Compiled by LAUREN DONOVAN

Bismarck Tribune

The effects of $40 oil are being felt in McKenzie County, but not across the board.

Patrick Hladky, contract manager for Cyclone Drilling Inc., said while things have slowed some in the Williston Basin, there's still plenty of action in the field.

Myron Hovet, owner of North Plains Consulting Services, said he hasn't seen a slowdown yet, but says it could come if oil prices keep dropping.

He said the first companies to slow down will be the smallest, those that depend on investor money for operations.

"With the economy problems and dropping prices, small companies won't see the same influx of money from their investors," he said. "On the other hand, big companies who are operating on their own are going to continue at the same pace because they have funding in place and contracts to fill."

Hovet says he's hoping the OPEC oil cartel's decision to cut back oil production will cause price stability now and improvement in 2009.

"It might just take a little more time for the market to adjust before the price starts going up," he said.

Owen Hanson, owner of Hanson Hot Oil, which services the oil industry, said he's not a bit worried.

Most of his company's work comes from servicing producing wells.

"… Even if the drilling slows, we will remain busy because there are more wells now than there were a year ago."

Hladky said his company shut down 15 percent of its workforce and its rigs, but is here for the long haul.

However, he said, "I can't say what will happen in 2009 because my crystal ball is a little foggy."

- McKenzie County Farmer

Corps' 'heads in sand'

A plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to transfer more than 30,000 acres of land to the Three Affiliated Tribes is not a done deal, but it's not going over too well in McLean County.

The transfer has been in the works for about three years and is an effort by the tribes to reclaim land it lost when Garrison Dam was flooded that is no longer considered necessary for the dam's operation.

McLean County State's Attorney Ladd Erickson updated the county commission early in the week.

He said it appears the corps is still planning to transfer the land without changing land ownership records in the necessary counties.

"Unless a deed is filed with the county, we will still show the land as corps land and not tribal trust land, which will create all sorts of future jurisdictional confusion," Erickson said.

Erickson said the counties will require the documented change of land ownership and "it will cost the corps tens of millions of dollars, and is why they are sticking their heads in the sand about it."

He said "the counties might have to sue on this, if we have to."

McLean County Auditor Les Korgel said the county is not accepting the land transfer and Erickson will continue to work with Gov. John Hoeven's office on the matter.

- Leader-News

Tree awaits sick girl

Miranda's Christmas tree, in Strasburg, gets plenty of oohs and aahs, even though she's not home to see it.

The tree - a large spruce outside the home of Mark and Dana Kramer - was decorated just for Miranda Huber, 6, also of Strasburg, who's a leukemia patient in Minneapolis.

She was flown there, with her mother, Leona Huber, on Dec. 12, and her family's friend, Mark Kramer, told her he would decorate a tree so that everyone would think of her and offer a prayer when they pass by.

After the tree was lighted, Miranda Huber's friends and supporters started decorating it with gifts and toys, and now, while it waits for her return, the tree is a beautiful and hopeful thing.

Miranda Huber has acute myeloid leukemia and is undergoing chemotherapy, and will be restricted to the hospital for a least one month.

Leona Huber remains with their daughter, while Marvin Huber divides his time between the hospital, their Strasburg farm and the family's five other children.

- Emmons County Record