Kiersten Sauber at her home, holding a copy of her recently published book, "Behind Closed Doors." Brian L. Gray photo

By Brian L. Gray

What started out as a small idea randomly written down in an orange notebook when Kiersten Sauber was 13 years old would later evolve into something she never thought would be possible.

A published book.

Sauber, a Mandan High School 2012 graduate, came up with an idea for the story while reading the first installment of the Twilight series, and was inspired to write a story of her own creation that she thought would echo the same fictional basis as the Twilight story.

“I never thought I’d make a long book out of it, but that’s what happened,” Sauber says. “I wrote it for long periods of time then I’d forget about it. Then I’d go back to it and write a few more pages.”

Over the next year and a half she sparingly wrote the story, which eventually turned into a full novel. The title of the book, which she completed at the age of 14, was “Behind Closed Doors.”

Sauber says she has dabbled in writing for many years, writing poems, songs and music, and other ideas for novels. She has several notebooks brimming with writings and story ideas, but never expected to have ever completed a novel.

Sauber says she enjoyed the feeling of not knowing where the story was headed as she wrote it. She originally had plans to involve fictional characters in the story, like vampires, but as she moved forward in the writing, the story took an entirely new path.

“When I’m writing, I don’t know how it will end. Even as the writer, I wasn’t exactly sure where it was going,” Sauber says.

The story follows a high school female who decides to spend the summer with her aunt in Pennsylvania. Upon arriving she is informed of a strange male living with her aunt. She later learns that he is actually a serial killer in disguise, and she is forced to reveal his real identity before she herself is killed.

The completed book sat untouched for a few years before Sauber’s mother told her she thought it would be a good idea to publish it. She and her mother then looked for the right publisher, and after searching for a year found the right place. But that was only the beginning of the process.

Sauber chose not to pay for an editor for the book, and instead took on the painstaking process of editing and reediting herself. She also called on the help of friends and family to help her proofread. “I even had one of my English teachers read it for me,” she says. “It was a very long process to get it published.”

The book is currently available online at the Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites. The book is listed by her pseudonym, Kiersten Annette.

Sauber plans to continue her education at University of North Dakota and major in psychology. She says she became interested in this field because she enjoys talking to people and helping others. She is also considering fields in writing and journalism as well.

She says she is interested in continuing to write in the future, and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of writing a sequel to “Behind Closed Doors.”

“The ending of the story is very abrupt,” Sauber says, “so there’s a chance of writing a sequel. It leaves you hanging.”

What sparked her interest in writing, Sauber says, is that it is a way to personally express herself in many ways. “I enjoy the creativity of writing. You get to make it what you want, and you get to express yourself. You get to create something of your own.”

The building known as the Iverson Building, located on the corner of Main Street and Collins Avenue. Mandan News file photo

By Brian L. Gray

The proposed $3.65 million project planned for the Iverson Building has received additional assistance from the city.

The financers of the plan will receive tax increment financing for 10 years. The building is owned by Al Leingang, and alongside development partner Loran Galpin of Galpin and Associates, plan to fully renovate the longtime dormant building and rename it Plaza Square.

In total, the tax breaks will total an estimated $735,765 in savings for the developers. The plan previously received Renaissance Zone tax breaks for the first five years.

Galpin said the additional assistance will be helpful, mainly because the building has been vacant for a long time and much rehab work is needed. “Development isn’t cheap, but in a property like this it is extremely expensive,” he said.

While it will receive tax breaks, property taxes will continue to be collected for the land. The owner will pay $6,000 a year for the property. Once the tax breaks will conclude, the property is expected to bring more than $79,600 a year in taxes

In order to qualify for the tax increment financing, the construction must begin by May 1, 2013, and be completed by the end of 2016.

The finished product is hoped to create a domino effect, similar to the proposed Walmart site in northwest Mandan, which sparked more development in that area.

“While construction begins, work has begun to see which potential businesses will occupy the building,” Galpin said. “In the last six months since we have been planning this, some businesses have come and gone, but other ones, big ones, intend to come to this community.”

“I know that residents are excited to see this project come to fruition, and I hope this is a step in the right direction as far as getting something done,” Mayor Tim Helbling said.

Members of the MHS DECA team who competed in the international career development conference (back, l-r) Amanda (Jamestown student), Sheldon Senger, Alex Spilman, Alli Kraft, Chelsey Gangl, Jacob Walby, Hannah Tibke, Mady Arneson, Chris (Jamestown), (middle, l-r) Michael Helmers, Hannah Fishbeck, Advisor Randy Wilson, (front, l-r) Advisor Amber Aberle, Amber Gibson, Austin Kahler, Klynton Lundstrom, Mitch Hersch, Tyler (Jamestown) and Tayler Mikkelson. Submitted photos

Great leaders and marketing students are made In Mandan. DECA members from Mandan recently traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, to compete against 15,000 of the top students from across the globe at the International Career Development Conference. DECA’s international conference features marketing, management and entrepreneurship based events in the categories of hospitality and tourism, finance, marketing, management and entrepreneurship.

Mandan High School junior, Mitch Hersch earned third place honors in Business Finance Series Event. This event is an individual event that requires a written test and two role-play situations. Role-plays are based on a real life scenarios and are judged by professionals within the specific industry. The impromptu situation gives students multiple tasks to complete within a 10-minute preparation period and is then followed by a presentation given by the student to the judges.

Also earning top honors were Hannah Fishbeck and Tayler Mikkelson. The team placed in the top 10 in the Financial Services Team Event. This category is based on a scenario that combines marketing and finance and requires a presentation of a creative solution. Both Fishbeck and Mikkelson are juniors at Mandan High School.

