Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 202
“The Long Winter,” by Laura Ingalls Wilder has long been one of my favorite books. I have read it and re-read it countless times myself and have also read it out loud to my kids and daycare kids. Wilder’s story includes the preparations for winter, like the amount of time and effort that went into making sure that they had enough food and wood on hand for heat. The stories about their food preparations were some of my favorite; the food they preserved and stored away from the garden. My famil...
Harvest doesn’t really seem to be the time to be thinking about the miracle of life that is in a seed. Or maybe it is the perfect time. I’ll tell you about my day… it started with the sun shining so brightly through my living room window. That sunshine can make a world of difference in turning our spirits around, can’t it? That’s exactly what is happening today, even though the sun has been so conspicuously absent lately and we have endured what seemed like endless grey skies and way too much...
The cooling temperatures of autumn bely the rising temperatures of the political world these days. It seems inconceivable that the political temperatures will cool any time soon, especially as we move toward another presidential election. As the political parties seem to polarize into more extreme views, personal relationships continue to suffer. I’ve read articles this week that tell the stories of friends and family members who are no longer speaking to each other because they disagree a...
The story on the news last night was one of those “feel-good” stories that I love so much. East Grand Forks Senior High School football players, according to the news report, chose not to work out in their fancy new fitness center on Tuesday, Sept. 24. Instead, they put their muscles to work carrying wet rugs out of the basements of East Grand Forks residents affected by flooding after the recent torrential rainfall. It is a project the team chose to tackle as a way to say “thank you” for the...
Eddy County Commissioners were notified that the title for the former Mill Pump and Cheers property has been quieted. The county did not have clear title to the property because of an error in notification to interested parties when they commenced tax foreclosure in 2017. As a result, it was impossible for the county to sell the property with a clear title. Eddy County State’s Attorney Ashley Lies recommended that the county file a quiet title action, which is a court proceeding initiated by a...
Eddy County commissioners will be making a decision within the next two weeks about whether the county will join a lawsuit against manufacturers and distributors of opioid medications. Twenty-five other North Dakota counties have already signed on to the litigation, with five others in still deciding. Former state legislator Curtis Olafson of Edinburg met with commissioners, presenting the reasons that North Dakota counties and a few cities are joining the national lawsuit, which is being heard...
The harvest season makes me think about the coming holiday season. This year is no exception. The other day I was remembering one holiday season, not so long ago, when I was really lonesome for some special family members. My sister and mother-in-law had both died that year, and I was not feeling overly thankful as I was making Thanksgiving preparations. I was dreading the Christmas season even more. I sat in the chair, paging through cookbooks, trying to decide what to make for Thanksgiving...
The City of Sheyenne received a $10,000 donation from the New Rockford Eagles earmarked for boiler repairs at the former Sheyenne School building, which houses the Open Season Lodge and Event Center. This contribution from the Eagles, paired with the generosity of the community puts the Open Season Lodge very close to meeting their $25,000 goal for the boiler repair project. As always, the community was generous in their support of the lodge, through their private donations and attendance at...
Just where do those little fruit flies come from anyway? It seems like there aren’t any in the house but when those bananas ripen, there they are and they are so irritating. The other day I noticed them in the fruit bowl as I walked by, on my way to work. Since I didn’t want the flies in the house, I grabbed a cover that could keep them inside the bowl, headed out the door and tossed the bananas under the rose bushes. I’ve been trying to bury our banana peels under the rose bushes after I read...
Although she resigned her position with Foster County, Emergency Manager Jess Earle intends to retain her position with Eddy County. The details of her separation with Foster County came to light over the past few weeks. As a result, both counties formally agreed to terminate the Joint Powers Agreement in place for cost sharing her salary and expenses. Earle will now receive the same compensation and work the same hours for Eddy County as she has previously, however Eddy County will be responsib...
One bright and sunny day many years ago, I stood at my living room window, watching many butterflies flitting about the colorful blossoms below. I grabbed my camera, intentionally leaving our energetic puppy in the house as I knew she could not be still enough to allow any photography. Even though I tried to be careful walking up to the garden, the butterflies didn’t really want me there. I waited quietly. It wasn’t long before those butterflies came back and I was able to capture some bea...
“Good Morning America” used to be one of my favorite shows, although I admit I probably haven’t watched in 20 years. Mostly because watching morning TV doesn’t work when you’re working. However, we recently disconnected our satellite television service and are streaming our television choices. We’ve found that some programs work better than others. As a result, I think I’ve found myself watching more TV than normal, trying new shows just to see if they work for us. So, that morning, I wa...
