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An organization in North Dakota believes it’s just as important to harvest the stories coming out of western North Dakota as it is to capture the natural resources there. To achieve their goal, the North Dakota Humanities Council (NDHC) will send two professional writers with North Dakota roots to communities directly affected by the recent oil boom to host writing workshops exploring the ways oil is transforming the landscape and culture. According to NDHC director Brenna Gerhardt, “Nothing is more important to a culture than its stories. The...
ota believes it’s just as important to harvest the stories coming out of western North Dakota as it is to capture the natural resources there. To achieve their goal, the North Dakota Humanities Council (NDHC) will send two professional writers with North Dakota roots to communities directly affected by the recent oil boom to host writing workshops exploring the ways oil is transforming the landscape and culture. According to NDHC director Brenna Gerhardt, “Nothing is more important to a culture than its stories. They are the vehicles for tra...
An organization in North Dakota believes it’s just as important to harvest the stories coming out of western North Dakota as it is to capture the natural resources there. To achieve their goal, the North Dakota Humanities Council (NDHC) will send two professional writers with North Dakota roots to communities directly affected by the recent oil boom to host writing workshops exploring the ways oil is transforming the landscape and culture. According to NDHC director Brenna Gerhardt, ...
George Mitchell of Galveston, Texas passed away July 26, 2013. Mitchell earned a degree from Texas A&M University in petroleum engineering and then not only started an independent oil and gas company, Mitchell Energy & Development Corp, but he built it into a Fortune 500 Company. Mitchell had a passion for technology. When so many large oil and gas companies were interested in shale gas but could not get the gas to flow, or make the breakthrough in fracking, Mitchell spent ten years and $6...
Come one, come all to the Montana Historical Society History Conference in Sidney to join in on a celebration of history in eastern Montana that is jam packed with events for everyone. “We are Montana’s Historical Society, and it is an honor to have our conference in this part of the state that holds a special place in the history of the Treasure State,” MHS Director Bruce Whittenberg said. The three-day conference Sept. 19-21 is titled “Boom & Bust: Extracting the Past.” Although it will have a special focus on the history of the oil indus...
Exhibitors and attendees at the TRAC Energy Expo- 2013 in Billings, MT will have the opportunity to learn about the logistical challenges and economic opportunities the Bakken job boom presents on Tuesday, November 5th at 9 a.m. MST at the Holiday Inn Grand and Montana Convention Center. Arnie Sherman, Executive Director of the Montana World Trade Center and President of Global Development Services, reports on the results of an on-the-ground study that identifies needs in the region and outlines business and investment opportunities. The...
Concerned about the potential of water contamination, many Americans have voiced their opinions and concerns about hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking. This concern is leading the U.S. towards waterless fracking. Is it possible to drill dry? The fracking process is a technique where millions of gallons of water are typically mixed with sand and chemicals and then injected at an extremely high pressure into a wellbore to create fractures in the rock formations - making space for the...
Mark Hauge began his career with Blue Rock in 1981 in Williston loading trucks and then becoming a service tech. Blue Rock had purchased Wildwood Beverage in Plentywood in the early 1970s. “In 1982, John and Tim (Feeley) asked me to relocate there. They had a new manager and needed a dedicated service guy.” Wildwood was an old established soft drink manufacturer and distributor. The building was old and decrepit, but nine or ten months after Hauge’s move there, Blue Rock built a new facil...
As the boom continues to grow and drivers continue to work long - inconsistent hours, companies grapple with the flourishing concern of driver safety. Telogis, a California-based provider of cloud-based location intelligence software has a grasp on the issue. Founded in 2001, Telogis has provided driver monitoring services to companies worldwide and is now a major player in many of the largest U.S. shale plays including the Bakken and is used in over 100 countries. Telogis is a fleet management...
A Richland County, Montana Crimestoppers was started in 1982 from the efforts of the Sidney Police and local residents. During that time an oil boom was going on in area and the community leaders were concerned for their citizen’s safety. After the oil boom died down, so did the Crimestoppers efforts. A group of concerned citizens met in August 2012 to form Crimestoppers Richland County. Representatives from each community in the county have been asked to serve on the board. The Crimestoppers of Richland County Board will provide direction t...
When an oil boom comes to the area, we often see new companies popping up all around us. Pacific Steel and Recycling is not one of those companies. They've been serving the Basin area for over 74 years and have no intention of leaving. Their employee dedication and customer focus is bar none. Pacific's road to becoming one of the most well known and respected steel and recycling giants began as a one man (Joe Thiebes) operation in Spokane, WA in the late 1800s. It began as a fur and hide...
According to the recently released Census Bureau data, North Dakota is growing at a rate of nearly three times faster than the nation as a whole and Farmers Union Oil (Cenex) in Watford City is taking the steps to overcome the growing pains associated with being in the heart of that growth. A 31,000 square foot facility is in the process of being built on the truck route at 6th Ave SE. It’ll not only offer gas and diesel, but it’ll also offer clothing, hardware, a truckers lounge and del...
