Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Sorted by date Results 351 - 375 of 716
Local public health staff have almost completely shifted focus from COVID-19 testing to administering vaccines in recent weeks. On Tuesday, Eddy County Public Health Nurse Danette Schmid said testing numbers remain extremely low, with fewer than 10 COVID-19 tests conducted in Eddy County each week. Positive cases have also remained in the single digits, and there was a day when there were no active cases in the county last weekend. The positive case count had increased to one as of Tuesday,...
The New Rockford City Commission has agreed to engage Interstate Engineering for the purpose of building a new airport hangar and repairing the taxiway and runway at Tomlinson Field. The move came at a special meeting Wednesday, Feb. 17, after a brief but intense discussion among commissioners as they reconsidered a proposal that was rejected at their Feb. 1 assembly. President Stu Richter opened by reminding the commission that they had already approved the construction of a new hangar on Aug....
Unwavering winter weather wreaked havoc across the country last week, resulting in widespread power outages, costly infrastructure damage and dozens of deaths. People have died as a result of the extreme weather in at least eight states, with carbon monoxide poisoning, automotive crashes, ice accidents, and exposure topping the list of perils. In all, the Associated Press reported Wednesday that at least 30 people had died in weather-related incidents last week. Texas was among the hardest hit...
He's our local boy in brown. Dusty Litzinger, the friendly UPS driver who delivers packages in New Rockford each day, was recognized this past week as the Chamber's Employee of the Month for February. Litzinger travels 165 miles a day, from the Devils Lake shipping dock to New Rockford and back again. On an average day, he makes 95 stops at various homes and businesses within the 58356 zip code, both in city limits and in rural areas, delivering an estimated 170 packages. It's probably no...
On January 8, the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) Public Health Laboratory identified a software malfunction on a piece of laboratory equipment. After conducting a thorough review of test results that took 30 days, officials determined that the malfunction was limited to one platform and affected a total of 641 positive COVID-19 results of 102,562 processed on the machine between Nov. 7, 2020 and Jan. 8, 2021. “Laboratorians originally discovered a software issue internal to the e...
The airport will likely see some action this summer, but it doesn’t involve construction of a new hangar. The NRABC requested permission from the City Commission Monday to use the airport for drag racing the weekend of July 31 - Aug. 1, 2021. The group that approached the local organization also coordinates an annual event in Jamestown and Minot. Jamestown’s event was estimated to have boosted the city’s economy by $300,000 in past years, according to President Stu Richter, who also serve...
State's Attorney Ashley Lies came before the Eddy County Commission Tuesday morning with a recap of her second year on the job. She noted that for the second year in a row, her office has prosecuted more cases than neighboring Foster and Wells counties. She's feeling the pinch too, since she continues to operate without an assistant. In October the commission approved a proposal to turn the part-time assistant opening into a full-time position, as Lies was having trouble finding candidates then....
Winter sure has reared its cold, ugly head this past week. To beat the winter blues, and encourage residents to support local businesses, the New Rockford Area Betterment Corporation has launched its inaugural "I Hate Winter" Local Shopping Bingo. Come play along, and you can earn up to $100 in Chamber bucks just for purchasing products and services from local businesses. Playing is easy, and winning is sweet. Simply pick up a bingo card at Central Pharmacy, Bakers Dozen, Mick's 281 Service,...
With active cases of COVID-19 across North Dakota at their lowest level since the start of football season, Gov. Doug Burgum announced Wednesday that the statewide risk level would be adjusted from moderate/yellow risk to low/green risk, effective 8 a.m. Friday, Jan. 29. The move to green risk level effectively increases the recommended occupancy limit for bars, restaurants and other food service establishments to 80 percent of licensed facility capacity up to 300 patrons, with social...
Darin J. Tuenge of Rugby, a regular on the court calendar in several North Dakota counties for drug violations, is serving a 2-year sentence in the state penitentiary system for Class B Felony conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance. Tuenge’s run-in with Eddy County authorities began on July 27 when he was stopped for speeding on Eddy County 1 east of Sheyenne. A subsequent search of his vehicle yielded 2.6 grams of meth, a digital scale, snorting straws and hundreds of small plastic b...
The New Rockford Eagles Club made a big donation to the second gymnasium project this month. The two presentations made by Superintendent Jill Louters and fundraising committee members had quite an impression on the board members, and as a result they contributed $50,000 to the project. As we reported last week, approximately $365,000 in donations have poured in for the gymnasium over the past nine months, which includes the Eagles' contribution. I sat down with six members of the Eagles Club's...
The officers at the Eddy County Sheriff's Office have had their hands full lately. On Wednesday, Jan. 13 officers approached a blue Jeep Cherokee that was parked on the side of a restricted road north of the canal. The two occupants, a male and female, were reportedly sleeping inside their vehicle with a gray pitbull. They asked the deputy to allow them to get dressed and then fled the scene. Police pursued the vehicle at high speeds through Eddy County, as the vehicle traveled down ditches and...
