701 Rundown: May 23, 2022

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

Cass County Sheriff Launches Rehabilitative Concept

Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner announced May 5 a new program designed to return incarcerated citizens back into the community more prepared to succeed.

The program, R.E.I.G.N.I.T.E, is an acronym for Resident Enhancement and Individual Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office launched the concept in collaboration with the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA) and the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan, where the program first started.

The program will offer comprehensive education, job certification and post-incarceration work opportunities and assistance to incarcerated individuals.

Jahner said by providing inmates with a structured environment for general housing and a better way to utilize their time by providing educational outlets, the jail will be releasing people back into the community who are more motivated and better equipped to succeed than when they came in.

That will help reduce recidivism rates by helping ex-offenders find employment.

Studies have shown parolees return to incarceration because of a lack of education, lack of specialized skills and low family support.

(Story by Angela Kolden, Cass County Reporter)

First phase of $18 million recovery center project will open next month

The Turtle Mountain Tribe is about a month away from opening the first portion of an $18 million project aimed at bringing a new alcohol and drug recovery center to Rolette County.

An out-patient clinic for those dealing with addiction issues is set for a soft opening on June 16. It will be located in a cluster of recovery houses located north of Ojibwa School.

The clinic is part of the larger multi-million undertaking announced in December of 2021. Erin Belgarde, a development director with the tribe, said a portion of the major grant which will fund the primary facility was dedicated to opening an outpatient clinic to run concurrently with the construction of the Turtle Mountain Recovery Center building, which will offer residential services.

Belgard said June’s “soft opening of the clinic will feature six staff members, four of whom will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. An office will also be on site with regular hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The six staff members will include:

• One licensed addiction counselor

• Three peer recovery coaches

• One case manager

• One medical coder/receptionist

The additional counselor and recovery coaches will be available around the clock.

(Story by Jason Nordmark, Turtle Mountain Star)

First Divide County debrief on outage

Divide County officials discussing the April 23 blizzard and its aftermath, at last week’s commission meeting, held an impromptu “after action” briefing.

Among the things they talked about: shortcomings in how the backup generator at the courthouse performed, and what it left without power.

They weren’t exactly happy.

While the generator provided power to parts of the addition, including the meeting rooms that served as an emergency operations center and shelter, there are places and infrastructure within the courthouse commissioners feel should have been powered, but weren’t.

Take the Sheriff’s Department, for instance. No lights, no computers, no radios.

Divide County Sheriff Zach Schroeder and his deputies had to rely on cell phones for communication with state radio in Bismarck.

(Story by Brad Nygaard, The Journal)

Alcantar free after serving 228 days

After serving 228 days in Walsh County Correctional Center, Ulises Alcantar was set free Friday, May 6, after offering up an Alford plea to an amended felony count of felonious restraint pursuant to a plea agreement.

Alcantar, 26, of Grafton, has been in jail since Sept. 20, 2021, on the Class A felony charge of gross sexual imposition with bond set at $75,000.

The original felony charge alleged Alcantar sexually assaulted a coworker at ZipTrip in Grafton on the evening of Sept. 15.

Alcantar offered up the Alford plea, which is in effect a guilty plea where he maintains his innocence but admits the prosecution’s evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict if brought to trial.

Felonious restraint, while a Class C felony punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine, does not require Alcantar to register as a sex offender as the victim was not a minor at the time. He was fined $1,135.

(Story by Todd Morgan, The Walsh County Record)

Migler to retire as Dean of Dakota College at Bottineau

Jerry Migler, Ph.D., Dean of Dakota College at Bottineau, has made the decision to retire and will be leaving the college before the 2022-23 school year.

“I enjoy my work at DCB, but I also have a lot of other interests that I want to explore,” Migler said. “And I believe that the college is at a good place financially and enrollment-wise.

“While I would certainly like to stay and see some of the projects that I have been working on completed, I also realize that there will never be a time when projects are fully done.

“It just seems like a good time for a transition to new leadership.”

Migler started his duties as the dean of the college in September of 2015, and over the last seven years he has accomplished many goals.

(Story by Scott Wagar, Bottineau Courant)

North Dakota pasture land values rise in 2022; cash rent remains flat

North Dakota Pastureland values were up sharply statewide with an overall increase of approximately 11.5 percent, says Bryon Parman, NDSU Extension agricultural finance specialist.

The state average price per acre increased from $972 per acre in 2021 to $1,080 per acre in 2022, according to county-level data compiled from the N.D. Department of Trust Lands annual survey.

All regions, except for the south-central region, increased well over 10 percent. The largest increase occurred in the northwest region at 16.7 percent, while the southeast increased nearly 15.5 percent.

The east-central region, which includes Eddy County, and the southwest regions both increased between 12 percent and 13 percent while the north-central region increased just over 10 percent.

“The only reported region that did not see a large increase was the south-central region, increasing nearly 1 percent,” says Parman. “However, in previous years it was the only region to post consistent gains while the other areas have been somewhat up and down.”

(Story from the Benson County Farmers Press)