On behalf of the Montana Board of Crime Control, I am writing in honor and recognition of Montana crime victims. This week marks the National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, April 21-27, 2013, a week dedicated to raising awareness of crime victims’ issues and to remember crime victims across Montana and the United States. During 2012, there were 37,013 reported victims of crimes in Montana. Almost 17 percent of reported victims were Montana’s most vulnerable citizens: children and the elderly. 3,723 victims of domestic violence, 367 adult victims o...
John White and the “Pikes Peakers” began an era that changed the heritage of Montana, with the discovery of gold in Grasshopper Creek. The first boomtowns were born as thousands rushed to Bannack, Virginia City and other outposts in the 1860s. News of the strike spread fast, and led to the greatest flood of prospectors to the west since the California gold rush in 1848. Miners lived in tents, caves, dugouts, shanties, huts and wagons. It wasn’t long before Montana’s gold and silver mines began to falter as the majority of easily recoverable pre...
It’s disappointing that the Legislature tabled SB 295 – the bill to repeal the oil and gas tax holiday. Had it passed, the bill would have provided millions in new revenue to communities in eastern Montana that are facing major infrastructure expenses due to the oil boom. Now, instead of generating new funds to address the impacts, the Legislature is moving forward proposals that raid the general fund. All of the remaining bills that are still moving forward take this approach. Why are we giving the oil and gas industry a break while sim...
Senator Kendall Van Dyk (D-Billings) introduced legislation today putting a limit on the state’s 18-month oil and gas tax holiday and using the proceeds to address local impacts in communities facing the Bakken oil boom. SB 399 is modeled after North Dakota’s highly successful tax-holiday system, which reduces oil and gas production taxes on new wells whenever oil prices dip below a certain level. “Montanans have lived through oil booms and we have lived through oil busts,” said Van Dyk. “During each cycle of oil and gas production we pray for...
For those accustom to living in rural America it comes as no surprise that volunteer efforts and good’ol fashioned neighborliness are what keeps small communities thriving and prospering. It is generosity that serves as the backbone of many improvement projects that simply couldn’t move forward without those in-kind and monetary contributions not given a line-item in any departmental budget. In recognizing this, two major oil and gas companies and four service companies have joined together to...
A panel of lawmakers is set to vote on the state’s budget this week after three days of public testimony on the best way to spend more than $9 billion over the next two years. “I think that we’ve made great progress,” Dan Villa, the governor’s budget director, told the House Appropriations Committee last week. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an executive and legislative branch be this close this quickly in the process.” At the moment, the governor’s requested budget and House Bill 2, the Republican-led appropriation subcommittees’ prop...
With the oil boom people are seeing many changes, some positive and some negative. When it comes to the agricultural community, there are many concerns regarding the land. The McKenzie County Soil Conservation District and the Natural Resources Conservation Service are actively trying to address the many concerns and issues that are being seen. They have had a few public input sessions to find out what the main concerns are. They have done prior sessions regarding other topics, but this time...
Joy Dental Design, located in Watford City, opened its new location on Feb. 4. Following a busy first month, they will be hosting an open house March 9th from 10 am until 4 pm for those interested in attending. Joy Dental Design is operated by Michael Jelsing and his wife Priscilla, who is a general practitioner dentist. They have been practicing in Hazen, ND for a year and half, but as Jelsing stated, “Can’t believe there’s a town with that many people that doesn’t have a full-time dentist...
The message Wednesday at the Montana State Capitol in Helena was that it’s time for oil and gas companies to pay their fair share of taxes instead of getting a free ride on most of their production. At a press conference sponsored by the Northern Plains Resource Council, Senator Christine Kaufmann (D-Helena) outlined her Senate Bill 295, which would repeal the tax-free holiday Montana gives oil and gas companies on the first 12 to 18 months of production. A typical Bakken formation well yields 57% of its production in the first 18 months, b...
With plans for drilling set for May, the city of Sidney will soon have a horizontal well drilling underneath its soil, and residents holding mineral rights leases are anxiously wondering if the well will tap into a reservoir of black gold. The project has been making headway for several years as lease agreements were gathered by Bakken Oil, of Sidney, and others. But, it wasn’t until the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation signed the well application docket number 257-2012 on Dec. 13, 2...
It isn’t just families that are packing it up and relocating in search of jobs and opportunities during the Bakken oil boom. Market savvy businesses looking to grow and take advantage of an underserved building supplies market are also making calculated plans to set up shop. That’s good news for folks with construction projects set to take place. One such business set to open for business in Culbertson in early February is Western Building Center, a hardware and building materials center cat...
A television documentary produced by students in the University of Montana School of Journalism is a finalist in the 2013 New York Festivals International Television and Film Awards. “Boom! Behind the Bakken” is one of seven student films nominated for a medal in the awards, which honor the world’s best TV and films. Last spring, 13 UM students traveled to the Bakken oil fields in eastern Montana and western North Dakota to document the impact of oil exploration on people, the economy and the environment. The resulting documentary premi...
With the continuous and ever-changing activity occurring within the county, NDSU Extension Service will be facilitating a program called “Land & Mineral Owners Discussion of Oil & Gas Development.” This event will be hosted by NDSU Extension Service for land owners, mineral owners and the general public to discuss the ongoing oil and gas development in western North Dakota. Topics will include mineral leasing, pipeline easements, surface damages and related matters based on participants’ interest and questions. This is an opportunity to consi...
