Archive
June 22nd, 2012
The finishing touches are being applied to the new North Valley Bridge on County Road 21 north of Valley City, and the days are numbered for the old bridge.
âThe (new) bridge itself is about complete,â said Barnes County Highway superintendent Kerry Johnson. âThey have some coating to put on the railing, abutments and piers and then remove the rest of the forms... I would say thereâs less than a weekâs worth of work on the actual bridge itself.â
June 21st
Valley City schoolsâ graduation rates and Adequate Yearly Progress have not met with the standards set forth by the âNo Child Left Behindâ Act for two years now, and the district is facing the first in a long line of consequences.
The consequences, called âProgram Improvement,â begin after students fail to meet the benchmarks in two years, and PIs increase for every year the school continues to fall short of the actâs requirements.
The public is invited to camp out, play games, eat food and rally against cancer at this yearâs Barnes County Relay for Life. The event will kick off Friday at 6 p.m. and will last through the night, ending at 6 a.m. Saturday.
Team developer Carol Grenz said that while itâs too late to coordinate a team, anybody is welcome to Relay at any time throughout the event.
Smokers savored their cigarettes inside the Labor Club on Tuesday after the bar decided to reverse its two-month-old ban on smoking.
The Club went smoke free on April 1, and since then bar owner Kerry Anderson said the Club took a 40 percent hit in sales.
âItâs all business,â Anderson said. âWe gave it a fair shot and it lasted for two months of the worst sales Iâve ever had in the history of my business here. It was worse than I ever expected to be. So all these people who tell you to go smoke free and business will pick up, itâs false in the bar business.â
June 20th
By
Jon Krawczynski (Associated Press)
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) â Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman says they have no interest in trading star receiver Percy Harvin.
Spielman spoke Wednesday afternoon a few hours after word spread that Harvin had requested a trade. Harvin lashed out Tuesday, saying he was unhappy with several issues on the team, but did not specify what was bothering him.
Harvin has two years left on his rookie contract. He was at the Vikings' mandatory minicamp practice Wednesday morning but did not speak to reporters.
With summerâs arrival, families turn to the age-old question: âWhat should we do for a summer vacation?â Well, there are the usual answers and then thereâs something that is fairly new to our vocabulary â staycations.
According to Websterâs Dictionary and Wikipedia, staycation is a newly coined term for a period in which an individual or family stays and relaxes at home, possibly taking day trips to area attractions. They became popular during our countryâs recent financial downturn as families sought inexpensive ideas for spending time together.
Valley City Area Chamber of Commerce and North Dakota Winter Show boards have decided to consolidate their staffs and name Winter Show Manager Dawn Riley executive vice president of the Chamber.
The two groups notified members of the agreement in an email message sent late Tuesday morning.
Tuesday Riley said she learned of the decision to consolidate Monday.
Terry Didier, owner of Didier's Ag Center in Sanborn, reported a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train blocking the exits in the city at 10:33 a.m. Tuesday, like he does almost every day when a train blocks off the city. Over an hour later, the Barnes County Commission decided to get tough with BNSF over the Sanborn situation after a scheduled discussion at a county commission meeting.
The county approved overtime for the Sheriff's Office to monitor the trains and cite the engineers who park longer than state law allows. The office will also look into video surveillance.
June 19th
Wondering what topic to write about this week, I found myself sitting around a campfire at a friendâs lake cabin Friday night. As the twelve of us visited and bounced from topic to topic, the mood was very laid back, as you would expect from a weekend at the cabin. And then one personâs name was brought up, causing the calm, laid back chatter to suddenly turn serious and defensive.
That name was LeBron James.
Valley City State University honored its Diamond Level, Regents Level and Legacy Society donors Monday in a recognition luncheon at Sabirâs Dining and Lounge.
About 50 people attended the luncheon and program presented by the VCSU Foundation.
Recognized at the Diamond Level, for $100,000 to $249,000 were Dacotah Bank, Robert and Jan Ingstad and Ralph and Carolyn Kolstoe.
