Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

701 Rundown: August 22, 2022

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

Save the Reservoir

From a distance, the Sheyenne River reservoir in Harvey appears navigable, inviting and charming, even. Certainly, swimmers must be using its beaches.

Sorry, no. Not now, anyway.

Upon closer inspection, this being the first week of August, the reservoir’s weed infestation is apparent; visibly disturbing in certain areas.

Short of taking over the Harvey body of water, it’s alarming enough to threaten the reservoir’s continued use by recreational boaters and swimmers.

The reservoir was fine, good even until the end of June, then it turned, according to Mike Waldoch.

Now, the Harvey resident said on Tuesday, it’s not very good at all.

“It’s terrible.” And that, he added, is a shame.

Because it could be so much more, Mike Walsoch is convinced.

Waldoch envisions the reservoir in use from spring through fall and it’s all possible with an investment of roughly $100,000 for starters.

The $100,000 would purchase an Eco-Harvester, an environmentally-friendly aquatic plant harvesting machine that pulls weeds from their roots and also skims weeds, debris and algae off the surface.

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

City honors former police officers

It’s not very often the City of Grafton recognizes one of its own and rarer still to have a ceremony complete with award presentations. That is exactly what took place before the start Monday’s city council meeting.

Grafton Police Chief Tony Dumas recognized former Grafton police officers, Lucas Campoverde and Casey Jones, for their actions that fateful night when the two officers answered their call to duty, a call that would change their lives forever.

Dumas started by saying he is honored to help give some closure to what the two officers went through that night.

“In the late evening hours of Aug. 14, 2020, officers Campoverde and Jones attempted to effect the arrest on warrants for drug trafficking issued by the United States Department of Justice,” said Dumas.

“While attempting to make this arrest the suspect fled the initial area, in doing so the fugitive was confronted by officer Campoverde and the suspect ambushed Campoverde with gunfire in attempting to flee the area.

“Campoverde was struck by gunfire on several areas of his body, narrowly missing what doctors said was lethal damage. As Campoverde lay struck, Jones looked over him while simultaneously returning fire on the suspect. Officer Jones pursued the suspect, injuring him and ultimately bringing him into custody.”

“These two men sacrificed their peace of mind and risked the health of their bodies in service to the community of Grafton,” said Dumas.

(Story by Todd Morgan, The Walsh County Record)

County crops look good as harvest nears

It has been a couple of years due to drought, but Bottineau County crops are doing well in this agricultural season.

“Crops all appear to be doing fairly well,” said Sara Clemens, county agent for Bottineau County. “There were a few areas that were affected by some hail that caused some damage, but with the increased moisture from rainfall things are looking much better than the previous two years.”

Bottineau County producers this spring planted spring wheat, barley, soybeans, canola, corn, oats, field pass, sunflowers, flax and a few fields of dry beans and winter wheat.

Due to numerous spring storms, producers planted their crops at a much later date this year, but the late planting will not delay harvest too long due to seed variants.

“The crops might be delayed for harvest by a couple of weeks, but there will not be significant delays depending on variety selection and maturity of the various crops,” Clemens said. “Farmers were able to adjust their crops to help compensate for a later planting date by selecting earlier maturing varieties to help with harvest windows.”

As the county heads into the harvest season, the market for crops is looking well.

“Markets are still looking strong for crops,” Clemens said. “Typically, at harvest we expect to see a weakening in prices for grain commodities due to the rapid influx of grains at that time, but prices are still showing to be favorable.”

(Story by Scott Wagar, Bottineau Courant)

Upcoming fundraiser to benefit Ukrainians

Kids and city slickers who’ve imagined cruising along in a combine or tooling around in a tractor will have a chance to live out their dreams during a special event Wednesday, Aug. 10 near Hillsboro.

And, as a bonus, they may be able to help farmers half a world away in Ukraine as the war-torn country approaches the six-month mark of its invasion from nearby Russia.

Organizer Jon Bertsch, co-owner of Bertsch Farms and Bertsch Trucking, has announced plans to hold a “Movie on the Farm” night starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday on his farm 6 miles southeast of Hillsboro.

The get-together will feature a variety of family-friendly activities ranging from tractor rides to petting farm animals to a nighttime viewing of the documentary “Dear Rodeo.”

But the gathering also will serve as a free-will fundraiser for World to Rebuild Rural Ukraine, a charity that’s raising money to help rural citizens and independent farmers rebuild their lives in Ukraine.

“It’s really a twofold event,” Bertsch said. “We want to show everybody what we do on the farm and have people experience a little bit about what that life is like.

“But at the same time, we want this to be a fundraiser for a cause that I feel really passionate about.”

(Story by Cole Short, Hillsboro Banner)

Dunseith School Board moves forward with project despite high bids

Despite bids coming in higher than expected, officials at Dunseith are moving forward with a multi-million dollar expansion project.

An official groundbreaking ceremony was held earlier this summer for a new career and technical education center (CTE). Since then, officials have been working behind the scenes moving the endeavor forward.

According to Dunseith Superintendent, David Sjol, the board accepted a host of bids at last week’s regular meeting. The original cost for the expansion was in the neighborhood of $15 million, but bids came in at an amount closer to $16.6 million.

(Story by Jason Nordmark, Turtle Mountain Star)

 
 
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