BISMARCK -- Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., missed the State Fair parade July 21 because he gave his airline seat to a National Guard soldier trying to get home on leave. The young man had no idea who his benefactor was.
According to the Minot Daily News, Pomeroy and Pvt. First Class Zeb Blackledge of Trenton, N.D., were both the victim of a canceled flight out of Minneapolis that Friday night. Passengers were told they'd be put on flights the following morning. The soldier spent the night in the airport terminal.
In the morning, Pomeroy was to be on an 8:30 flight to Minot, which would apparently have allowed him to make the parade and a meeting. When Pomeroy discovered at the gate that Blackledge was assigned to wait for a 10:30 p.m. flight, he thought that was unconscionable, he told the Minot Daily.
"I thought, 'We've got to get this kid home,' " he said.
When the soldier got home and told a family friend that someone named "Pomeroy" had given him his ticket so he could get home sooner, she guessed it was the congressman.
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The two men have since met at Pomeroy's North Dakota office, and Blackledge told the Minot paper, "I thanked him and I said words can't express what this meant to me."
MONSON'S NOTORIETY GROWING
The North Dakota House's assistant majority leader, David Monson, R-Osnabrook, may become a national household name if this keeps up.
First there was the New York Times article a week ago, "Sober North Dakotans Hope to Legalize Hemp," a story for which the Times sent a reporter and photographer.
Then, Thursday night, one of Comedy Central channel's fake news shows, the Colbert Report ("cole-BEAR re-PORE"), opened its broadcast with host Stephen Colbert announcing, "North Dakota seeks to legalize hemp farming!"
Showing off the New York Times' story and a video clip from the day Monson and Wayne Hauge of Ray, N.D., filed their lawsuit against the federal government, Colbert intones in his best faux sincerity, "There is some alarming news coming out of North Dakota" and goes on to make fun of "pot brownies and factories to make wizard bongs" before introducing a guest from the Marijuana Policy Project.
We asked Monson if he's familiar with the Colbert Report.
"Never heard of it," he said, amused that the story has reached that far.
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LOBBYISTS HAVE THREE DAYS LEFT
As of Friday, 146 of the 662 lobbyists -- 22 percent -- registered with the North Dakota secretary of state for the 2006-07 fiscal year haven't filed a required year-end spending report due by Wednesday, Secretary of State Al Jaeger said.
Those who miss Wednesday's deadline will owe Jaeger's office not just a report but a $25 late fee. On Oct. 1, the fee goes to $50 and they lose their current lobbying registration.
The report must be filed whether or not lobbyists have any reportable expenditures.
DISCLOSURE LAW GETS 'F' GRADE
North Dakota and Minnesota were among 21 states that got an "F" grade from the Center for Public Integrity after it examined how much information is available to the public about the private financial interests of the 50 states' governors.
Washington was the lone state given an "A."
North Dakota was ranked 32nd out of the 50 states in a point system the center used. Minnesota got a rank of 38th.
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Cole works for Forum
Communications Co., which owns The Jamestown Sun
