PRAIRIE ROSES:>/strong> Well, maybe just a single wilted rose to the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce for rethinking the intent to close a businesspeople-university presidents meeting to the media. Apparently responding to concerns raised in last Friday's Forum editorial, Chamber officials reversed course and said the Wednesday meeting would be open. The Chamber-sponsored session is the first at which business interests and higher education personnel will consider strategies to help higher ed better meet the changing needs of the state's workforce. It's a good idea. The potential for great benefits for the campuses and the business community is unlimited. It's also a very good idea for the effort to be transparent and accessible to North Dakotans.
PRAIRIE ROSES: To the Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo housing industry that reported last week that housing starts are up. The numbers look the best since 2007, which was followed by a couple of years of economic downturn. Still, the local housing market remained strong, even after experiencing that recessional blip. Today, housing starts and housing sales are going very well in the metro - a reflection of a solid and diverse urban and regional economy. The F-M area has not experienced the boom-bust cycles typical of, for instance, North Dakota's currently booming oil country. Rather, steady and reliable growth of the population, economy and subsequently the housing market has been the rule for several decades. That's smart growth.
LEAFY SPURGE: To Fargo police for mishandling the ultimate disposal of a road-kill deer in the city last week. When a resident requested he be allowed to take the deer because of the spectacular velvet-covered rack the animal had, he was - well - jerked around. He might not have precisely followed procedures for claiming the carcass, but instead of getting help from authorities to do just that, he was treated shabbily. Furthermore, if the deer and the trophy antlers did indeed end up in the city's landfill (somehow we doubt it), that's a real shame.
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Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper's Editorial Board.
