Bakken

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The booming Bakken oil patch that's given a major boost to U.S. energy production has emerged as a new front in the fight against drug trafficking.

So-called "Outlaw" biker gangs are gaining a foothold in western North Dakota, law enforcement officials report.

In the opening of the TV show "The Beverly Hillbillies", Jed Clampett was just out shooting at some food when up from the ground came a bubbling crude.  After which he loaded up his family and they moved to Beverly...Hills that is...swimming pools and movie stars...

Let's face it - most of what we see and hear in the local media about the state's oil boom paints a fairly rosy picture. Only rarely - as in this article from the Tribune shows - do we get a glimpse of the dark side of the issue. In it, the article discusses how 29 workers were killed on the job last fiscal year...