Around the State: January 30, 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.

Hoeven stops to see pet project

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven made a stop in Hillsboro recently to meet Maura, Hillsboro High School’s wildly popular therapy dog.

Barely a month after her one-year anniversary at the school, Maura and her trainer, vo-ag teacher Levi Reese, spent nearly an hour explaining the benefits of having the 18-month-old golden retriever in the classroom.

Reese uses Maura in his small-animal care and veterinary sciences class and calls on his four-legged sidekick to cheer up students having a bad day.

During his visit, Hoeven told administrators and students that he has seen an increase in the number of therapy dogs in schools and airports nationwide.

The congressman said the federal government could become involved in expanding the number of therapy dogs in schools by providing grants and flexible spending guidelines that allow schools to oversee the training of the animals.

(Story by the staff of the Hillsboro Banner)

Movie to feature N.D. trafficking, abuse stories

A New York filmmaker’s next project will bring stories of sex trafficking and sexual abuse in North Dakota to light.

Filming will take place in Linton between Feb. 27 and March 27 for the film “Trapped,” featuring a compilation of stories from North Dakota girls who experienced sexual mistreatment and sex trafficking.

Film writer and director Ejaz Khan recalled hearing one young woman’s horrific experience and learned how common such experiences were for girls.

“In North Dakota, every second girl I was meeting would share their personal sexual mistreatment story,” he said.

Khan will also be holding a drawing for a trip to New York City for three days (hotel and plane ticket) to attend the premiere of “Trapped,” once released in October 2023. Visit http://www.ejazkhancinemalcom/trapped-minot for more information.

(Story taken from the New Town News)

City Commissioners ok pay hike for themselves

The Hillsboro City Commission recently voted 4-1 to increase commissioners’ annual salaries, marking the first time city leaders have approved raising their pay in more than two decades.

Commissioners agreed to bump their earnings from $1,800 to $4,800 per year and to increase City Commission President Levi Reese’s pay from $2,400 to $6,600 per year.

In order to offset the higher salaries, commissioners eliminated the health insurance benefits that previously had been given to City Commissioners Dave Sather and Mike Kress.

Sather and Kress tossed their support behind the salary increases, even though both city leaders will lose out on nearly $10,000 in insurance benefits per year.

City leaders decided in 2020 to no longer offer health insurance to new city commissioners as a way to cut expenses, although Sather and Kress were grandfathered in and allowed to keep their policies.

(Story by Cole Short, the Hillsboro Banner)

Washburn man arrested for indecent exposure

A 24-year-old man has been arrested after admitting to publicly exposing himself to women in Washburn multiple times in 2022.

According to the McLean County Sheriff’s Department, Luke Kjos of Washburn is facing five Class A misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure. Kjos reportedly admitted to exposing and touching himself in front of women in public places in Washburn on five occasions in 2022, with three occurrences taking place at Washburn businesses.

Kjos was brought in for questioning after security footage from the Superpumper gas station captured him exposing himself to a female employee in November 2022. Kjos admitted it was him in the video and subsequently admitted to similar acts at Krause’s SuperValu, Family Dollar and Riverside Park in Washburn.

In his interview, Kjos told McLean County officers that he had attempted to expose himself on approximately 10 other occasions but did not encounter women during those instances. Kjos reportedly admitted to authorities that he needs help.

(Story taken from the McLean County Independent)

Opponents work to stop elimination of horses

According to the official website, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, “is one of the few national parks where visitors can observe free roaming horses. Their presence represents Theodore Roosevelt’s experience during the open range ranching era.”

The website goes on to say that when the park was fenced in 1954, a horse roundup removed 200 branded animals. A few small bands of horses eluded capture and went unclaimed. A band is 10 to 15 horses. This would amount to approximately 30 horses. These horses have continued to live in the free range park.

In the past, the National Park Service has tried to remove all horses from the park. In 1970, a change of park policy recognized the horses as part of the historical setting, limiting control of the size of the herd by annual roundups.

The 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros act mandated protection of specific animals as a national heritage species. However, the horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park do not come under the auspices of this act, but are managed by existing park regulations.

Historically, roundups have been conducted every three of four years using helicopters to herd the horses to handling facilities to be sold at public auction.

Julie Martin, an avid fan and frequent visitor of the park first brought this information to The Gazette. “The need to control the size of the herd is one thing, to eliminate it altogether? And they won’t say why.”’

The reasons this reporter could find were that the horses (and the long horn herds in residence also at the park) are “invasive” and that the process of capturing and relocating must be done to keep the park healthy.

Currently, horses are being captured using tranquilizer darts and are sold in online auctions held by the federal government. “The park does provide a link on their website to the “Adopt a Horse” program.) As of March of 2021 there were 170 wild horses that roam the 47,000 acre park.

If adopted, the proposed course of action would reverse decades of policy at the park, which have kept horses inside the fenced boundaries to commemorate the open range era, when Theodore Roosevelt ranched in the Little Missouri Badlands in the 1880s.

The park is weighing two alternatives, including sticking with the current management plan, which calls for a much smaller herd, or expedited removal of the horses completely. Public comments will be accepted on the options until Jan. 31.

(Story by Karen Hutchins, the Ransom County Gazette)