Around the State: May 20, 2024

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.

Death at Rolla Motel investigation

Rollette County Sheriff Nathan Gustafson confirmed that law enforcement was recently called to the Bil-Mar Motel on the west side of Rolla.

The owner of the business confirmed that "last Sunday" there was a dead body found in a room. She added that nothing was disclosed to her beyond that and local authorities were working with the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation regarding the matter. Still she had no direct details on what happened, but added there was "no foul play."

(Story by Jason Nordmark, the Turtle Mountain Star)

Endorsed District 9 candidate replaced

One of District 9's endorsed candidates for the upcoming primary and general election will not be on the ballot.

Craig Poitra received the Democratic party's endorsement to represent the district in the N.D. House during the District 9 conference in March. However, according to the N.D. Secretary of State's website, he did not submit the proper documentation to get on the ballot.

The state requires a petition/certificate of nomination containing signatures equal to 1 percent of the total population in the district as well as certificate of endorsement. Both must be filed by April 8.

Instead, Collette Brown of Warwick filed for the district's two-year seat in the House. She is a member of the Spirit Lake Tribe.

(Story by Jason Nordmark, the Turtle Mountain Star)

Pifer's eyes Hillsboro land for auction house

A Moorhead, Minn.-based auction and realty company wants to build an auction house that could host 7 to 10 large equipment auctions every year just south of Hillsboro along Interstate 29.

Kevin Pifer, president and auctioneer for Pifer's Auction & Realty and Land Management, and his company are attempting to acquire 15 acres of cropland for a planned building project on the east side of I-29 and southwest of Olsen Softball Complex in Hillsboro.

Jim Murphy, executive director of the Traill County Economic Development Commission, told the Hillsboro Business Association that Pifer has been in ongoing discussions with the family that owns the land for nearly two years in hops of acquiring the property.

"Anyone who has been to an equipment auction knows that these buildings are enormous," said Murphy.

"This could bring a lot of visitors to our community," he said. "It's basically an outlet mall for farmers."

Murphy said Pifer's building project would include a multi-use auction center that could be used for parties, weddings and community gatherings.

(Story by Cole Short, the Hillsboro Banner)

Local band teacher resigns from Alexander school

Following an incident involving a student in one of his classes shooting another student with an airsoft gun, Anthony Morris, a music teacher at Alexander Public School has resigned.

Superintendent of Alexander Schools, Leslie Bieber, said, "Upon completion of a Complaints About Personnel Investigation, Mr. Morris received the results and then submitted a resignation which I recommended the board accept."

For the remainder of the school year, the classes that had been taught by Morris will be covered by another teacher at the school and some substitutes. Bieber stated, "Mrs. Heck, our part-time librarian and former music teacher, has been preparing the students for the upcoming spring concert. She will continue to teach full days, coordinating the music classes around her library duties.

(Story by Kristen Jones, the McKenzie County Farmer)

New ambulance service going on line

A tragic accident involving a young girl in Dunseith drove home the need for a medical response agency for the western part of Rolette County.

While it's not likely that an ambulance crew could have saved the child, it did show just how isolated the area was in terms of dealing with medical emergencies.

"There's always been a push for services here because of all the calls from this area," said Shani Reisnour, a nationally registered paramedic. "When that little girl got ran over and was killed, there was a lot of public outcry."

For coincidental reasons, it took 33 minutes for an ambulance to reach the scene. The nearest agency was out on a call, leading to the dispatch of the Rolla Ambulance to travel more than 20 miles.

"That upset a lot of people," Reisnour said.

The city of Dunseith and surrounding area have struggled with emergency services response times for years. The community has been on the proverbial "back burner" even though half of the Belcourt Ambulance's call volume is to the Dunseith area, according to a "gap identification" study done in an effort to gain approval for the service.

"The delayed response times put an extreme amount of strain on both (Belcourt and Rolla) ambulance services and most importantly the patient or patients that are on the receiving end, waiting for emergency services to arrive," the study states. "No one should be waiting or wondering if there is an available ambulance to respond to any emergency in this community. And this happens more frequently than not.

(Story by Jason Nordmark, the Turtle Mountain Star)

McDermott sentenced

Travis McDermott of Minot, who was convicted over the death of Greyson Sletto of Willow City, has been sentenced in a Minot courtroom.

McDermott, 40, and Sletto, 32, got into an argument in a Minot bar which led to McDermott pulling out a gun and shooting Sletto twice, killing him.

According to court documents, McDermott was given 10 years in jail for manslaughter and was ordered to serve seven of the 10 years. He was also sentenced to five years for reckless endangerment. The two sentences will run concurrently.

McDermott will also have to serve 85 percent of his sentence and be on supervised probation for three years.

He has time served of 409 days, which equals 358 days of actual time served, with an additional 51 days due to good behavior while in jail. McDermott was also ordered to pay $51,000 in restitution.

(Story by Scott Wagar, the Bottineau Courant)