701 Rundown: April 25, 2022

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

Garza brothers charged with felony assault

Arrests were made over the weekend in the assault case of Kurtis Graver, who was severely beaten on 5th Street near Last Chance Bar and Grill early Sunday morning, April 3.

Grafton residents Christobal Antonio Garza Jr., 27, Jacob Garza, 26, and Jason Rudy Rey Garza, 23, were arrested Saturday at a basketball tournament in Devils Lake.

All three are facing Class C felony aggravated assault charges for allegedly beating the 20-year-old Graver to the point of hospitalization in the early morning hours of April 3.

According to the felony complaint, the victim, Graver, was in a vehicle outside of Last Chance Bar and Grill in Grafton, when he was pulled out of his vehicle and once removed was immediately beaten, kicked and stomped on by Christobal, Jacob and Jason Garza.

After the attack was over, Graver was immediately taken to the Unity Medical Center emergency room where he was treated for injuries sustained during the attack, which included facial trauma, his left eye being swollen shut, a concussion, broken jaw, fractures to his nasal bone, and more.

All three Garza brothers are out on bond.

(Story by Todd Morgan, The Walsh County Record)

Wind causes truck crash near Petersburg

Strong winds were responsible for a rollover crash involving a Freightliner truck tractor pulling an empty refrigerated trailer along US Highway 2 about 1-1/2 miles east of Petersburg on the afternoon of April 6.

According to a report by the N.D. Highway Patrol, 42-year-old Dimitar Sotriov of Mt. Prospect, Illinois was driving the Freightliner east on US Highway 2, nearing the top of an overpass over the BNSF railroad east of Petersburg.

Strong NNW winds caused the empty trailer to tip onto its right-hand side. The vehicle slid partially off the roadway and came to rest with the trailer hanging partially over the right-hand guardrail of the overpass.

Eastbound traffic was impacted with reduced lanes and speed. Eastbound traffic was redirected onto N.D. Highway 32 for approximately 1-1/2 hours. Sotriov was cited for care required.

Other agencies involved were the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office, Petersburg Fire & Rescue, Michigan Ambulance, BNSF, NDDOT and Interstate Towing.

(Story from Lakota American)

Meet Milo, the teaching robot at St. John School

A new kind of teacher joined the staff at St. John School, but he skips the morning coffee for fear of shorting its circuits.

Milo is a facially-expressive humanoid robot that has already been on the job for a few weeks. St. John is the first school in the state with the technology.

St. John Elementary Principle, Sherry Tandeski, said 10 staff members did some extensive training before Milo’s debut. The robot came with its own curriculum.

“I think Milo is going to help with the overall emotional welfare of our kids because the way they are connecting with him is so different,” Tandeski said. She added the robot’s measured reactions to students and patience with them are consistent.

“The kids give more to the robot because they are looking at it as a play therapy,” Tandeski said.

Milo was developed by RoboKind, a company that assists special educators in teaching students with developmental differences, the social skills needed for emotional regulation, conversations and other scenarios.

(Story by Jason Nordmark, Turtle Mountain Star)

After finding new life in Poland, Kim Backstrom finds new purpose in helping Ukrainian refugees

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, a big cross-section of people, both in neighboring countries and from around the world, have stepped in to help Ukrainian refugees.

A native of rural Maddock, who has lived in Poland for a number of years, is among those helping the refugees.

Kim Backstrom is busy these days, but she was able to take some time to answer questions relating to what she’s doing to help Ukrainian refugees.

Several of Backstrom’s friends knew people from churches in Ukraine, and 20 to 25 of them were ready to leave. Backstrom was asked to help pick up and find housing for some of them.

It was a six-hour drive, and Backstrom wasn’t sure at first, but it was decided to have two people in each car to allow one person to rest if needed.

“This is hard,” said Backstrom. “It’s hard to constantly see people coming in and out who are hurting, who, you know, their house might be destroyed, and who knows what their journey to the border was like? Were they under constant gunfire? Did they hear the bombs going off? ... It’s hard, but, God’s the one that gives the strength to keep going.”

(Story by K.L. Glover, Benson County Farmers Press)

Helm hired as superintendent

Janelle Helm has been named as the new Superintendent of Carrington Public Schools.

Helm will assume this position July 1, and will take over for Kris Kuehn. Kuehn recently accepted the superintendent position at Ray Public Schools, and led CPD District No. 49 for two years.

Helm has served as an Assistant Principal in Fargo Public Schools for the past three years. Prior to that, she served as the Dean of Students for Legacy Elementary School for the West Fargo Public School for the 2018-19 school year.

From 2015 to 2018, she taught third grade at Lincoln Elementary School and taught first and second grade at Madison Elementary School in Fargo from 2010 to 2015.

Helm holds a Bachelor of science in Education from Mayville State University, as well as a Masters of Education in Differentiated Instruction from Concordia University in St. Paul.

(Story from The Foster County Independent)

Handeland named NDCEC Teacher of the Year

The North Dakota Council for Exceptional Children Unit #922 (NDCEC) has named Kodi Handeland of the Bottineau School District the Teacher of the Year.

Handeland is a fourth-grade teacher in the Bottineau School District and has served the district for nine years. She was nominated by Shawna Allard for the award and spoke to the NDCEC of Handeland’s dedication to her students, their education and well-being.

“It is inspiring to work with a teacher with as much compassion and self-awareness as she has shown in working with challenging behavior,” stated Allard in a portion of her letter to the NDCEC. “Given the depth of her experiences and her sophisticated understanding of how to read behavior and understand what a student needs, Kodi has a gift in building a relationship with every one of her students.

(Story by Scott Wagar, Bottineau Courant)