Around the State: November 7, 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.

North Dakota is 133 years young

North Dakota’s 133rd anniversary of statehood is Wednesday, November 2, 2022.

At 3:40 p.m., ET on November 2, 1889, President Harrison signed the Proclamation of Admission for North Dakota and South Dakota. The President shuffled the paperwork and signed the documents blindly, so it is not known which state’s documents were signed first.

Now a State Historical site and the state’s oldest surviving courthouse, the Stutsman County Courthouse is considered the birthplace of statehood because it was there where meetings were first held in 1885 to discuss the division of Dakota Territory. A Constitutional Convention with 75 delegates was held in Bismarck from July 4 to August 17, 1889.

Then on October 1, 1889, with only men allowed to vote, the new constitution was approved with 77 percent of the 35,548 votes cast in favor of statehood. The population of the state was approximately 190,000.

On the ballot at the same time was an article related to the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. It was approved on a vote of 18,552 to 17,393. North Dakota remained a legally dry state until a 1932 referendum abolished state prohibition laws. The sale of hard liquor was banned until another referendum was passed in 1936.

(Story taken from the Cavalier Chronicle)

Historical building creates big discussion

Karsten and Faith Bartsch recently purchased the home of Dr. J.A. Johnson on Main Street which is currently causing some discussions within the community and on social media that has brought some concern.

The primary discussion about the building, which is just south of Marie’s, the restaurant that the Bartschs own in downtown Bottineau, is whether or not the structure should be historically preserved or razed.

The building was the first hospital in Bottineau and also the home of Johnson and his family. The architecture style of the building dates back to the early 20th century and holds unique styles in its woodwork, framing and porches.

The house also held a tunnel at one time in the basement which led to the building south of Johnson’s home and hospital and served as his clinic. Johnson build the tunnel between the two structures so that he could go back and forth between his home, hospital and the clinic without going outdoors, especially in the wintertime because he didn’t like the cold winter weather.

This past summer the Bartschs purchased the building and lot with the goal to either expand their restaurant or electrical businesses, or perhaps start another business.

Unfortunately, the $300,000 price tag to renovate the building proved to be too much and the Bartschs decided to have the building razed.

This prompted a discussion in the community and on social media about what should take place with the building, which has been followed with a variety of rumors that are not true.

(Story by Scott Wagar, the Bottineau Courant)

Divide EMS calls never billed

The Divide County Ambulance District is referring nearly 200 patient care reports over a period of four years to the state health department for reviews.

At least a third of the reports are for ambulance calls of known patients who were never billed, potentially representing hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost income.

While some income may still be recovered, the omission of the records from the district’s stats may also have negatively impacted the amount of grant money the district receives.

A health department review could potentially show the district has made more ambulance runs than were recorded, increasing its state funding.

(Story taken from the Tioga Tribune)

Drugstore dropping Hallmark cards

A mainstay on Crosby’s Main Street for more than five decades, Hallmark cards, soon will be unavailable.

Call it a sign of the times. “It’s inflation,” said Joyce Woodward, store manager. “People don’t want to pay $13 for a card and I don’t blame them.

Put another way, she said, when people want to put $5 in a card, they don’t want to pay $5 for the card.

Having heard from the many customers recently that the cards have become too expensive, Woodward approached the store’s ownership group to ask if she could drop the Hallmark line - something the Stanley drugstore has done already.

“Cards don’t sell like they did even five years ago,” said Woodward, due to changing societal expectations.

(Story by Cecile Wehrman, the Journal, Crosby)

Mercer County selected for $433 million plant

In a move that came as a surprise to some, a base metals company from Minnesota announced recently that they would bring a $433 million battery minerals processing facility to Mercer County.

An October 19 press release from Talon Metals Corp of Tamarach, Minn., announced that the company was looking at sites in Mercer County after being selected for the first set of projects funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles.

(Story by Bill Schmalfeldt, the Hazen Star)

Minot resident starts fires in two counties

A Minot resident was recently arrested for starting fires in Bottineau and McHenry counties that ended in fire damage to property along with two vehicles.

According to Steve Watson, sheriff of Bottineau County, on October 19, Justin Hanson of Minot was starting fires in Bottineau and McHenry counties. To assist in the capture of Hanson, a number of pilots were called in to conduct an aerial search for him.

“Fires were being started here and there and we were having a difficult time in finding him, but once the planes were up , they were able to find him and direct us to him,” Watson said.

An unfortunate accident occurred in the field when the deputy’s catalytic converter caught the field on fire along with his patrol vehicle and Hanson’s vehicle, which ended in a total loss of both vehicles.

(Story taken from the Bottineau Courant)