Around the State: January 16, 2023

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.

Washburn couple hosted stranded travelers

Steve and Peggy Wollmuth don’t operate a bed and breakfast. Until the recent snowstorm, that is.

In an uplifting story of “North Dakota nice,” the Wollmuth’s took in weary travelers from Montana after they found themselves stuck on County Highway 17.

“They left from Glendive, Montana, but they couldn’t take I-94 anymore, so they drove back roads until they got to Washburn successfully to fill gas,” Peggy said. “They saw a county road and thought they could take it to get back on Highway 83, which wasn’t closed yet. My husband and I saw a car on the roadway, then we see a man walking up to our house, and he told us they were stuck. So my husband went out to see how stuck they were.”

The group included couple Brian and LeighAnn Gunnar and her sister, Vigrinia Crigamire, as well as her young daughter Piper.

After getting the car out of the snow, the Wollmuth’s invited the travelers into their home to warm up.

“We heard their plan, and it wasn’t a good one,” Peggy said. “They were going to Minot and then heading to Bismarck the next day. “The Scotwood Motel was completely booked so they would have to stay at the Sheriff’s department and sleep on air mattresses.”

That didn’t sit well with the Wollmuth’s. The couple opened up their home to the travelers, fed them a warm meal, and provided them with a place to sleep for the night.

Since their stay, the stranded travelers have kept in tough with Peggy via social media.

“We will never forget what you did for us,” one message said.

For the Wollmuth’s, the decision to take strangers into their home was simple.

“We said that we hoped if it was our kids or grandkids on the road, we would want someone to help them out,” said Peggy.

(Story by Cammie Wright, the McLean County Independent)

Scammers almost hook resident

Walsh County residents, especially senior citizens need to realize how easy a person can be scammed and not only lose thousands of dollars, but potentially their life savings or even their homes.

This is the story. It has been documented and is accurate. The name and gender of the person, along with where the person lives in Walsh County is not revealed.

“It is embarrassing and I feel ashamed that I could have been so stupid,” the person said.

Even with the shame and embarrassment of it all, the person took it to us at the newspaper and asked if the story could be published to let others know how easily a person can fall into the web of a scammer.

The scammer called about noon on Dec. 13 and claimed one of the sons in the family got into an accident. He ended up going through a stop sign and rear-ended a woman who was pregnant.

“This scared me because I had just talked to my son. He calls every Tuesday,” the person said.

The guy calling claimed he was David Clark, an attorney, representing the victim. He went on to say that the son had been picked up for reckless driving.

“The lady had a broken arm and was five months pregnant,” he claimed.

Clark claimed the woman’s husband wasn’t going to press charges, if they were prepared to pay $9,500 for the medical costs.

“So if I paid the money, he wouldn’t have to go to jail or serve 50 hours of community service,” the person said.

He hung up again and called back and said, “Here, I will let you talk to your son.”

“So he put my son on the phone, of course he told me that he couldn’t talk long. His voice was muffled and he didn’t talk too loud or very long.”

The scam finally came to a head with an email from the scammer with all the routing numbers, the beneficiary’s name - all the necessary information to make a bank transfer in the amount of $9,500.

So the person printed off the email and took it to the bank here in Walsh County.

The teller took it to the head teller, who in turn took it to the bank president.

“The bank president said we have had this happen many times. ‘You go home and call your son.’ So I did. I asked him how many children he had and what their names were.

“Shortly after I got done talking to my son a call came in on my land-line and the person on the other end asked if I had gone to the bank. I said no, I went to the sheriff and the police department. Click, he hung up the phone.”

A couple days later my son’s wife called and said the same thing happened to her mother and she lot $5,000.

(Story by Todd Morgan, the Walsh County Record)

Lego League pumped for competition

Hazen’s Lego League members are powering up their robot designs, as well as skits and PowerPoint presentations, as they prep for January competitions.

Both a 5th grade and a junior high team are preparing and programming robots to handle a variety of tasks related to energy.

“We have to build and program a robot,” 5th grade Lego League President Carlee Peterson said. “The robot has to complete missions. We also earn points on a PowerPoint and skit we do,” Vice President Addison Leidholm added.

Both of these teams will travel to Bismarck for a regional competition. Winners from that contest advance to a state competition later in the year in Grand Forks.

(Story by Daniel Arens, the Hazen Star)

Winter Park has a lot of fun activities

The Bottineau Winter Park is in full swing and saw good numbers over the holiday break with a positive outlook for the second half of the season for those who enjoy outdoor recreational winter sports.

“At present we have 36 inches of snow,” said Dan Fett of the Bottineau Winter Park. “We are in full operation.”

The Winter Park, which is called the “Jewel Above the Prairie”, has all eight slopes open along with its tubing park, snowshoeing trails and a terrain park which grants individuals the opportunity to practice jumps, moves or tricks.

The Winter Park also offers instructors for lessons, have full rentals for skiing, snowboarding, tubing and snowshoeing for those who don’t have their own equipment, along with the best warming house in the state with Annie’s House, a state-of-the-art chalet that has open spaces for comfort, a cafe and a variety of departments that care for visitor’s needs.

The warming house was named after Ann Nicole Nelson who was the only North Dakotan who lost her life during 9/11 at the World Trade Center.

(Story by Scott Wagar, the Bottineau Courant)