S erving the R egion S ince 1907
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School to redo track to tune of $650k Bowman County will not host track meets this season By BRYCE MARTIN Pioneer Editor
Bowman County Schools’ eightlane track has gradually deteriorated over the years to the point that it’s
The Bowman County School Board voted last month to move forward with a $650,000 project to redo the school’s track. Because of the track’s present state, administrators have opted to forgo holding any track meets at the school for the upcoming season. The large-scale project to redo the track, which was constructed in the mid- to late-80s, is slated to begin in
now become a safety concern. Acknowledging the issue and its lack of options, the school recently decided to move forward with the construction of a new track with a steep price tag.
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Heck pleads guilty to lesser charge as part of plea deal By BRYCE MARTIN Pioneer Editor
and his team’s challenge began Feb. 6 in Louisville, Ken, Their route since has sent them through the southern states, up through the west coast, over to Idaho, Montana and finally to North Dakota. It was a twofer as Holly and his team quickly packed up the balloon, hopped into their van and headed south to Ludlow, S.D., where they would mark a second
Dominic Jaymes Heck of Rhame appeared in a Dickinson courtroom this week for a pretrial conference, the final step before his scheduled felony jury trial for aggravated assault. Instead of moving forward with the case, however, Judge Dann Greenwood accepted Heck’s guilty plea as part of a plea bargain. “I speak to the victims,” Bowman County State’s Attorney Stephanie Pretzer told the Pioneer on Wednesday. “It’s based off what they say.” Heck, 35, was sentenced by Greenwood to one year of unsupervised probation, during which time he can violate no criminal laws and must complete domestic violence counseling with a licensed counselor, according to court documents. He also had to pay $250 in court fees. Considering Heck would be required to seek counseling, Pretzer said she was satisfied with the plea. Such a plea is not uncommon for someone with no criminal related history, she added. The jury trial was canceled and the case is now considered closed. The initial charges against Heck were filed after his wife sought care at South-
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Andrew Holly gets a picturesque flight shortly after sunrise, with Bowman’s buttes in the distance. (Photo by Bryce Martin/Pioneer)
head in the clouds Hot air balloon takes flight over Bowman for world record
By BRYCE MARTIN Pioneer Editor
Roughly 15 minutes after Andrew Holly fired the burners and experienced lift off in his hot air balloon Feb. 25, he safely landed about two miles away, just east of the city of Bowman. That seemingly short jaunt put him one step closer to achieving the Guinness World Record for lifting off in a balloon from one lo-
cation in as many of the 50 states as possible in one calendar month. Bowman gained the distinction as the sole North Dakota city that would help Holly achieve that goal after he took off from a patch of land north of the former Bowman airport in the early morning, just after sunrise. His two stipulations, per Guinness, were to reach an altitude of at least 500 feet and be in air for at least 15 minutes. He succeeded at both despite a
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very light wind. Holly, a British pilot with Exclusive Ballooning, a leading aerial marketing specialist in the world,
Farmers Union Oil opens new agronomy center for more efficiency By BRYCE MARTIN Pioneer Editor
Farmers Union Oil Co. officially opened its new agronomy plant last month in Bowman, a benefit to local farmers that desire a
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High: 51 Low: 29 Mostly sunny, breezy and mild
faster, more efficient way to purchase fertilizer. Joe Liegl, general manager of Farmers Union Oil, says the new plant, located less than a mile south of Bowman on Highway 85, is pivotal in enhancing the com-
pany’s operations within the region. The company, headquartered in Bowman with locations in Rhame and Buffalo, S.D., were pleased with the addition of the new plant, which boasts extra storage
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capacity and much faster service. Farmers Union Oil’s previous fertilizer plant will remain operational at least for the spring to serve as a backup space and added storage. The $2.6 million new plant
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replaces the previous facility, located next to Bowman Grain to the north of downtown, which was old and had no place to grow. “With the extra storage capacity, it allows us to hopefully make good buying
Community editorial: Scrutinizing climate change
decisions that will save the customer money,” Liegl told the Pioneer on Tuesday. The new agronomy center maximizes the company’s storage capacity, going from
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