Archive - Aug 2012 - News Article
August 14th
Thirty local people volunteered their time to help gather the 13,452 signatures required state-wide to put an initiated measure on the general election ballot in November. Valley City petitioners collected almost 700 of the more than 21,000 signatures that were sent to Secretary of State Al Jaegerâs office for approval on August 2.
âThatâs seven or eight thousand signatures more than required collected in just six weeks; this spread just like a prairie fire,â Vicki Voldal Rosenau, tobacco coordinator for City-County Health District and supporter of the measure said.
Valley Cityâs Monday and Thursday Farmers Market will feature free samples of grilled vegetables on Thursday, Aug. 23 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Pamida parking lot.
Dr. James Buhr, physician at Sanford Health in Valley City and Jerdan Ruff, a UND medical student working with Buhr will be the guest chefs.
Samples will include grilled zucchini squash, onions and peppers. In addition to the vegetables, there will be free samples of locally grown beef prepared in a crock pot and served on whole wheat buns prepared by members of the Farmers Market.
August 13th
The final evening of music at the courthouse is on Wednesday, August 15 at 7:15 p.m. featuring Stoney Run, a bluegrass band from SE North Dakota. Come early to enjoy ice cream floats provided by the Bridges Arts Council.
Stoney Run has been performing for four years in the region.
 Performances have included the Band Shell Concert Series in Valley City, the Fort Ransom Bluegrass Festival, and the Missouri River Bluegrass Festival at Cross Ranch State Park.  Two selections from the group are included on the 2011 Bluegrass Association of North Dakotaâs B.A.N.D. Sampler recording.Â
A proposal to route some Stump Lake water into a gravity-flow outlet into the Tolna coulee and onto the Sheyenne River may be shelved as a result of rising cost estimates for the structure.
Valley City Mayor Bob Werkhoven said Friday, âWeâre very pleased with the (boardâs) decision. We are happy that happened.â
Werkhoven said a gravity-flow outlet from Stump Lake into the coulee âwould have increased sulfates into the water and we (Valley City) would have to spend more at the water plant to remove them.â
Travelers looking for a low-cost way to get to a major airport hub can now fly out of Fargoâs Hector International Airport through Frontier Airlines.
Frontier Airlines will resume nonstop service between its Denver, Colo. hub and Fargo, with three weekly nonstop flights beginning Nov. 16.
The Denver-based discount airline will operate on spacious 138-seat Airbus 319 aircraft, which will reduce the flight time and offer more customer amenities, including 30 channels of DirecTV service available at every seat.
August 10th
They appear. When they do they donât yet have names. I donât conjure them up and never do I expect them. Like I said-they just appear out of nowhere.
Nowhere sounds like a lonely place. Just saying the word makes me feel lost and alone. Try it. You say it. âNowhere.â How did that make you feel? This past week I was going nowhere and I was going there fast.
That husband and I didnât really have any plans. We were chomping at the bit to do something but we didnât know where to do it let alone what to do. Doing nothing nowhere is a double negative and we were on our way to both.
Employees and volunteers at the Valley City National Fish Hatchery were busy Wednesday stocking a recreational fishing pond for youth with breeder black crappies, readying the fishing hole for use.
Noah Kvilang, 15, a student at Valley City High School, was dipping nets full of the young adult fish out of a tank on a trailer towed by a pickup truck and emptying them into the pond.
Kvilang said he helped out earlier this summer in the Youth Conservation Corps, and decided to continue helping as a volunteer.
Barnes County Deputy Auditor Julie Mindt was selected Tuesday by the Barnes County Commission to temporarily fill the role of resigning County Auditor Ed McGough. McGough officially vacated his seat on Wednesday.
The former auditor missed most of 2011 due to ongoing health problems, which he cited as his reason for leaving now.
Mindt said she doesnât know how long sheâll be interim auditor.
âIâm hoping for a lot of support,â she said Thursday.
August 9th
Lila Bemis doesnât remember exactly when she started working weekends at the Rosebud Visitors Center, but she does know her time there is enjoyable.
Bemis, who is a retired tax accountant, works at the Rosebud every Saturday, Sunday and summer holiday, single-handedly keeping operations running when other employees arenât there.
Wednesday, Dawn Riley, executive vice president for the Valley City Chamber of Commerce, presented Bemis with the Chamberâs monthly customer service award.
An overhaul of the 911 system in Barnes County inched forward on Tuesday as the Barnes County Commission voted 3-2 on a multi-faceted measure to proceed.
âMost of this stuff we would have done regardless of which route we go,â said Commissioner Eldred Knutson.
A year ago the county commission voted to remain the governing board for 911 services and established an advisory committee with city commission and emergency service representatives to over see finances and other operations.
