the blog.

Apparently some other East Grand Forks officials are reading, too. This posting caused some irritation over there, or so I'm told, mostly on account of the first anonymous comment. It sure sounded like an insider -- who uses the term "administrative staff" anyway? -- so that explains the irritation. I think there's some speculation who it is but nobody knows.

Personally, I wonder how many voters actually give a rip. From what I know, most people worry about taxes and fees and not inside politics.

Six degrees of separation from Craig Buckalew

Such a small town that East Grand Forks. The three candidates for the Ward 3 City Council seat all have some connection to one another.

Craig Buckalew is the owner of Hardware Hank and Greg Zimbelman works for him in the rental department. Must be funny to run against your boss especially when you have different ideas about the city. Buckalew thinks things are looking up now that the dikes are done, which means businesses can expand without fear of flooding. Zimbelman thinks taxes and fees are too high and the poor and middle-class can't go on that way.

Buckalew was also chairman of the Chamber of Commerce back in 1994, during which Gary Christianson was the president. The chairman is the elected head of the chamber and president is the top staff person. Christianson left for another job in 1995.

Also, Buckalew was an extra in "Hollow Man," starring Kevin Bacon. Zimbelman's second cousin was once a masseuse to Bacon's agent. And Christianson's best friend's roommate's sister got an autograph from Bacon after the premier of "Apollo 13." OK, I'm totally kidding.

For more info on these candidates, see the City Beat's story in Tuesday's paper.

Property tax fun, Part II: Inflation

My buddy, night editor Jaime DeLage asked the other day after the last tax story ran how many mills would have to be cut for a taxpayer's tax bill at exactly the same level it was last year. I thought a better question was how to keep the tax bill within the inflation rate. After all, the cost of government can't defy inflation so you have to give them that.

Well, after about four hours of head scratching, I figured out the spreadsheet. So here it is. As with last time, you'll need Excel 97 or an Excel viewer.

What this spreadsheet does is allow you to enter your assessed property value from 2005 and this year's assessed value. You can change the mill rate cut until your tax bill is only as high as inflation and no higher.

Actually, I probably should have called this the "Fantasy Tax Cut Calculator." Check out at the bottom of the spreadsheet how many mills each local government entity would have to cut to meet the goal and you'll soon find out why.

My colleague Paulette Tobin had a story Tuesday about the school district's budget. District officials already said they'll be running in the red by more than $1 million for the 2005-2006 school year.

Update 9:15 p.m., 5/15/06: Mayor Mike Brown and finance director John Schmisek tried to set me straight tonight, in the nicest way possible.

They said inflation is a good benchmark but it's not the only one because, as the city grows, the budget has to grow faster than inflation.

"Inflation will only pay for what you're doing now," he said. "You have to plan for growth."

I know Schmisek told me this when I interviewed him but I completely overlooked it. Now that I've had a chance to look at my spreadsheet again, I remember why.

I was looking at the individual tax bill rather than the city budget as a whole. Schmisek's right. The budget would have to grow faster than inflation to account for new growth. But in looking at the individual tax bill, you have to assume that new growth would pay for itself.

That's because the bill reflects your property's payment for city services. It's like you're paying for, say, lawn service. It doesn't matter how big the lawn service company's budget is, only how much you pay for your service. If the company adds new customers, they pay for their own service. You don't pay for their service. Theoretically, therefore, your bill should be measured against inflation because the cost to provide you with service must go up as wages, fuel and other costs go up.

TV Guide for Council TV

For those of you who have tuned in to Grand Forks City Council meetings at 7 p.m. Mondays on Channel 2 and couldn't figure out what the heck is going on, here's some basic info you could get from the city Web site:

* Click here for the meeting agenda.

* Click here for the packet that has all the background information from city staff. Unfortunately, the city does not have archived packets online.

* Click here for a list of meetings during the week. Some common abbreviations you might see include JDA -- short for Jobs Development Authority -- and TAC -- short for Technical Advisory Committee.

* I'd recommend you click here for agendas from council working sessions, a kind of committee meeting, but I notice that the agenda from the last meeting still isn't available. So check the schedule first if you want to know if there's going to be a work session.

