In case you missed it in The Sun the week of Jan. 30, 2023
Feb. 4—The following stories from this week appeared on
and in The Jamestown Sun.
A
Carrington woman was arrested and charged with murder
on Monday, Jan. 30, related to the death of a 5-month-old infant at her in-home day care.
Patricia Ann Wick, 47 or 48, was charged with murder, a Class AA felony; abuse of a child, a Class B felony; and operating a family child care home without a license, a Class B misdemeanor. Wick is being held in the Stutsman County Correctional Center on a $50,000 bond.
An initial appearance and bail hearing were conducted via Zoom on Monday. Wick, who represented herself, was told to have no contact with the victims' families.
Court documents say the Carrington Police Department and Carrington Ambulance responded to 438 2nd St. S. shortly before 2 p.m. Sept. 26 to a report that an infant, later identified as Reed Nelson, was unresponsive and CPR was in progress. The infant was airlifted to Sanford Medical Center in Fargo, where he later died from his injuries on Sept. 28.
The results of an autopsy state Reed died from complications of blunt-force head and neck trauma, and the death was ruled a homicide, court documents say.
To celebrate 100 years of banking,
Gate City Bank will give $100,000 to a lucky charity
that is participating in Giving Hearts Day along with an additional $5,000 each to five other charities
The charities will be randomly selected to receive either $100,000 or $5,000 gifts. Nominations for charities ended Thursday, Feb. 2.
The winners of the $100,000 and $5,000 prizes will be announced on Giving Hearts Day on Feb. 9.
Giving Hearts Day, which will be held on Thursday, Feb. 9, is a 24-hour fundraising event for charities in North Dakota and northwest Minnesota, according to its website.
A project to improve and realign a road in southeast Jamestown could be moving one step closer to happening.
The project, recommended by the Jamestown City Council in June 2022, includes pavement reconstruction on 12th Avenue Southeast and realigning the road to the intersection of 11th Avenue and 4th Street Southeast.
City Engineer Travis Dillman told the Jamestown Public Works Committee on Thursday, Jan. 26, that
BNSF Railway Co. has received preliminary approval
to sell property the company owns for the road project. The realignment portion of the road project includes purchasing the right of way from BNSF and a portion of another property.
BNSF owns the property located between 3rd Street and 5th Street Southeast and 11th Avenue and 12th Avenue Southeast.
Once the sale is complete, the project can go out to bid. Currently, there is no signed agreement between BNSF and the city of Jamestown regarding the sale of property.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has
received two proposals to provide Essential Air Service
to Jamestown Regional Airport.
The proposals are from SkyWest Charter, a subsidiary of SkyWest Airlines but a separate entity, and Northern Pacific Airways, parent company of Ravn Alaska.
Northern Pacific Airways is proposing 14 round trip flights per week to Minneapolis using a 37-seat turboprop aircraft. Hemmer said the flight time makes Minneapolis the only hub that's a viable option for Northern Pacific Airways' aircraft.
SkyWest Charter is proposing 12 round-trip flights per week to Denver and Minneapolis or Chicago. The round-trip flights to Denver would be through United Airlines and the round trips to Minneapolis would be through Delta Airlines. Chicago was included as an option because it is also a United Airlines connection.
SkyWest Charter is proposing to serve Jamestown Regional Airport with a 30-seat jet aircraft. The SkyWest Charter proposal does not include Devils Lake so all 30 seats will be for just passengers from the Jamestown airport.
A St. James Basilica priest removed from ministry pending an investigation of inappropriate conduct was arrested Wednesday, Feb. 1, on suspicion of committing sexual exploitation by a therapist in Stutsman County, according to Maj. Justin Blinksy, assistant chief of police with the Jamestown Police Department.
Neil Joseph Pfeifer, 48, was arrested
in Rugby, North Dakota, and taken to the Pierce County Correctional Facility, where he awaits formal charges, Blinsky said.
The Jamestown Police Department said an individual reported on Jan. 13 being sexually assaulted in December at St. James Basilica, Blinsky said. He said Pfeifer was known to the victim and was acting as a therapist when the sexual contact occurred.
Investigators learned that Pfeifer potentially committed criminal acts in other jurisdictions, Blinsky said.
The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible, Blinsky said.
Parents of Bismarck High School basketball players say
racial slurs and actions were used toward minority players
Tuesday, Jan. 31, during a game against Jamestown High School and nothing was done to stop it.
Quinn Austin said his son, Andre, who is Black, and teammate Teysean Eaglestaff, a Native American, from Bismarck High experienced multiple incidents from the Jamestown student section. He said derogatory remarks included making monkey sounds toward his son and chants of war whooping were made toward Eaglestaff. He said his son was called a derogatory term used toward Black people.
Drew Engelman, a parent from Bismarck, said in an email sent to Jamestown Public School District officials and to The Jamestown Sun that on top of the monkey sounds and racial slurs toward Andre Austin, Jamestown students could be heard yelling "banana" during his free-throw shots. He said students would pretend to pull back a bow and arrow aimed at Eaglestaff and made scalping motions toward him as well.
The Jamestown Public School District investigated the incident Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 1-2, and found that disparaging and/or racially insensitive remarks and actions were made by a handful of Jamestown Middle School and Jamestown High School students on Wednesday and Thursday, said Jamestown Public Schools Superintendent Rob Lech, Jamestown High School Principal Adam Gehlhar and Jim Roaldson, activities director at the high school, in a joint statement.
"These actions are not supported by Jamestown Public Schools or the Community of Jamestown and have resulted in appropriate disciplinary action per our Anti-Harassment and Discrimination Policy (AAC)," the statement said.
