701 Rundown: Feb. 5, 2024

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

Federal agency reviews COVID relief fund expenditures

A federal government agency’s “desk review” of the Turtle Mountain Tribe’s expenditures of federal COVID relief funds resulted in questionable costs of more than $32 million.

The review concluded in July of 2023 and determined the tribe’s “risk of unallowable use of funds” to be high.

Upon receiving the review, Turtle Mountain Tribal Chairman Jamie Azure said that the tribal government immediately shifted into rectifying the situation by working with the treasury department.

“Nothing says any money is missing,” said Azure. “A lot of the questions involved relief funds aimed at general welfare.”

The chairman said there were expectations that something like this would happen, even during the early days of the pandemic.

“We were prepared to be audited from day one and we didn’t spend a dime for a month (after receiving federal relief funds),” the chairman said. “We wanted internal controls before we spent anything.”

The 2023 audit involved a look at a selection of 20 transactions and found that the tribe’s personnel could not provide necessary documentation to support 14 of those transactions.

The chairman said a “desk review” team never showed up to the reservation, yet they had to waste time and money defending themselves based on what amounted to “Facebook rumors.”

(Story by Jason Nordmark, Turtle Mountain Star)

Board rejects bid offer for window project

At a special meeting of the Carrington School District Board of Education Tuesday afternoon, January 23, the district opened bids for the window replacement project on the east side of the high school building.

Only one bid was received at the meeting, that coming from TF Powers Construction Co. of Fargo. The firm submitted a bid of $492,200, a figure which came as a shock to school board members.

Another potential bidder on the tabulation summary list, Meridian Commercial Construction, also of Fargo, was contacted, but did not submit a bid by the board's January 23 deadline.

Consultant Mark Lundberg of YHR Partners in Moorhead, Minn., in attendance at the meeting, read the bid, and immediately let his feelings on the number be known.

"That's way out of line," Lundberg said.

School Board President Joel Lemer said that the district was hoping that the bid would come somewhere within the $250-$300,000 range.

"[The TF Powers bid] doesn't even include electrical or mechanical work," noted Lemer. "That's at least $200,000 over what we were thinking it was going to cost."

Lemer said that he will attempt to get in contact with Central City Lumber to see if any affiliated construction companies are interested in the project.

With no further discussion, the board voted unanimously to reject the bid as submitted by TF Powers Construction.

(Story by Erik Gjovik, The Foster County Independent)

H-CV girls’ request to reclassify to Division B rejected

The North Dakota High School Activities Association’s athletic review committee has rejected a request from Hillsboro-Central Valley to reclassify its girls' basketball program into a lower division next season.

Central Valley Superintendent Jeremy Brandt made a presentation to the committee Tuesday, Jan. 16, asking that the Burros be moved from Division A to Division B starting next season.

Brandt told the committee that the Burros have struggled on the court against teams in Division A in the state’s new three-class basketball system.

H-CV compiled a 25-83 record the past five years and went 8-56 in the previous three, Brandt told the committee.

In his presentation, Brandt told the group that H-CV athletic director Dave Nelson had worked diligently to schedule games with Division B opponents that would allow the Burros to remain competitive.

But the program hasn’t beaten a team in Division A in five years or more, Brandt said.

Following Brandt’s presentation, the committee voted 8-1 to reject H-CV’s request.

The committee took a similar stand against three other similar requests that day, including one from Carrington for their boys' basketball team.

(Story by Cole Short, Hillsboro Banner)

Mogen opens up Dakota Dream Destination in Bottineau

Amanda Mogen has opened Dakota Dream Destinations, a travel agency in Bottineau with the goal of providing great trips for her clients.

“My business offers personalized dream getaways, from relaxing weekend escapes to unforgettable global journeys,” said Mogen. “We also offer travel insurance and can answer your questions about current concerns about travel.”

Mogen’s new business venture comes from being a teacher and the education one can receive by traveling.

“Throughout my life, I have traveled various places around the world, such as Ireland, Mexico and Egypt,” Mogen said. “As a former teacher, I found travel to be extremely valuable for students and their families.

“Traveling allows others to learn in a more meaningful way than reading about it in a book.”

Mogen has a number of goals with her business.

“One of my goals is to establish Dakota Dream Destinations in Bottineau County and its surrounding areas as the go-to travel agency,” said Mogen. “Another one of my goals is to offer and lead group tours for students, families and heritage/culture tours each year.”

Mogen is pleased to start her new adventure.

“I’m super excited,” Mogen said. “I love to travel and it’s fun to help others do the same. If I could travel somewhere different every month, I would.”

(Story by Scott Wagar, Bottineau Courant)