Around the State: February 14, 2022

The counties and cities within the state of North Dakota hold many interesting news stories.

Here are just a few of the feature stories that others are reading in communities around the state.

Border rally against mandate

Nearly a hundred people from both sides of the U.S. - Canada border gathered around the edge of Portal on a cold morning, January 22, to protest a vaccine mandate for truck drivers.

The United States and Canada have set requirements that truckers entering their countries be fully immunized against COVID-19.

Jay Riedel of Roche Percee, Saskatchewan, and Doug Hysjulien of Lignite exchanged their respective countries’ flags as a sign of support. Border Patrol agents supervised the exchange to ensure neither one crossed the border.

Canadians at the rally spoke about their concern for the grocery supply, saying many products come in from the U.S. and could face a shortage if too many drivers don’t comply.

(Story taken from the Journal, Crosby)

Goehring asks feds to drop trucker vaccine mandate

Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring recently asked the Biden administration to drop its vaccine mandate for truckers coming to the United States from Canada, which began on January 22. Truckers had previously been exempted under essential worker status.

“Over 75 percent of U.S. - Canada trade moves by truck,” Goehring said. “Forcing this vaccine mandate on the industry will hurt the livelihoods of truckers, create further supply chain disruptions and cause price increases in essential goods.”

Canada’s federal government also ordered that foreign drivers who are unvaccinated may no longer cross into Canada as of January 15.

The Canada Border Services Agency told reporters on January 12, that the policy would be relaxed, but on January 13, federal ministers issued a statement saying that was an error and the mandate would stand.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance and the American Trucking Associations say that up to 32,000 drivers who make regular cross-border trips will be affected.

(Story taken from the Journal, Crosby)

New Town Schools were locked down

New Town schools were locked down recently after ammunition was found on school grounds.

According to an announcement by New Town School Interim Superintendent Marc Bluestone, a school staff member found a magazine clip containing live ammunition rounds in a girls bathroom in New Town High School.

Following procedures that were set down by the New Town School Board, the staff noticed the school resource officers who are members of the New Town Three Affiliated Tribes police force and school administrators who ordered the lockdown.

New Town Police Department and MHA Nation Law Enforcement responded to assist. TAT Law Enforcement brought in the MHA Nation canine unit to search the building, including classrooms and lockers. One knife and several vaping devices were found. No additional weapons were found.

(Story by Jerry W. Kram, the New Town News)

Belcourt man gets seven years for carjacking

A 32-year-old Belcourt man was sent to federal prison for seven years for carjacking.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Peter D. Welte also sentenced John Thomas Poitra to three years.

According to U.S. Attorney Nicholas W. Chase, on March 17, 2020, Poitra, was walking in the area of 6th Avenue North and 8th Street North in Fargo, N.D., when he approached someone who had just parked a Chevy Silverado pickup truck and demanded the keys to the pickup and threatened to stab the owner.

Poitra then fled the area in the stolen Silverado pickup striking a vehicle as he drove away. After receiving notification of the carjacking, the Fargo Police Department observed Poitra driving against traffic south on 10th Street in Fargo, where he continued to flee south, striking at least two vehicles.

Poitra was followed east on I-94, where deputies from the Clay County Sheriff’s office stopped and arrested Poitra.

Poitra pled guilty to one count of carjacking.

(Story taken from the Turtle Mountain Star)

Poll shows teachers face burnout

Poll results released recently by North Dakota United, the state’s foremost association of public educators and employees, shine a bright light on a growing educator retention crisis that must be addressed. Increased workloads, stagnant wages, fabricated political controversies and threats to degrade retirement and health insurance benefits have led to a record level of burnout and heightened concerns for the future.

The poll, conducted by DFM Research, asked our members how they’re feeling about their jobs, in the midst of a pandemic and relentless attacks on their profession by politicians and pundits. The results are alarming:

• 74 percent believe teacher retention for the 2022-23 school year is a major issue

• When hired, 90 percent of our members saw a future where they would retire as an educator; when asked now, that number declines by more than half, to 41 percent.

• Teacher burnout is the top reason why NDU educator members are considering leaving their profession, at 62 percent

• When asked if they feel appreciated, 40 percent said no, and just 5 percent said they did. This represents a steep decline of 55 percent from a poll in 2019.

(Story taken from the Turtle Mountain Star)

Cases top 100 in January

While difficulty in staffing local schools has been a big indicator of the amount of COVID spreading across the community, a 5-day school closure was just the most visible impact.

The sheriff, a pastor, financial services people and even the local funeral home director are just some of the other people sidelined by COVID-19 recently.

“This virus has no age requirement,” said Public Health Nurse Juliet Artman.

Divide County hit another pandemic milestone recently, reaching 100 positive COVID-19 cases in a single month.

(Story by Journal Staff, the Journal, Crosby)