News
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Mind Mixer Announces Winner of Drawing Mind Mixer, Vision West North Dakota’s an online community-based discussion platform, announced the winner of its drawing. Any community member located in the 19 oil and gas producing counties in western North Dakota had an opportunity to win a Samsun Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0). |
Sailor Returns to Fort Berthold Community College to Administer TREND Grant Earlier this month, the Fort Berthold Community College (FBCC) welcomed Edna Sailor as the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program-Data Coordinator. Sailor will be administering the Training for Regional Energy in North Dakota (TREND) program grant funds made available through the U.S. Department of Labor. |
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Heitkamp Brings Together Local Leaders to Discuss Western North Dakota Housing Crisis U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today kicked off a series of discussions around North Dakota focused on finding solutions to the state’s housing crisis. Heitkamp will hold similar events in Bismarck, Minot, Williston, Valley City, and Fargo during the current Congressional District Work Period. |
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NDSU Predicts Oil Patch School Enrollment Predicting the future is no easy task, especially for cities in the booming western North Dakota Oil Patch. Predicting the future number of students at any given school in that same area may seem a daunting chore. |
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Study: Thousands of wells possible in area While Billings County historically has had more oil wells than one of its eastern neighbors, Stark County, that could change in coming years, a study says. |
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Study: Number of wells could reach 275 Results of a study were reviewed on Feb. 11, showing the first set of comprehensive projections for Golden Valley County employment, housing, and population in relation to North Dakota's oil boom. |
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Vision West Regional Plan Water, roads, and sewers, are all in need of improvements in Western North Dakota. Representatives from 19 counties and the 3 Affiliated Tribes met in Watford City today to work on a Regional Plan for addressing those issues. |
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Housing Projections: Room for development in Ward County Ward County will need another 10,000 housing units to accommodate projected population growth, according to an economic analysis detailed at a meeting of a Vision West ND steering committee in Minot Wednesday. |
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Vision West ND Legislative Summit at State Capitol As oil production increases, the infrastructure needs in western North Dakota keep piling up. That`s why the Vision West Consortium was created, to help communities in oil country keep up with planning and infrastructure. |
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Vision West ND Legislative Summit 1/28/2013 in the Great Hall of the State Capitol. |
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Study: Decades of oil development ahead According to a recent study that was presented to city and county leaders last Thursday, the number of rigs drilling and operating in McKenzie County is only going to increase between now and 2025. And so will the number of workers that it is going to take to fill all of the oilfield jobs. |
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Bill puts more tax revenue back into oil patch Western lawmakers are pushing a bill that would redirect nearly all North Dakota oil production tax revenue to oil patch counties during the 2013-15 biennium |
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Developers eye Beach for 240-acre development Although it has been on the fringes of recent Bakken oil play-related development, the city of Beach could soon be changing. |
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ND Legislature's agenda includes focus on western ND Adding more manpower to respond to rapid growth in North Dakota’s oil country will be a major focus of this year’s legislative session. |
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North Dakota's Oil Rush: If the Boom Goes Bust Millions of barrels of oil are rolling out of North Dakota each year and thousands of job-hungry Americans are rolling in, drawn to lucrative oil jobs. But the state faces a challenge: How much do you build when an oil boom may one day bust? |
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Oil Truck Numbers Big Hundreds of trucks travel on roads in the oil patch each day and those numbers aren't expected to decrease as oil development continues. |
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DCB Paraeducation Program Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) is in the second year of a U.S. Department of Education grant to improve the knowledge and skills of paraprofessionals serving children with special needs in kindergarten through 12th grade.
