Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Sorted by date Results 919 - 943 of 961
At their meeting on Monday, Nov. 15, NR-S Superintendent Jill Louters will ask the school board to withdraw from the East Central Center for Exceptional Children Special Education Unit (East Central). This is the second time Louters has asked the NR-S school board to consider special education services aside from East Central. The school board unanimously voted "no" to the request in January 2018. In her Summary of Proposed Action, which is posted in the board packet on the NR-S school website,... Full story
With the NR-S School District’s buses set to endure another winter out in the elements, discussions are ramping up about building a new storage facility next year. The NR-S Building Committee met on Wednesday, Nov. 10, to continue discussions on the possibility of building a new structure that would house the district's school buses. Prior to the meeting, building committee member Patti Larson had traveled to Minnewaukan, Fessenden and Carrington to tour their respective storage facilities. L...
The North Dakota Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers has awarded New Rockford's Stacy Benz with the 2021 Public Citizen of the Year Award. A native of Leeds, N.D., Benz and her family moved to New Rockford roughly 10 years ago, and she's been providing outstanding leadership in various roles at the Four Winds Community School ever since. Benz is currently in her second year as the principal of Four Winds High School. "I was very surprised when I was notified by email that I h...
Eddy County officials got an update on the Lake Washington Road project from Ben Aaseth, a professional engineer with Interstate Engineering, at their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Aaseth explained that the project, which would pave about eight-tenths of one mile along Eddy County 8, could be let for bidding as early as April. However, a few more details need to be ironed out. Much of the discussion centered around funding for construction engineering. According to Aaseth, the county could...
Here’s your weekly rundown of some of the most interesting headlines from newspapers across North Dakota. Bottineau County’s cattlemen struggle with severe drought Cattle producers in Bottineau County have taken drastic measures this summer to keep the drought from stalling their operations. Cutting herd numbers, feeding alternatives, and early weaning of calves are just a few of the ways cattlemen are adapting. When the drought was at its peak this fall, one Bottineau County cattle pro...
During the summer of 2020, four members of the Oberon School Board were suspended by Gov. Doug Burgum and charged with a multitude of felonies and misdemeanors. Now more than a year later, sentencing decisions are finally rolling in. The charges were filed after the school board hired a sales firm by the name of Victim, Survivor, the Voice, LLC (VSV). Court records show that the firm wasn’t in good standing with the N.D. Secretary of State’s Office, lacked the necessary credentials to con...
On Thursday, Oct. 7, Eddy County officials spent roughly 90 minutes touring an organized maze of concrete walls and steel bars. The in-depth tour of the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center (LEC) not only showcased the constricted environment inmates must endure, but also the working conditions for the LEC staff. Throughout the tour, LEC administrator Rob Johnson pointed out locations where the jail has had to modify their facility to accommodate more inmates, and to remain in compliance with jail...
Every week, newspapers across North Dakota produce stories that go largely unread by residents outside their community. The 701 Rundown is a weekly column dedicated to bringing those stories to residents of Eddy County. Here is a rundown of some of the state’s most interesting headlines from newspapers across North Dakota. Fatal Shooting in Casselton Just before 2 a.m., on Monday, Oct. 18, Randall Ray Burton, 58, was fatally shot after breaking into the home of his “on again, off again” girlf...
The saga of the Rosefield Dam is entering a new chapter. At the Eddy County Commission Meeting on Oct. 7, Monty Schaefer, who recently won a years-long battle to keep the Rosefield Dam in existence, detailed new renovations to the spillway and plans for an enclosed bridge atop the abutments. As it currently exists, the 300-foot-long dam drops into a concrete rock spillway that’s 60 feet wide. Under the proposed renovations, Schaefer would extend the spillway an additional 40 feet in order to a...
For the first time in nearly a century, elementary students from Oberon and the Spirit Lake Reservation are enjoying a brand new school. If not for the new Oberon Elementary School, 2021 would have been the old building's 100th anniversary as a school. Instead, students and staff are enjoying all the advantages of a facility not built before the Great Depression. The 18,000 sq. ft. and roughly $5 million school provides a warm and welcoming environment to its students and staff, not to mention...
On Saturday afternoon, the New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets (5-4,3-1) ended their season how it began, with another tough loss to the North Prairie Cougars (6-3,2-2), this time falling by a score of 14-40 in the first round of the playoffs. There were plenty of differences between this defeat and the Rockets' 16-6 loss to the Cougars in late August, but one aspect remained constant; the excellence of Cougars' quarterback, Nicholas Mears. Much like he did in their season opener, Mears gashed the NR-...
Bar fights and increased surveillance were the topic of discussion among Eddy County officials during their monthly meeting on Thursday, Oct. 7. At the meeting, Eddy County State's Attorney Ashley Lies told commissioners that charges would soon be filed regarding the Sept. 4 bar fight at Buck-It’s Bar in downtown New Rockford. Those charges were announced the following Wednesday. Jeremy Martin, Shawna Dockter and Chance Labrie were charged with disorderly conduct in violation of N.D.C.C. 12.1-31...
