Todd Morgan

COUNTY—The Walsh County Commission approved Bid Package No. 1 for the new 46-bed $23.6 million jail at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting. The vote which was hardly unanimous but predictable with the majority of commissioners accepting Bid Package No. 1 that came in at $4.465 million on a motion by Kristi Brintnell seconded by Denny Skorheim. Paul Houdek and Amy Suda […]

COUNTY—Corn, wheat and sugar beets are largely done being planted in the valley portion of Walsh County, western Walsh County, however, in a lot of cases is just getting going. The frost was slow coming out of the ground this spring under the best of conditions. Out in western Walsh County on the drift prairie and in the prairie pothole […]

Ball Diamond Boosters Association (BDBA) received permission from the park board last Wednesday, May 13, to apply for a grant to provide shade shelters at park district facilities where baseball/softball are played. Jesse Forster, representing the BDBA, informed the board the grant is through the American Academy of Dermatology and they will need an accredited dermatologist to sign off on […]

GRND FORKS— Fordville rancher Travis Bell, 45, was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 14 years suspended on Tuesday in Northeast Central District Court by Judge Theodore Sandberg. He will serve six years in the North Dakota State Penitentiary for the killing of six-year-old Katarina Louthain on June 3 of 2024 and seriously injuring her mother, the driver of […]

COUNTY—Walsh County Highway Superintendent Jason Johnston briefed the commission on a number of projects from bridge inspections to the Minto Bridge agreement during the commission latest meeting held May 19. Johnston reviewed the North Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT) bridge inspection invoice from work completed on 21 bridges dating back to September of last years. The county’s portion of the […]

GRAFTON—Not many high school singers get a chance to perform on stage at the Medora Musical. Emily Kerian of Grafton will get that chance June 6, as she prepares for her senior year of schooling. Kerian earned her chance to sing at one of Medora’s premier Summer Showcase nights. She gets to perform the opening number for the kick off […]

Thomas Paul Van Ness, 31, of Lawton, was looking at a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison for three Class C felony charges dealing with corruption of a minor, sexual assault and endangerment of a child or vulnerable adult. On March 21 in District Court with Judge Kari Agotness presiding he was sentenced to 89 days of electronic home […]

GRAFTON—Grafton residents, those who specifically pay their monthly utility payments with a credit card, could see some changes in how they are billed. During Monday’s Public Utilities Committee (PUC) meeting council member Brad Burianek suggested a different payment proposal. “We give a 10 percent discount if residents pay before the 15th of the month,” he said. “That discount we offer […]

A pair of Pisek residents ran afoul of the law while attending First Care Health Center (FCHC) in Park River last week. Both Alex Joseph Hill, 22, and Lillian Bertrand, 20, were charged May 26 with child abuse, a Class C felony and taken into custody as a result of events that took place at FCHC in Park River. A […]

COUNTY—Although it was the first month of a new summer season, it was a lot of the same old issues getting bantered about at Tuesday’s Walsh County Commission meeting. Heading the list of repetitive issues was the proposed $23.6 million, 46-bed Walsh County Jail, followed by Carnegie Regional Library in Grafton – it’s county funding to be voted on in […]