Page 4 The Star July 14, 2014
OPINION
Fields of dreams
are drifting away
Summary: One of the city's last bastions of youth entertainment needs
a major face lift.
Rolla's ball fields are in need of a make over.
Last week the community hosted a little league baseball tournament.
The fields looked good, but only because a group of parents worked for
several weeks shaping up what was left after around three decades of de-
cline.
The fences around the four fields are falling apart, concrete is heaving
out of the ground and there are no rest room facilities. Then there is the
years-long debate about what city entity is in charge of mowing the prop:
erty. Is the city? Is it the park board? Is it the rec board?
Our question is: Does it matter?
What's needed is a regular maintenance program for the field after a
complete overhaul. Yes, it will cost money, but anyone complaining that
kids have nothing to do in the summer should have been at the fields last
week.
Three diamonds were buzzing with games featuring 10, 11 and 12 year
old boys and girls from towns within a 45-mile radius of Rolla.
Young moms and dads, grandparents and friends filled up the parking
lot to its limit. Parents of the players were busy cooking and serving con-
cessions while younger children played near the dugouts.
It was good for everyone.
Of course any remodeling of the field is going to cost money. Unfor-
tunately, there isn't much help beyond the community.
One would think the state would offer grants for such facilities, and
they do. Unfortunately, small towns in North Dakota aren't a part of the
plan.
The North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department (NDPRD) re-
cently opened a pre-application cycle for $3 million in federal grant
money available for outdoor recreation projects.
The program provides matching funds for outdoor recreation projects
such as ball fields, pools, campgrounds, playgrounds and land acquisi-
tions for park development.
That's right in Rolla's berry patch when considering the state of the
ball fields and the proximity of both a campground and playground.
Here's the catch. The grant is limited to areas having populations of
50,000 people or more.
That's just ridiculous. Densely populated areas already feed off smaller
towns, capturing city sales tax by the bucket load to fund many recre-
ation projects not to mention infrastructure needs.
Limiting such grants deprives towns from much-needed money for
recreation projects. Rolla is pressed for funds as it deals with infrastruc-
ture necessities.
People living in North Dakota's small communities will often do any-
thing they can for their children. That was certainly on display running up
to last week's tournament.
Now is the time for everyone else to contribute or the city will risk
-losing yet another outlet for youth activities.
Other Views
By Lloyd Omdahl
Other Views
How to contact District 9 Legislators
Rep. Tracy Boe
5125 89th Street, Mylo, ND 58353-9438
Home Telephone: 701-656-3427
Cellphone: 701-477-4005
Email: tboe@nd.gov
Rep. Marvin Nelson
P.O. Box 577, Rolla, ND 58367-0577
Home Telephone: 701-477-3422
Cellphone: 701-550-9731
Email: menelson@nd.gov
Sen. Richard Marcellais
301 Laite Loop NE, Belcourt, ND 58316-9787
Home Telephone: 701-477-8985
Cellphone: 701-278-0632
Email: rmarcellais@nd.gov
Ex-Hutterites take issues to the public square
A group of nine ex-Hutterites are
going to great lengths to denounce
the theology and governance flaws of
Hutterite colonies in North Dakota
and Canada. They are now touting a
second book about their experiences
and taking their case to the secular
world.
The Hutterite religion first ap-
peared in Europe in 1528 and was
named for a dynamic leader, Jakob
Hutter, in the 1600s. Believers came
to America in the 1870s and settled
in South Dakota, Montana, North
Dakota and Canada.
In theology, Hutterites are fairly
close to Baptists, except that they
subscribe to communal living and
strict pacifism. German is the first
language in the colonies.
Since neither communal living
nor pacifism sit well with the secular
society, Hutterites have frequently
been victims of ridicule and persecu-
tion.
North Dakota has six or seven
colonies, depending on the source,
with a new one being built near Hills-
boro between Fargo and Grand
Forks. South Dakota and Montana
have much larger setflements. Each
colony has around 100 members.
Farming is a significant part of
their economic activities but some
colonies have gone into various types
of manufacturing and commercial
services.
While most of the complaints
voiced by the nine breakaway book
writers relate to the theology and
governance of the colonies, they raise
some serious legal issues that should
catch the attention of civil authori-
ties.
In their first book, they alleged
that the colonies were guilty of over-
looking child abuse, violating labor
and minimum wage laws, disobeying
school attendance laws, disregarding
possible sex abuse, and providing al-
cohol to minors.
Without receiving formal com-
plaints, however, law enforcement
agencies are hard-pressed to storm
the colonies in search of violations.
And because colonies are religious
organizations, attempts to enforce
state laws could be construed as a
form of religious persecution.