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Bottineau County planning session currently underway 10/22/2012 Strategic Planning details coming soon. |
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Candidates court oil patch, Governor hopefules promise more for oil-patch counties Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple wants to tap into oil revenues to provide $3.5 billion for infrastructure improvements. His Democratic challenger, state Sen Ryan Taylor of Towner, supports allocating 40 percent of oil revenue directly to cities, counties and townships so they can handle their infrastructure needs. |
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Hard to grow little towns from scratch, says Watford City Brent Sanford and Curt Moen are like expectant dads, only they’re preparing for thousands of newcomers, not one. Sanford is Watford City’s mayor and Moen is the city planner. They’re nervously checking the calendar at the same time they’re checking their billfolds, hoping they’ve got enough when the time comes. |
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Day Care Issues in Western ND The oil boom has presented many challenges for Western North Dakota -- but perhaps one of the biggest challenges facing families is child care. |
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Growing Stark County: Resident feedback helps shape development plan After listening to residents of Belfield, Richardton and South Heart, community leaders have created a plan to develop and grow several industries and sectors throughout Stark County. |
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KX News Along with North Dakota's oil development, comes concerns from small town residents. Stark County residents get their chance to voice concerns over the impact North Dakota's oil boom is having on their community. |
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Stark County Planning Session Wrapped Up Sept. 28, 2012 Strategic Planning details coming soon. |
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Day Care Issues Strike Richardson Day care service, or a lack thereof, is a big issue in western North Dakota and the town of Richardton has not been immune to those challenges, a number of its residents said Wednesday. |
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McHenry County Planning Session Wrapped Up Sept. 24, 2012 Strategic Planning details coming soon. |
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Letter: Mandaree Community Volunteer Needs Assessment looks at concerns The Mandaree Community Volunteers Needs Assessment was completed on Aug. 9. Results from this assessment reveal the community's concerns. |
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KX News How will western North Dakota handle the ongoing oil boom in the coming years? KX News features the Vision West ND Project on September 5, 2012. |
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Mandaree's Got Mail Lisa Deville captures the impacts the Vision West ND Project has brought to the Mandaree community in this thought provoking article. |
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Lynn Helms speaks at Vision West ND Consortium meeting. |
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Dickinson Press on Oustretched Child Care Network Following Vision West ND meeting regarding child care in north western North Dakota, this article appeared in The Dickinson Press on July 19, 2012. |
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Child Care Shortage Out West Shirley Brentrup with Vision West ND is quoted in this story about the child care shortage out west. The story aired on KFYR in Bismarck and KMOT in Minot on July 18, 2012: |
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Bakken Rocks Cookfest The 4th Annual Bakken Rocks Cookfest takes place in Ray on July 24 and Belfield on July 26. |
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McLean County Express Plan Week The McLean County steering committee, which met for its plan week on June 27-28 and was led by Brian Cole, chose ten economic development strategies on which to implement. |
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Adams County Express Plan Week Adams County's plan week took place June 21-22 in Hettinger, ND. Karalea Cox, a plan facilitator for Building Communities, led the steering committee through the planning program. |
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Vision West ND is Highlighted in the Burke County Tribune Major brainstorming and the beginning phase of strategic planning was underway in Burke County last week through Vision West ND. |
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USDA Releases the Final ND 2.0 Report Fourteen community meetings were held across the state of North Dakota. The |
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Burke County Express Plan Week Burke County recently became the latest county to complete its Vision West ND plan week. Steering committee members met on June 14th and 15th in Bowbells and discussed the possibility of pursuing several development strategies and quality of life initiatives. |
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Mercer County Express Plan Week Brian Cole leads Mercer County Plan Week activities held at Hazen City Hall on June 5-6. |
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WND: Help is on the way Vision West ND is highlighted in an article featured in Prairie Business sharing information regarding a $1.4 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant that is being used to develop regional and community plans to help solve housing, road improvement, infrastructure and daycare issues in western North Dakota counties. |
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Divide County Express Plan Week The Divide County Express Plan week took place April 30th – May 1st in Crosby, ND. The planning event included two steering committee meetings and a public town hall meeting. |
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Oil Counties Make Plan We all know that oil exploration has had a profound impact on life in western North Dakota. But exactly what are the impacts and how can local governments deal with them? |
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Vision West ND Consortium On April 26 the Vision West ND Consortium met in Stanley, ND. |
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Billings County Express Plan Week Billings County Express Plan Week took place in Medora on April 19-20. |
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Mountrail County Express Plan Week Mountrail County Express Plan Week took place (April 11-12) in Mountrail County Fair Building, Stanley, ND. |
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Hettinger County Express Plan Week The Hettinger County Express Plan Week held on March 13th - 15th marked another huge success for the Vision West ND project. More details on topics addressed and planning efforts discussed coming soon... |
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Watford City Express Plan Week Kicked Off February 29th The Vision West ND project, which covers the nineteen oil and gas producing counties in western North Dakota, kicked off its first Express Plan Week in Watford City on February 29th. Watford City residents recently completed a survey to gain insight on business and services. The Express Plan Week event took planning to the next level. |