Eddy County Sheriff Paul Lies spoke to Eddy County commissioners at their regular meeting on July 16 about a letter North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum sent to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) and its chairman, Senator John Hoeven, regarding the criminal jurisdiction on the Spirit Lake Nation. The letter said the Spirit Lake Tribe has gone on record to formally request the repeal of 60 Stat. 229, which previously gave criminal jurisdiction over misdemeanor crimes to the State of...
An article on the MSN webpage caught my eye the other day. It was a short blurb about a woman who had just finished working a long shift at their local hospital. Her son was starting his seventh week of Air Force basic training, and only had 17 days before his basic training would be finished. She said that when she is working the night shift, there is more time to think about things and she spent a lot of time thinking about her son that night. When she got off work, she pulled into a...
The Eddy County Commission and County Auditor Patty Williams, are working diligently to complete the preliminary budget. They held their regular meeting on Aug. 6 and have had two special meetings in as many weeks, specifically for budget preparation. Eddy County Road Superintendent, Todd Weber reported to the commissioners that he had spoken with an area landowner about a county road where trees have encroached the right of way and have historically caught and held snow. The trees will be...
The Statewide Interoperable Radio Network (SIRN) is a topic that has dominated budget talks for local emergency organizations this year, including the Eddy County Sheriff’s Department, the New Rockford Fire Department and the Community Ambulance Service of New Rockford. Even with a large appropriation during the last legislative session intended to provide substantial cost sharing measures from the state, local entities’ budgets will be stretched, as they work together with the state to pro...
Cool mornings, grain fields turning golden and new Carson Wentz stories on Facebook that I never tire of reading— all of these things made me realize that summer is winding down. A new school season is just around the corner, which means that it’s almost football season again. A news story broke last Friday at the Philadelphia Eagles training camp. The Associated Press article said, “Carson Wentz was dazzling spectators with his big arm on the first day of Eagles training camp on Thurs...
It was the third message I had received on the topic of mercy that day. Yes, it took three times before I finally, really paid attention. It works that way for me sometimes. Although I may have taken something of value from the first message and the second message, I stopped and really took notice at the third one. By the time the third message comes, it leaves me wondering if the message is for me. Or it could be that it just takes a sledgehammer to get my attention. In any case, that’s what h...
The 2020 budget continued to dominate the discussion at the recent Eddy County Commission meeting, held Tuesday, July 16. Commissioners continued to review departmental budgets early that morning. As has been reported previously, step and cost of living increases had been reviewed and approved at a prior meeting so that department managers could submit the correct amounts on their budgets. The commissioners reviewed and approved the following departmental budgets: • Eddy County Recorder and C...
The connection that twins exhibit has long fascinated me. Our family tree has many sets of twins, and I watched with interest when one family would come to family reunions with two sets of twins. The fascination continues. . I loved hearing the stories about my mother-in-law and the extremely close relationship she shared with her identical twin sister. They were born at a time when money was very tight, to parents who already had three children. One of those children had special needs, so this...
There’s just something about early morning in the country when the birds are just starting to sing, the light is soft and the opportunity to see wildlife in my yard is greater. I love writing in the morning but I’ve been feeling a new pull to get outside and take some pictures, so I’ve been doing some reading on photography websites. Melinda Smith, of the Digital Photography School, says there is just something about taking pictures in the magical morning light that makes her heart sing. Smith...
On Tuesday, July 2, the Eddy County Commission met with Lake Region Law Enforcement Center Rob Johnson, who shared a draft of the LEC’s budget and informed the commissioners about some of their major areas of concern, including the 911 program and the Re-entry Center. Johnson reminded the commissioners that the numbers in his budget were still very fluid, as their board still has many decisions to make. However, he wanted to make partner counties aware of the budget shortfalls and that one...
Last Monday, I was driving to Carrington to pick up some dog and cat food and found myself looking at the crops in the fields. After all, I wouldn’t be a true North Dakotan if I didn’t do a little crop checking, would I? It had seemed to me that with the cold spring, the crops were behind but I noticed that the heat has caused quite a growth spurt in some of those fields. I had assumed that the corn would not be able to meet that “knee-high by the Fourth of July” stage. I was surprised when I...
Just as the Eddy County Commission closed one civil case regarding former social service agency employees, another opened this spring. First, the lawsuit filed against the Eddy County Social Service Board by former Interim Director for Eddy, Foster and Wells County Social Services, Kimberly Larson, has been dismissed with prejudice, according to court documents dated May 31. The term “dismissed with prejudice” means that a civil lawsuit has been dismissed by a judge, based on the merits of the...
What is your traditional Fourth of July celebration like? Getting together with family is my favorite tradition. Often we visit my husband’s hometown to celebrate with family. It is a small town that prides itself for its July 4 celebrations and the city rarely disappoints with their planned events, and of course, fireworks. The firemen put on a show and people set off their amateur fireworks for about a week prior and following the Fourth of July. This holiday comes with its own set of u...