Vicky Richter, staff development coordinator at Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd, is the latest recipient of the New Rockford Area Chamber of Commerce's Employee of the Month award. The glowing recommendation for her efforts came by email. "One of Vicky's roles at LHGS is infection prevention. The current COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the way everything is done there," the nominator wrote. "Vicky has gone above and beyond....doing the best she can to keep all the staff and...
A major federal law enforcement effort dubbed Operation Blue Prairie has led to the indictment of 26 individuals involved in an opioid trafficking ring that supplies narcotics to three North Dakota reservations. At the center of this “absolutely unprecedented narcotics enforcement activity” in Indian Country are Detroit, Mich., based brothers Darius and Baquan Sledge. North Dakota’s U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley outlined some of the details in the case at a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 7 aft...
More than 45,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in North Dakota since vaccination rollout began last month. The state receives 10,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine per week and is moving ahead with its priority groups, according to Eddy County Public Health Nurse Danette Schmid. Even though the CDC has recommended that states begin vaccinating residents 65 and older and younger people with pre-existing conditions, the state is still working to ensure that all residents in the Phase...
Let me get this straight. The news media in America are no better than the “Good Germans”. You know, the ones that remained silent out of fear when the Nazis came for the Jews. Actually, reporters in the major U.S. newspapers and virtually all the large news networks have “brainwashed at least half of America” every bit as effectively as the German press that enabled Hitler to come to power. Yep, you read that right. This is coming from a recent opinion piece written by Dennis Prager, a nationa...
Readers, we want to hear from you. Should New Rockford allow fireworks to be sold and ignited in celebration of the new year? Answer our poll here: https://fastpoller.com/takepoll/1609986279258. The overall results will be shared with the commission. If the feedback city commissioners have heard so far about New Year fireworks is any indication of widespread public opinion, there's not likely to be any fireworks for sale in New Rockford in late December anytime soon. Commission President Stu...
Lisa Thompson is now serving as the Eddy County Emergency Manager. She began her new role on Jan. 1. Tax Director Kristy O'Connor, who held the emergency manager position as recently as a few years ago, will assist Thompson with the transition. There are grants to close out, reports to be submitted and other items requiring Thompson's attention in the very near future, according to Commissioner Glenda Collier. Right now, her office hours at the courthouse are not set. She has worked part-time...
Support is mounting for constructing a new gymnasium in New Rockford. Last week North American Bison, LLC, committed $50,000 to the project. The funds will be donated over five years, with $10,000 provided annually. Mike Jacobson, Vice President of Operations for North American Bison, said that while the donations from the first year or two will likely go towards construction, the premise of the annual gift is to offer support for ongoing operations and maintenance of the facility once it is...
Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger recently announced that North Dakota’s taxable sales and purchases for the third quarter of 2020 were down 19.5% compared to the same timeframe in 2019. Taxable sales and purchases for July, August, and September of 2020 totaled $4.72 billion. “Similar to the decline in taxable sales and purchases in the second quarter of this year, the drop in taxable sales and purchases during the third quarter is due to economic disruptions related to the coronavirus and...
The former Mill Pump property along U.S. Hwy. 281 is expected to go on the market, just not in the way commissioners envisioned at their Dec. 1 meeting. In a special meeting convened on Thursday, Dec. 17, State’s Attorney Ashley Lies explained that Chapter 11.27 of the North Dakota Century Code (Sale of property by county commissioners) did not apply to this property, as it had been obtained through delinquent taxes. Therefore, the commission cannot sell it at auction in January as planned. Rath...
Georgia Johnson would much rather have a needle in her arm than a swab up her nose or in her throat. And it wasn't hard to come to that conclusion. As an employee of the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd, she's been tested for COVID-19 a whopping 40 times since Gov. Burgum first ordered long term care staff and residents to receive routine virus tests this spring. It's also worthy of note that all 40 of those tests have been negative, no small feat given the spike in cases our county has seen...
On a frosty Friday morning, crews converged to pour the concrete foundation walls for New Rockford's municipal water plant addition. New Rockford native John Lindstrom and his firm Lindstrom Concrete & Construction led the pour, with material provided by Heartland Ready Mix of Carrington. The general contractor, Sentry Crane, was on site overseeing the project. Due to the cold weather, extra precautions had to be taken to prevent the water in the concrete from freezing. There were additives...
Eddy County's case count dropped into the single digits this past week, a welcome sign. There were only four active cases in Eddy County as of Wednesday, putting us among the North Dakota counties with the lowest active cases per 10,000. Counties directly north of us are hardest hit by this metric, including Benson, Ramsey, Towner and Pierce. A total of 7,749 tests have been conducted on Eddy County residents, a total that is more than three times the county's population. This week brought a...
Today (Monday, Dec. 21) is Boyd Xavier Warren's seventh heavenly birthday. It's also the fourth year that the Warren family has remembered their son by creating Team Boyd merchandise for sale as a fundraiser to support local causes. The beautiful design this year was done by Sarah Smith Warren's aunt Heidi Favour. The seven arrows represent the years Boyd has been gone, and the white arrow remembers a baby girl the Warrens lost in 2019. The $1,050 raised was split between two local causes this...
