701 Rundown: April 3, 2023

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

County caravan rescues stranded motorists

On Saturday, March 11, two motorists became stranded north of Fessenden in the middle of a blizzard.

The call to the sheriff’s department came in around mid-morning, notifying that two vehicles had become stuck – one had lost power and the other became stuck in a snowdrift as it attempted to assist the first.

The lack of power in the first vehicle during such conditions turned the situation into an emergency. The wind was blowing at 25 miles per hour, bringing the wind chill to around three degrees below zero.

“With no power, there’s no heat. It could have become life threatening,” said Wells County Sheriff Chris Kluth.

Kluth, along with his deputy, Mike Beaver, ventured out into the storm to save the stranded motorist, who was near the junction of County Highways 1 and 5. Wells County Road Foreman Brent Keller and his road plow also assisted.

“We went through drifts of snow and nearly became disabled ourselves when we went over a 5-foot-high snowdrift that was packed as hard as concrete,” Kluth recalled.

Eventually, Kluth and Beaver made it to the disabled vehicle and retrieved the individual who was cold, but not injured.

As they attempted to reach the second motorists, Keller and his plow were pulled into the ditch by deep snow drifts, forcing Kluth and Beaver to go it alone.

Approximately two hours later, Kluth was driving toward Fessenden with two cold, but safe, individuals rescued from the winter storm.

Before reaching safety, however, Kluth’s vehicle became stuck in the aforementioned 5-foot-tall snowdrift on the return trip, and a tracked tractor from a nearby residency was required to get him out.

After the incident, Kluth said residents should not be taking back roads just because the larger highways are closed.

(Story by Anne Ehni, The Herald-Press)

HMB Superintendent put on paid administrative leave

The Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock Board of Education has placed its superintendent on paid administrative leave following a low-scoring evaluation.

Board president Cindy Shmidt told fellow board members at their regular meeting March 8 she spoke with Superintendent David Goetz and because of the scoring, she would be recommending “non-renewal” of Goetz’s contract to the board.

“(Goetz) came back and sent me his resignation,” Schmidt told the board.

Because of his resignation, Schmidt recommended to the board to place Goetz on paid leave effective immediately and have principal Tad Larson step in to help with the day-to-day duties.

The board unanimously approved Goetz’s resignation along with a motion to put Goetz on leave in a 4-0 vote. Board Trustee Jeremy Will was not in attendance.

In their evaluations, board members cited low morale, poor groundskeeping, and other issues as their reasoning for the low scores.

In a letter written later, Goetz said he was shocked by the low scores on his evaluation, and that they were not a true reflection of his work as superintendent, rather that a few board members wanted him gone for personal reasons.

(Story by Kelli Ameling, Emmons County Record)

Oil production returns to over one million barrels per day

The state of North Dakota saw an 11 percent increase in January compared to the production totals for the last month of 2022, with 1,060,708 barrels of crude oil produced per day, totaling 32,881,946.

“It was a very good month on the production side, as we saw production exceed projections by six percent,” said Lynn Helms, North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources director, during his monthly Director’s Cut last week.

McKenzie County produced 35.16 percent of the state’s total oil with 11,561,057 barrels from its 5,237 actively producing wells, and 43,235,659 mcf of natural gas, which was 49.2 percent of the state’s total.

“Looking into February, the production numbers look very strong … we’re expecting to see a major increase,” announced Helms.

“The really good news for January is that the 2,613 inactive wells we had in December dropped by almost 700,” he added.

The price of natural gas delivered to the Northern Border at Watford City increased to $2.08/mcf but continues to remain at its lowest level since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic due to oversupply.

The current oil-to-gas price ratio is 33 to 1.

(Story by Patrice Bumstead, McKenzie County Farmer)

Fatal semi crash near Mapleton

One man was killed and another placed in jail following a March 15 crash between two semis on I-94 near Mapleton.

The crash, which killed Randall Buxton, a 72-year-old man from New Westminster, British Columbia, occurred two miles west of Mapleton.

Yuhai Zhu, the driver of the other semi, was booked at the Cass County Jail on suspicion of negligent homicide.

Buxton’s truck struck the back of a semi driven by Zhu, a 52-year-old man from Richmond Hill, Ontario. According to the N.D. Highway Patrol, Zhu had stopped or slowed down in the right westbound lane for an unknown reason prior to the crash.

A fire broke out after the collision, and Buxton’s body was discovered in the cab of his vehicle after the fire was extinguished by Mapleton and Casselton fire departments.

Zhu’s vehicle was carrying ethylene glycol, a green antifreeze liquid, and 6,500 to 6,700 gallons of ethylene glycol leaked from the tanked trailer into the north ditch along I-94.

The green antifreeze was not a hazard to the motoring public, a report from the N.D. Highway Patrol stated, adding that an environmental company will handle the glycol spill.

(Story by Angela Kolden, Cass County Reporter)