* If you see something you don't like, I suppose you could contact your City Council member. How do you know which one is yours? Click here for the ward map.

Update 11:08 p.m., 5/12/06: I neglected East Grand Forks, which has its own Web resources. Here's a few:

* Click here for the agendas. Note that Eastside has a weird meeting schedule. Council meetings are at 7 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of the month and Committee of the Whole -- or "work sessions" as they like to call them -- are at 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday of the month.

* Click here for the meeting minutes.

* Click here to find out who your council members are. If you need to figure out which ward you live in, well, looks like you're out of luck. The city did have a ward map up during the last election but I can't find it now.

Photos all came from Wikipedia.

The student vote a factor in casino issue?

The City Beat had a story today about how members of the Grand Forks Casino Petition Committee, don't want a referendum on the proposed tribal casino because they fear students would vote for it.

"UND students can vote and although UND contributes greatly to our community, most students don't have a long term interest here and wouldn't have to suffer the consequences imposed by this casino," went the press release read by group leader Jerry Hjelden.

This statement surprised the heck out of me. Usually, people who have this opinion whisper it. But casino opponents took a pretty vocal stance.

Hjelden told me he wasn't trying to "rile" students up. It's just not fair for people who most likely won't stay here in the long-term to vote on something that will have a major impact on long-term residents.

Needless to say, student leaders are none too pleased to hear this.

Sound off: Hjelden said sentiments like his are widespread and I've heard it before as well. I'm not from around here so maybe it's just me. But isn't it weird that UND has been around for nearly 125 years and some residents still see it as sort of an outside entity? What do you guys think about this?

Muscle power vs. car power

Officer Travis Benson, a Grand Fork bicycle cop, will be racing Mayor Mike Brown during the Monday afternoon commute.

They'll start at 5 p.m. at City Hall and race to Altru Health System, obeying all traffic laws in the process, of course."The purpose of this race to demonstrate how easy it can be to commute to work by bicycle instead of a car," the city said in a press release.

Monday kicks off National Bike to Work Week. The city will be giving away prizes if you can correctly guess who will win the race.

Last May, the mayor raced Officer LaVonne Nelson. Brown won but only by a minute and a half. The race happened at 1:30 p.m. so traffic was light and did not reflect normal commuting conditions. So the timing of this year's race could give Benson a chance, especially with those pesky Grand Forks "traffic jams."

I actually rode my bike after Nelson last year but got confused and took the long way around.

The main disadvantage of biking to work, as I found out, was that I kind of needed a shower. Well, actually, I really needed a shower.

Maybe I'll just drive after them this year. I have to attend City Council that night, after all.

More property tax fun: How much would you save?

The City Beat reported today that some Grand Forks City Council members have tentatively agreed to push for a six to seven mill cut in the property tax rate. That's in addition to the promised six mill cut from the school district.

Municipal finances, like finance in general, being the arcane science that it is for most of us, I thought I'd put together a spreadsheet to help readers answer the ever important question: What does it mean for me?

To find out, download my Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and see for yourself. You'll need your assessed value from last year and the one you should have gotten in the mail already. You'll also need either a copy of Excel 97 or newer or an Excel viewer. I've found that my Internet Explorer browser can view Excel spreadsheets as well.

There are two different worksheets. The calculations are the same but the formats different. If you can't figure out one maybe the other will be easier to understand.

This is as accurate as I know how, based on information from an earlier posting. If you detect an error, let me know and I'll fix it.

I should take this opportunity to declare my undying love for Excel.

The City Beat was a young and naive journalism student at the University of Washington in Seattle when I met a journalism guru from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer who changed my life. The guru, an investigative reporter whose name I have shamefully forgotten, showed the young City Beat how to use spreadsheets to tease out patterns from a pile of numbers. Now I am a geek who sits up late at night designing spreadsheets and I am a better person for it.

Dammit, it's the media again

"Study: 7 of 10 Journalists Surveyed Accused of Bias in Past Year." That's the headline from a story fellow Herald reporter Steve Lee found in Publisher & Editor magazine.

Besides the factoid in that headline, which should have said "7 of 10 newspaper journalists," here's a few more:

*"At least 70% of those polled more often pointed to 'factors beyond their control' as the cause of such poor ethical perceptions, rather than their own newspapers' actions."

