Around the State: June 13, 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.

Recall, shortage empties store shelves

Becoming a mother whether it is your first time or your fourth time is full of challenges, late nights and worry. It’s a time when the most is expected of you but also a time when you’ve never functioned on so little sleep.

Your main purpose is to keep this baby alive, and soon after giving birth you may discover that nursing is either not something you can physically do, or simply not a path you want to go down.

But then you find yourself standing in any store that is supposed to be carrying baby formula and seeing a completely deserted, dusty shelf staring back at you. How are you supposed to feed your newborn baby?

This question and many more have been plaguing mothers these past couple months. The baby formula shortage has caused mothers to search far and wide for any formula or alternative to keep their babies happy and healthy.

“I have been employed with WIC for over forty years in a number of counties and have gone through blizzards, floods, COVID, etc., but have found the formula recall and shortage to have been especially challenging for WIC families,” said Betsy Thompson, a registered dietician and director for Walsh County WIC.

What started as a recall on a certain batch of Similac formula turned into something much bigger than anyone could have realized. After the recall was announced, the plant was forced to shut down, causing families to switch to different brands of formula.

“The plant that was shut down in Michigan due to the recall is supposed to be back into production in June, but even with that we are told it will be a few months before we see some of the formula back on the shelf.”

The shortage has caused WIC to expand not only the brands they cover, but also the size of formula cans as well.

(Story by Steph Cronje, the Walsh County Record)

International Peace Garden 90 years of history

It began in 1928 as an ambitious idea conceived by Dr. Henry Moore, a Canadian horticulturalist who had trained at London’s famous Kew Gardens. Dr. Moore imagined a living tribute to the friendship between the United States and Canada in the form of an international garden dedicated to peace. He proposed the idea to the National Association of Gardeners which approved the plan, and a site selection committee started the search for a location.

A site near Buffalo, New York, was originally considered, but the area’s rough topography presented obstacles to Dr. Moore’s vision of a formal, classical approach to the garden’s landscaping. After Manitoba offered 1,451 acres of wilderness and North Dakota offered an additional 888 acres of agricultural land, Dr. Moore surveyed the area from the air and liked what he saw. The site straddling the border, but unencumbered by natural barriers presented a landscape that expressed his vision of unity between nations.

Funding for the project was raised through a promotional campaign requesting small donations from individuals to create a “People’s Garden” that belonged to the public.

Landscape architect Hugh Vincent Feehan of Minneapolis was chosen to design the master plan for the garden’s layout.

On July 14, 1932, over 50,000 people gathered for the dedication of the cairn that stands at the Garden’s gateway on the border between the two countries.

In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corp Company 794 arrived to start clearing brush and building the first structures in the Garden. After building their barracks, they began work on the Historic Lodge using native building materials from the area. Between 1934 and 1941, the CCC built picnic shelters, an amphitheater, open air fireplaces, roads, bridges and trails.

(Story taken from the Herald-Press, Harvey)

Food fees raised by school board

There is no such thing as a free lunch and students in the region will see this first hand this fall.

School lunches offered at no cost have been a welcome part of the school day since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago. That has changed, though, with the end of this school year also ending the federal program which afforded schools to offer free lunches.

With that and inflation in mind, the Garrison Public School District board voted recently to raise the prices of meals served in the schools. Starting with the 2022-23 school year, students will pay $2.75 for breakfast and $3.50 for lunch. For adults the price will be $3.50 for breakfast and $4.25 for lunch.

(Story by James C. Falcon, the McLean County Independent)

The monthly budget is gone

The inflation rate accelerated to 8.5 percent earlier this year, it’s highest since 1981. A report by Brookings Institution found that monthly expenses, such as gas prices, groceries, and household products, have increased almost $300 per month for the average household.

CouponBirds.com, provider of consumer information, surveyed 3,012 workers to determine exactly how many days after payday they spend their monthly budget. The average North Dakotan seems to have nailed their saving habits, with respondents running out of cash 28 days after payday. This compares to a national average of 14 days.

CouponBirds analyzed the data across each state, investigating the changes in the number of online searches to do with coupons-related queries from 2021 until present. This has indeed increased in the first quarter of 2022, with a 22 percent increase in North Dakota for “coupons” or “promo code” between 2021 and 2022.

On average nation wide, people said they could rely on their financial savings for only two months. One-in-three said they tend to run out of money before payday, having to rely on savings or credit. Almost one-in-four admit they avoid checking their bank statement for fear of being overdrawn.

Lastly, 45 percent of people say there are things they bought last year that they can no longer afford.

(Story taken from the Traill County Tribune)