701 Rundown: May 9, 2022

Here’s your weekly rundown of some of the most interesting headlines from newspapers across North Dakota.

Lakota businesses burglarized

In the early morning hours of April 9, several businesses in Lakota were burglarized along Main Street, sustaining heavy damages.

A dark four-door sedan is a vehicle of interest.

This is an open investigation for the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office. Anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious around that time frame, noticed their property vandalized, or may have video recording of this area is urged to contact the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office at (701) 247-2574, or your local law enforcement agency.

As a reminder, always secure your property and belongings to the best of your ability. If you see or hear something suspicious, do not approach and do not hesitate to contact law enforcement.

(Story from the Lakota American)

Strong winds cause damage throughout Bottineau

On Saturday, April 26, the day started out quiet, but that soon changed when high winds came into the area, damaging buildings, fences, trees, transformers, wires and much more.

The back of Pride Dairy in Bottineau saw its roof and back wall damaged from the winds. According to the National Weather Service in Bismarck, it is uncertain how high the wind blew on Saturday because FAA equipment that measures wind at the Bottineau Airport stopped working numerous times throughout the day.

The highest wind measure for Bottineau on Saturday by the weather service was 56 mph, which happened at 12:35 p.m.

The weather service stated that damages done in Bottineau by the wind were likely caused by wind speeds higher than 56 mph.

(Story from the Bottineau Courant)

Walsh County flooding

Around two inches of rain over the weekend (April 23-24) caused torrential flooding in the region as rivers, streams, legal drains and ditches couldn’t keep up with the runoff.

Emergency sandbag crews were called to duty to save homes, schools, and other property. All the while, flooding tore through saturated infrastructure, damaging dozens of roads and in some cases, forced bridges off their moorings.

Walsh County Emergency Manager Brent Nelson estimated 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 inches of rain fell in the county, depending on location.

“I would say in most cases two inches of rain fell in and around Walsh County,” he said. “The trouble with that though, is there was still a lot of snow west of Park River and that 2-inch rain turned into about a 4-inch rain when you consider the snow that was in the area.”

Exacerbating that, was the fact that the ground was saturated from the spring melt and underlying that was frozen ground, which Nelson said might have contributed to the moisture runoff.

“There was 3.6 feet of water coming over the spillway at Homme Dam,” said Nelson. “I can’t say for sure that those levels were historic, but the only thing that could compare to that was in 1997. The water just ran and it sought the path of least resistance.”

(Story by Todd Morgan, The Walsh County Record)

Miller to challenge Erdmann for mayor of Carrington

Voters in Foster County will go to the polls on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, in a primary election to select federal, state, county, city and park board representatives.

For cities, the primary is the final stop for mayors, council persons and park board members, while state and county winners in the primary move on to the general election on November 8, 2022.

Carrington Mayor Tom Erdmann will have his seat contested this year, as resident Jeremy Miller will also be on the ballot.

Al Trader is running for an at-large seat, while Chase Pederson is running for Ward I and Troy Roundy is running for Ward II, all four-year terms.

At the Foster County Commission table, incumbents Alan Scanson of District 2 and Scott Beumer of District 4 will be running to keep their seats.

Running for seats on the Carrington Park Board are: Josh Sherman, Randy Hooey and Tonia Erickson.

(Story by Leasa A. Lura, Foster County Independent)

Hillsboro-Central Valley admins getting closer to naming Burros mascot

Hillsboro-Central Valley’s new Burro mascot soon will sport a new name.

But the neighboring school districts are looking for a final round of public input first.

Hillsboro Public Schools Superintendent Paula Suda said Wednesday that four names - Bruno, Blaze, Bucky and Champ - have received multiple votes of support from within the school district and she has invited members of the public to vote for their favorite.

“Those were the repeated suggestions - the most popular,” Suda said. “We also had some one-hit wonders.”

Suda said she has received 14 suggestions. Other suggestions included Kicker, Don Key and Jack, though the superintendent said the school is nixing the latter due to its reference to “jackass.”

(Story by Cory Erickson, Hillsboro Banner)

North Star School finishing weight room project

Officials from North Star held a long-range planning meeting in addition to the regular school board meeting in April.

The district is in the process of either having finished or nearly finishing a host of projects. A notable endeavor recently completed involved the weight room.

The former American Family Insurance building was donated to the school last year and officials have taken out walls and opened up the building. Superintendent Jeff Hagler said the district has spent time moving equipment to the new facility and deemed the project complete earlier this year.

The school is using some older equipment while also filling the new weight room with new pieces that can be used.

(Story by John Rosinski, Towner County Record Herald)

Harvey survives loss of CP yard

The railroad had been such an integral component in Harvey’s very existence and economic life for the better part of a century, that when news surfaced in December 2017 that the Canadian Pacific Railway was pulling its yard from the city, a sense of fear, sorrow and grief gripped the community.

In time, the same city leaders who feared the worst realized the dream they had for Harvey in 2030 could still become reality.

“We can’t let this be the death of Harvey,” civic leaders instructed the community.

The transformation from a railroad town to a regional commerce center, offering a major medical center, industry and business picked up steam six years ago.

(Story by Neil O. Nelson, The Herald-Press)