Around the State: June 10, 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.

Watford City alum heading to NASA

Sadie Bone has always been curious. That curiosity, combined with her drive for knowledge and discovering answers, has led her to an internship at NASA.

Sadie and her parents spent her early years in Butte, Mont. before moving to Watford City in 2012.

The Watford City High School alumni, who graduated as part of the class of 2020, has been accepted to a research internship at NASA where she will study the effects of interplanetary shock waves on the surface of the sun, and how those shock waves interact with the sun's plasma and the heliosphere.

Now as the only female undergraduate set to graduate in the Physics and Astrophysics Class of 2025 at the University of North Dakota (UND), she has made the scientific method a major part of her life.

Even though she is an undergraduate, she is no stranger to research. In fact, her first research paper is on-track to be published in the American Journal of Astrophysics by the end of August.

This is a prestigious honor and it is extremely uncommon for someone who hasn't yet earned even their Bachelor's Degree.

(Story by Kristen Jones, the McKenzie County Farmer)

Stanley man charged with murder

Malcolm Mayors of Stanley, age 32, has been charged with Class AA felony murder after recently turning himself in and reporting a shooting to authorities in Stanley.

According to a release from the Stanley Police Department, officers and deputies from the Mountrail

County Sheriff's office were dispatched to the Mountrail County Jail, after receiving a report of an adult male reporting a homicide that occurred in the 500 block of 2nd St. SE in Stanley on Friday, May 24.

Officers and deputies responded to the residence and located a deceased adult male under circumstances consistent with the initial report when Mayors told the responding officer he thought he had killed his friend.

According to court documents he told officers he had eaten some "shrooms" the night before and he was not sure what had happened, but he had shot his friend with a .40-calibur pistol. He was detained while officers investigated the residence.

He continued to reiterate his story about consuming the psychedelic mushrooms and then playing virtual reality games with the friend he invited over. He said he could not get back to reality and shot the victim, but did not know if it was reality or fake.

Mayors is being held in the Mountrail County Correctional Center after having his initial appearance before Judge Gary Lee who set bail at $1 million. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 3.

(Story taken from the Mountrail County Promoter)

Michaelis accepts position of interim sheriff

After turmoil in the sheriff's office left the community with the resignation of both the sheriff and deputy, resulting in the naming of County Corner Rick Cushman as acting sheriff, the question of what now was on the minds of many.

On Wednesday, May 22, the community got their answer. The Griggs County Commissioners met and offered the position of sheriff to Amberly Michaelis who accepted the offer to return to the office of sheriff.

(Story by Lisa Saxberg, the Griggs County Courier)

Hazen native to compete on 'Jeopardy'

Ever since she was a high schooler at Hazen, Allee Mead has diligently and consistently pursued a dream. A dream that has now become a reality.

On Wednesday, June 5, an episode of the hit television game show "Jeopardy" will air at 4:30 p.m. on NBC in Mercer County, with Mead as one of the contestants.

Mead has already been in the studio to have her episode recorded, as "Jeopardy" is taped in advance before the show releases.

Mead said she started auditioning to be on the teen tournament of "Jeopardy" while still in school. She has continued auditioning for the adult show ever since she was old enough.

Contestants must first complete an online test. If they pass the test and meet the minimum eligibility requirements, their names are put into a random selection process for auditions.

"They basically play a mock game to see how you would perform on the show," Mead said. She said she has made it successfully to three auditions since testing for the adult show.

If the audition process is also successful, there is an 18-month eligibility window during which time you might be contacted if you are selected to actually compete on stage.

"It was such an amazing experience of everything, Mead said. "The crew was just amazing, and the other contestants were amazing."

(Story by Daniel Arens, the Hazen Star)

Rolla archers head to world championship

Fresh off a successful run at this year's national tournament, a trio of Rolla archers are moving on to the highest level of competition.

The Rolla Archery team was in Sandy, Utah, recently to compete in the Western National Tournament. The high school 3D team finished with one of the best scores, securing eighth place. The team racked up 1,645 points on their way to a qualifying mark.

The team score was more than 1,500, which is the magic number to qualify for the biggest competition yet. The Championship event, formerly known as World Championships, will take place this month in Daytona Beach, Florida. Seven archers will be competing.

In addition, three archers qualified for the Championship in individual categories.

(Story by John Rosinski, the Turtle Mountain Star)

Poitra sentenced to life behind bars

On the evening of February 19, 2023, Nicholas Poitra, 46, walked into Rindy's Bar in Sheyenne and killed 30-year-old Troyal Thumb less than 10 minutes later.

He then held several bar patrons at gunpoint as he stole a set of car keys and went on to lead law enforcement on a tense 65-hour-long manhunt.

It wasn't until February 22, when Poitra was spotted on a county road and held at gun point by a local farmer, that the ordeal was finally over.

And now, well over a year later, Poitra has learned his fate.

Poitra was sentenced by Judge James Hovey to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

(Story by Nathan Price, the New Rockford Transcript)