News : LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST

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DON’T GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB. Another ND criminal has proven to not quite be up to the job. A Devils Lake man stole a large Christmas tree from a lot and dragged it to his home. Sleuths from the D.L. Police Dept. plodded through the fresh snow following tree tracks to his doorstep. Much boasting and celebrating at the DLPD.

BLISS ON THE ICE. The scene was the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks: a horn blared that normally sounds after hockey goals, loud speakers played a rousing “Hockey Night in Canada” and a couple kissed. Shelley Klippenstein and Marc Duval were the first UND hockey fans to marry at center ice. Their choice of a wedding location may be a little easier to understand, after you learn they are from Manitoba. Arena management hopes this starts a trend that could be quite profitable.

THE ND MILL & ELEVATOR normally makes an annual contribution to the state general fund from its earnings. There will be no such contribution this year. The Mill ended its June 2008 year with a loss of over $800 thousand. In the following quarter, it lost $12 million. The losses result from buying wheat future contracts. When wheat prices dropped, the Mill had to still honor the high priced purchase contracts, but sold the flour it produces in a market where both price and volume were low. It was a small satisfaction, but industry leaders such as General Mills had the same problem.

STURDY STOOL Auto sales around the nation are in the tank, but the Auto Dealers Association of ND celebrated a banner year at its annual meeting. Carey Stoudt, a veteran auto dealer in Jamestown, said their market is like a three-legged stool of farmers, industry and main street, and “We’re fortunate to have all three legs of the stool on the ground at the same time.”

"NOPE. NOT HERE. Not unless oil falls below $40 a barrel." A Bismarck woman shopping the day after Thanksgiving barely paused to provide her reaction to the bad national economy. After snatching an MP3 player, she said, "We're kind of in our own insulated bubble here."

THE WINNER ND is the worst state in the country for DUI -- about half its auto fatalities involve a drunken driver. Utah is the best -- only 17 percent of its auto fatalities involve drunken drivers.