The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 85
The stage for a murder trial has likely been set after Nicholas Poitra, the man accused of murdering 35-year-old Troyal Thumb at Rindy's Bar in Sheyenne earlier this year, recently rejected a plea agreement. Eddy County State's Attorney Ashley Lies said Poitra elected to continue with his pleas of not guilty to the charges against him – which includes Class AA felony murder – during his pretrial conference on Thursday, June 13 despite being offered the plea agreement. Lies said the details of...
The Casey’s General Store in Carrington recently contacted law enforcement after noticing that their bottom line wasn’t adding up. Not long after, it was determined that one of their own employees may be responsible. According to court documents, Casey’s employee Marissa Johns and her boyfriend, Steven Krueger, were caught on video stealing more than $1,500 in gift cards between June 1 and June 27 of this year. Court documents allege that Johns was generating gift cards as cash sales witho...
On Tuesday, July 11, a number of big cases were on the docket at the Foster County Courthouse in Carrington. Up first was Kristopher Abshere, the 33-year-old individual accused of impregnating a 14-year-old girl in Carrington last summer. Abshere's hearing on Tuesday was only an initial appearance, where defendants are informed of their rights, the charges filed against them and the maximum and minimum penalties of those charges should they be found guilty. Also, Abshere's court-appointed...
Kristopher Abshere, 33, was arrested on June 19 in Foster County for allegedly impregnating a 14-year-old girl last summer. The official charge filed against him is gross sexual imposition of a victim under 15 years old – a Class AA felony. Carrington Police Chief Christopher Bittmann said the arrest took place with help from the James Valley Special Operations team. At a bond hearing on Tuesday, Eddy County State's Attorney Ashley Lies added that Abshere had gone into hiding upon learning he w...
Golfers hit the fairways and greens at CrossRoads Golf Club Tuesday, June 20, for the 'Swing Fore Charity' event, proceeds of which will help offset medical expenses for LeeAnn Hoppe. A total of 34 teams participated in the tournament. Organizer Eric Myhre said Wednesday that approximately $50,000 was raised....
On Thursday, June 8, the New Rockford Post 30 Black Sox took on Carrington Post 25 for their first home game of the Legion baseball season. However, any hopes they might've had about enjoying a smooth home opener were quickly dashed. The Redbirds employed "small ball" to score a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, sending two runners across home plate on a bunt single and a sacrifice fly. Then – already with a 2-run cushion – Lucas Hendrickson walked out to the mound in the bottom of...
A Hefty Seed chemical warehouse in Hurdsfield, N.D. was destroyed after flames consumed the structure on Friday, June 2. No one was injured, but emergency responders and Hefty Seed personnel were forced to go to great lengths to contain the blaze, which was releasing a plume of toxic smoke into the air and posed serious environmental risks. Chad Weckerly, manager of Hefty Seed's locations in Hurdsfield, Wilton and New Rockford, said camera footage shows the first flames igniting in the northwest...
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Shannon Brandt has pleaded guilty to running over and killing 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson last year. At a hearing on Thursday, May 18, Brandt entered a plea of guilty to manslaughter, a Class B felony which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. In accordance with a plea agreement, Foster County State’s Attorney Kara Brinster has now dropped the Class B felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident. The guilty plea comes just two weeks after the murder charge against Brandt was d...
Tia Davis is still enduring the fight of her life, and her local community is being invited to lend a hand. Davis' health took a turn for the worse after giving birth to two adorable twin babies – Jayla and Jeffrey – in October of last year. After being diagnosed with preeclampsia at her last obstetrics appointment on Oct. 24, 2022, Davis was rushed to Bismarck via ambulance to give birth a week early. To everyone's great relief, the delivery itself was successful, and Jayla and Jeffrey hav...
With a field that was finally dry enough for baseball, the Carrington Cardinals hosted their first home game of the season on Thursday, May 4. Visitors were the Black Sox of Sheyenne-New Rockford, who were looking to find their feet after a rough 1-6 start to their season. Unfortunately for them, however, the Cards weren't about to slow down for their neighbors to the north. Carrington had lost only one game all season entering Thursday's matchup, and they weren't about to lose a second in...
Shannon Brandt, the man accused of running down and killing a teenager last year, now faces a less severe charge. On Saturday, April 27, Foster County State's Attorney Kara Brinster filed a motion to reduce the Class AA felony murder charge against Brandt to a Class B felony charge of manslaughter. Following that motion, Brandt's defense attorney, Mark Friese, unsurprisingly filed a short brief saying they don't oppose the reduction, and on May 1, District Court Judge Bradley Cruff made it...
In the early morning hours of Friday, March 31, Seaburg’s Sports at the Holiday Mall in Devils Lake was burglarized. According to court documents, a number of firearms were stolen from the gun shop, which is owned by Mike Seaburg of Carrington. Police responded to the break-in after an alarm was activated at around 3 a.m. that morning, but did not arrive before the burglar fled. Court documents state, “Officers arrived on scene and observed the glass on the front door to the business was bro...
