$100K due to local vets, review of Cass County files reveals
While the Department of Veteran affairs offers financial help to veterans with such cancers and other illnesses, many get lost in the paperwork shuffle, sometimes by human error, according to an Inforum article.
Chris Deery, Cass County’s veteran service officer, is working to whittle down the backlog of local cases. Over the last several years, Deery has identified at least five claims from North Dakota veterans that were lost in the shuffle, which has resulted in securing more than $100,000 in relief money owed to them.
“It was just a waiting game,” Dale Carrier, a Vietnam War veteran, told Inforum. “I was diagnosed with cancer in Feb. 2019, so it wasn’t long after that when I found out with my kind of cancer I could get a stipend and disability rating.”
Deery found other claims that had “slipped through the cracks” and helped veterans receive “life-changing amounts of money.”
“I wanted to help those without a voice,” Deery told Inforum. “We apologized to the extent we could, but the moral of the story is we found the error and corrected the error. Now hopefully they can have better lives.”
Frontier Airlines offering $59 flights from Fargo to Orlando
Not quite ready for the cold weather and snow to start settling in?
According to KVRR, “Frontier Airlines is offering two direct flights a week from Fargo’s Hector International Airport to the theme park mecca of Orlando for as low as $59.” Tickets need to be bought before 11 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 11 and will be available through Dec. 15.
However, the low prices will not be offered from Nov. 20-30.
Tickets are nonrefundable only if reservations are made seven days before departure, and if a refund request is made within 24 hours of departure.
For residents that live near Sioux Falls, the Sioux Falls Regional Airport has tickets for $49.
Red Lake County man shot in head over stolen gun dispute
Cody Landrus’ family encourages graphic pictures to be shown to the public as a lesson to not use guns to settle disputes.
On Monday night, Cody was driving back from his mother’s house in Oakley when 27-year-old Oliver Berhow pulled the trigger. According to the Red Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Berhow laughed as he told Cody’s mom to call 911.
Berhow accused Cody of stealing some of his guns. However, police say they found no evidence that he stole them after they searched Landrus’ home.
A large part of Cody’s skull has been removed, and doctors now say his right eye will need to be removed as well. “Doctors are optimistic Cody will survive, but fear he will be paralyzed on the left side.
Berhow is being held on an assault charge as police work to build a stronger case with more serious charges, which could include attempted murder, according to an article in the Grand Forks Herald.
Burgum Backs Biden lawsuit
On Nov. 5, Governor Doug Burgum shared his support for the state’s legal battle against the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for private businesses with 100 or more employees.
“The Biden administration’s overreaching mandate will only add to vaccine skepticism and resistance and exacerbate labor challenges while intruding on states’ rights and personal freedoms. The courts should immediately block this OSHA emergency rule and protect the freedom of private employers to make decisions on vaccinations that are right for them and their businesses,” Burgum said.
North Dakota’s Attorney General joined ten other states in asking the courts to stop the mandate.
“We wholeheartedly support the attorney general’s challenge to this illegal, misguided and unfairly applied rule. It’s not the role of the federal government — or the states — to force a vaccine mandate on private businesses,” Burgum said.
President privilege denied
Trump’s request to block Jan. 6, 2021 documents regarding the capital riots has been denied. Trump argued that it is under president privilege that the sitting president’s communication be kept in confidentiality.
The case now sits in the hands of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The documents were scheduled to be released Nov. 12.
The House committee investigating were originally meant to see the documents under Biden’s waiver of executive privilege but sought to Trump block the release.
Criticizers of Trump’s lawsuit have said they believe it is nothing more than an obstruction and public interest should outweigh his executive privilege, being there was an attack on our nation’s capital and challenges the nature of democracy.
$3.5 Million worth of ivory busted
The Democratic Republic of Congo seized ivory in multimillion dollar trafficking. Two men near Seattle were arrested in the trafficking of ivory which led to a Congo task force to seize the over $3.5 million lot of ivory.
The University of Washington has been a huge help to the investigation with their lab developing a way to find out where the ivory comes from through DNA testing. They have helped to map elephant DNA to specific locations in order to help crack down on illegal trafficking.