I just realized it’s been a year ago today since I started blogging about North Dakota.  Happy Birthday, blog!

Chad Everson, a former North Dakotan and a North Dakota Ambassador, has got more on his hands than his Raku pottery business, the Clay Empire.
Everson is also the owner of Grizzly Groundswell, a conservative political blog that in the past year organized a national network of conservative bloggers and thinkers.  Under his direction, the network has grown [...]

I have to admit, this truly surprised me. 
I’m still leary of Barack Obama, but I’m glad he’s seeing the Bakken oil formation as an important resource for helping fill national energy needs.  On the energy front, North Dakota does have a lot to offer–great wind energy potential, vast coal resources, and a great interest in [...]

According to this article , former North Dakota governor and now Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer spoke out for ethanol during a rural economic develpment conference in Bismarck.
In North Dakota, Schafer is well known for his efforts to increase high-speed internet connections across the state that allow for telemedicine and like programs in very rural areas.  Ethanol production [...]

A recent editorial in Minot Daily News discussed the North Dakota prison plan that was settled on by an interrim legislative committee.  The committee has spent hours investigating the subject.  Their recommendation is to combine remodeling with new construction to update the state penitentiary–and it’s the same kind of recommenation that was debated so strongly [...]

The Department of Commerce web site has posted an announcement for the Governor’s Rural Community Summit.  The meeting will be held next week on August 26-27 at the Ramkota Hotel in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Ed Schafer, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (who, incidentally, hails from North Dakota) has been invited to speak.  Confirmed speakers include Under Secretary [...]

An article published on Kiplinger.com yesterday said two North Dakota energy companies, MDU Resources Group and Otter Tail Corporation,
“are treating shareholders superbly.”
It’s good news for energy investors.  Year-to-date returns from the companies are 16% and 17%, according to the article, and both companies have a solid economic footing that allows them to pay continuous dividends. 
MDU [...]

According to this Minot Daily News article, money from oil and gas leases will help pay for 200 new homes on the Fort Berthold Reservation.
The reservation, which has a great need for housing, is situated over the Bakken oil formation in northwestern North Dakota.

According to this KX News article, Tim Mathern, the Democratic Candidate for Governor in North Dakota, wants to see significantly more wind energy development and more transmission lines.  Don Larson, campaign manager for the current Governor John Hoeven, said under Hoeven the state is developing wind power and has created the Transmission Authority to address [...]

According to a fact sheet at NDSU Research Park’s web site, research activities at North Dakota State University have been covered by publications/media like The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, New York Times, CNN, Washington Post online, Discover, Nature, BBC and Wired Magazine in the past few years.
Other comments on the fact sheet indicate that [...]