Minot, ND

About 3 weeks ago I let you know that I hired a couple of students from the Minot State University Business College to help me get caught up and also to upgrade my technology. One lasted one day and the other, John, is still with me but struggling with all I've thrown at him from AR to entering listings, to upgrading part of my website. I asked John to give us the scoop on what was happing at school and he wrote the following. Now I'm not sure why some of the words below are high lighted unless he had links set up for me to attach to them. If that's the case... oops on my part but it's only a few hours till Easter so I will have to check that out when he returns to the office on Wednesday.

By the way that is John over there to the right. I did not have a sudden burst of hair growth and I'm still my 150 pound self.

MSU Business Department Has Expanded Its Opportunity

Thanks to Rosmini Omar, James Ondracek, Gary Ramey, and Julianne Eklund, Minot State University has recently added more classes online for Marketing and Information Technology careers. With these individuals and others stepping up the pace, MSU is offering a full online bachelor's degree in Marketing, Psychology, Nursing, Accounting, Computer Science, Special Education and Management Information Systems. I usually get the question what is Management Information Systems? Well it is a well-rounded career that involves Managing a Network, (IT guy) Databases, light accounting work, creating professional documents, webpages and slideshows. The most common combination for an MIS major is to manage a network or database or be the assistant of both in a professional business. After I explain this I usually get the question what is a database? A database is place that stores information about a business, organization or general need to store specific information about a topic of interest. When you have a database you can track information such as: how much sold, who sold it, when they sold it and the list goes on to whatever you put into it as you will get a calculated report or query. I am glad to be a Minot native and see the Business Technology department of our local University excel in our city.

The long winter of Midwest and Central North Dakota, has become a huge issue with spring thawing as rising water levels are getting very close to new record highs. This has made "Ace Is The Place" (Ace Hardware) and other hardware stores very busy in the Minot and surrounding areas. Ace Hardware located at 1600 2^nd Ave SW in Minot, ND has great customer service and sells lots of items for quick fix projects.

People have been recently calling and asking the local news station "KMOT TV" questions about Sump pumps and other accessories to withdraw and direct water away from homes. KMOT TV decided to visit the local Ace Hardware store and do a live interview to answer any questions for the people of Minot and surrounding areas. After that news got around people knew they could rely on Ace Hardware for their flooding water needs. Ace can also custom order just about any hardware product the average consumer may need.

WHO STOLE THE COOKIES?

WHO STOLE THE COOKIES?

When I was told my daughter Tina was Alice from Alice in Wonderland in the 5th Grade school play I was really proud that my little girl was Staring in the play. Whoops, this play featured the star of about every children's book in the library (but I'm still proud). The play was adapted from something the teacher found on the Internet. It was a Who Done It. Someone stole the cookies collected for charity at the library. The culprit(s) could have been: Sherlock Holmes or any of his 3 investigators, Alice in Wonderland (played by the Fabulous Tina Natalie Timm), Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, Goldilocks, Aladdin (Oh what the heck I bragged about my daughter so why go one with the list of 21 more characters.

I won't tell you who done it just in case the play comes to your neighborhood but I will tell you everyone had fun. The kids were not under the pressure of learning their lines as they could read them. They did rehearse so it went fairly smoothly but as I said everyone had a good time.

A Special Ball Diamond, Paying It Forward

I just wanted to share with you briefly about a special project underway in Minot ND to help the physically disadvantage enjoy the sport of Baseball. The "Dream Catchers" have sponsored baseball for the physically disadvantaged in Minot for some time but now they are fundraising for their own, handicap friendly field. They have been using the public field in South Minot but it isn't always so friendly. The picture above shows the special field that was installed in Fargo ND (300 miles away) for the same purpose.

The project is being spear headed by Harvey Herslip of Minot. The Dream Catchers were founded by Michelle Bliven. If you are a huge fan of Extreme Home Make-Over you may remember that they built a house for the Bliven Family. Michelle has been big in the Pay-It Forward department.

The cost of the project is estimated to be $240,000. Donations can be made to the Minot Park Board Foundation for the Dream Catchers Field or by contacting Harvey Herslip at 701-833-2503.

Minot North Dakota Housing Snap Shot 04/11/2011

WHAT'S FOR SALE IN MINOT?

Homes for sale under $100,000.00 as of 04/11/2011 = 1
Homes for sale between $100,000.00 and $124,999.00 = 3

Homes for sale between $125,000.00 and $149,999.00 = 5

Homes for sale between $150,000.00 and $174,999.00 = 2

Homes for sale between $175,000.00 and $199,999.00 = 6
Homes for sale between $200,000.00 and $249,999.00 = 20

Homes for sale over $250,000.00 = 19

AS OF 04/11/2011 THERE ARE EXACTLY 57 HOMES FOR SALE

IN THE CITY LIMITS OF MINOT*

Only 4 homes under $125,000.00.

There are 181 pending sales

*Single Family, active status

When viewing these figures keep in mind that Minot North Dakota is a town of 40,000 that experienced at 15% growth last year alone. To say we have a sever housing shortage is a certainly an under statement. The only thing worse in Minot then our housing shortage is the available rentals for families and individuals. We've got the high paying jobs, we just don't have any place to live.