Around the State: April 17, 2023

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.

Crime thriller “End of the Rope” movie premiere

“End of the Rope” is a crime thriller set in McKenzie County, N.D., in 1931. Based on the infamous Charles Bannon case, it tells the story of a town that rises up to take justice into its own hands when a family mysteriously disappears from the town of Schafer, N.D.

The film is based on the history book “End of the Rope” written by the late Dennis Edward Johnson.

“End of the Rope” was shot on location in Burleigh and McKenzie County, N.D., in August of 2021 and was produced by local production companies Canticle Productions and DN Cinematics in collaboration with Minneapolis director Charlie Griak.

“‘End of the Rope’ was a massive production to put together,” said producer Daniel Bielinski.

“We had a cast of hundreds, we rebuilt the town of Schafer in the middle of a Watford alfalfa field, we had more than thirty pre-1931 automobiles in the movie. The list goes on. That such an ambitious film was possible is a testament to the tremendous amount of support that poured out in the past couple years, especially from McKenzie County.

Several students from the University of Mary and NDSU served in various roles both on and off-screen.

The film is set to premiere this month.

(Story taken from the McKenzie County Farmer)

Gramkow facing life in prison

The 38-year-old Beulah man charged with killing a stranger at a local bar recently could spend the rest of his life in prison if found guilty.

Shawn Gramkow was arrested in Beulah on March 30 following a reported bar fight that left one man dead and another injured. Gramkow faces a total of five charges, including a Class AA Felony Murder charge for the death of 23-year-old Phillip Luster of Florida.

If found guilty, Gramkow, who has no prior criminal history, faces life in prison.

Gramkow as taken into custody shortly after 11 p.m. on March 30, just minutes after the Beulah Police Department received a 911 call in which gunshots could be heard in the background.

Officers responding to the source of the call, Fanatics Sports Bar in North Beulah, found an unresponsive male, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The man, confirmed to be Phillip Luster of Florida, was reportedly shot four times --in the thigh, crotch, cheek and the back of the head.

Another man had reportedly been shot three times and was taken to Bismarck for medical treatment.

According to the affidavit, surveillance footage from the establishment shows Gramkow sitting near Luster at the bar, with the second man in the incident seated further away. The three men can reportedly be observed talking before Luster gets up and walks toward the exit.

In a statement to authorities, Gramkow said he had jokingly used a racial slur that had upset the pair of men.

At this time, the other man approached Gramkow and head-butted him, after which Luster returned to the area and joined in the fighting.

Gramkow is seen removing a gun from his waistband and fired several shots. Luster and Gramkow fought on the ground over the gun before Gramkow regained control and admittedly reinserted the magazine that had been ejected during the scuffle.

Gramkow then appeared to fire the gun once into the back of Luster’s head and twice at the unidentified man.

An initial hearing for Gramkow has been set for April 26.

(Story by Alyssa Meier, the Hazen Star)

Unequal border hours make ‘no sense’

The Canadian government recently announced the hours of operation at ports of entry (POE) into Canada would return to pre-pandemic status, effective March 31.

The resumption means Canadian ports of entry at Estevan Highway near Noonan, Torquay north of Ambrose, and Oungre, north of Fortuna, will observe operating hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. until early November.

From November until mid March, Canadian POEs will operate from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Their American counterparts however, continue to allow access into the U.S. only until 5 p.m. local time.

Maureen Mantei, who lives in Estevan, crosses the border three days a week to work at the Hair Loft in Crosby. While she’s glad she’ll no longer have to drive back into Canada through the port at Portal, she said continuing restrictions at U.S. ports of entry “makes no sense,” and is, in her mind, a ploy by U.S. authorities to save money.

In a statement to The Journal, Hoeven said he’ll continue pushing for a resumption of pre-pandemic hours.

“Just this week, I helped pass a resolution to terminate the COVID-19 national emergency. With the country moving past the pandemic, it is time to eliminate the kind of burdensome mandates that have constrained travel across the northern border.”

(Story by Brad Nygaard, the Journal, Crosby)

City will investigate unexpected death of officer

An investigation is underway after the death of a Rolla Police Officer.

The City of Rolla did not release the name of the officer, but did say the death was a result of injuries sustained while off duty.

The city will release the name of the officer once all notifications and investigations have been completed. Several social media tributes were made on behalf of Levi LaFountain, who was hired by the city of Rolla earlier this year. He graduated from Turtle Mountain High School in 2019.

(Story by John Rosinski, the Turtle Mountain Star)

Hunting for rights

The Turtle Mountain Tribe is pursing an expansion of its hunting and fishing rights beyond the reservations current borders.

Earlier this winter, the Tribal Council unanimously passed a resolution to review and possibly adopt the use of a code currently used by the Red Lake Band of Chippewa to hunt and fish outside of its border, which was accorded by an 1863 treaty agreement with the U.S. Government.

Such a move would open up a wide swath of land including all of the Red River Valley north of the Sheyenne River. The total land area, roughly 127 miles wide east to west and 188 miles north to south, consists of nearly 11,000,000 acres.

(Story by Jason Nordmark, the Turtle Mountain Star)