(The Weeklies printed in Sunday's Tribune were incorrectly run due to an editing error. The following are the stories that should have been printed for this week.)

Divide County, which borders Canada, is enjoying a boom that might be about oil, but it's also about location.

Taxable sales for 2007 were stronger than in any year since Canadian shoppers poured through back in the mid-'90s. And now those Canadians are back again.

The State Tax Department reports that taxable sales and purchases for the year were at $9.6 million, more than a 4 percent increase over the year before.

The strength of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar makes shopping in the States a good deal for Canadians.

Towns in the border county saw varied growth, some better than others.

Crosby is the county's biggest shopping center and more than $8 million of sales were tracked to that community.

Portal, a town with a border crossing, had sales jump nearly 70 percent, to nearly $1 million for the year.

The Tax Commission said Divide County's strong year was mirrored by statewide numbers.

In 2007, taxable sales and purchases grew by more than 10 percent from the year before, to just over $960 million, not far off the billion-dollar mark.

Tax Commissioner Cory Fong said the upbeat economic report confirms strength and stability.

"While many other states struggled, North Dakota gained momentum," he said.

The Journal

Beyond the Bakken

Harold Hamm, chairman of Continental Resources, is testing out a theory that could mean there's even more oil associated with the Bakken formation than originally believed.

Hamm said a recently completed oil well in Dunn County could help prove that there's yet another layer of oil beneath the Bakken in a deep geologic formation called "Three Forks-Sanish."

His company drilled into the Three Forks, below the Bakken, and produced nearly 700 barrels of oil a day its first day of production.

That's about double the production of Bakken wells in the area.

Hamm said while it's too early to know if the layers are separate, but if they are, it could be "of great significance."

The news was significant in the stock market.

The value of Hamm's personal stock in Continental Resources rose from $6.3 billion to $7.7 billion, after the announcement.

Hamm said he'll continue to test the theory that Three Forks is a separate formation by landing the next several wells in that formation.

Continental has nearly 500,000 mineral acres in North Dakota and Montana and recently increased this year's drilling budget from $616 million to $783 million.

The deep horizontal wells and fracture techniques required to tap the Bakken and Three Forks each cost in the range of $5.5 million.

McKenzie County Farmer

Bowdon battles back

When the owner of Bowdon Grocery and Locker unexpectedly died two months ago, the community forged ahead with a fundraiser that had been planned to help buy new refrigeration units for the store.

Now, it appears the late owners' family can't keep the store going and it may have to close.

A meeting in town to form a Bowdon Community Cooperative drew 90 people who wanted to talk about keeping it open under community ownership.

Patti Patrie, president of the development group, detailed what the development group has done once it heard of the impending closure.

The group heard in general terms how such cooperatives function and one woman told the group that outsiders say, "If it can be done, Bowdon can do it."

After much discussion, more than 45 households and individuals signed on to become cooperative members.

A steering committee and interim board will coordinate an equity drive to raise money to purchase the store and put it into cooperative ownership.

The Herald-Press