In their first publication, each of
the nine narrated the dismal circum-
stances of life in the colonies. They
felt as though they were prisoners
due to the lack of preparation for em-
ployment outside of the colony,
shunning by family and friends that
dared leave the colony, and the un-
known spiritual consequences of de-
fying authority.
Nevertheless, they used the Dec-
laration of Independence to justify
their right to "life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness," not under-
standing that the Declaration guaran-
teed no rights and represented a
secular argument against King
George.
All of the nine professed a new
"born-again" faith that, they allege,
was unacceptable to colony leaders.
They all seemed to find new reli-
gious, economic and social lives in
the freedom of the secular world.
Even though their first book was
punctuated with scriptural references,
an air of bitterness and condemnation
permeated the writing. It was unfor-
giving and vindictive.
Having been victims of heavy-
handed authoritarianism, it is under-
standable that painful memories and
loss of families could be enough to
make them bitter. At the same time,
however, if their new:found faith was
really based on teachings in the New
Testament, then they were called to
meekness and forgiveness, not bitter-
ness.
Their arguments are basically the-
ological in nature but their writing
seems to bean appeal to secular so-
ciety for justification of their depar-
ture from Hutterite society.
As for the vindictiveness in their
writing, I quote from page 108 in
their first book:
"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger,
clamor and evil speaking be put away
from you with all malice. And be
kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God in
Christ forgave you." (Ephesians
4:31)
Christians should not be disparag-
ing other Christians in the secular
square. Theirs is a family argument
for professing Christians and not a
secular debate.
Paying to protect ourselves from North
There's good news about the ex-
plosive oil tankers rolling through
our communities: We can finally find
out what the bad news is.
Until recently, the public knew
only that the state had suddenly be-
come a magnet for thousands of an-
tique tanker cars, each filled with 680
barrels of volatile crude oil from
North Dakota's Bakken region.
We've all seen them: huge black
tanks topped with what look like
black caps. Their design is a half-
century old. The National Trans-
portation Safety Board has been
yelling for years about their tendency
to split open and explode in crashes.
Federal regulators finally took the
risk seriously after one oil train
more or less identical to countless oth-
ers -- exploded in Quebec last year
and incinerated 47 human beings.
The new gusher of North Dakota
crude has sent a storm surge of
tankers across the continent. The rail
industry and some states haven't
been eager to tell the public where
the trains are going and how many
there are.
One particularly specious claim is
the information might fall into the
hands of terrorists -- as if any terror-
ist with time on his hands couldn't
simply stand by the track in a given
locale and count.
The U.S. government last month
declared that the train movements
aren't state secrets. Washington state's
emergency preparedness people last
week released the details. In Pierce
County, for example, BNSF Railway
is currently moving 11 to 16 major oil
trains through University Place,
Tacoma and other communities.
The typical train pulls about 100
cars. Trains that pull fewer than 35 or
so aren't reported. Keep in mind:
Shipments are still curving up. In
2011, zero crude was sent to Wash-
ington refineries by rail. In 2013, that
zero had grown to 29 million barrels.
It's crucial that the public have
this information. Without it, we
couldn't assess either the threat or the
preventive measures.
BNSF appears to be trying to get
ahead of the problem. (As common
carriers, railways are legally obligated
Dakota crude
to carry oil trains.) It is upgrading its
tracks aggressively and is funding
training for the state's first responders.
Railway companies don't nor-
mally deploy cars of their own, but
BNSF is buying a small fleet of mod-
ern, much-safer oil tankers. Credit
where it's due.
Washington is reacting to the
surge faster than the federal govern-
ment did. This year's Legislature ap-
propriated nearly $1 million to
develop response plans. State agen-
cies are on task.
Unfortunately, lawmakers failed
to take one obvious step: imposing a
per-barrel fee on rail-borne oil, as
California does and as this state al-
ready does with the seaborne crude
that arrives at our refineries. As a re-
sult, taxpayers are footing the bill for
much of the emergency preparation.
Heaven knows how many oil
barons and CEOs are enriching
themselves by rolling these potential
bombs through our cities. It's galling
that we have to pay to protect our-
selves from them.
(This editorial first appeared in
the News-Tribune of Tacoma Wash-
ington.)
Riding through life on a bike
While motoring home the other day, I saw
two little kids on bicycles come around a comer.
It looked like they just grew into the two-
wheeled modes of transportation and both were
pedaling hard, but not getting anywhere in too
big of a hurry.
About five seconds later, a mini van came
around the same corner at a top speed of about
4 mph.
The scene created an instant flashback. I had
been in that mini van, following little kids on
bikes as they motored toward the swimming
pool, playground or grandma's house.
