Cavalier County
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Republican
Single Copy Volume 134
cavaliercountyextra.com
In this issue:
Catch up with the latest from the Langdon Area School Board on Page 2. We introduce our newest team member on Page 3. Turn to Page 3 to read the updates from the Cavalier County Commissioners meeting.
Index
OPINION CHURCH COMMUNITY SPORTS PRO DIR AG PN CLASSIFIED
PAGE 4 PAGE 6 PAGE 7 PAGE 8 PAGE 9 PAGE 10 PAGE 11-12 PAGE 13
Copyright © Langdon, North Dakota
Monday, April 27, 2020
Number 17
Vote by mail ONLY this election year- no polling sites By Melissa Anderson Republican Editor
2020 has certainly been an eventful year thus far, to say the least, and on top of this, it is not only an election year but a presidential one at that. Statewide, local governments, in light of the current health crisis, have already been preparing for the upcoming June 9 primary to put voters’ health first while still making sure all have access to their right as American citizens. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed an executive order in late March waiving the requirement that counties must provide at least one physical polling location on primary election day. This will give counties the flexibility and local control to conduct the June 9 primary election by mail ballot only. “All North Dakota citizens should be able to exercise their right to vote without risking their health,” Burgum said. “We’re also looking out for the safety and well-being of our poll workers, including many retirees who may have greater vulnerability to COVID-19.” Cavalier County Auditor Lisa Gellner explained that while all counties have had absentee ballots in the past, many counties have not done vote by mail. This election is going to be very different for them. In Cavalier County, vote by mail has been
occurring since 2010. The decision to remove the only polling location in Cavalier County, which was at the courthouse, was one that was not taken lightly. “The decision was made based on Governor Burgum’s recommendations, as well as the county’s desire to keep the voters and poll workers safe during the COVID-19 pandem-
return their applications to the auditor’s office. “This eliminates the expense of the county printing and sending out postcards like we have in the past and also covers the postage the voter would have incurred to mail back the application,” Gellner explained. The county has only mailed the noticeable green postcard applications to active voters
ic,” Gellner said. The order was developed in collaboration with Secretary of State Al Jaeger and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem with input from North Dakota county auditors. The order ensures every eligible North Dakota voter can cast a ballot in June, while protecting the health and safety of voters and poll workers. The state is paying the costs to mail a ballot application to all eligible voters in the election system and is also providing postage paid envelopes for the voters to
rather than all eligible voters in the past. An active voter is defined as a voter that has voted in one of the past two primary or general elections, while an eligible voter is anyone 18 years of age or older, a U.S. citizen, and North Dakota resident that has lived in Cavalier County for 30 days prior to the election. To ensure that all voters are included, the state will be sending applications via the postal service to everyone eligible in the voter system to make sure everyone gets the opportunity to receive
Life during COVID-19, teaching from afar-the new normal As parents and guardians with their students as much as drop off times. Now, they are work with their kids to com- they used to. This lack of “face- up and running with materials plete schoolwork, the teachers time” has dramatically changed in the student’s hands. They are and administrators are working how teachers do everything. still having face-to-face interacto keep education going. The St. Alphonsus’s Principal Carrie tions via virtual meetings. Hope three schools within Cavalier Hope said that with very little feels that teachers from St. A’s County - Munich Public School, notice schools quickly went are getting into a comfortable St. Alphonsus Catholic School from face-to-face learning to movement with distance learn(St. A’s) and Langdon Area online learning. ing. School District (LASD) - shared “Something that can take “The hallways are quiet, and how the transition to distance years to set up and master - we we all miss seeing our students education has gone for and other teacheducators. ers, but being able The Munich School to have Zoom conDistrict superintenferences has really dent and high school helped,” Hope said. principal, Robert BuAt LASD Superinbach, explained that tendent Daren Christhe school has adapttianson shared that ed so much as plans their teachers are have been made and using an online platare constantly changform called Microsoft ing. Teachers, for the Teams. This platform most part, are workis paid for by the state ing and teaching from of North Dakota and home. From time to had some teachers time, based on their utilizing this platform own needs, the teachto a limited extent ers will be in the school with their regular to use the school’s reface-to-face classes sources (copier, scanpreviously. Since the ner, etc.) to prepare Miss Lee at Langdon Area High School is shown teach- implementation of work to be sent home. ing math class through the Microsoft 360 program. distance learning, “As I saw on one of LASD teachers have the news shows the developed a great other night, this was not Apollo did in a week’s time,” Hope stat- deal of proficiency with this 11, this was Apollo 13. Every- ed. platform, and students have thing changed almost overSt. Alphonsus teachers and done the same. night,” Bubach said. Hope worked to learn and set “We are very blessed at the At every level, there was a up Zoom conferences and cre- Langdon Area Schools to have sudden change in teaching ate learning packets for cur- teachers highly committed to styles. No teacher in Cavalier riculum learning. They had a doing what is in the best interCounty is meeting physically couple weeks of pick up and cont. on page 3
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a ballot. In North Dakota, the voter system is based on the state-issued driver’s licenses and non-driver ids that are issued and updated through the state. Drivers under 18 years of age are not considered eligible in the election system. Voters are encouraged to update their driver’s license address if they have moved. “When residents update their address on their driver’s license or non-driver ID, it also updates their address in the election system, making the process go much smoother for them,” Gellner explained. Even though the driver’s license offices are not open due to the pandemic, this can be done online or by phone. Voters can also prove their residence with a current utility bill; current bank statement; a check issued by a federal, state, local, or tribal government; a paycheck; or a document issued by a federal, state, local, or tribal government. Prior to the county going to all vote by mail for this year’s June primary, this method of casting a vote in elections was already very popular among residents. In Cavalier County, Gellner explained that the auditor’s office typically has twice as many ballots cast by mail as compared to the number of voters that come to the polls to vote on election day. cont. on page 2
LASD wants kids hungry for learning, not food School has been closed for over a month now, and while teachers scrambled to get a education system up and running for distance learning, another concern soon came forward. With the kids no longer in school and child care facilities closed, where would the kids receive food to eat? Langdon Area School District Superintendent Daren Christianson, along with the LASD cooking staff headed by Sabrina Marcelin who is also the food ser-
prior to COVID-19 and has worked with school districts across the nation that qualify due to the high number of free and reduced qualified children they have in their district. Christianson explained that when the COVID-19 pandemic started to affect the nation forcing school districts to close access to families, the federal government made a declaration that all schools would qualify for this program immediately with the completion of an ap-
Lined up are some the boxes of food that the staff at Langdon Area School District has prepared for families to pick up.
vice manager, looked for ways to ensure kids didn’t go hungry during an already stressful time. They didn’t have to wait long as shortly after the governor shut the schools down to the public, the federal government relaxed the rules for the Emergency Summer Food Service Program (ESFSP). The program had already been established
plication process. Any child ages 1 to 18 qualifies for meals. “The Langdon Area School District determined that this was a way we could take some stress off our area families and assure all of our children get a couple of quality meals each weekday,” Christianson said. The meals are reimbursed through a claiming cont. on page 3
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