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EAGLES CRUISE TO SENIOR NIGHT WIN OVER CAVALIER See Page B4
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The official newspaper of Cavalier County Theborderlandpress.com
In this Issue:
Friday, February 9, 2024
Volume 3, Number 5
LANGDON AREA & MUNICH CELEBRATE
News: Border Patrol says 19 crossed border illegally near Neche, Pg. A2
Community: Hart, Chaput participate in UND Honor Choir Festival, Pg. A6
Days Smarter For more on how Langdon Area and Munich celebrated the 100th day of school, see Page A10.
Views from the Borderland: More from Edmore’s final basketball game, Pg. B8
Wales Fire Department to host pancake breakfast
Haitian family’s arrival in Langdon stalled By Sarah Hinnenkamp Over the summer, the congregation of United Lutheran Church in Langdon pledged support to co-sponsor a family from Haiti, along with parishioners Terry and Janet Jacobson.
husband, Armstrong; and two children to come to Langdon to escape the violence that is currently happening in Haiti. “Work is scarce; food is expensive and difficult to find,” Janet said. “The banks, grocers and markets are often closed because of demonstrations and violence in the streets. Kerlange says no one dares to travel to Portau-Prince for fear of being kidnapped, and up 90% of the capital city is estimated to be under the control of gangs, and the violence is spreading outward to other smaller cities and the countryside.”
It was a possibility that the family of four could arrive before winter in the Borderland, but progress has stalled. “It seems it has been a long six months since we submitted our I-134A forms to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,” Janet said. “We are still waiting.” The line for approval is long with about 2 million applications in the last year, and so far, this request has not gotten to the top of the list. As of the middle of August, 160,000 applications had been approved. The Jacobsons have been given an estimate of a few more months to another year of waiting before their sponsorship application will be considered.
Janet said the United Nations' promise of help has not arrived. “Kerlange and her friends continue to help to feed their neighbors and to visit patients in need in their local hospital,” Janet said. “She continues to hope and places her trust in God, whom she tells me frequently is still in charge.”
Janet said, meanwhile, the situation in Haiti continues to worsen.
Curt Kram cooks up the pancakes at last year’s breakfast. Borderland Press File Photo.
The Wales Fire Department is hosting its breakfast on Super Bowl Sunday for the 18th year. Breakfast will be served from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 11 at St. Michael’s Parish Hall in Wales. It will be a free will donation, and take out is available. The menu includes Hickory Hut sausage, scrambled eggs, buttermilk and blueberry pancakes, and homemade chokecherry syrup. The volunteer fire department started this event in 2007. The department serves mutual aid for Cavalier County. They hope to use the money raised for equipment purchases and replacements.
“The violence has touched our friends Kerlange and Armstrong in very real ways,” she said, saying several members of the couple’s extended family have been targeted by gang violence. The couple has not been able to return to their home for more than six weeks because the gangs control the area between where they are staying with friends and their own home. On top of all of that, the family has battled with illness and has had a tough time.
Kerlange has served as one of the translators, so the Jacobsons have
gotten to know her and her family. They are trying to assist Kerlange; her
Photos submitted by Janet Jacobson.
cont’d. on page A12
For the Jacobson’s, it’s personal. Terry Jacobson has been on two mission trips to Haiti, and Janet has been on four with two more trips that got canceled due to riots and gang activity in the region. Janet has been a board member for Seeds of Support since her second trip to Haiti. For each trip,
Index: News Agriculture Opinion Lifestyle Community
Weather: Pages A2 - A3 Page A3 Page A4 Page A5 Pages A6 - A7
Church/Obituaries Sports Classifieds Public Notices
Pages A8 - A9 Pages B1 - B4 Page B5 Pages B6 - B7
Feb. 9
Feb. 10
Feb. 11
19/12
18/13
23/17