........ 75 Ce00ts
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Thursday January 31 st, 2013
The Official Newspaper of the City of Drayton and Drayton Public School
Volume 31 - Number 5
Looks like we're not going to see much of the above this year as the National Weather Service
informs us that current drought conditions and a low threat of a significant spring snowmelt
make for a vary low probablility of any major flooding this year.
Current Conditions Make for
Low Probability of Flooding
Probably not going to see
a lot of the above this spring,
at least according to the
National Weather Service.
The NWS says there is a very
low threat of a significant
snowmelt this spring and
that combined with drought
conditions that have
continued for over a year
,pretty much dampens the
threat of any major flooding
this year.
Both Drayton and Grand
Forks are sitting with about a
5 percent chance of reaching
moderate flood levels. The
moderate flood stage level
for Drayton is 38 feet, which
compared to some of the last
few years of flooding, ain't
much. And just a 5 percent
chance at that.
Throughout the Red River
basin we're experiencing a
fairly normal snowpack. The
basin is also very dry with a
large reduction in deep soil
moisture content. The NWS
says that even if we get hit
with some wetter weather it
might help the drought but
certainly won't end it.
As far as temperatures and
precipitation are concerned,
the spring outlook calls for
below-normal temperatures
and near-normal to slightly
above-normal precipitation
from February to April, this
according to Mark Ewens,
climate forecaster with the
weather service in Grand
Forks. If cool isn't cool, take
heart, drier and warmer-
than-normal conditions are
expected to return through
mid- to late summer.
2012 Pembina County 1/2 Mill "Self
Help" Funds Awarded
At the January 22,
2013 Pembina County
:Commissioners meeting
funds were awarded for the
2012 Pembina County 1/2
Mill "Self Help" Program.
This funding is allocated
to cities that undertake
community improvement
and betterment projects.
The main objective of this
• program is to promote
development and quality of
life within a community. The
following cities submitted
applications and were
: awarded funding:
Bathgate: Cut and remove
trees and stumps i n park and
a new door for gazebo.
Cavalier: Continuation
of the Cavalier City
Beautification Project.
Continue to purchase and
.maintain flowers along the
streets and seasonal banners.
Begun decorating the city
gazebo and have added 20
new benches for community
functions..
Crystal: City streets are
in need of patching the
potholes.
Drayton: The Drayton
Golf Course has battled water
problems for years. In 1012
the Golf Course has received
permission from the ND DOT
to ditch the north end of the
Golf Course into 1-29 ditch.
The City Council agreed to
contribute $3,000 from the
Tourism Funds.
Mountain: Continue
Community Center project.
Architectural fees continue
to press the City of Mountain
in excess of double their
original quote.
Neche:Hiredaprofessional
to save the dying trees and
trim all dangerous branches.
Pembina: Installed a new
fence on the ball field in
South Pembina.
St. Thomas: Continue with
city beautification project.
Landscape the Welcome sign
on the north end of town.
During the month of May
application forms for the
2013 program will be sent
to mayors and auditors
in Pembina County. I
encourage all communities
to participate in the 1/2 Mill
"Self-Help" Program. For
further information contact
Katherine Lunde, Red River
Regional Council, Chase
Building, 516 Cooper Ave,
Grafton, ND 58237; Phone:
701-352-3550 or e-mail
klunde@nd.gov.
Titans Girls Take On North Border in Home Play
"*iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiill
The Drayton/Valley-Edinburg Titan girls took on North Border in a rare home game appearance.
That's Jalyn Larson pictured above taking free shot. More on the game on page 6.
Third Graders Challenged
with 100th Day Celebration
Pictured above, Mrs. Kraft signs Taryn Betz's passport
while Ariaunna Larocque and James Knudston await
their turn. It was all in celebration of their 1,00th day
of school. Each page of the passport represented
a country and contained a challenge related to the
number 100. Once each challenge was completed
their passport page was stamped. At right Taryn Betz
and Nick VanCamp are working together to measure
the height of the classroom ceiling. They would
later be tasked with calculating how many of their
classrooms would fit on top of .each other in a 100
foot tall building.
