2007 in Review: Part 4

From the capture of a nationally-wanted fugitive to some special celebrations July and August were busy months in the news in the area Jim Olson has a look as his review of 2007 continues July began with the dedication of a memorial that had been years in planning and months in construction The Medal of Honor Memorial was christened during the Independence Day festivities at Minot s Roosevelt Park Among those honored were Richard Starke who had for years searched for a way to pay tribute to the state s 18 Medal of Honor recipients and Michael Fitzmaurice the only living member of that exclusive group A nationally-famous war memorial visited North Dakota in July as well The half-scale model of the Vietnam Wall - the original stands in Washington DC - was in Harvey for a week The wall proved to be a popular attraction with many area veterans and family members of those honored paying visits A park that has been around most of a century celebrated its 75th birthday in July The International Peace Garden hosted a special day to mark the milestone - a day that was attended by thousands Another anniversary was noted in July - the 50th for a waterski club The Skinatiques of Lake Metigoshe put on two special 50th anniversary shows that included several performers who were charter members of the club News of the summer included a third murder case in Minot in the course of just a few months Joshua Valasques was shot and killed - police reported finding nine spent shells near his body and determined he was shot four times They quickly arrested Antonio Stridiron and charged him with class double A murder He s due in court early in 2008 A man and woman suspected in murders in Louisiana Kentucky and Minnesota turned up in North Dakota in August Jeremy Brooks and Coty Martinez were subjects of a national manhunt Martinez was discovered in Drake saying she needed food and shelter Sheriff s department officers quickly realized her identity and began an intense search for Brooks - who was captured in this field near Drake without incident A Minot woman got a rude awakening in August when a drunk driver crashed his pickup into her house while she slept The crash pinned her underneath the truck but she may have been saved by the fact that her mattress came to rest between the truck and her body The driver pleaded guilty to drunk driving and aggravated reckless driving in the case A major fire damaged buildings and killed more than 200 cows at a large dairy operation near Sidney Montana Four workers who were in the buildings at the time of the blaze were able to escape unharmed - and saved about 1000 cows from the fire The drive to establish an intermodal shipping center in Minot took a big step forward in August when Greg Johnson was hired as the manager of the Port of North Dakota Work continued the rest of the year to establish a site in east Minot where containers can be loaded between trucks and trains The Northwest Area Water Supply project continued to be stifled by a lawsuit filed by Canadians worried about transfer of Missouri River water into their water systems In July a meeting of NAWS principles was told that Canadian officials have assured US officials they would remove their opposition if more water treatment is installed But the cost of that treatment could be up to 70 million dollars The issue may be resolved by an environmental impact statement which is being released soon The summer brought a first-of-its-kind celebration in Williston - the Chokecherry Festival Students from Karen Seaman s elementary school class hosted the event which honored the kids for their work in getting a bill passed in the legislature establishing the chokecherry as the official state fruit Jim Olson KX News Jim continues his year in review report tomorrow with a look at top stories from September and October