McKenzie County ND

Reversing the direction of teaching, Mark LoMurray, a nationally known trainer in suicide prevention, is setting the youth trained as Gatekeepers to approach the two adults they trust the most and lead them to become well-versed Sources of Strength.

“Suicide prevention is really about getting a large part of the community involved, breaking codes of silence and having teens and adults partnering together,” LoMurray insists.

“During the Watford City training, April 14, I think we made a great start on teens, adults, and faith-based groups willing to come together and get out messages of hope, help, and strength. That help is available in the mental health and medical systems, but also on the village side through family, friends, mentoring, healthy activities and spirituality. Also messages that there really is hope, despite feelings of being stuck, alone, and hopeless - By sharing stories of strength and resiliency, we can shine some light on some ways people have made it through emotionally hard and difficult times to a better, more healing place in their life,” states LoMurray.

The following provides insight into the Gatekeeper/Sources of Strength Training. (more…)

More and younger youth in Watford City are “stepping up” to the mission of choosing to build a better future through abstinence from drugs, including nicotine and alcohol.

“We have six, and as many as 12 interested, Junior High students at Watford City High School who are active in the new Junior High Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Chapter we have just started in Watford City Public School,” announced SADD adviser Katie Paulson during the April 23 meeting of the Watford City Community Coalition. “The Junior High SADD Chapter is going!”

Katie also informed the group of the assigned tasks of the Gatekeeper students. Reader: REFER TO THE PREVIOUS STORY, in addition to the following story about Gatekeepers expanding into more sources of strength.

A fable is a story made up to teach a lesson.

Once upon a time in the World of Eom, lived three special families. The family Giraffe, the family Cattle, and the family Deer.

Now it is known that the family Giraffe is native to Africa, mainly found south of the Sahara to eastern Transvaal, Natal, and northern Botswana. And since the Giraffe is a very tall animal, it feeds mostly on leaves, flowers, seed pods, and fruits. To say they feed only on the highest trees and the most delectable foods is part of our story. They choose the foliage with the highest nutritional value. They choose the food found on the tallest trees. And sometimes, although rarely, invaders from the World of Elad raid, and murder the Giraffes for their hides which, of course, are useful to make into buckets, reins, whips, straps for harnesses, and sometimes for musical instruments. Most generally, the Giraffe Family lives far away in an exotic clime, eating exotic foods, and not really contributing much to the welfare of the World of Eom’s general population.

The next character in our story is the Cow. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows are domestic. They are raised for meat (called beef and veal), dairy products (milk), leather and as draft animals (pulling carts, plows and the like). In some countries, such as India, they are honored in religious ceremonies and revered. Their lives are spent in total deliverance of products to the population of the World of Eom.

The third and last character in our story is the Deer.

Members of this family occupy a wide range of habitats. Most species are browsers, but some include a substantial proportion of graze in their diets. From time to time the invaders from the World of Elad come and hunt the Family Deer for sport, for meat, and for their hides.

And so it came to pass (more…)

Goals and objectives will be planned for the public school’s next three to five years on Monday evening, April 7, 2008 at 7 p.m. in the Watford City High School Media Center. McKenzie County Public School District No. 1 and its school board of directors invite the public to participate. They will address the current and future condition of the school district.

Everyone is welcome to attend. A report of the meeting will be made available at the district office regarding the events of the April 7 meeting.

CrimeStoppers as of March 27, 2008 is a partnership of two counties: McKenzie and Williams.

Law enforcement authorities may be given information anonymously about a crime committed by calling either 572-8858 for Williston’s CrimeStoppers or 842-TIPS (842-8477) for McKenzie County CrimeStoppers’ line.

Donations are sought for the CrimeStoppers of Williston and McKenzie County. Send donations in care of CrimeStoppers to either the McKenzie County Sheriff’s Department or the Williston Police Department. The crime stopper program is completely and entirely funded through donations from private individuals or businesses.

The purpose of CrimeStoppers is to receive information from the public that will assist agencies in solving crimes that occur in their jurisdictions. Substantial rewards are offered.

This partnership will possibly lead to good police intervention followed up with quality services to curtail the drug, alcohol, etc. problem in this region.

The partnered effort speaks to Goal 3 of the Our Vision statement written on the right of this scroll page for McKenzie County under the efforts of hundreds of citizens in McKenzie County working with Horizons program, Leadership to Reduce Poverty.

Spend two hours in the McKenzie County Courthouse, from 10 a.m. until noon, watching a video conference about how a rural county reversed outmigration?

The only cost is your time, and you will be fed afterward.

