Quick links: Falcon incest
- On my first day back, I got an assignment from birder-in-chief Mike Jacobs: The peregrine falcons are nesting and it sounds kind of incestuous — two brothers sharing the same female — which makes for a funny story. I didn’t realize how incestuous until I looked up the genealogy of the female and realized… well, you’ll just have to read the story. The interesting link is the Midwestern Peregrine Society’s database of peregrine falcons. OK, maybe it’s not that interesting unless you’re into birds, but that’s how I figured out the dirty little secret about Bear, Roosevelt and Terminal. Here’s a link about the peregrine falcons from Fargo, including Bear and Roosevelt.
- Ryan Bakken‘s column about how sucky it would be to pay Fargo’s dike sales taxes is interesting because it makes me think of Grand Forks Mayor Mike Brown‘s attempt to raise the sales tax in 2003 to pay for, among other things, the water park by the Alerus Center, Greenway maintenance, streets and sewers and economic development. Regional residents were as irate as Bakken is. Voters here quashed the idea, not necessarily because of regional residents, but because they hate taxes. Wonder how Fargo voters will act?
- Interesting story from ABC News about the state of the plasma gasification industry. This technology is a perpetual favorite of some local residents who seem to have a child-like faith that the technology will work perfectly and allow us to never have to build a landfill. (Oh yeah, don’t write and tell me how dumb I am for not understanding what it’s all about. You probably wouldn’t have heard about it if I hadn’t told you.)
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Bakkens’ article was a pathetic attempt at journalism. Nobobdy is forcing him to shop in fargo. Heck, nobody is forcing anyone from outside Fargo to come shop in there. If these small town folks, don’t like shopping in bigger towns with sales tax than stay in your small town. Bakken needs to stick to writing stories about prom.
It’s just an opinion. He’s entitled to it as are you. I’m guessing you live in Fargo?
The difference is he gets paid to write his opinion. I’m sure he could run for the Thompson City council and raise taxes at Brewski’s and Tim’s Quick Stop. I don’t think Walaker and the fargo residents would complain much. He is the one who chose to live in an outlying town. If the tax bothers him so much, rent an apartment in Fargo for the month of June and vote against the tax.
Like I said, he is better off writing about church potlucks and high school prom. And yes, I live in Fargo.
First off I go to school in Moorhead, will be working in Fargo and Moorhead this summer, and do a lot of my shopping (from basic essentials to electronics, to clothing) in Fargo. If I lived in Fargo I would vote for the sales tax increase. If you come to Fargo to shop, you are shopping at a business that will benefit from permanent flood protection. The roads you drive on won’t be closed to allow sandbags and clay to move quickly across the city, Your car won’t be covered in mud by the time you leave, the city won’t request that the stores close, making your trip pointless. If you want to take advantage of the shopping in Fargo, you can pay the sales tax. What benefits Fargo ultimately benefits the regional economy.