News – Page 21 – Dustin Monke

The keeping of the beekeepers: ND wants to keep a better eye on the industry

Doug Goehring, the agriculture commissioner of North Dakota, said there are concerns about the business of bees in the state. So much so that he has fielded late-night phone calls from landowners concerned about the placement of hives.

“‘Doug, I just want to let you know I’ve got bees right across from me,’” Goehring recalls one McKenzie farmer telling him over the phone at 10:30 p.m. on a recent Saturday.

Placement of beehives and the regulation of out-of-state beekeepers in North Dakota are among the concerns Goehring believes will have farmers, landowners and beekeepers buzzing at the first North Dakota Pollinator Summit, which is being held at 1 p.m. CDT today at the Kelly Inn in Bismarck.

“I think that the beekeepers are going to think I’m taking a shot at them. I’m not,” Goehring said. “I’m trying to address this issue because they are guests here.”

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Spirit Lifeline helicopter takes off

It is becoming easier for emergency personnel to reach western North Dakota residents in need of medical help — even those who may think they’re out of reach.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Wednesday at the Biesiot Activities Center for the Spirit Lifeline air medical helicopter, the first of its kind in Dickinson.

Spirit Lifeline is based on the grounds of the new St. Joseph’s Hospital and Health Center, which is under construction in west Dickinson. Though the hospital won’t be fully operation until the fall of 2014, the helicopter and its crew are already going strong.

They have been operating since June 1 and have made 18 flights for medical transport, pilot Robert Fratti said.

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Sweet and “Sunny’ summer: Joe Nichols headlines Roughrider Days concert

Every day this summer has seemed sunny and 75 for Grammy-nominated country star Joe Nichols.

He has one of the top songs of the summer, recently got to spend some time on tour with his wife and two daughters, is with a new and burgeoning record label that specializes in country music, and has a new album dropping this fall.

The singer with such No. 1 singles as “Brokenheartsville,” “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off” and “Gimme That Girl” will be in Dickinson on Wednesday as the headliner of the Roughrider Days Fair & Expo concert that begins at 8 p.m. with Restless Heart opening for Nichols.

“Honestly, things have been going pretty great for me lately,” Nichols said. “I can’t complain about anything.”

Nichols’ single “Sunny and 75” hasn’t reached the top of the charts but it has held steady with strong radio airplay and has a five-star rating on iTunes, where it is his second-best selling single behind his catchy 2005 hit “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.”

“It’s a made-for-summer type of song,” Nichols said via a phone interview while in Oshkosh, Wis. “Hopefully the song is not only connecting this summer but for summers in the future and it’s played throughout every summer.

“It’s the kind of song you love bringing to radio. It’s a tempo thing for the summertime. We need songs like this on the radio. The track feels great, it’s well written. The vocals are beyond what I’ve done before.”

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Families recognized by Medal of Honor recipient at Patriot Guard memorial

Staff Sgt. Clint Romesha ended his speech Saturday afternoon at the seventh annual Patriot Guard Fallen Heroes Memorial and Honor Ride with words that spoke to the heart of everyone in attendance at the Dickinson Recreation Center.

“There’s an old saying that those who stay home serve also,” said Romesha, a U.S. Army veteran and the nation’s most recent Medal of Honor recipient, before receiving a standing ovation.

Romesha, a California native who now calls Minot home, was the guest of honor at the memorial that paid tribute to the families of four North Dakota soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Farm accident claims the life of 19-year-old Mott man

A 19-year-old Mott man beloved by the community he grew up in died Monday while doing what he loved, family and friends said.

Mike Wehri was attempting to spray a field for an area farmer he worked for when the machine he was driving “hit something electrical,” Hettinger County Sheriff Sarah Warner said.

Wehri was a 2012 Mott-Regent High School graduate and recently completed his freshman year at North Dakota State University, where he was majoring in agronomy.
“All he wanted to do all his life was be a farmer,” said Judy Martin, Wehri’s grandmother who lives in Dickinson.

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