The Official Newspaper for Foster County
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.
Foreign Minister of Iceland to visit Pembina
The Icelandic Communities Association is honored to announce that Iceland Minister for Foreign Affairs, Her Excellency Thórdí s Kolbrún Reykförd Gylfadóttir, will attend the 123rd annual Deuce of August Icelandic Celebration in Mountain on Saturday, July 30. She will be the keynote speaker at the Heritage Program at 2 p.m. in the Mountain Community Center and will be featured in the Saturday morning parade at 10:30 a.m.
Minister Gylfadóttir took office as Minister for Foreign Affairs on November 28, 2021. The office is the equivalent of the Secretary of State of the United States. She has been a member of the Icelandic Parliament since 2016 as a member of the Independence Party.
The Deuce of August Icelandic celebration has been certified by the North Dakota Tourism Department as the longest running ethnic festival in North Dakota and is the largest Icelandic ethnic event in the United States.
Pembina County has one of the largest ethnic Icelandic populations in the country. The event runs from Friday, July 29 through Sunday, July 31. For more information on the event visit http://thedeuce.org/ or on Facebook @August the Deuce.
(Story taken from the Cavalier Chronicle)
Highland Park shooting victim has ties to Crosby
A woman with ties to Crosby was among the victims of a mass shooting on the Fourth of July in Highland Park, Illinois.
Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63, is the niece of Marlys (Tysse) Haakedahl and her late husband, Bruce, Members of the extended Haakedahl clan are gathering in Crosby for a memorial service for Bruce on July 18.
When she learned of Jacki’s death, said Marlys, “That was really a shocker.”
Jacki was married to Bruce Sundheim - named for his uncle - and the couple planned to make the trek to North Dakota for the service, and also to see the threshing show Marlys’ family has been so instrumental in running for decades.
Both Bruce and his brother Brian and their wives were planning to come to Crosby for the service. First Brian had a conflict and had to cancel, then tragedy struck when Jacki was killed while attending a Fourth of July parade.
(Story by Cecile Wehrman, the Journal, Crosby)
College receives bomb threat
Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) received a bomb threat last week which brought law enforcement and first responders to the college’s campus to assist in the threat. Not only did DCB receive a bomb threat, but so did three other colleges in the state, adding to the mystery of what took place on Friday morning.
According to Jerry Migler, Ph.D., dean of Dakota College at Bottineau, a bomb threat was sent to Dakota College, Bismarck State, Dickinson State and Lake Region State.
Steve Watson, sheriff of the Bottineau County Sheriff’s Department, said the message came to Dakota College shortly after 11 a.m. and stated that there was a blue backpack with a bomb in it that was placed in the Arntzen building, and that the bomb would go off in a hour and 10 minutes.
The sheriff’s department along with BCI, Border Patrol, Bottineau Fire Department and Bottineau Ambulance were called to the scene.
During the bomb threat, DCB’s staff and students were removed from the campus, along with Sodexo dining staff on the campus. No bomb was found on campus.
The incident is under investigation. A bomb threat is a Class C felony with a penalty of five-years in prison and a $5,000 fine or both.
(Story by Scott Wagar, the Bottineau Courant)
Emotional support animal declared nuisance
Fessenden City Council broke from its regular session on July 5, to meet in a 45-minute closed executive session in response to a human rights issue concerning a pet donkey in Fessenden and whether the donkey should be deemed a public nuisance.
A family in Fessenden has a pet donkey as an emotional support animal for one of their children. At the June city council meeting, several residents complained to the council about the noise of the animal’s braying and concerns about adequate care given to the donkey.
Fessenden Mayor Cheryl Overbeck said that the family had filed a complaint of discrimination against the city with the North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights. To address the concerns brought to the council, Overbeck said, “At this point, we have the option of declaring the donkey as a public nuisance. The sheriff’s department would then inform the family of that determination, and the family would have 30 days to remove the donkey from the city limits. If they don’t remove it, after 30 days, the sheriff would impound it and allow the family to do something with the donkey.
As for the health and care of the donkey, Sheriff Kluth said, “When we’ve had a complaint, we drive by and check it out. The animal looks healthy, and we don’t see any neglect issues,”
A motion was passed to declare the animal a public nuisance.
(Story by Anne Ehni, the Herald-Press, Harvey)
N.D. woman being considered for sainthood
Bishop David D. Kagan of Bismarck announced June 16 the diocese will open an investigation into the “holiness of life and love for God” of North Dakota native Michelle Christine Duppong, who died of cancer on December 25, 2015. She was 31.
At the time of her death, Duppong was the director of adult faith formation for the Diocese of Bismarck. Before that, she was a missionary for six years with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, or FOCUS.
She mentored hundreds of students on college campuses and her final assignment with FOCUS was on its inaugural team at the university of Mary in Bismarck.
The diocesan investigation into her life could lead to her beatification and cannonization and she would be the first North Dakotan to receive this honor.
Duppong grew up in Haymarsh, North Dakota, and earned a degree in horticulture at North Dakota State University in 2006. While there she encountered FOCUS and the Catholic apostolate inspired her to serve as a FOCUS missionary.
(Story taken from the Turtle Mountain Star)