Mrs. Kraft's third graders
were provided with a 100th
Day challenge on Tuesday.
It actually wasn't their 100th
day of school, it was their
101st as Mrs. Kraft had been
sick on Monday, but it didn't
seem to matter, the kids got
a good workout.
Mrs. Kraft gave the kids
passports at the beginning
of the day. Each page of
the passport represented a
country, providing a bit of
geographic instruction, and
each country had a specific
challenge, all challenges
associated with the number
100, which further stretched
the brain.
For example, they got a
lesson in probability and
statistics by having to roll a
die 100 times and tallying
which number, 1-6, came up
each time.
Once a particular page had
been completed, the kids
would bring their passports
forward to be stamped, and
move on to the next country.
The last page and challenge
in the book gave them entry
back into the United States.
I thought it was a very
interesting exercise because
the kids were learning
to process an array of
learning areas from making
estimates to learning to take
measurements, one area
embedded in another. For
example estimating where
you would be if you were 100
miles in various directions
from the town and then
reading a map to validate
their estimates.
Not onlywas it educational
way to celebrate their 100th
day of school, but they were
finding a lot of fun in taking
on the challenges of problem
solving.
Take Back Medication
Disposal Program
Sheriff Brian Erovick
would like to announce the
implementation of the North
Dakota Attorney General's
medication disposal
program. The program is
called the "Drug Take Back
Program".
This program is designed
to collect or "take back"
any unused or expired
prescriptions or over-the-
counter medicines including
pills, tablets, caplets,
inhalers, nebulizer solutions
or other liquid medications.
In order to ensure patient
confidentiality all items
should be removed from its
packaging that may contain
the patient's name. Any
liquid medicines should be
left in their containers and
anylabels with patient names
on them should be removed
or thoroughly blackened out.
The collection receptacle
will be located in the public
lobby of the Pembina County
Sheriff's Department located
at 308 Courthouse Drive in
Cavalier, ND. People may
bring their medications in
to the Sheriff's Department
any time on any day and
deposit them into the
container. Even possessing
a single controlled substance
prescription tablet that is not
prescribed to you is a Class
C Felony in North Dakota.
However, the Attorney
General is advertising this
as a "No Questions Asked"
program.
This program is very
helpful because it allows for
people to dispose of all types
of medications, rather than
just a few that pharmacies
accept. Pharmacies will not
accept controlled substance
medications such asVicodin,
Hydrocodone, and Valium.
The North Dakota Take Back
Program accepts all of them.
This program does not
accept any sharps or medical
equipment items such as
thermometers, glass, home-
based care (HBC) or durable
medical equipment (DME)
supplies and pharmacy
inventory.
Abuse of prescription
medication has become a
very large problem in every
U.S. state. The North Dakota
Attorney General's Office
wants this program to help
get as many prescription
medications out of
circulation as possible and
disposed of in a safe manner.
Disposing of prescriptions in
a sink or a toilet can be unsafe
for water supplies. Disposal
ifl trash always leaves open
the possibility that they
will be found by someone
and consumed. Once the
collection containers in this
program are filled they are
taken to a facility and safely
incinerated. If you have any
additional questions you
may contact the Pembina
County Sheriff's Department
at 701 265-4122.
Valley News and
Views Electronic
Edition
For those of you who
must have everything
electronically, you can now
subscribe to an online version
of the Valley News and Views.
Got to the website at www.
valleynv.com to see a demo
and sign up.
Open House
Don't forget the Drayton
Chiropractic amd Xperience
Fitness Center, Winter
Survival Open House on
Saturday February 2nd,
from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The
event will include food from
Hastings Landing. Everyone
is invited to drop by. I think
the entrance at 911 North
Main would be the best
entrance.
No Lady Di
This Week
Lady Di apologizes for
no article this week due
to conflicts with her work.
Excusable, she's actually a
producer, currently on the
west coast and has been
running around the country
for months working for
a variety of clients while
managing to get her column
to us. I talked to her a while
back and told her it would be
interesting to hear about her
work and maybe hear a story
or two from the road. She
liked the idea and we should
be hearing a tale to two in
the future.
Continued on Page 3