(Periodicals postage paid in Seattle, WA) TIME-DATED MATERIAL — DO NOT DELAY 17th of May Event Calendar Special Issue Celebrate 17th Presenting our of May in your 17th of May neighborhood! Norge i våre hjerter! Celebration Issue – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Read more on page 23 Read more on pages 8 –23 Norwegian American Weekly Vol. 123 No. 19 May 11, 2012 Established May 17, 1889 • Formerly Western Viking and Nordisk Tidende $1.50 per copy Gratulerer med dagen! ommons C Photo: Wikimedia Wikimedia Photo: Happy Norwegian Constitution Day from the Norwegian American Weekly What’s inside? Record for “Scream” Mourning Dale Oen News 3 Business 4 Edvard Munch’s Norway’s 26-year- Opinion 6-7 masterpiece sets old swimming Special 17th of May Section 8-23 record as most star dies Arts & Style 24 expensive artwork In Your Neighborhood 25 unexpectedly Norwegian Heritage 26 in the world JESS LARSEN Hipp, hipp KE L SEY LARSON Norwegian American Weekly Intern hurra for Copy Editor Syttende On May 2, Edvard Munch’s Spirits are low and hearts are Mai! pastel version of “The Scream” heavy after Norwegian Olympic sold at auction house Sotheby’s swimmer, Alexander Dale Oen, Photo: Thor A. Larsen $1 = NOK 5.7945 in New York for almost USD 120 age 26, passed away April 30 in Photo: AlexanderDaleoen.com The version of “The Scream” sold for Flagstaff, Ariz. Alexander Dale Oen in Japan in De- updated 5/7/2012 million. nearly USD 120 million, the highest Dale Oen was Norway’s world cember 2011. This sets a new world record price ever paid in auction. In comparison for a work of art sold at an auc- 100-meter breaststroke champion 4/7/2012 5.7886 tion; the previous record was held sold for USD 106.5 million in and first Olympic medalist in men’s His 100-meter breaststroke 11/7/2011 5.6063 by Pablo Picasso’s painting “Nude, 2010. swimming, taking silver at the 2008 win at last year’s world champion- Beijing Summer Olympics. 5/7/2011 5.5305 Green Leaves, and Bust,” which See > SCREAM, page 6 See > DALE OEN, page 6 2 • May 11, 2012 norwegian aMerican weekly 17Th oF May iSSuE 17th of May Greetings from the Music by SAMspill Scandinavian Cultural Center Pacific Lutheran University 12180 Park Avenue South May 17 family picnic 19th of may at the Scandinavian Living Center 206 Waltham St, newton Schedule of Events: Lunch Tickets 12:30—Gather for 17. Mai parade at entrance Adults: $10 to the SLC (bring an in- Children: $5 strument if you like) 12:45—Step-off time for Sponsored by parade Join us for Nordic cultural events, classes, Norumbega Lodge 1:00—Welcome and tale for dagen and exhibits throughout the year. For more information visit our website: #3-506 1:30—Lunch www.plu.edu/scancenter 2:15—Games for children Contact us by phone 253-535-7322 Sons of Norway or email: [email protected] Gratulerer med dagen! An independent insurance and risk management agency providing full insurance services, specializing in commercial marine, property casualty and marine construction North Star Insurance Services, LLC 4039 21st Avenue West, Ste 200, Seattle, WA 98199 Office: (206) 285-4655 | Fax: (206) 285-5022 | On the web: www.nsis.biz norwegian aMerican weekly Online: blog.norway.com/category/news May 11, 2012 • 3 NEWS Lacking sense of security This week on Norway.com Day by day Conservatives voted against party Government staff leaders to ban begging Summary of each day’s As opposed to their party leaders, a majority court developments in members still feel unsafe of party members voted for a ban on street after July 22 bombing begging at the Conservative Party National July 22 terror trial Assembly on May 6. Several members of the party’s management team, including JU L IE RY L AND party leader Erna Solberg, spoke up against AFTENPOSTEN Norway Post what they thought would be an unsuitable ban for Høyre (Conservative Party). “We Ed. Note: With the 10-week trial of An- don’t like foreign beggars, but dear National ders Behring Breivik, the suspect behind the A number of employees still feel unsafe Assembly, we can’t ban begging just because July 22 bombing and shootings that claimed at work after the bomb attack on the govern- it is uncomfortable,” said Ragnhild Stolt- the lives of 77 people, we are publishing a ment headquarters last summer, said depart- Nielsen. Torbjørn Røe Isaksen also spoke up against the proposed ban. However, when daily summary of the trial proceedings. ment head Ingelin Killengreen when she tes- the votes were counted the result showed 184 tified in court on May 3. Killengreen first spoke briefly about the votes in favor of the ban, and only 102 votes people who died in the bombing on July 22, against. “The debate has convinced me that Thursday, May 3 (Day 11) it felt right to oppose a ban,” Solberg tells After a three-day break, the trial resumed 2011. Then she went on to speak