General News

Seventeen Bismarck-Mandan area companies brought 120 employees to the Burleigh County Extension Services building Tuesday.

They were there for the first Great Plains Food Bank Bismarck-Mandan “Packathon.” The volunteers were there to pack 1800 boxes with meals that will be given to hungry senior citizens in Bismarck, Mandan and Minot.

"There's a huge need," said Marcia Paulson of Great Plains. "We are seeing the challenges around senior hunger in our state continue to rise."

It's an unusual arrangement.

A private telephone company and a telephone co-op have reached an agreement to serve a handful of customers in rural areas near Mandan.

Century Link agreed to change its service boundaries from Mandan, North Dakota and Morristown, South Dakota.  That means West River Telephone will pick up 8 to 10 customers by expanding its St. Anthony and Elgin exchanges. The plan is contingent upon West River getting approval from the FCC for a “universal service” designation – meaning there would be a federal subsidy to serve those customers.

A number of cyclists from the Western North Dakota Synod of the Lutheran Church have embarked on a three-day ride – designed to bring awareness about world hunger.

They left Bismarck this morning (Tuesday).

Lisa Plorin is from Upham. She’s one of the organizers of this third annual ride. Plorin is also the executive board president for the national group “Women of the ELCA.”

"One of the missions of the ELCA is to alleviate hunger," Plorin said. "So we're out doing our part."

Plorin said prior to the ride, they were all asked to do some fundraising.

Superbugs like MRSA, C.diff and other antibiotic resistant germs make people sick every year when they visit the place they rely on to keep them healthy - their local hospitals.

"75,000 of those yearly are fatal," said Brandon Bray, account manager for Xenex Disinfection Services.

"Which is about equivalent to, if you added up breast cancer, AIDS and car accidents. It's the same as hospital acquired infections, but people just don't talk about it," said Leah Hansen, Xenex associate business development manager.

The C-SPAN “50 Capitals Tour” bus rolled up to the state Capitol in Bismarck Wednesday (5-16-18).

"C-SPAN is engaging with communities, and interviewing elected officials about what issues are going on in their states," said C-SPAN Marketing Representative Joel Bacon. "We hear from callers all the time, on our 'Washington Journal,' from all over the country. Now we're visiting where they actually live."

C-SPAN interviewed Gov. Doug Burgum while the bus was on the Capitol grounds. The bus is equipped with studio facilities.

A change for the Bis-Man Community Foundation.

The Foundation was established in 2011 as a permanently-endowed fund. Since that time, the Foundation has given $140,000 in grants to a number of 501-C-3 organizations in the Bismarck-Mandan area.

It used to be that the Foundation awarded a number of small grants. But that will change.

Advisory Board chair Gina Hruby said the idea came from another board member.

"How do we utilize this fund in a more impactful way?" Hruby said.

So the Board made a decision.