*"More than 30% of respondents, meanwhile, noted problems with sources -- anonymous or not -- providing misleading or inaccurate information, with the same percentage seeking legal advice on such stories."

*Here's the kicker: "More than half of the surveyed journalists reported working with 'a peer involved in fabrication, plagiarism or other deliberate misconduct,' the survey stated. It added that 20% believed such wrong behavior should be punished more rigorously [emphasis mine]." Well, duh!

Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University released the study.

Mary Ellen Shearer, one of the co-authors, said: "Many journalists believe that the recent sins of other newspapers and media taint their own newspapers and contribute to the public's diminished confidence in newspapers generally."

"Newspaper journalists say problems in television news [Take that WDAZ! Just kidding. I love you guys.], on Web sites and blogs [Blasted blogs!], and even in tabloids and shopper publications all have a deleterious effect on the credibility of newspaper journalists," the report also said. "In addition, almost one in five say that criticism of media by politicians erodes readers' trust."

I agree with only half of this. Yeah, I blame dirty, lying reporters like the New York Times' Jayson Blair; dirty, lying 24-hour news networks like Fox; and dirty, lying politicians who blame the media to deflect criticism from themselves.

On the other hand, the politicians here have always been gentle in their criticisms. I enjoy ABC News, especially when Elizabeth Vargas anchors. And, who doesn't love the "Home Team" at WDAZ, especially that foxy, redhead on the 6 o'clock.

Check out this link

The My Grand Forks blog, by JGS was kind enough to put the City Beat on the link list but I can't return the favor.

Why? Because we're supposed to treat a link like a letter to the editor, which requires us to know who wrote the letter. That's what the Web master and some others say anyway. Never mind that following this twisted logic, I'd have to check the identity of every person who posts a comment on this page. Compare publishing comments directly on the blog with publishing a flipping link. Which sounds like more of an official endorsement to you?

I swear, the corporate mentality drives me up the wall. Some people in the newspaper industry think blogs will destroy us one day. Not me. I think we'll destroy us first.

By the way, this letter-to-the-editor rule means Grand Forks Life's place on the link list is in question, too.

Well, we'll see about that.

City Beat not a dirty racist, honest

Reader Dustin objected to stories in which I use the term "Indian casino" to describe the casino the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa is proposing to build south of town:

I contact you in hopes of clarification on your article about the new casino proposal. Is it necessary to refer to these casinos as "Indian" casinos? I was unaware that the classification of businesses and organizations is the race of the person or people who own and operate them.

I can’t help but ask. Are the casinos controlled by white people "White" casinos? Are casinos owned by Hispanic people "Hispanic" casinos? I hope you get my point, that referring to these casinos as "Indian" casinos in unnecessary and illustrates a lack of diversity and education. However, I do realize I am dealing with a North Dakota paper.

In any case, your article is unclear. Does Grand Forks oppose a casino or an "Indian" casino? Furthermore, if they are the same, why do you feel the need to label it an "Indian" casino in your article?

Here's my reply:

Dustin, you raise a good point and I'm sorry if you think it's being racist. Honestly, that's not my intent.

I've worked on several stories on this casino with my friend, drinking buddy and colleague Susanne Nadeau, who is an enrolled tribal member. This issue has never come up between us.

First, I call the casino an "Indian casino" because it's a short and sweet term and everybody knows what this means. Shorter is better because readers avoid wordy stories.

Second, Indian casinos are special because unlike any other casino not in Nevada, they're allowed to have slot machines. A "Hispanic casino" wouldn't get that right. In this case, we're not referring to Indians as a race but as category of subnational entities.

Maybe "tribal casino" would clear up the misunderstanding. I'm only wedded to the "Indian casino" term because I like to stick to the same description. I use our archives extensively for research and consistent terminology simplifies word searches.

To answer your other question: The opposition is to a specific casino proposal, the one the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa is bringing forth.

By the way, you really ought not assume that we're a bunch of racists just because we're in North Dakota. Prejudice cuts both ways, Dustin. Anyway, don't blame North Dakota. I'm from Vietnam and grew up in Seattle.

