1. Hearings set for Summit CO2 underground storage wells in North Dakota
From the North Dakota Monitor via Forum News Service
North Dakota regulators have set hearing dates to review the Summit Carbon Solutions application for underground carbon dioxide storage wells, the end point for a carbon capture pipeline system connecting ethanol plants in five states.
The Department of Mineral Resources has set hearings for June 11 and 12. The meetings are at 9 a.m. each day at the North Dakota Oil & Gas Division, 1000 E. Calgary Ave., Bismarck. The public can listen live through the department’s YouTube channel. Summit’s applications can be found on the Mineral Resources website.
The underground storage area is at the intersection of Oliver, Mercer and Morton counties.
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Summit has been negotiating easement agreements in the storage area and this month held meetings with landowners.
“We’re over 90% in the storage area of easements that we need,” Summit CEO Lee Blank told the North Dakota Monitor.
The application will need the approval of the North Dakota Industrial Commission, comprised of Gov. Doug Burgum, Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring.
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2. Fargo activist pleads guilty after painting 'Pokemon' character on railroad structure
A local activist has pleaded guilty to a criminal mischief charge that said he painted a popular cartoon character on a railroad structure in downtown Fargo.
Fargo Municipal Judge Stephen Dawson ordered Wess Philome on Wednesday, April 17, to pay a $400 fine for using water-soluble paint to draw Charmander on a cement railroad bridge pylon near 9 Lower Terrace N. That was later amended to allow Philome to do 40 hours of community service instead of paying the fine.
Philome chose the 40 hours as a way of giving back to his community, his attorney Dane DeKrey said after the hearing.
The misdemeanor charge will be dismissed and removed from his record in six months as long as he remains law-abiding.
“When things go right, I am someone who will look outside the window to try to find someone to praise,” Philome said before sentencing. “When things go wrong, I look in the mirror and try to find where I can be better.”
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A trial to determine whether Philome damaged property or tampered with property and endangered the structure or people was slated to begin Wednesday. He was charged two months after Joy Mohelski reported Philome to police.
Assistant City Attorney William Wischer, who prosecuted the case, was slated to argue Philome damaged or tampered with the railroad structure owned by Burlington Northern Sante Fe near Wildflower Grove Park.
DeKrey argued that Philome’s drawing was temporary art, not graffiti, and didn’t cause any damage to the pylon. He likened his client's case to children drawing chalk art on a sidewalk.
Read more from The Forum's April Baumgarten
3. Minnesota child care providers struggle to fill 700 open positions
From the Star Tribune via Forum News Service
Minnesota's tight labor market is hitting the child care sector hard, making it tougher for families to find care as jobs go unfilled and classrooms sit empty.
A March survey by the Minneapolis Fed and First Children's Finance found even though hiring woes have eased since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, child care providers are still struggling to attract qualified employees. Child care center respondents reported more than 700 open teaching positions resulting in more than 2,000 unavailable child care slots statewide.
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"A center may be licensed to care for, let's say, 75 or 100 kids. But if they don't have enough staff in place to meet the [state staffing] ratios required for each age group, they can't operate at their licensed capacity," Suzanne Pearl, Minnesota director of First Children's Finance, said during a virtual event Monday. "Over the past couple of years, we've seen many centers operating with empty classrooms. They have the space: They just don't have the people."
The 1,266 survey respondents — about three-quarters licensed family child care providers and a quarter child care centers — represent about 16% of licensed child care programs in Minnesota. Most are operating at about 85% of their licensed capacity, survey results showed, with family providers and those in Greater Minnesota tending to report higher enrollment.
Tu-Uyen Tran, who writes about the regional economy for the Minneapolis Fed and facilitated Monday's event, said child care has been essential for his own family in educating his children, ages 7 and 4, while allowing him and his wife to work.
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4. Buy Nothing meets GoFundMe: How a new website aims to ‘revolutionize’ philanthropy
An Minnesota nonprofit leader hopes to "revolutionize" charitable giving with a new platform for people to trade household items they no longer need, resulting in a donation to a nonprofit.
Think Buy Nothing meets GoFundMe.
Joel Ackerman, a former UnitedHealth Group information technologies executive who's worked at numerous startups, was inspired by a Canadian man in 2005 who got international attention after trading a red paperclip for progressively more expensive items until he landed a house in a trade.
He "essentially created money out of nothing; out of a paperclip, he got a house," Ackerman said.
He mimics that concept in his new RedLadder platform — but with a charitable twist. RedLadder, which is being publicly unveiled May 1, is an online marketplace for people to trade items they no longer need — from a vintage guitar and jewelry to a refrigerator and foosball table. One person donates an item and another person can get it by trading in a higher-priced item, and so on. The trade sequence, or ladder, ends with RedLadder selling an item and donating the cash proceeds to a charity designated by the initial donor.
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"Not only is it keeping stuff out of landfills ... it's helping build up charitable organizations," Ackerman said. "It is actually creating new money for philanthropy."
The platform taps into the growing sustainability movement of reducing waste like Buy Nothing groups, where people offer up their unneeded items for free, from furniture to knickknacks. It also comes at a critical time for nonprofits facing rising expenses and declining donations, struggling to find new ways to drum up revenue to fill the financial gaps.
Read more from The Forum's Kelly Smith
5. New Fargo Marathon director says the event is here to stay
Mark Knutson passed away last summer in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, as a result of a bicycle accident. In the prior several months, the only race director the Fargo Marathon has known shed a few hints that this year’s event would have been his last.
It will be the 20th annual, after all. Twenty seemed like a good number for him to retire and pass the reins to somebody else.
With parent company Ventures Endurance, which owns the race, taking on the task of head organizer this year, the question is obvious for those closest to the race: Will there be a 21st annual? A 22nd?
Absolutely, said Chip Hazewski, the senior road races director for Ventures Endurance. He’s heard the rumor that this could be the last race.
“That’s not the case,” Hazewski said. “This is one of the biggest races in our portfolio and one of the strongest in terms of community support. Yeah, the intention is to keep it going. The 20th is not the end.”
Ventures puts on events across the country. It has the Will Run For Beer 5K in Hampton, New Hampshire, the same day as the Fargo Marathon. It has a half marathon in Highland Park, Illinois, the following day.
Hazewski is not new to the Fargo event; he worked the marathon two years ago in a support role. Job-wise, he is the new Mark for the marathon, with races starting Tuesday, May 28, and ending with the main event on Saturday, June 1. Knutson’s Go Far Events once owned the race but sold it to Ventures, with Knutson staying on as an employee.
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