oil patch

As the population and job opportunities increase in North Dakota's fast-growing oil patch, so does the crime rate. Officials in Williston are seeking more federal help in an effort to keep up.

STANLEY, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Highway Patrol has now identified all three victims of a fiery crash in the western North Dakota oil patch two months ago.

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...