Update 1:47 p.m., 5/10/06: Dustin replied:

I was born and raised in Grand Forks North Dakota. I attended the University of North Dakota. When you spoke of "assuming we are a bunch of racists" includes me. I am not racist. Living in North Dakota I am sure you understand the extremely conservative attitudes of the residents. This is what I was referring to when I wrote about a "North Dakota" paper.

Sorry, man. Your perception's different than mine.

I am recognized by the White Earth Band of Chippewa Tribe. This is a Native American tribe, not Indian. I am sure I don’t need to clarify that Indians are people from India. Native Americans inhabited current day North America before European immigration. I agree using the term "tribal casino" would better describe this casino.

Some Native Americans don't mind being called Indians, like those guys at Indian Country Today and those other guys at the American Indian College Fund. The AP style book says we use the term "American Indian" not "Native American." I couldn't say why, though I prefer the latter myself. Our columnist Doreen Yellow Bird said she's used the term "Indian" before, too.

In your response you stated that you use the term “Indian casino” because everybody knows what it means. I didn’t. It took me, the reader, the time to write you to find out that this means they are able to operate slot machines. Is Grand Forks opposing a casino or a casino with slot machines?

That's probably a question for casino opponents, eh? Do they oppose this casino because it would be run by a tribe or do they oppose it because they hate gambling and see slot machines as the worse kind of gambling? They say they hate gambling and I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.

Possibly in your future articles pertaining to Native American tribal people you could consider people’s attitudes today and not the archives and how past writers referred to these people. This is not a personal attack. I believe you are in a unique position giving you a wonderful opportunity to enlighten people to cultural sensitivities. Diversity must be addressed and recognized, especially by the media.

I didn't take it as a personal attack, more as a clash of different philosophies. I tend to frown on questions over word choice, partly because I grew up during an era of rampant political correctness and partly because I believe context is better indicator of diversity/sensitivity. I realize you're sensitive to the term "Indian" and, I, too, agree that "Native American" is more accurate. But, as you read above, other Native Americans prefer "Indian."

I appreciate your time and candid response.

Thanks for writing.

Repressed anger in East Grand Forks

Hot dang, there's some crazy anger beneath the seemingly placid appearance of the East Grand Forks City Council!

The City Beat had a story today about the Monday council work session where council members agreed to hire a new city administrator to replace outgoing administrator Craig Mattson and make finance director Wayne Oberg the interim administrator.

What I didn't have in the story was all the grumbling from Council President Dick Grassel. He asked in an accusatory tone how Oberg got the finance director title without the council's knowledge when he had been merely assistant clerk.

Mattson explained that the civil service commission had decided to do so and there was no extra pay involved. (I imagine they did it because there is no longer any "clerk" to be an assistant to.)

My notes show several exchanges that followed.

Council member Henry Tweten, guessing that Grassel and Oberg didn't get along said, "We shouldn't get into personalities."

Grassel: "We're not talking about personalities! I asked a question."

Council member Greg Leigh said the council should move the discussion along seeing how Mattson had answered the question. "We're going backwards."

Grassel: "I don't think we're going backwards. I asked a question. I want to ask questions!"

Council member Glen Trembath said the council should ask city attorney Ron Galstad.

Galstad looked up at the council and said sublimely: "I don't even know what you're talking about."

More confused discussions followed before it was decided that, yes, the Civil Service Commission is legally allowed to change job titles but it would be nice for the council to know about it.

I don't know if this goobledygook makes any sense to anybody out there. It does to me because I've seen Grassel scold Oberg before, mostly because Oberg has a smart-alecky way of correcting people's misconceptions about city finances and Grassel seems the type of guy who demands respect. Even Tweten has scolded Oberg.

What I'm getting at is that the next couple of months might be interesting with Oberg in charge, particularly with the city administrator traditionally sitting to the left of the council president. Maybe East Grand Forks should have a cop present at council meetings like the Grand Forks council does.

By the way, it is about personalities. I had a chat with a former council member who knows all these characters. He's not too fond of Mattson or Oberg and laid the blame on their personalities. He might be playing politics, but no matter who you blame, it's pretty obvious some people just aren't getting along.

