701 Rundown: August 29, 2022

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

Crew plans to erect new stadium this week

CPS Superintendent Janelle Helm informed the school board Tuesday that the installation crew for the new stadium was reportedly delayed due to weather.

A replacement crew is slated to arrive Monday, August 15.

“That stadium will be done and ready to go by our first home game,” Helm said she was assured by project manager, Tim Tobin.

President Joel Lemer inquired about the lighting and the PA system, noting that electrical work was yet to be done once the stadium is in place.

The total raised for the new stadium is $481,500, according to Business Manager Kimary Edland. There is $61,000 not allocated from the funds raised for the project.

With that information, board members reviewed quotes from Daktronics for a new sound system and from Dakota Fence for fencing at the new stadium.

Helm said fans have expressed concerns about feedback from the current PA system, and some patrons are not able to hear the announcer at games and meets.

She explained that the Daktronics representative offered two systems for consideration. With the more robust system of the two, priced at over $39,000, he promised “no feedback.”

“We will have feedback, 100 percent yes,” with the $20,000 alternative system, Helm noted.

The board ultimately approved the purchase of the $39,000 sound system with one dissenter.

“I think $40,000 is ridiculous,” Tonia Erickson said, and voted against the more expensive system. She cited budget concerns.

(Story by Amy Wobbema, The Foster County Independent)

Fire destroys home in Hillsboro

No injuries were reported after a blaze gutted a Hillsboro home Saturday evening at 202 2nd St. Southeast.

Hillsboro firefighters responded to the fire at approximately 6:30 p.m. after neighbors reported smoke billowing from the home of Daniel Bueckers.

A unit from Buxton arrived approximately a half hour later as flames began to emerge from the top of the building.

“The info we gathered from the owner was that it was most likely electrical,” said Hillsboro assistant fire chief, Jake Rust.

“Whether it was a squirrel getting into the attic and chewing on some wires or something else, I don’t know.”

No one was home at the time of the fire, which appeared to originate on the home’s second floor.

The Traill County Sheriff’s Department blocked access to the location for two hours Saturday and deputies told onlookers to stay back after small explosions could be heard come from the residence.

Rust said firefighters believe the noise may have come from fireworks located in the upper story of the building.

“We’re not sure but there was nothing that came out of the building,” he said.

(Story by Cory Erickson, Hillsboro Banner)

Swarm of honeybees found at Oak Creek Cemetery

This week at Oak Creek Cemetery in Bottineau, a cluster of honeybees was discovered on a tree in the southeast corner of the cemetery.

The cluster consisted of 2,500 to 3,000 bees. The phenomenon is called swarming and it is an intricate part of honeybees in maintaining their lives, pollinating and making honey.

Local beekeeper, Todd Kihle, was called to care for the situation and he moved the swarm to his bee farm.

“A colony somewhere close produced what is called a swarm of bees,” Kihle said. “It can happen when an old queen dies, or a colony outgrows its home.

“When the colony prepares to swarm, multiple queens can be produced and they hatch out and leave with the swarm, but as soon as they find a new home the first queen in the door sends a signal to the workers to terminate all other queens.”

For a beekeeper like Kihle, finding a swarm is productive because it means more honey can be produced on the honey farm, but swarming has to happen at the right time to be productive.

“For a small beekeeper catching a swarm is a great way to increase the apiary,” Kihle said. “However, this colony’s chances are very slim due to how late in the season we are.”

(Story by Scott Wagar, Bottineau Courant)

Jury finds Edwards not guilty

After spending seven and a half months incarcerated at Walsh County Law Enforcement Center (LEC) in Grafton, Alexander Edwards was set free and cleared of all charges Aug. 12 when a jury of seven men and five women returned a not guilty verdict on the charge of gross sexual imposition (rape), a AA felony.

The AA felony charge is the highest charge that can be brought against a defendant in the state of North Dakota. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Edwards was accused of forcibly having sex with a 26-year-old female who was a former resident of Park River, in the early morning hours of Dec. 31, 2021.

(Story by Todd Morgan, The Walsh County Record)

K-9 Xillo retires from local law enforcement

“What I saw was a dog with a ton of potential,” says Deputy Max Ingram of the first time he saw his K-9 partner, Xillo (pronounced Zy-lo), who retired from being a detection dog for the McKenzie County Sheriff's Office earlier this month.

On Aug. 3, Ingram went to the courthouse and signed a bill of sale to take sole ownership of Xillo.

With approximately 500 deployments throughout the region in his career, the fast-driven K-9 recently laid down his duties of being strictly business to becoming Ingram and his fiancee’s third housepet, but his journey has been a remarkable one.

“The primary reason that we’re retiring him is that he is getting older. He is a shepherd and they slow down a lot faster than their Malinois counterparts,” Ingram says.

“Now he’s a member of our family more than being a working asset for the sheriff’s office,” he says.

Through the course of making Xillo into a family member, Ingram has enjoyed loosening the reins for him.

“It’s rewarding to break some of those rules,” he says. “Like not being on the couch and not being crated at night.”

(Story by Ashleigh Plemper, McKenzie County Farmer)