Yes, a pioneer in revitalization is Miner County in eastern South Dakota. Inspirational to McKenzie County and others seeking improvements, the Miner County Story will be told via 2-hour video conference “aired” at the McKenzie County Courthouse. Lunch will be served immediately by the Horizons Community Leadership to Reduce Poverty in McKenzie County group afterward on Friday, March 7.

You are invited to hear and see first-hand how local leaders change their rural community, to see what it takes, how they started (with youth!) and the lessons they learned. Their grassroots efforts reversed population decline and was a feature story on the Wall Street Journal’s front page in 2005.

Heralded as “the most extraordinary rural development project in the nation” by Dr. Forrest Calico of the National Rural Health Association one year ago, the story begins in 1995 with a three-year successful effort to connect rural schools with their communities.

The vision? To sustain a community by meeting basic needs, for a community is only as well off as its most destitute citizen; and to grow within ecological lines, for the people must inhabit the community in ways that sustain it for future generations.

You must pre-register by March 3. Contact Sandy Erickson at 701-328-9718 or email

sandra.k.erickson@ndsu.edu.

Northwest Area Foundation, a sponsor of this local Horizons program, chose Miner County as a partner in January 1999 because the county showed community cohesion and the ability to work together; they showed an understanding that economic , social and environmental issues are interconnected and must be addressed together; the county had already worked with at least one outside organization on community development and showed motivation to build on that work, plus, success seemed difficult without further access to outside resources.

The rest of the story may be seen and heard at 10 a.m. central time in the McKenzie County Courthouse, Watford City, on Friday, March 7, 2008. See the above information to pre-register.

Equipping community members with tools needed to move them into the future are goals of McKenzie County Horizons as well as the Community Coalition based out of Watford City. These two groups are partnering; helping one another tackle tough issues.

“Mapping Successes for Our Children” will be held on March 31 starting with a 6 pm supper at the Watford City Civic Center. Area community members are invited to attend this session and learn research based information about the dangers of underage drinking. Local and regional experts and community leaders will speak out about the issue and opportunities to share problem solving ideas leading to action will follow. The North Dakota Youth at Risk Behavior Survey results for Watford City, 2007, reveal that 1 in every 1.6 high school kids had consumed alcohol in one or more of the past 30 days. This figure, as well as numbers indicating binge drinking behaviors, top regional average figures statewide.

“Sources of Strength” suicide prevention training for youth and adults will take place on April 14 at the Civic Center in Watford City. This “Gatekeeper” training is designed to equip those who want to be part of solutions with the tools and skills they need to identify and assist others who are or may become suicidal. McKenzie County is one of six areas in the state identified by the North Dakota State Health Department as high-risk for youth suicide.

I’m excited to share these upcoming sessions, sponsored by Horizons and Community Coalition, and designed to help create awareness, solve problems, build skills, empower youth and adults and strengthen our communities. Please give me a call at 444-3451 or e-mail me at marcia.hellandsaas@ndsu.edu if you would like to participate or receive more information.

The third wave of Oil Boom is going strong in McKenzie County. Lessons of the past, revenues set aside by legislation to provide money to offset the impact and increased wages to retain hired help are factors that have eased its impact.

Ron Anderson, McKenzie County commissioner from Keene was first to present information on local and county issues at Tuesday’s (Feb. 12, 2008) meeting in a Town Hall Meeting sponsored by the McKenzie County Jobs Development Authority, the North Dakota Petroleum Council and the North Dakota Association of Oil and Gas Counties held in Watford City. (more…)

The Community Action Partnership (CAP) with an office in Williston is a private non-profit organization which serves Region I (Divide, McKenzie and Williams County).

For over 25 years the mission of the agency has remained the same: “Community Action Partnership provides a range of services, which enable, educate, and assist with self-sufficiency to individuals and communities in western North Dakota”, according to Deeann Long, Director.

CAP has many income-based programs which help individuals and families. A few of the programs include:
Supplemental Commodities for Elderly,
Senior Companion Program,
Weatherization,
Home Rehab,
Housing Development,
Emergency Assistance
and Income Tax Assistance.

Also included is Prevention/Safe Communities programming. CAP staff have been active with the McKenzie County coalition to provide assistance on goals to decrease underage drinking/drug use.

For additional information on CAP visit their website at www.willistoncap.org.

Or call 701-572-8191 and ask to speak to:
Deeann Long
Region I Client Services Director

Some say work’s hard to find. Others say it’s there just waiting to be found.

Check out these links for job possibilities.

First International Bank

McKenzie County

A listing of businesses that serve the basin: Oil Patch Services Directory

Job Service North Dakota