701 Rundown: July 10, 2023

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

Airplane crashes near Westhope airport

On Thursday, June 22, a pilot was transported to Minot with serious injuries after he and the plane he was piloting crashed into a field near Westhope, N.D.

According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, the 48-year-old pilot was flying a 1965 Piper Pawnee and had left the New Hope Airport in Westhope at around 12:20 p.m.

The crash occurred in a field just northwest of the airport where the pilot sustained his injuries.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.

(Story by Scott Wagar, Bottineau Courant)

Defendant sentenced to 102 years in prison

District Court Judge Robin Schmidt declared the case against Mathew Nelson, “one of the most disturbing cases I’ve seen in my 10 years on the bench.”

Schmidt then sentenced Nelson, 25, to 17 years in prison for each of the six Class A felony counts of gross sexual imposition against him.

The sentences handed down on Friday, June 23 in Divide County are to run consecutively, meaning Nelson could face as much as 102 years behind bars.

The sentencing followed Nelson’s guilty plea to all six felony counts against him, as well as one misdemeanor count of corruption of a minor and one Class C felony count of sexual assault.

In each case, all the victims – including one male – were between the ages of nine and 15 years old, and the assaults occurred between 2016 and 2020.

“The swath of destruction you have caused is massive,” said Schmidt, after hearing a number of victims’ impact statements read by the mothers of Nelson’s victims.

“You have stolen the innocence of my two little girls,” said one mother. “They will never be the same.”

Another mother said, “My wonderful and adventurous little boy has gone dark. He destroyed my child’s innocence. I hope he never sees the light of day.”

One victim spoke to Nelson herself, saying, “I have to forgive you but you have to face consequences.”

She also told the court that she’s suffered severe anxiety and has had severe trust issues since the events with Nelson, and added, “You poisoned my childhood.”

Throughout the victim’s impact statements, Nelson showed no signs of emotion, only laying his head in his hands while seated at the defense table.

(Story by Brad Nygaard, The Journal)

Jury reaches verdict in attempted murder case

On Friday, June 16, after two hours of deliberation, jurors in the Jordan Juneau trial returned to the courtroom with a guilty verdict – but not for attempted murder.

The jury only found Juneau guilty of robbery and burglary charges, but evidently did not believe he was guilty of attempted murder beyond a reasonable doubt.

Juneau was accused of forcing the vehicle of Vicki Durick off the road at 8:20 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2022, causing the vehicle to overturn on a steep ditch near railroad tracks at Highway 52 near Hillside Cemetery, northwest of Fessenden.

Durick was trapped in her vehicle for nearly 12 hours until a passerby finally noticed her and called 9-1-1.

The attending nurse practitioner at the emergency room when Durick arrived later testified that her body temperature had plummeted to just 77 degrees by the time she arrived at the hospital.

The jury determined that Juneau committed robbery by taking Durick’s purse from her vehicle, and for removing the vehicle’s catalytic converter before he fled the scene.

Not once did he render aid to Durick while she was trapped inside her crashed car.

Likely using the address on her drivers license, Juneau was caught on surveillance driving to Durick’s house, where he stole personal items including credit cards, family heirlooms, cash and jewelry.

For that the jury found him guilty of burglary.

Juneau’s sentencing will occur in conjunction with a separate theft case out of Stutsman County.

(Story by Anne Ehni, The Herald-Press)

Production numbers expected to rise

According to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, in April of 2023 the average number of barrels produced each day was 1,133,435 – an increase of one percent over the March average.

A total of 34,003,054 barrels were produced in April, with 96 percent of that coming from the Bakken and Three Forks areas.

Based on preliminary numbers there were 17,740 producing wells in April, which is only 51 below the all time high set in Oct. 2022.

Eighty seven percent of these are now unconventional Bakken and Three Forks sites, which 13 percent were from legacy conventional pools.

Director of the N.D. Department of Mineral Resources, Lynn Helms, said he expected drilling activity to slowly increase.

(Story by Kristen Jones, McKenzie County Farmer)

City settles lawsuit with former employee who is now a sitting council member

The city of Rolla has settled a civil lawsuit with a member of its own governing body.

Rebecca Hodgers worked for the city from April 2021 through March 2022, and last May she filed a complaint in district court alleging a “hostile work environment” perpetuated by former City Auditor Erica McDougall, who resigned from that position in May.

Hodgers later became a council member after running as one of two candidates for two open positions on the city’s governing body.

At a recent meeting of the city council, the council members – excluding Hodgers who recused herself – voted 3-1 in favor of settling the lawsuit brought by Hodgers.

According to court documents, Hodgers faced “verbal reprimands, gossiping and removal of benefits,” while she was employed by the city.

(Story by John Rosinski, Turtle Mountain Star)