in detail about the consequences the explosion has NRK. “But I can live with the assembly’s on Thursday, May 3. AUF (Norwegian Labor decision to go for it.” had for employees in the affected govern- Party Youth) guard Simen Brænde Mortsens- (Norway Post) ment buildings. en (23) explained about his meeting with Photo: Ministry of Government Administration, “This has caused an extremely high lev- Anders Breivik Behring at the waterfront at Reform and Church Affairs Young leadership for Red Party el of stress among the people who were in Utvika. He says he was taken aback by some Ingelin Killengreen, department head of the Min- The far-left Red Party has probably chosen the government headquarters when the bomb of Breivik’s behavior, and that he suspected istry of Government Administration, Reform and the country’s youngest party leadership at that he wasn’t who he said he was before went off,” Killengreen explained. Church Affairs, says the July 22 bombing of the the congress in Oslo. The new party leader is main government building in Oslo has caused a Killengreen has been the department Bjørnar Moxnes (30), who has been promoted high level of stress for employees and a lacking from being the party’s deputy chairman. sense of security. See > SUMMARY, page 6 See > SECURITY, page 7 He was elected to acclamation and great atmosphere in the hall, and he is expected to be the one to represent the Red Party with at Foreign minister in hot seat least one seat in the Storting (Parliament) in high yield the election next year. Moxnes is joined by Støre accused of favoring friend in state funding Mari Eifring (25) as the new party secretary. She has been a leader in the Youth League Norway’s oil fund and Red Youth. Marielle Leraand (37) and Marie Sneve Martinussen (26) are the new STAFF COMPI L ATION reports third highest Norwegian American Weekly Vice-Chairs in Red. Leraand was formerly quarterly earnings of the SV party, while Martinussen has a background in the environmental movement in Finnmark. The Committee for Scrutiny and Con- Støre has consistently ranked as one NRK (NRK) stitutional Affairs opened a case regarding of the most highly respected members of the contact between Foreign Minister Jonas the government, sometimes getting higher Norway boasts world’s largest carbon Gahr Støre and businessman Felix Tschudi. scores among voters than Prime Minister The Government Pension Fund Global, capture lab (or the Norwegian Oil Fund, as it is more This was confirmed by the head of the Jens Stoltenberg. On May 7, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg Committee, Anders Anundsen, to NRK. On April 17, the supervisory committee popularly known), has reported a profit of inaugurated what it called the world’s largest “It was unanimously decided to open a is to come up with a schedule regarding the 7.1 percent (NOK 234 billion, or approxi- laboratory for carbon capture and storage case against the Minister during the meeting investigation. It was the Labor Party itself mately USD 40.3 billion) in the first quarter (CCS). Located at an oil refinery on Norway’s of the Committee today. One reason was the that took initiative to open the case against of this year. This is the third best yield in a west coast, the Technology Center Mongstad information that has emerged in recent days, the popular foreign minister. single quarter since the Oil Fund was estab- aims to test French and Norwegian methods that Tschudi was a driving force in the proj- “The Minister has given us a neat sum- lished in 2006. of capturing carbon dioxide emissions and ect,” said Anundsen. mary of a large amount of attachments that The fund’s market value increased by burying them underground to prevent them In 2008, the Foreign Ministry gave NOK the Committee should look at,” says Anund- NOK 185 billion in the first quarter, to NOK from escaping into the atmosphere. “We need 6 million (approximately USD 1 million) in sen. He believes it is clear that the Minister 3496 billion. to find a way to reconcile the need for energy support to the Center for High North Logis- should have asked for a competency evalua- The purpose of the Government Pension and the need for emission reductions,” said tics. Though the application for the money tion prior to the giving of the funds. Fund is to facilitate government savings nec- Stoltenberg. Built at an estimated cost of came from an outside organization, it has The Second Deputy Chairman of the essary to meet the rapid rise in public pen- NOK 5.9 billion (USD 1 billion) mainly with recently come out that the project was initi- Committee, Martin Kolberg, believes it is sion expenditures in the coming years, and state funds, the Mongstad center is owned by ated and led by Støre’s personal friend Felix to support a long-term management of petro- Gassnova, Statoil, Shell and Sasol.