Around the State: June 12, 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.

Tribe secures funding for demo of San Haven

The Turtle Mountain Tribe received its largest grant to date aimed at cleaning up the former San Haven site just north of Dunseith.

“It was the most competitive one, too,” said Ray Reed, who serves as the Brownfields Coordinator for the tribe.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will provide the tribe with $1 million, which is funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The EPA funds will be used to clean up the main hospital, which is the largest structure located among the 19 buildings left on the 14 acre main campus. The entire property, which the tribe obtained in 1992, consists of 600 acres.

(Story by Jason Nordmark, the Turtle Mountain Star)

Quick thinking, fast action saves life

Quick thinking potentially saved a life and turned an ordinary afternoon into a memorable one recently for a resident from Dunseith.

Peggy Houle was home during the afternoon hours of May 26 going about what was a regular Friday, including spending time with her grandchildren. Then, in almost an instant, everything suddenly changed.

“My grandchild said someone was here and as soon as I opened the door, I could tell something was very wrong,” Houle said.

When Houle opened the door, she was met by someone frantically asking if she had any Narcan, a drug used in the event of an overdose. Houle said she became certified in administering Narcan only three months ago. While she didn’t expect to turn her training into a real-life exercise so quickly, Houle described how the events unfolded.

“I just felt like I had to go into rush mode and do what I was trained to do. My training really took over. I knew right away one dose wouldn’t do it, so I gave a second one and then waited a couple minutes. After the second one, I waited, but then had to give a third one, and then she started to open her eyes and come around a little bit.”

Houle said the individual she was helping was overdosing from fentanyl. “After the third dose she started to come around and wanted to run. I knew I needed to have the area cleared out because if they come around, they might start kicking or screaming.”

An ambulance crew from Belcourt was on the scene within 20 minutes. Together they administered a fourth dose and were able to transport the individual to a local hospital for further evaluation.

“In my experience, if Peggy did not act, the person overdosing would have died,” Dunseith Police Chief Robert Hulett said.

(Story by John Rosinski, the Turtle Mountain Star)

Longest active serving sheriff

Steele County Sheriff Wayne Beckman recently was presented with the Dean of Sheriffs Clock, recognizing him as the longest active serving sheriff in North Dakota. The honor is bestowed by the North Dakota Sheriffs and Deputies Association.

(Story taken from the Traill County Tribune)

Basin Electric investing in power grid

Basin Electric Power Cooperative is laying the groundwork to spend nearly $700 million upgrading electric transmission infrastructure across western North Dakota, including a pair of transmission lines from Ray and Tioga to the Canadian border.

The 230 kilovolt transmission lines, one originating at the Tande substation near Tioga and a second originating at a planned Wheelock substation, both running to the Canadian border, will be the subject of upcoming public meetings.

The goal, according to Lindsey Chumley, Basin Electric’s communications manager, is to significantly increase the electric transfer capacity between the United States and Canada while resolving transmission deficiencies in western North Dakota’s grid to ensure future reliability.

(Story by Jacob Orledge, the Tioga Tribune)

Body found on Spirit Lake

Authorities have reported that the body of an unidentified male decedent was found May 21 on the shoreline of Devils Lake on the Spirit Lake Reservation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Indian Affairs are investigating. No other information was available at press time.

(Story taken from the Benson County Farmers Press)

Energy officials call for action on natural gas

North Dakota could be a major player in increased natural gas exports if the obstacles were removed. That is the position of Lynn Helms, Director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.

Helms said there are two main issues affecting potential exports: the lack of export terminals and the unwillingness of the federal government to allow for the oil drilling that produces natural gas.

Regarding export terminals, Helms said, “We’ve got over a hundred-year supply of natural gas in this country. Our problem is we can’t build export terminals. The federal government and the coastal states just don’t want anything to do with it. Every export terminal that has been proposed off the shores of California, Oregon, and Washington has been turned down by the state and local authorities. So we don’t have access to the Pacific.”

He said the East Coast outlook isn’t much better. “I think there’s only one proposal out of the Northeast, which is not nearly enough to handle all this excess gas. So all of our export terminals that are being capitalized and built are in the Gulf of Mexico, which means all natural gas has to somehow flow south to get on the water.”

Ron Ness, President of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, in an interview with The Farmer said the potential for revenue is massive if North Dakota producers can get their product to the coasts.

(Story by Steve Hallstrom, the McKenzie County Farmer)

Citizens petition to get city’s financials audited

The North Dakota State Auditor’s office has received a request for a petition audit, the latest saga involving the city of Rolla’s financial records.

According to Emily Dalzell, communications director at the state Auditor’s office, a request for an audit was received near the end of last month. Dalzell said the lead petitioner of the audit has six months to collect 35 percent of qualified elector signatures. If enough signatures are collected, the auditor’s office will verify the names and then conduct an audit.

“The state auditor’s office would conduct the audit and meet with the chief petitioner to find out what their concerns are and once those are identified we are able to develop the scope of the audit,” said Dalzell.

(Story by John Rosinski, the Turtle Mountain Star)