Update 4:33 p.m., 5/11/06: I talked to someone today about this post and the impression was that the city attorney seemed not to be paying attention when he said he didn't know what everyone was talking about. That wasn't my impression. The poor fella just wanted to know what the question was, probably because he assumed Mattson had answered it. Apologies for the misunderstanding. I should bring a casette recorder to these meetings.

Who let the dogs out? The City Council!

The City Beat had a story today about a proposed fenceless dog park in downtown Grand Forks.

The fact that it'd be fenceless has some people worried.

Council member Eliot Glassheim said his ward could be affected and he wants a public hearing.

Reader Duane Kargel of Climax, Minn., called in this morning to say he didn't think it would work because big dogs and little dogs don't get on well together. He's taken his dog to the Fargo dog park and it has fencing separating the two dog sizes.

Me, I think you could have designated days or hours for each type, say, odd days big dogs, even days small dogs.


Update 6:21 p.m., 5/10/06: Here's a diagram from the city showing the dog park's location vis-a-vis the Greenway. Thanks to Greenway coordinator Melanie Parvey-Biby.

Springfest adverts irks Kerian

Grand Forks City Council member Dorette Kerian said she was "disheartened" by the bar promotions preceding Saturday's Springfest, which otherwise went off pretty well by her reckoning.

The bars were telling students to come early and drink and get free bus rides to University Park for the celebration.

I have to admit, I was sort of taken aback when I saw one of these ads while walking downtown. But then haven't bars offered bus rides to UND football games and tailgating parties? That's pretty early to be drinking, too. Anybody remember?

Lake Grand Forks?

An interesting idea emerged at Grand Forks City Council tonight: a new park with a lake in it.

Council President Hal Gershman said he's going to sound goofy saying it but he thinks the city should look into consolidating the stormwater retention ponds to be built south of town as part of the dike project. That way, the city could just build a park around the whole thing.

The idea isn't completely out of left field. City planner Brad Gengler said there are already some thought of creating parks around the retention ponds.

A colleague of mine from WDAZ said the city already has a lake: "It's called the Red River."

Me, I think it would be pretty neat to have a duck pond to run laps around. You don't really have that with the Red.

Check out my cans!

I met some new friends at the Young Professionals event Thursday who said they were eager to check out my cans because they'd heard such impressive stories. Golly, I said, are my cans that big a deal? Turns out word has gotten around!

Anduin and Stacy, these are for you:



I had to clean up my desk a little for this shot, if you can't tell.



This is my "pop art" installation. Get it?? Haha! *Snort!* Hahaha!

What the?? Part 2

Holy heck! The Herald kicked -ss!

We won First for the General Excellence at the North Dakota Newspaper Association award banquet, which the City Beat made an embarassing big deal out of below. Further more, we also won the Sweepstakes prize, which went to the newspaper that won the most awards.

That means -- dare I say it? -- we're No. 1!

This is a big deal for two reasons: 1) We're always getting kicked around by our rivals in Fargo and haven't won in ages. One of their people confided to me that it was embarrassing how often they won. Poor things. And 2) The Herald is up for sale and none of us know what will happen to us. I call these awards job security. Ironically, the guys in Fargo are one of the people that want to buy us.

On the other hand, this isn't a big deal because these awards are not exactly handed out by a blue-ribbon panel. Judges are usually volunteers from some newspaper in another state. This year, it was Montana. I'm not sure how it worked this time but when my old friend Sam Black, the former City Beat reporter, volunteered, he was the only judge for a single category. I helped out a little, which made for a judging panel of only two, too small, in my opinion. It's no one's fault, of course, because getting crazy-busy people like reporters to volunteer is no easy task.

What the?? City Beat wins award?

Yes, it's true. Someone out there likes us. Specifically someone in Montana who agreed to be a judge for the North Dakota Newspaper Association. That someone decided that my series on the proposed Indian casino in Grand Forks, which I worked on with my buddy Susanne Nadeau, was worth of first place among newspapers in the state with 12,000-plus circulation.

I think our research on the impact of Indian casinos near Thief River Falls and Devils Lake gave us a nice boost. (Note that the link goes somewhere else. Looks like The Herald doesn't have it on the Web site any more.)

Besides Suzie, I'd have to give credit to my friend and boss Jaime DeLage for giving us the story idea.

