Posts Tagged ‘traffic’

Kris Kitko: Accidental Activist

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

Kris Kitko, a singer/songwriter who lives in Bismarck, is worried about the societal and environmental effects of the oil boom. Kitko describes herself as an accidental activist who writes songs about the negative effects of the oil boom. “I write about whatever moves me,” she says. “I felt very moved by … what I heard people were going through.” In this interview, Kitko sings “Frack That Oil” and “The EPA Hates Babies.”

More information on Kitko is here.

Interview by Diane Richard

Photo by Todd Melby

Trooper on the Bus Goes Round & Round

Sunday, September 30th, 2012

School buses have always had to share the road with other vehicles. But in oil country, country roads and highways now throb with traffic. And fatality rates are at an all-time high. A North Dakota Highway Patrol safety program called “Trooper on the Bus” helps buses reach schools safely.

Story by Diane Richard

Photos by Todd Melby

Pumpers Outside School Bus Window

Bryan Johnson: I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

Everyone says traffic is bad in oil patch of western North Dakota. But until you see it and drive it, you really don’t believe it. Bryan Johnson is one man who has seen it and driven it. Once a week, Johnson and his business partner, Jim Bacon, make the trip from Spearfish, South Dakota to sell fire retardant clothes to oil workers in Watford City, a small town that’s getting bigger every day. Before moving to Spearfish a few years back, Johnson worked as a cop in Los Angeles. And get this: Johnson says the traffic is worse on two-lane highways near Watford City than in car-crazed Los Angeles.