On Thursday, Oct. 7, all of New Rockford-Sheyenne Public School’s maintenance and custodial staff walked out, citing multiple grievances with Superintendent Jill Louters. At 11:56 a.m., Louters received a text from O&M manager Tori Dockter, which was sent on behalf of herself and her custodial staff, Dalton Schuster and Randy Dockter. The message read, “On behalf of the custodial team, Dalton, Randy and I, this just isn’t working out. We feel there is too much micromanaging, non appre...
In the midst of a walkout by the school’s entire maintenance staff, and just hours removed from their first court hearing in the lawsuit filed by Klemetsrud’s Plumbing and Heating, the New Rockford-Sheyenne School Board held a short and routine meeting on Monday, Oct. 11. In her report, Superintendent Jill Louters briefly mentioned that preparation for that morning’s court hearing had occupied the majority of her time recently, and that the result of the hearing would be known by week’s end. Lo...
The New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets (5-3,3-1) conceded the 2021 Region 3 Championship to the Nelson County Chargers (8-0,4-0) on Friday night, falling by a score of 16-6 for their first loss since late August. The Chargers' defense entered Friday's championship showdown allowing just 12 points/game on average this season, by far the best in Region 3. It was a fact NR-S learned the hard way as their usually prolific ground attack was stymied all game long. The result was a relatively straight forwa...
8th Avenue Food and Provisions, parent company to Dakota Growers, will soon begin work on a multi-million dollar investment to their Carrington, N.D. facility. Since purchasing Dakota Growers in 2018, 8th Avenue Food and Provisions has grown to become one of the largest suppliers of pasta in the country, and the company is now looking to continue its growth by investing locally. The upgrades to the Carrington site, totaling $2 million, target the grain grading and truck scaling operations, and...
On Oct. 1, the New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets (5-2,3-0) trampled the TGU Titans (2-5,0-3) in a 53-14 victory, their fifth consecutive win. NR-S wasted no time building a lead, as Kaden Jensen opened the scoring with a 52-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The run was only Jensen's third longest of the night, as he would go on to rack up 265 rushing yards, and three touchdowns on just 14 attempts. "We ran our basic stuff, but we ran not as much option," explained Rockets head coach Elliot...
With the football season drawing to a close, it's time to look back at how New Rockford's youth football teams fared this year. The fifth and sixth grade team, coached by high school principal Avolt Baumbach, finished their season with three wins and four losses, but ended the year on high note in the Fargodome. On Oct. 3, The Rockets staged a second half comeback against the undefeated Wyndmere-Lidgerwood squad, taking fourth place in the tournament. As they had all year long, the young...
October is National Co-op Month, and cooperatives nationwide are celebrating and raising awareness for their way of doing business and building communities. This year's theme is "Build Back for Impact," as cooperatives are encouraged to use their shared identity to build back from a challenging year. Since Benjamin Franklin created the first American Co-op in 1752, cooperatives have been building communities and providing high quality services for community members and their businesses. One...
Editor's Note: This story has been updated from the original version that ran online last Saturday. The map and other details have been updated to reflect the changes discussed in committee meetings this past week. On Sept. 23, North Dakota's redistricting committee approved its preliminary map of the state's legislative districts for the coming decade, setting up major changes for Eddy County and its legislators. Since the 2020 census data was released earlier this year, 16 legislators on...
With COVID-19 cases on the rise across the state, it’s time to revisit the quarantine protocols for those infected, and their close contacts. According to Lake Region District Health Unit Nurse, Danette Schmid, someone who has contracted COVID-19 must remain in quarantine for 10 days. However, that 10-day quarantine period is subtracted by the number of days from the time the symptoms began. For example, if you test positive for COVID-19 after being ill for two days, the quarantine period w...
On Sept. 24, the New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets (4-2,3-0) breezed past the Benson County Wildcats (0-6,0-2) for a 60-22 win, their fourth consecutive victory. Despite the lopsided score-line, NR-S once again got off to a slow start. On the Wildcats' first two drives, the Rockets defense was largely firm but made costly mistakes on fourth down, giving up a pair of avoidable touchdowns. Fortunately for NR-S, their offense wasn't so slow to start, and they were able to keep pace with the Wildcats in...
Prison and jail capacities in North Dakota are reaching their limit, and according to State’s Attorney Ashley Lies, it’s impacting sentencing decisions for people committing crimes in Eddy County. “It makes our offices look bad,” said Lies. “It makes law enforcement and state’s attorneys look bad, because people assume that we’re not doing our jobs when they see somebody not going to jail or getting a jail sentence terminated.” Of particular concern to Lies are the county jails in Devils Lake,...
On Thursday, North Dakota's redistricting committee approved its preliminary map of the state's legislative districts for the coming decade, setting up major changes for Eddy County and its legislators. Since the 2020 census data was released earlier this year, 16 legislators on North Dakota's redistricting committee (14 Republicans and two Democrats) have been hard at work redrawing the state's 47 districts. The committee's preliminary proposal would eliminate District 23 and split Eddy County...
On Tuesday, Sept. 14, nearly 30 members of the Grand Forks Regional Bomb Squad and SWAT team descended on a farm just north of New Rockford. For roughly five hours, the two teams worked together to tackle a mock hostage situation, part of their most recent training exercise. "We were working on hostage rescue operations, so we used explosive breaching to enter the house and the SWAT team would clear it," explained Assistant Commander of the Grand Forks Regional Bomb Squad, Vanessa Ric...
