It wasn’t that long ago…

Neil O. Nelson

when a person walking down Main Street carrying a newspaper under his arm was commonplace.

You would think nothing of it if you sat next to a person on a park bench, café or barstool who was reading a newspaper.

You might even ask if he was “finished with the sports section?”

After all, you just wanted to check the American League Central standings. Or, who the Twins planned to pitch that night?

Storeowners, barbers and bartenders always had a paper within reach.

Every home had a paper delivered daily.

Most still do, I want to believe.  

A run of bad luck.

My youngest son recently faced his first experience with “Murphy’s Law” — Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
He couldn’t suffer through it alone — he invited his whole family along for the ride.
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon when he belatedly suggested a “quick trip” to Fargo to meet his out-of-town girlfriend at the mall. Of course, his lack of planning meant the mall was set to close in minutes. After some verbal sparring with his parents, he managed to negotiate a deal. He’d meet his friends for a quick supper.
He drove off in his shared mode of transportation a 1991 Buick LeSabre, road weary but fairly dependable with 185,000 miles. Thirty-two miles down the interstate, the first bit of bad luck hit. He managed to ford the waters at Harwood and reach dry land — but just barely. His driver’s side tire went flat in an instant with a  loud flop-flop-flop. He was in the midst of passing another car but skillfully maneuvered back to the right side shoulder. Safely out of the flow of traffic, he surveyed his situation — then he called Dad. 

Bernard Nugent

Bernard “Bernie” Nugent, 84, Detroit Lakes, Minn. died Monday, December 15, 2008 from injuries suffered in an automobile accident.
David-Donhower Funeral Home of Detroit Lakes is in charge of arrangements.

Omar Moen

Omar S. Moen, 84, Mayville, N.D.  died Thursday, April 16, 2009 at MeritCare Hospital in Fargo, N.D.
Funeral services were Monday, April 20 at Mayville Lutheran Church. Burial was in Mayville Cemetery.
Baker Funeral Home of Mayville was in charge of the arrangements.

Florence E. Lovas

Florence E. Lovas, 90, Hillsboro, N.D., died Thursday, April 16, 2009 at Hillsboro Medical Center Nursing Home under the care of her family and hospice.
Funeral services were Tuesday, April 21 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Hillsboro. Burial was in Riverside Cemetery, Hillsboro.
Wildeman Funeral Home of Hillsboro was in charge of arrangements.

Erle Abentroth

Erle R. Abentroth, 91, Hillsboro, N.D., died Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at the Hillsboro Medical Center Nursing Home under the care of his family and hospice.
Funeral services will be Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m. at Hillsboro United Parish. Burial will be in Caledonia Cemetery.
Wildeman Funeral Home of Hillsboro is in charge of arrangements.

COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Dispatchers Dorothea Tufte, Kim Folstrom, Stacy Ernst and Kathy Hansen are part of a six-member team that mans the communications center 24-7.

By NEIL O. NELSON

The late afternoon 911 call, not unlike others arriving at the Traill County Sheriff’s Department dispatch center during a winter blizzard, requested assistance.

But Tuesday, March 10 proved to be like no other day on the job for dispatchers Kim Folstrom and Stacy Ernst.

Told two young women were stranded on I-29 somewhere north of Hillsboro, Kim Folstrom dispatched sheriff Mike Crocker and Hillsboro police officer Laverne Aventi.

The unexpected blizzard of calls on that stormy day in the Red River Valley started when the two girls called back, asserting that their vehicle had been hit by a truck.

There was panic in their voices.

Folstrom contacted North Dakota Highway Patrolman Tracy Buzick, explaining the developing situation eight miles north of Hillsboro. Buzick indicated he was en route.

The next two calls fielded by Folstrom were from the semi-truck driver, who hit the South Dakota car “stuck” on the interstate and who was staying at the scene, and the girls again: “Where’s the help you were sending?”

They’re on their way. Stay calm, stay in your car.

Kim Folstrom will never forget the next call. 

Disaster assistance available to state residents hit by flood

Residents of Traill and 25 other North Dakota counties can use a toll-free telephone number and on-line registration to apply for disaster assistance from damage caused by the recent severe storms and flooding.

Traill County has been included in the emergency protective measure declaration signed on March 24 by President Barack Obama.

The Individual Assistance program includes a wide range of aid, including emergency home repair, temporary disaster housing, replacement grants for serious disaster-related needs and expenses not covered by insurance or assistance programs.

FEMA disaster assistance covers basic needs only and will not normally compensate eligible applicants for entire losses. For those needs, the government may help pay for basic needs not covered by insurance companies. 

School to buy ‘instant alert’ system

By MICHELLE MCLEAN

Hillsboro schools will adopt a high-tech “announcement” system next school year.

School board members approved spending about $1,100 to implement an “Instant Alert” system to notify students, staff and parents through phone and email messages.

The most obvious use for the system would  be to alert the public to school closures such as storm days, supt. Mike Bitz explained. Other potential uses include messages that notify parents of early dismissals or changes to scheduled activities.

Elementary principal Paula Pederson said the emergency dismissal March 31 prompted an angry response from one parent who was unaware his child would be sent home early. 

Neil O. Nelson

Not surprisingly, the decision to come home 10 years ago was not a difficult one to make.

I needed a full-time job and returning to the newspaper industry after a brief hiatus away from the weekly grind was what I needed to do. Doors outside newspapers, I discovered, weren’t exactly opening.

And where better to start up again than my hometown?  And where my first job in the newspaper industry was at the Banner way back in the early 1960s.

I had last stepped foot in the Banner when it was located across the street on the corner of Caledonia and 1st St SW, where

Dakota Heritage Bank now stands. We’re talking more than a few years, something like 35 years ago, if not longer.