That was me 13 years ago, 10 years ago and
six years ago.
As I got closer to the kids, I was careful not
to distract them. I knew them, but hid my face
a bit because they needed to concentrate on
steering clear of parked cars, which are akin to
land mines for little kids on bikes.
I exchanged pleasantries with the mom, who
was watching closely and appeared to be en-
joying the solitude of a solo drive to the pool.
Later, I couldn't get the scene out of my
mind, probably because it was a good analogy
for life.
You follow your children, watching closely,
as they carefully pedal into the world. Pretty
soon, those bikes start going faster and you
struggle to keep up with them while maintain-
ing the speed of your own life.
Then there are times when the bike drifts out
of sight. You're anxious and hope they remem-
ber when to use the brakes.
Finally, the day comes when the bike is no
longer visible. Your child has found her own
path, consisting of low valleys, high peaks and
plenty of bumps in between.
All you can hope is that they will stay up-
right and continue to pedal back into your life
from time to time. If you taught them well, I'm
pretty sure they will.
Pages from
the past...
10 years ago
July 12, 2004
"Nine mmbers of the St. John
FFA chapter recently participated in
the North Dakota State FFA Con-
vention. Those members included
Gracie Langan, Brooke Bryant,
Susan Cain, Jorey Indvik, Claton
Haas, Kyle Langan, Chance Bren-
nan, Cody Garrison and Kurt Car-
penter."
"Seven area graduated seniors
from 9-man football schools will
play in the first-ever Saskota Bowl.
Players from Rolla, Rolette and St.
John are Jake Gefroh, Zach Cahill,
Seth Mickelson, Kurt Carpenter,
Dustin Langan, Larry Laducer and
Matt Norby."
"Among the entrants in the Sam
McQuade Memorial Softball Tour-
nament was a team from Belcourt.
The Turtle Mountain Thunder con-
sisted of Sean LaFountain, James
'Bucky' Grant, Frank 'Beeve' Grant
Jr., Martin Desjarlais, Kyle 'Opie'
Brien, Craig Trottier, Marcus Ouel-
lette and Keith LaVallie."
"A Rolla City Council committee
will recommend two options to pay
off the city's share of the $3.5 mil-
lion sewer and lagoon project. The
city is responsible for $2.8 million of
the venture while a USDA Rural De-
velopment grant will take care f the
remainder."
........ 30 years ;ito
July 9, 1984
"Several members of the Rolette
FFA Chapter attended the North
Dakota FFA convention in Fargo.
Those members included Duane
Cote, Elaine Heinz, Mark Haagen-
son, Kenton Omvig, Robert
Lemieux, Toni Thingvold, Kenton
Omvig, Jamie Rieger, Tim Berube
and David Rose."
"Tami Await of Rolla will attend
the 1984 National Leadership Meet-
ing of the Future Homemakers of
America in Chicago. The daughter
of Bill and Eunice Await, Tami will
be a delegate from North Dakota."
"Jay Myhre has joined the Rolette
State Bank in the position of assis-
tant cashier. Myhre is a native of Ro-
lette and is a graduate of Concordia
College."
"The top judges in the Rolette
County 4-H Teen Consumer Choice
competition will advance to the dis-
trict contest. The winners were Kari
Boe, Lisa Casavant, Shelly Heinz,
Bethany Boe and Denise
Gustafson."
60 years ago
July 15, 1954
"Dwight E. Palmer, the new
county agent, assumed his duties
Thursday, July 15. Palmer succeeds
Calvin L. Martin, who is in Iran."
"The ground work and construc-
tion of a building which will house
the new Northwestern Bell Tele-
phone Company dial house at Mylo
is well underway. The dial house
will give Mylo it sown exchange and
approximately 50 new subscribers
will be added in the .M.ylo commu-
ii).,€ "°" 7 . .
"Fred' T. LeBrnn, Belcourt mer-
chant, who has recently changed his
store into a Red Owl agency, is an-
nouncing his grand opening sale."
"Second Lieut. Robert J.
Gillmeister, contracting officer's
representative, "Frankford Arsenal,
Phiiladelphia, arrived in Rolla last
week, and is now a member of the
staff at the Turtle Mountain Ordance
Plant. His presence is expected to
sped up contact work between the
plant and the contracting officer at
Frankford. Lieut. Gillmeister has a
room at the A.M. Marchand home."
Letters to
the editor
The Turtle Mountain Star wel-
comes letters to the editor. The
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The Turtle Mountain Star
PO Box 849 • Rolla, ND 58367
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reject those deemed libelous, in
poor taste or of a personal nature.
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same author two weeks in a row.
All opinions expressed are those
of the author and do not represent
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