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.
Linton moves to standards-based grading
For parents of elementary students, numbers are replacing the traditional A-F letter grades on student report cards, a practice associated with standards-based grading.
For some districts, such as the Bismarck Public School system, this switch occurred nearly two decades ago, and though they may have been among the first in the state, many other schools have since followed suit. Even smaller, rural schools, such as Napoleon and LaMoure, have also made the switch in recent years. Now, Linton Public Schools is joining the league of North Dakota schools practicing standards-based grading.
Standards-based grading assesses students’ proficiency in required state standards by placing their learning progression on a scale toward mastery. Unlike traditional grading, where a student typically receives one summative letter grade for all of the required skills and content for a class, standards-based grading looks to tease out students’ learning along each of the many skills they are required to master.
(Story by Sarah Lawler, the Emmons County Record)
Turtle Mountain Catholics travel to see Pope
A group of Turtle Mountain residents traveled to Canada recently to see and hear Pope Francis during the Holy Father’s recent visit aimed at listening and talking with Indigenous Peoples.
Father Michael Slovak of St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Belcourt initiated the trip.
“Our desire to travel to Canada was an act of solidarity with the Pope and his message as he apologized and reached out to the Native People in sorrow, recognizing that this was a sad event in the history of the relationship between the Church and the Native People,” Father Slovak said.
The mission was related to the impact of colonization and the participation of the Catholic Church in the operation of residential schools throughout Canada.
(Story by Jason Nordmark, the Turtle Mountain Star)
Hiring is a struggle everywhere
Lynn Jacobson has seen both sides of Crosby’s workforce shortage - both as the business manager of a local supper club, and as a customer looking for goods when downtown stores are closed.
He’s pulled myriad shifts at the Bypass Restaurant & Lounge in recent years when the place was short-staffed, and he’s visited the local dollar store when there was nary a worker in sight.
“I scanned my stuff and out the door I went,” he laughed.
The store is generally staffed with two people per shift, but on one recent week, according to those visiting the store, there was only one employee working.
According to figures from Job Service ND, Divide County has not bounced back in labor force the way some other areas of the state have, following the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Story by Cecile Wehrman, the Journal, Crosby)
Marynik’s Shrine celebrated
More than 50 people gathered on Sunday, July 31, for a rededication of Frank Marynik’s Shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary near the confluence of the Marais and Red rivers.
Some 100 years ago Marynik experienced prayerful visions near this location and had a group of neighbors erect a shrine.
As the story goes, on November 14, 1922, he was working near the site when his father and the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him. His father told him to erect a wooden cross at the site. Once the cross was built he was to get a priest and bless the adorned cross as well as the four directions on the Earth, so that people would turn back to God.
Later appeared Mary the “Mother of God.” In her right hand she held Jesus, and in his left hand Jesus held the entire world.
His right hand was held upright with two fingers upright. Together these were considered a blessing.
Warsaw/Minto priest Rev. Brian Moen reenacted the blessing on July 31, first blessing the cross and later the directions.
(Story by Todd Morgan, the Walsh County Record)
Commission approves $18 million for daycare
After years of much discussion and consideration, the decision to bring a second daycare to McKenzie County has finally come to fruition. During its August 2 meeting, the McKenzie County Commissioners approved $18 million for the construction of a second Wolf Pup Daycare facility in Watford City.
“We get calls every day, every single day,” said Tessa Moberg, director of Wolf Pup Daycare of parents calling looking for daycare for their children.
There’s no denying that there is a need for a new daycare in the county.
The project is now scheduled for completion by 2024. In the meantime, there will be the temporary accommodation of modular buildings that will open in the spring of 2023 as an alternative for children needing daycare.
According to Kathy Scarda, Commission Chairman, spending $18 million in county funds for a new daycare is a good investment.
(Story by Ashleigh Plemper, the McKenzie County Farmer)
Churchs Ferry to be dissolved
After 139 years, Churchs Ferry will be dissolved.
On June 14, residents of Churchs Ferry voted 5-1 to dissolve the town. It means the tiny community — located northwest of Devils Lake — will no longer be recognized as an incorporated city, effective September 1, ending a 139 year run.
The town, founded in 1883, fell victim to the rising waters of the Devils Lake basin in the 1990s. Most of the land in the town was bought by the Federal Emergency Management Association, and houses were torn down or moved. With a shrinking number of residents and very little tax revenue, the town’s money has slowly been spent.
Churchs Ferry is named for Irvine Church, one of the first settlers there in the 1880s. Church started a ferry service on the Mauvais Coulee, which runs past the town. At its peak in 1910, the town had a population of 457.
The final high school class at Churchs Ferry graduated in 1988. There was only one graduate.
(Story by Ingrid Harbo, the Grand Forks Herald, taken from the Benson County Farmers Press)