701 Rundown: Dec. 25, 2023

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

Divide schools’ special ed director resigns

Divide County school board members have approved the resignation of the district’s special education director just a few months into the job, though Superintendent Sherlock Hirning was reluctant to inform them of what led to that outcome.

The school district called a special board meeting Nov. 29 to act on Jeanie Brickley’s resignation effective Nov. 20, which all seven board members voted to approve.

Hirning said the details had been withheld from the board because of the possibility, had Brickley not resigned, that administrators would seek a formal hearing to terminate her contract with the school district.

North Dakota law required school boards contemplating “discharge for cause" of a teacher to receive evidence through a hearing led by a state administrative law judge.

Reached by phone on Thursday, Nov. 30, Brickley said, “The district was not prepared to do the work that I accepted the job to do,” then declined to comment further.

“This is a personnel issue that should not be discussed further,” Hirning told The Journal in an emailed response to Brickley’s remark. “I assure you that the school administration and teaching staff are collaborating to provide education and services to meet students' needs.”

Brickley was hired in July as special education director, a new position for the school district.

The hiring caused a brief controversy when members of the public alerted The Journal of the circumstances of Brickley resigning her previous position in Alaska as her husband faced murder charges.

(Story by Jody Michael, The Journal)

New windows to be installed at CHS

Carrington's high school building, constructed in the 1960s, has been a topic of conversation of late, first among the facilities committee and then the full Carrington School Board.

The original wood-framed windows are neither energy efficient nor functional. Each exterior wall section has stucco panels covering glass block and small, wide rectangle windows.

Board members agreed to hire architectural firm YHR Partners this past summer, to recommend replacement options and provide cost estimates.

Mark Lundberg and Adam Pangrac, principal architects for YHR Partners, presented four options for updating the high school's exterior window sections at a special meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

The first option was for replacement of the windows only, with the stucco/glass block portions to remain. The existing windows would be replaced with energy efficient, aluminum clad windows of the same size.

The other three options called for replacement of both the stucco/glass block and the windows.

Option 2: Remove the glass block/stucco as well as the windows and install new windows in the full openings, allowing more light to enter the classrooms.

Option 3: Windows to fill half of each section, with brick infill.

Option 4: Half window sections with metal panel infill.

The overall consensus was that Option 4 was the most cost-effective for the east side, allowing enough sunlight into the classrooms while also tying in with the metal trim on the elementary building.

Plans are underway to hold bid letting for the project in January, with the north and east window sections to be completed during the summer break.

Action on the west-side windows will wait until after the board makes a decision on whether to move forward with plans to build an office complex and secure entrance on the west side of the high school.

(Story by Amy Wobbema, The Foster County Independent)

Roadhouse, bowling alley not rising from the ashes

What’s left of Harvey’s B-52 Roadhouse and Lanes will be hauled away, hopefully soon, according to owner Chris Kara.

The Harvey businessman was hoping that work on the clean-up was going to start this week.

Depends on the company contracted and when it will arrive in town, Kara indicated.

The expansive business operation that included a bar, restaurant and bowling alley was destroyed by fire in the early morning hours of Sept. 4.

Damages were estimated at $1.5 million, said Kara.

Meanwhile, Kara is waiting for the clean-up bill before he decides on what, if anything, will be rebuilt on the east Harvey location.

One thing is certain. Harvey will not see a return of its bowling alley, a decades-long fixture in the community.

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

McKenzie County Food Pantry reports record-setting number of families in need

“The goal of the McKenzie County Food Pantry is to assist those in need of food, and to ensure they receive quality, nutritious food,” said Mitch Haugeberg, a McKenzie County Food Pantry Member.

“The food pantry does not supply a family’s complete food demands; we offer supplemental food for those in need,” he added.

The McKenzie County Food Pantry (MCFP) serves the entire county, including Mandaree, New Town, Keene, Killdeer, Grassy Butte, Fairview and Cartwright.

Over the decades that the food pantry has been in operation, there has been significant growth in not only the need for food, but the volume of people in need.

According to Haugeberg, 15 years ago the pantry served between three and ten families each week. That is a sharp contrast to the last handout day during the week of Thanksgiving.

The food pantry reported an all-time high of 131 families, or around 500 people, seeking assistance, including 19 families looking for help from the food pantry for the first time.

In 2022 the pantry served a total of 2,091 different families, or around 7,166 individuals. This is equivalent to over half of the population of McKenzie County who needed assistance with combating hunger.

(Story by Kristen Jones, The McKenzie County Farmer)