If you're thinking this is an interesting juxtaposition with the previous mea culpa, mea maxima culpa post, you're right. Some days you get the bear. Some days the bear gets you.

Not to get too big an ego, I should mention that my colleagues also brought home a couple of blue ribbons as well due to the fine judgement of some other Montanans.

My buddy Kirsten Stromsodt won first in the standing news front category, for which the Herald achieved a sweep!

Opinion page editor Tom Dennis won first places for an editorial and for an editorial page. My wonderful, wonderful boss, publisher and editor Mike Jacobs won first for a personal column. The Herald's favorite funny guy, Ryan Bakken won first for sports feature. Steve Lee, owner of the messiest desk at the Herald, won first for ag coverage. My other boss Mike Brue and Kirsten won first for best headline.

The Herald also won some other second and third place awards, but we only got plaques for first place so we'll have to hold off boasting for now.

Update 4:16 p.m., 5/8/06: The City Beat spent the weekend celebrating so was not able to bring you an update until now.

Here's more of who won: Elisa Rinehart, Second for Feature Reporting, Third for Reporting and Third for Spot News; Herald staff, Third for Reporting Series, Third for Special News Section and Third for Overall Design Excellence; Rona Johnson, Third for Humorous Personal Column and Honorable Mention for Feature Reporting; Ryan Bakken, Second for Humorous Personal Column; Ronaand Bakken, Second for Spot News; Stephen J. Lee, Second for Feature Reporting Series and Third for Government Reporting Series; me and Suzie, Honorable Mention for Government Reporting; Paulette Tobin, Third for Government Reporting; Kevin Fee, Second for Sports Page and Third for Sports Column; Fee and Paulette, Honorable Mention for Sports Reporting Series; Brad Schlossman, Honorable Mention for Sports Reporting; Greg DeVillers, Second Place for Sports Reporting Series; Tom Dennis, Honorable Mention for Editorial (and also First; see above); Mike Jacobs, Second for Editorial; Leann Weber, Honorable Mention for Standing News Front; Janelle Vonasek, Third for Standing News Front and Third for Front Page Design; Jodi Sherman and Bobbi Berberich, Second for Standing News Front; Vonasek and Berberich, Second and Third for Section/Feature Fronts; Kirsten, Second for Front Page Design; Dorreen Yellow Bird, Second for Personal Column (Serious); Mike Brue, Second for Headline; Kirsten and Brue, First for Headline; Eric Hylden, First for Outdoor Recreation Photo, First for News Photo, Second for Sports Photo, Second for Feature Photo and Third for Pictorial; John Stennes, First for Portrait Photo, Second for Spot News Photo and Third for Sports Photo; Jackie Lorentz, First for Sports Photo, First for Spot News, Second for Outdoor Recreation Photo, Second for Feature Photo; Tom Dutcher, First for Best Web Site; Berberich, First for Info Graphics; Claire Rydeen, High School Reporter of the Year.

Germ lab story questioned

The City Beat screwed up. I got this letter on Monday:

On Wednesday April 26 I attended the public forum regarding UND's pre-proposal to bring a Bio Agro-Defense Facility to our community. After reading Mr. Tu-Uyen Tran's description of the event in "Germ research lab critics voice their displeasure" (Thurs.April 27) , I, too, have concerns to voice and feel a clarification of facts is in order.

I agree with Mr. Tran in that the major issue at the meeting was the proposed location of the facility, however, I disagree in his assessment that "the majority of the crowd expressed support for the lab."

Of the eighteen people from the crowd of 250 who spoke, most did not share their personal opinions about the lab. Only two people favorably addressed the issue of the lab itself, while a greater number expressed their concerns and/or spoke in opposition to inviting a facility such as this into our community. The question of support for the facility turned out not to be the major issue, so to state that the majority present were in favor of the lab misrepresents what actually happened at the forum.

I am concerned with the issue of accuracy on several fronts. One, this article gave the Grand Forks Herald readers an incorrect description of what actually occurred at the meeting, and, two, I begin to question the general accuracy of the Herald and Mr. Tran.

