Around the State: July 1, 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.

'Wandermore' wanders across Benson County

On June 11, Maddock welcomed a special guest who has been traveling the entire state of North Dakota documenting his travels on his Facebook page titled, "Wandermore in North Dakota."

Seth Varner, who is originally from Oahu, Neb., and is the singular owner of the Wandermore travel book series and Wandermore Publishing, has been traveling around different states since 2020 visiting all incorporated towns.

"The goal is to document smalltown history and promote Midwest tourism," Varner said.

So far, he has toured Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas, and this year he is working his way through North Dakota. By the end of his travels, he will have wandered to 355 towns in this state alone.

With each town he travels to, Varner not only focuses on his research of the historical elements, but also enjoys capturing the city through photography, taking pictures of every school, church, park, business and a variety of other places. "By the end of the project, I'll probably have around 25,000 pictures or so," Varner said.

Once he finishes making his way through each state, he puts together books titled "Wandermore....." with the state filling in the blank.

"The books are travel guides, history books and living photo albums," Varner said.

Varner plans to have "Wandermore North Dakota" out the day before Thanksgiving.

(Story by Hailey Maddock, the Benson County Farmers Press)

Buxton's Sundby honored as trooper of the year

North Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Myles Sundby of Buxton was recently named the 2023 Trooper of the Year by the North Dakota Motor Carriers Association.

Sundby, who is stationed in Grand Forks, serves as a motor carrier operations trooper.

Sundby was a traffic enforcement trooper in Williston and Carrington until he became a motor carrier enforcement trooper - a trooper who inspects commercial vehicles - and continued working in Carrington and later Maddock until August 2021 when he transferred back to Grand Forks.

(Story taken from the Hillsboro Banner)

Kruckenberg continues 'Big Bend Country' series

Al Larry Lee Kruckenberg considers the path forward for the first settlers in Mercer County and the surrounding region, he is also following the path forward for his own writing career.

In May, Kruckenberg's book "Bound & Determined: The Path Forward 1900-1915" was published. It is the second book in a three-part series on the early history of Big Bend Country (which includes Mercer County as well as extending into McLean, Oliver and Morton counties), as well as the fourth overall book Kruckenberg has published.

"It was a period of rich settlement and a lot of progress being made," Kruckenberg said of the 1900-1915 settlers. "Life was still tough, but I think there was a heightened sense of community, not just each settler trying to survive."

"Bound & Determined" follows on from where "On Fertile Ground" ended. The latter book covers the period from 1873 to 1899, dealing with the arrival of Europeans like the Germans from Russia into the area, as well as the lives of the Native Americans already living here whom they encountered.

(Story by Daniel Arens, the Hazen Star)

Beulah's Sierra Kopp continues book series

Be it some sort of alignment of fate or the hand of God, Sierra Kopp was destined to be an author.

The Beulah native remembers two incidents that put her on the path to write not one ("Meeting Destiny"), not two ("Learning Dentiny's Path"), but three self-published books by age 22, with the third book, "Believing in Destiny," just being finalized for publication on June 11.

When she was younger, Kopp played a writing game with her sister, which one would start a sentence then pass it to the other to write the next, and so forth. Eventually, a small story would form.

Through an online self-publishing course, Kopp learned the importance of "writing what you know well instead of writing what you like."

"That's what I did," she said. "I am a Christian and I received two prophecies from two different people, one I knew, one I didn't, that I would be an author."

"The Christian historical romance became my niche," she said.

As a whole, Kopp said her book series is all about one's destiny.

"I really want my books to just help others grow closer to God."

(Story by Ryan Schlehuber of the Beulah Beacon)

Williston school plan shown

The Williston Basin School District board on June 10 heard a presentation from JLG Architects updating the status of the new elementary school to be built in the district.

The cost breakdown for the school allots $40.8 million for construction materials, $2.2 million for the architect's fee and $2.9 million for contingent and incidental expenses.

The budget also includes $1.2 million for the purchase of the site, a 15-acre parcel of land located in the Williston Square subdivision.

Construction is set to begin this fall, with an estimated completion coming in Summer 2026.

(Story taken from the Journal, Crosby)

Local woman crowned Miss North Dakota

Many little girls dream of wearing beautiful gowns and tiaras, and one Steele County native has made that dream a reality. Sophia Mae Richards was crowned Miss North Dakota on Saturday, June 8, in the Bakken Auditorium in Williston, N.D.

The daughter of Tony Richards and Alicia Richards, and granddaughter of Randy and Carmen Richards of Hope, Sophia grew up on a farm just north of Hope. She has two younger sisters and graduated from Hope-Page High School in 2019. From there she went to North Dakota State University and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in Strategic Communication in 2023.

She currently lives in Fargo where she works for Valley News Live as a Host/Producer of North Dakota Today, an hour-long lifestyle show that runs every weekday from 9-10 in the morning.

Richards said that this was her third time competing for the title of Miss North Dakota.

"After winning, I will spend my year traveling around the state promoting the Miss North Dakota Scholarship organization, BIO Girls and engaging with communities all across the state," she said.

(Story by Lisa Saxberg, the Steele County Press)