701 Rundown: August 1, 2022

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

Walsh County crops rebound from wet spring

Crops have been maturing nicely throughout Walsh County, quite the change from last year as drought conditions adversely affected yields.

Crops have rebounded and grown nicely after many area farmers throughout the county were delayed in getting their crops in the ground due to spring flooding.

While some of the early planted wheat is starting to head out, Walsh County Extension Agent Brad Brummond said there are four stages of wheat crops planted in the county ranging from the joint stage to starting to head out.

“Our early wheat crop is already flowering, our second wheat crop is just starting to go into boot,” he said. “Then there is the really late planted wheat.”

Many area farmers have been able to catch many intermittent rain showers the past two weeks combined with warm temperatures which have been advantageous to crop growth on the northern plains.

(Story by Todd Morgan, The Walsh County Record)

Hazen woman killed in hit and run near Oriska

A Hazen woman died and another was injured in a two vehicle accident near Oriska, Tuesday, July 12.

Christina Anderson, 42, was a passenger in the vehicle that was rear ended by 26-year-old, Wyatt Staloch, of Jamestown.

According to the N.D. Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at approximately 4:10 a.m., on I-94, just east of the Oriska rest area.

Anderson was traveling in a 2005 Dodge Ram, towing a U-haul flatbed car trailer, driven by 46-year-old Kimberly Bennett, also of Hazen. Also in the vehicle was a teenage, female juvenile. Bennett and the juvenile were both injured in the crash and transported to a Fargo hospital.

Following the crash, Staloch, who was not injured, fled the scene. Evidence on scene allowed law enforcement to identify the Dodge Ram involved in the crash.

Law enforcement placed a BOLO (Be on the lookout) for the vehicle that was located late in the morning in Jamestown.

The GMC was impounded and the driver was detained and identified as the driver of the vehicle at the time of the crash. He was arrested for leaving the scene of a fatal crash, a Class B felony, and transported to Stutsman County Corrections.

(Story by Angela Kolden, Cass County Reporter)

Damaging April storms get presidential disaster declaration

“Welcome news for sure!”

That’s how Jerry King, general manager of Burke-Divide Electric Cooperative (BDEC), reacted to word the Biden administration issued a presidential disaster declaration last week in response to April’s storms.

Those storms wreaked havoc on the co-op’s system. At one point, every customer served by BDEC was without power for more than 40 hours.

Issued Thursday, the declaration opens the door for BDEC and other co-ops to recieve disaster reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and comes on the heels of a request from Gov. Doug Bergum made June 23.

“This is just the first step on the process,” King said. “Phase one is disaster restoration of our system.”

During the co-op’s annual meeting, held earlier this year in Kenmare, King told co-op members expenses associated with that disaster restoration of power, system-wide, could be as high as $20 million.

Since then, said King, those estimates haven’t changed.

(Story by Brad Nygaard, The Journal, Crosby)

Helm takes over as CPS Superintendent

Valuing and building relationships, working to establish trust with all stakeholders, and the importance of keeping Carrington’s most valuable resource, its children, close to home, are several of the key attributes that new Carrington Public School Superintendent Janelle Helm hopes to instill and promote in the district.

“My philosophy is very simple: work hard, be nice to people, and lead with integrity,” Helm says. “I believe that relationships are at the core of everything that we do. Our students matter, and so do our people. We should never underestimate the power of human capacity.”

Helm took over as district head on July 1 from Kris Kuehn, who resigned to take the identical position at Ray Public School earlier this spring. She will be the third superintendent to lead CPS in a four-year span.

In her first few weeks, and even during the hiring process that brought her to Carrington, the district had made her feel welcome at every turn.

“When I first visited the school, you could tell the kids were so proud of it,” Helm said. “Walking up and down the halls, the students were very engaging. I observed a lot of great things happening here.”

After graduating Devils Lake High School, she attended Mayville State, where she received her bachelor of arts degree in elementary education with a minor in early childhood development.

(Story by Erik Gjovik, Foster County Independent)

Harvey re-opens search for new chief of police

The City of Harvey will continue its search for a new chief of police after the replacement for Chief Tony Webb rescinded his acceptance of the job. Webb left the office for personal reasons, with his last day on the job July 15.

That evening, Harvey’s Mayor Rick Eckart received a call from Joseph Kaufman, who had been hired as the chief of police with a start date of July 18.

Kaufman told Eckart he would not be reporting to work Monday and that he was no longer interested in the job.

In the meantime, the City of Harvey will rely on assistance from the Wells County Sheriff’s Department for emergency 9-1-1 calls.

“The city council will be meeting with Sheriff Chris Kluth to discuss contracting law enforcement through his department until we get a new chief in place. We have candidates for a new police chief and hope to get someone on board very soon,” Echart said.

(Story by Anne Ehni, The Herald-Press)