Burned prairie is all that surrounds this flagpole after a U.S. Forest Service prescribed burn went wrong, scorching more than 14,000 acres since Wednesday. The rubble was once Castle Butte Country School House. It burnt down in the blaze. (Submitted Photo)
Ranchers south of Hettinger and Lemmon, S.D., are wondering what they’re supposed to do for grazing lands after what was intended to be a prescribed burn in the Grand River National Grasslands got out of control.
The fire scorched more than 14,000 acres of federal and private land over 22 square miles Wednesday and Thursday in Perkins County in northwest South Dakota.
The U.S. Forest Service said it was intending to burn 130 acres of dead crested wheatgrass when the fire broke containment areas and spread throughout the national grasslands and privately owned lands because of dry and windy conditions.
The sign for Wildcat Pizzeria is shown in the North Park Plaza in west Dickinson. The pizzeria is located upstairs and will be accessible off State Avenue. (Press Photo by Katherine Grandstrand)
I got a first look inside the new Wildcat Pizzeria on March 20 thanks to owner Russell Meads.
What I got out of my impromptu tour after stopping by on my way home for lunch was that the New York-style pizzeria has the potential of being one of the coolest places in Dickinson when it opens April 12 (or sometime around there, Meads said).
One of the most interesting things Wildcat brings is, as Meads told me, is the pizzeria’s “great ingredients.” Great and interesting is more like it. You’ll be able to build your own pizza with corn, eggplant, many kinds of peppers and different tomatoes.
From all accounts, Meads’ Wildcat location in Williston has been a hit so they must be doing something right.
A native of Cape Cod, Mass., Meads’ restaurant also features New England clam chowder – the East Coast style, not my hometown’s style – Stromboli, nachos and boneless wings.
But, what the people of Dickinson will like most is the full-service bar that includes a patio area in the summer months.
The inside of Wildcat Pizzeria is seen March 20 while the restaurant was still under construction. (Press Photo by Dustin Monke)
Wildcat Pizzeria also happens to be in the North Park Plaza on the corner of 15th Street West and State Avenue. It’s an area where home building is booming, meaning it should do well in the long term. While it serves pay-by-the-ounce frozen yogurt, it will benefit from having Cherry Berry located in the same building.
I love pizza. Most of us do. And, honestly, Dickinson could use another sit-down pizza place now that Happy Joes is officially gone. Hopefully Wildcat will be able to fill that void.
Dustin Monke 