For over two decades I have trusted the Grand Forks Herald and its writers to be fair and impartial intheir reporting. As our community's newspaper I have expected and believed it to be an advocate for our community. I admit I am disappointed with Mr. Tu-Uyen Tran's misrepresentation of facts and perhaps this letter will serve as a reminder to the Grand Forks Herald to be as accurate as possible in their reporting.

In the words of the Herald's founder, George Winship: "It will be the people's paper, run strictly in their interests, guarding jealously their rights and maintaining boldly their cause." These are high ideals to live up to, but I am confident the Herald can do so.

Respectfully,

Melanie Crawford

Melanie's right. I definitely was wrong about "the majority" supporting the lab. I was in a rush that night, had another story I'd written, got sloppy and didn't read my notes carefully.

You're probably wondering how a person at an event can remember something that didn't happen. I'll try and explain what I think happened.

I had expected some opposition to the idea of a germ lab, as opposed to its proposed location. That there weren't any struck struck me as interesting and, in my haste, I misconstrued the lack of opposition as support. In my mind, at the time, writing that "the majority the majority of the crowd expressed support for the lab" wasn't too far different from "the majority of the crowd didn't opposed the lab."

I sincerely apologize. If I'm wrong again -- and I'll try not to be -- I hope readers will let me know.

Update: Anonymous posting

Looks like anonymous posting is pretty much in real time now so your comments won't need to go through me for approval. That should speed up debate -- whenever people do decide to post, that is.

Again, I'll still have to remove libelous material or four-letter words. This is still a family paper!

Mailbag: Garbage bags in EGF, taxes in GF

Hallelujah! With so few comments on my blog, I was wondering if more than a handful of people are reading. So I was pleasantly surprised by two questions that came in my inbox.

The first one comes from Julie in East Grand Forks who asked:

Why is it that East Grand Forks charges us to use the beloved "yellow garbage bags" and doesn't have the garbage cans the garbage truck picks up with an arm and dumps into the truck like in Grand Forks? Are there any plans to do this?

Julie, I left a message at the streets and sanitation department but it was late in the day and no one was available. I'll post more when I hear back from those guys.

My understanding, though, is the per bag charge reflects the true cost of garbage disposal. The more you throw away, the more you pay.

There are two main costs of garbage disposal. The first is the cost of collecting the garbage and taking it to the dump. Eastside residents pay that with the flat fee of $6.25 a month. Then there is the cost of using the dump, which is called a tipping fee. The city of Grand Forks currently charge $33.50 a ton. To reflect that cost accurately, the city of East Grand Forks charges its residents 65 cents for a small bag and $1.30 for a big bag.

Grand Forks residents pay a flat fee of $11.50 a month, about half of which pays for the tipping fee.

Update 12:36 p.m., 5/3/06: John Thompson, East Grand Forks streets and sanitation superintendent, called this morning. He said that the state requires the city to require residents to pay by the weight or by the volume. One reason for this is to encourage recycling. Recycle more, pay less.

My understanding is that Minnesota has more stringent laws on landfills so this is one way to keep the landfills they have from filling up. I've heard Grand Forks city officials talk about how Minnesota still must export a lot of its garbage to surrounding states.

The other part of Julie's question has to do with the cans and the trucks that pick up the cans with a mechanical arm. Thompson said that would be costly and that "garbage tends to fill the container used to hold it." Which would defeat the purpose of encouraging recycling.

P.M. in Grand Forks wrote:

Regarding the proposed property tax cuts (in Grand Forks), I'm assuming one takes the valuation that was just received in the mail for 2006? Also, once you have done the computation, is the resulting figure for the "year" or on a "monthly" basis? My guess is that it would be for the year.

P.M., you're right on both counts. You would use the 2006 valuation in the calculations. This would be for the year.


By the way, the current tax rate for city residents is 491.83 mills. Of this, 47 percent goes to the school district, 24 percent to the city, 20 percent to the county, 9 percent to the park district and less than 1 percent to the state medical center, Garrison Diversion District and Eastern Soil Conservation District.

Anyone in Grand Forks County can check where their property taxes are going. Visit the county Web site and click on "Search for Property Information." Enter your address and scroll down until you see a pie chart like the one above. I know this sort of public info is appalling to some people, but I'm glad government is so open. Don't forget, you can check the properties of public officials, too.