A pair of exciting new businesses are hoping to increase the general health and well-being of their local community. UpNorth Speech & Myology and Aura Aesthetics + Hydration are aiming to provide the community with health and wellness amenities one would normally have to travel out of town to enjoy. Both businesses are housed inside Breathe Health and Wellness at the Garr Dental building on 740 4th Avenue South in Carrington. Breathe Health and Wellness is a multi-use, multi-practitioner facilit...
On Saturday, April 1, the community is invited to a medical benefit for Sharon Ludwig at Buck-It's Bar in New Rockford. Ludwig, a rural Eddy County resident, was caught up in a skid steer accident last October, suffering a compound fracture to the tibia and fibula in her left leg as it was caught under the track. She was hospitalized for 10 days, endured seven outpatient surgeries, spent 100 days in a skilled nursing facility and a month in an assisted living facility. Now, she's living with...
The American workforce shortage has been covered extensively since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, which literally brought the U.S. and global economies to a standstill. Ever since, workforce shortages are still impacting every industry despite significant economic growth – and agriculture is no exception. Here in central North Dakota, where agriculture is the life blood of the local economy, local businesses and operations are struggling to find help. “Labor is a huge, huge thing for any sector...
Right now, North Dakota's 68th Legislative Assembly is debating a bill that would allow feedlots and dairies to partner with corporations and limited liability companies, potentially eroding long-established anti-corporate farming laws. The bill – designated HB 1371 – has comfortably passed the N.D. House of Representatives after a 70-24 vote, advancing it to the N.D. Senate where it's being discussed by the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee. Currently, the state's anti-corporate far...
On March 6, the Carrington Police Department responded to a disturbance call at a residence in Carrington, which turned into a lengthy chase spanning portions of Foster and Wells counties. According to Carrington Police Chief Christopher Bittmann, as an officer arrived at a residence at approximately 9 p.m., a man identified as Michael Speldrich entered his vehicle and began heading westbound on Highway 200. Bittmann said Speldrich then drove onto a gravel road and continued to evade law...
Shortly after 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19, law enforcement responded to a shooting at Rindy's Bar in Sheyenne, N.D. that left one man dead. The victim was identifed Monday as 30-year-old Troyal Thumb of Sheyenne. On Wednesday, Feb. 22, 45-year-old Nicholas Poitra, the man authorities allege shot and killed Thumb, was taken into custody after a 65-hour-long multi-agency manhunt. Eddy County Sheriff, Paul Lies, said Poitra was discovered at around noon on Wednesday by a local farmer on County Road...
This year's North Dakota Academic All-State team's have been selected, and Carrington High School's Max Beumer has been named to the Class B Gold Team. All totaled, 202 high schoolers in North Dakota were nominated by their school's principal and went on to compete for statewide recognition in either the Class A or Class B divisions. Each student was named to either the Gold, Silver, Bronze or Honorable Mention teams, based on their grade-point averages, ACT or SAT scores, extracurricular...
At an initial court appearance on Tuesday, Feb. 7 in Carrington, Patricia Wick entered a plea of not guilty to the charges of murder, child abuse and for operating a child care home without licensure. Wick is accused of murdering a 5-month-old infant boy late last September, after he was found unresponsive and not breathing at her residence in Carrington on Sept. 26, 2022. The infant was pronounced dead two days later at a Fargo hospital. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be blunt...
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, discussions at a special Carrington City Council meeting became heated following a presentation about the plan to rebuild Rainbow Gardens and construct a Visitor Center on Main Street. Dennis Swanson, president of the Carrington Rainbow Gardens board of directors, delivered the presentation, which detailed the garden’s local history, the purpose of bringing it back, how funding is being raised and more. Of the many items he discussed, Swanson made sure to remind those in a...
A former Carrington daycare provider has been charged with murder following the tragic death of a 5-month-old infant boy in her care. The infant son of Jesse and Brittany Nelson of Carrington was pronounced dead at a Fargo Hospital late last September, after he was found unresponsive and not breathing at the residence of Patricia Ann Wick in Carrington. The initial indication, according to court documents, was that Nelson had suffered a traumatic head injury and subsequent cardiac arrest. Now,...
Late last September, 5-month-old Reed Nelson was pronounced dead at a Fargo hospital after being found unresponsive and not breathing at a local day care center in Carrington. According to court documents, a licensed social worker noted that Nelson had “clearly” suffered a traumatic head injury, and subsequently had a cardiac arrest episode with likely anoxic brain injury - an injury caused by a complete lack of oxygen to the brain. The tragic death alarmed the local community and prompted an...
The date and venue for the trial of Shannon Brandt, accused of murdering 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson in September last year, has officially been set. After being accused of purposely running over and killing Ellingson in the early morning hours of Sept. 18, Brandt pleaded not guilty to the two charges against him, including Felony AA murder, setting the stage for an eventual jury trial. Several weeks later, on Thursday, Dec. 29, the date of that jury trial was placed on the calendar. During a s...
