MICHIGAN ND

Rysavy takes mayoral race in Michigan, N.D.

Voters in Michigan, N.D., went to the polls Tuesday to elect a new mayor and chose Lauri Rysavy over contender Ron Nelson by a margin of 4 votes.

By Kevin Bonham , March 12, 2013

Nelson County snowmobile crash victim identified

Authorities have identified the Michigan, N.D., man killed Sunday in a snowmobile accident in Nelson County near Aneta.

By Herald Staff Reports , February 19, 2013

Michigan, N.D., man killed in snowmobile accident

A Michigan, N.D., man was killed in a snowmobile accident in Nelson County on Sunday, the North Dakota Highway Patrol said.

By Herald Staff Report , February 18, 2013

Still feeling heat, Michigan auditor leaving post

The city of Michigan, N.D., is losing its city auditor just weeks before a special election to pick a new mayor. Rita Hjelseth, put in her two weeks' notice, effective Jan. 25, according to the city's Facebook page.

By Kevin Bonham , January 15, 2013

Michigan, N.D., mayor resigns over “negative energy”

MICHIGAN, N.D. — Mayor Bernie Linstad officially resigned Monday, three days after he and City Auditor Rita Hjelseth verbally quit and walked out of a Michigan City Council meeting.

By Kevin Bonham , November 05, 2012

$9 dispute leads to resignation of Michigan, ND, officials

The mayor, a city council member and the city auditor of Michigan, N.D., verbally resigned Friday over a disputed water bill and a resident’s unmet demands to examine the city’s financial records.

By Kevin Bonham , November 02, 2012

Quilt Trail debuts today in Nelson County

Barns and quilts are two of the images perhaps most associated with rural life. Today through Sunday, a tour of quilts painted on eight-foot wooden panels and hung on barns will debut near Michigan, N.D.

October 26, 2012

Rash of robberies in ‘20s, ‘30s

The serenity of a small community was shattered on June, 22, 1922, when a local resident was killed in an early-morning bank robbery in Michigan, N.D.

By Kevin Bonham , September 20, 2012

1945 train crash resonates still for families

U.S. Navy Ensign Rose Ellen Wilson was one of 34 people, 20 of them service members, who were killed when their stalled westbound passenger train was struck from behind by another passenger train on Aug. 9, 1945. It was one of the worst rail accidents in U.S. history.

By Kevin Bonham , July 20, 2012

Faces and Places: Michigan woman paints barn quilt on farmstead building

Sylva Daws painted the 8-by-8-foot Star of Eden quilt earlier this month and Greg, her husband, mounted it on a farmstead building on the east side of North Dakota Highway 35, a few miles north of Michigan.

By Ann Bailey , July 15, 2012

Michigan, N.D., ambulance service opts for full-time EMT over volunteers

The Michigan Area Ambulance Service was on life support just a few months ago, a victim of a withering supply of volunteers. Local leaders found at least a temporary antidote in January, when the ambulance service hired Darren Schemionek to staff the operation full-time during the daytime, Monday through Friday, when most volunteers are at work.

By Kevin Bonham , June 03, 2012

Monument, in honor of Michigan, N.D., train crash of 1945, to be dedicated during Michigan Days

Better late than never is the unofficial motto for a group of local residents that will place a memorial to the Michigan Train Crash of 1945 in Veterans Memorial Park this summer. The granite monument will be dedicated July 21 during the annual Michigan Days.

By Kevin Bonham , April 16, 2012

Remembering North Dakota’s worst train accident

Eyewitness vividly recalls the dead and dying
It was a warm, sunny day on Aug. 9, 1945, when 20-year-old Marian Pederson and her parents boarded the Great Northern Railway’s Empire Builder in Grand Forks. The Pedersons’ train never made it to their destination. A mechanical problem — an overheated journal or bearing — forced it to make an unscheduled stop on the west side of Michigan, N.D. The second train couldn’t grind to a halt in time. They collided at about 7:20 p.m., the engine of the trailing train slamming into the back of the first, shearing the luxurious Pullman observation deck car and thrusting it over the top of the engine.

By Kevin Bonham , April 15, 2012

Residents place memorial to train crash

Better late than never is the unofficial motto for a group of local residents that will place a memorial to the Michigan Train Crash of 1945 in Veterans Memorial Park this summer.

By Kevin Bonham , April 15, 2012

Image of a brother: Northwood man finds memories in Depression-era photo

Maybe you remember the picture and the unfinished story that went with it. More than 70 years ago, toward the end of the Great Depression and just before America entered World War II, famed American photographer John Vachon traveled through North Dakota, looking for images of what the country and its people were like at that great transitional time. On a sidewalk in a little Nelson County railroad town, he found a boy in a wagon.

By Chuck Haga , April 11, 2012