701 Rundown: May 20, 2024

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

Cathay school demolished

The Cathay School now only exists as a fond memory to all those who have walked its halls, as demolition of the 104-year-old structure went into full swing early last week.

In the above photo taken last Wednesday several days after crews from Ralph Volson Enterprises of Balfour took down the shell of the school, portions of the eastern exterior wall of the gym remain for final cleanup and disposal.

The school was built in 1920 after the previous building burned down two years earlier, and remained in service for 60 years until the last graduating class took the stage in 1979. The school district closed for good the following year.

The building would later be used for community functions and storage purposes, before falling into disrepair.

(Story by Erik Gjovik, The Foster County Independent)

McKenzie County State’s Attorney answers questions about homicide

McKenzie County State’s Attorney Ty Skarda did an interview with the McKenzie County Farmer about the homicide case against Watford City resident Hugo Hernandez Jr.

The 13-month-old investigation culminated in two charges: A Class C felony of negligent homicide and a Class B misdemeanor of Discharge of a Weapon Within the City.

The shooting claimed the life of 32-year-old Brianne Anderson, of Dickinson – an employee of the McKenzie County Farmer.

Skarda was asked what the motive might have been for Hernandez, and whether he’s given any account of what happened. To both questions Skarda said he was not able to answer due to the case being open.

When asked by the Farmer what the last 13 months have been like as he’s worked on the case, Skarda said, “The investigation process is slow, but it’s deliberately slow, so that everyone can get all the information they can and make the best charging decision possible.

“It’s taken a while for other agencies to review the information and make their findings, so there are a lot of things that go into it. But we are where we are.”

The Farmer also asked Skarda why they decided to charge the Class C felony of negligent homicide, and if there is a matrix that provides a frame for what charges to bring.

Skarda responded, “That was the most appropriate charge.”

The maximum prison sentence for a Class C felony is five years imprisonment, while the minimum is no time at all.

The Farmer then asked Skarda, “Based on the police report and the investigating officer’s statement, the defendant loaded the gun, pointed it at the deceased and fired it, was heartless toward the dying victim, tampered with the scene and was uncooperative toward law enforcement. In light of those statements, five years seems light. How do you respond?”

Skarda responded with, “I’m not going to comment on that.”

(Story by Steve Hallstrom, McKenzie County Farmer)

Disturbance report in Absaraka spurs on-going investigation

A situation in Absaraka has not only gained the attention of local residents, but also the county, state and federal agencies, in addition the county’s public health officials.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a disturbance on April 17 received from an Absaraka resident.

Sheriff Jesse Jahner said the resident described the presence of a vehicle on his property, which left when he went to check it out.

The resident followed the vehicle and reported it after noticing their might be a firearm in the vehicle.

Jahner said one of his deputies made contact with two individuals, who informed them that there are individuals living on the property who were in the country illegally, about 10 to 12 of them.

“At that time our staff contacted Border Patrol because we can’t deport and asked to help identify the individuals. Border Patrol has access to run databases we don’t have, so we wanted to run those individuals and make sure there are no warrants, especially no warrants violent in nature.”

At that time, the Border Patrol told the Cass County Sheriff’s Office they couldn’t assist "because of the current political environment."

Jahner said he has also attempted to contact Homeland Security and Immigration and Custom Enforcement.

Jahner said they’re increasing their presence in the area for those that are concerned, and actively investigating the situation to ensure there is no labor or human trafficking going on.

(Story by Angela Kolden, Cass County Reporter)

Some Grafton residents may be left in darkness

The Public Utilities Committee (PUC) of Grafton City Council discussed upcoming projects for the north-end water tower and the issue of not being able to finish up water meter replacement.

Water Department Superintendent Tom Dusek said about the water meter AMI replacement project, that they’re about 96 percent complete.

“There are about 75 remaining – some of them are mobile homes,” he said.

According to Dusek the department didn’t want to go after the mobile homes in the winter as some of them had heat tape on them and crawling under a mobile home in winter isn’t always the best scenario.

Basically, the remainder are from people the department has had no response from at all.

“We sent out the last 15 notices today, we put them on the door. The plan is to give them a week and if they don’t get in touch with us we are going to put another notice on the door.

“If they don’t reply then we are going to shut the power off,” he added. “They will be notified through that notice that this is going to happen. They might have to sit the night with no power. We will see what happens.”

(Story by Todd Morgan, the Walsh County Record)