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‘Fracking’ can mean more than oil in the Bakken

By   /  November 25, 2012  /  Bismarck News, News, Top Stories  /  1 Comment

These advertisements were pulled directly from Backpage.com, a website offering risque services.

CNN ran a story last year saying strippers were making $3,000 a night in tips in western North Dakota. Watford City Police Chief Slade Herfindahl said after the story ran, “We were overrun with women from across the country looking to make a buck, and they weren’t just interested in dancing.” No one really remembers […]

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State, tribes battle feds over Sakakawea water rights

By   /  October 10, 2012  /  News, State Politics, Top Stories  /  No Comments

This image shows the reservoirs and open-river sections of the Missouri River.

The fight over water rights in North Dakota may be headed to court as state and tribal leaders battle the federal government for control of surplus water in the Missouri River and Lake Sakakawea. It’s an age-old conflict, but the stakes have risen considerably since the oil boom began. Gone is the era when availability […]

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Unpaid medical bills straining western N.D. hospitals

By   /  September 19, 2012  /  Business, News, Top Stories  /  2 Comments

(Photo by Jessie Veeder) Dr. Orlan Jackson and Dr. Gary Ramage pose for a photo outside the McKenzie County Healthcare Systems hospital in Watford City. The hospital, like many in western North Dakota, has become financially strained due to unpaid medical bills and other challenges that arose with the oil boom.

Before western North Dakota’s oil boom hit Watford City and surrounding McKenzie County, the local hospital’s longtime physician treated about 15 patients per month at the hospital emergency room after hours. Everyone else went to the clinic during the day. Now, Dr. Gary Ramage said, the emergency room is used at all hours, and 466 […]

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Frank Bavendick: North Dakota’s original landman

By   /  August 29, 2012  /  Business, News, People, Top Stories  /  2 Comments

(Photo by Matt Bunk) Frank Bavendick began investing in land and mineral rights more than 50 years ago and now controls hundreds of thousands of acres in western North Dakota.

Ask Frank Bavendick how much money he’s making from oil production in western North Dakota, and he’ll tell you a story about Texas mining barons Nelson and William Hunt. The way Bavendick tells it, the Hunt brothers tried to corner the world’s supply of silver back in the 1970s and were summoned by a congressional […]

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Rock steady in the Bakken

By   /  August 16, 2012  /  Guest Op-Eds, Opinion  /  No Comments

Harold Hamm

A lot of good news has been coming out of North Dakota recently. Most notably, the Bakken oil field has helped North Dakota buck the national economic slump by creating new jobs and tax revenues. Thanks to the Bakken, North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate and fastest growing economy in the nation. As the […]

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Dalrymple’s grand revelation: Oil patch needs money

By   /  July 23, 2012  /  Matt Bunk's Column, Opinion, Uncategorized  /  15 Comments

Matt Bunk

About five months ago, as western North Dakota was aching under the pressure of the oil boom, a well-connected Republican told me that Gov. Jack Dalrymple was planning to wait a few months before announcing a major investment of state money into things like new roads and public safety programs in the oil patch. Waiting […]

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7 businesses to join Bobcat at Northern Plains Commerce Centre

By   /  May 13, 2012  /  Bismarck News, Business, News, Top Stories  /  No Comments

(Graphic by Great Plains Examiner) To view a larger image, click here.

Not long ago, it looked like Bismarck’s investment in the Northern Plains Commerce Centre had gone bad. Industrial development had stalled after the city pumped millions of dollars into the property, and its only large tenant, Bobcat, appeared to be leaving town. But the outlook has changed rapidly during the past couple of months. Bobcat […]

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Water pipeline project underway, under fire

By   /  April 23, 2012  /  News, State Politics, Top Stories  /  1 Comment

(Submitted Photo) Water storage tanks in western North Dakota will be served by a new pipeline that was commissioned by the state Legislature during the 2011 session.

A $150 million water pipeline project that will bring clean drinking water to western North Dakota has surged forward despite a flood of concerns from independent water suppliers. The Western Area Water Supply Project hopes to provide drinking water for an estimated 48,000 people in oil country while shuffling a majority of its costs to […]

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Schools in oil patch running out of classroom space

By   /  April 19, 2012  /  News, State Politics, Top Stories  /  No Comments

(Photo by Christi Stonecipher) Students walk the hallways between classes at Watford City High School. Enrollment in the district has risen by about 100 students since the school year began, and far more are expected next year.

Watford City High School Principal Jay Diede points them out as he walks down the hallways bustling with students: “She’s new, he’s new, new, new, he’s new.” The new students are hard to distinguish from their native counterparts as they joke and mingle during their lunch break, but their increasing presence has the McKenzie County […]

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North Dakota communities, North Dakota’s legacy

By   /  January 30, 2012  /  Guest Op-Eds, Opinion  /  2 Comments

Ryan Taylor

North Dakotans are strong people, not often prone to uttering discouraging words, but one can tell when that strength is tested. Last week, as a member of the interim energy development committee, I heard phrases like ‘we are in crisis,’ ‘we need help,’ ‘our quality of life is gone,’ and ‘I am heartbroken’ from sincere, […]

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