Klyton Lundstrom, also a junior, received top honors for top 30 percent in his event of Retail Merchandising Series.

“I am truly blessed with students who are willing to work hard and get involved. I am thankful for administration and school support to help these students succeed. I am overwhelmed with excitement to see the hard work of these student pay off an finally seeing students from Mandan on the international stage, what a rush,” said Mrs. Amber Aberle, Mandan DECA Advisor. “I have never been so proud.”

MHS DECA team member Mitch Hersch receives his award for third place in Business Finance Series at the International Career Development Conference.

(l-r) Jeffrey Lind and Christi Schaefbauer.

By Brian L. Gray

The Mandan School District has named two new individuals to its administrative staff.

The district has named Jeffrey Lind the new assistant superintendent. He will replace Mike Bitz, who has approved the position of school superintendent beginning this summer.

Lind most recently has worked as the superintendent of schools for two years at the Rugby school district. Previously he was a high school principal at Rock Lake for two years after teaching for 10 years as a science teacher in St. John.

He will assume the new duties on July 2. His contract includes an annual salary of $125,000.

Christi Schaefbauer was also named the new business manager for the school district.

Schaefbauer will replace current business manager Joe Lukach, who announced his retirement at the close of the school year.

Schaefbauer has previously worked as the business manager at the Mobridge-Pollock, S.D., school district for three years. She previously worked for eight years as an auditor in Mobridge and Pierre, S.D.

As the new business manager, Schaefbauer will be paid an annual salary of $85,000. She will begin the new position in July.

The Mandan School Board approved the contracts for the two new staff members during its regular board meeting on May 7.

“Many members of the school board took part in the interviews, and I believe we made an excellent choice,” said Assistant Superintendent Mike Bitz.

Current superintendent Wilfred Volesky, after six years in the position, also announced his resignation at the end of the school year.

Musician Andra Suchy, who will be performing a concert at the Belle Mehus on May 23. Submitted photo

By Brian L. Gray

Mandan native Andra Suchy will be returning home for a CD release concert, which is set to take place at the Belle Mehus on Wednesday, May 23.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Opening music will be by Brianna Helbling. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 the day of the show.

You can get tickets at Eckroth Music, Nightlife Music and Limousine and URL Radio in Bismarck or at Unistop in Mandan or Bismarck. Tickets will be available at the Belle Mehus the day of show.

Suchy’s new CD is entitled “Little Heart,” which was released on March 27 through her label, Red House Records. The album is named after the Heart River, which runs near her birth home in Mandan, and it consists mainly of originals, with a mix of country, rock, folk and blues.

Along with her band, guitarist Andrew Pierzina, Dobro player Shane Akers, bassist Tom Peterson and keyboard player Peter J. Sands, Suchy is joined by several special guests on the album, including Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum, Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show, mandolinist Peter Ostroushko, and her father, Chuck Suchy.

Raised on a beef and wheat farm in rural Mandan by folk musicians, Suchy began touring and performing at festivals at a young age. Classically trained and a veteran of musical theater, the guitar-playing singer moved to Minneapolis in 1996, where she has gone on to make a name for herself as one of the finest vocalists around.

Suchy is a regular performer on the national radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion,” and has performed around the world, singing with such artists as Brad Paisley, Mindy Smith, Emmylou Harris, Chris Thile and soprano Renee Fleming.

Suchy is also planning to return to the Mandan area later this summer, for the annual Suchy Concert, which takes place at Bohemian Hall. The concert is set for Saturday, Aug. 4.

For more information, visit andrasuchy.com.

Photgrapher Rick Scharf's photo, "Whiplash," which was named for first place at the 2012 North Dakota Newspaper Association state contest.

The Mandan News was named for numerous awards during the North Dakota Newspaper Association’s 2012 state contest.

In news coverage, Mandan News editor Brian L. Gray won first place in sports reporting, second place in business news reporting and second place in humorous personal column. He also was awarded honorable mentions in the reporting and government reporting categories.

The Mandan News won for best special news section for its Mandan Rodeo Days 2011 publication, designed by Gray and Sandra Fettig.

In newspaper design, Gray won second place for front page design excellence and overall design excellence. The paper’s website was named first for best website.

Gray was also awarded first place in the agricultural photo category. Photographer Rick Scharf was also presented with several awards. He placed first in pictorial photo, second place in sports photo, news photo and outdoor recreational photo. Scharf also received third in outdoor photo and an honorable mention for sports photo.

The Mandan News won first place and honorable mention for its Special Advertising Section.

The awards were announced May 5 at the NDNA convention in Williston.

“The U.S. Army All-American Bowl provides the national platform for young athletes and musicians to showcase their talent and strength,” said Bruce Jasurda, chief marketing officer, U.S. Army. “This nomination recognizes the mental, emotional and physical strengths, and leadership qualities, Janz possesses both on and off the field; qualities he shares with Army Strong Soldiers.  The Army congratulates all of the athletes on their nomination.”

Janz was nominated by the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Committee, which consists of All American Games’ network of regional coaches throughout the country and Rivals.com. Of the 400 nominees, 90 will ultimately be selected and invited to the Bowl.

The next step for the nominees occurs in September, when the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Tour begins. Final player selections along with All-American Marching Band musicians will be announced nationwide throughout the fall, with the Selection Tour ending in early December.

For more than a decade, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl has been the Nation’s premier high school football game, serving as the preeminent launching pad for America’s future college and NFL stars. Adrian Peterson, Andrew Luck, Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, and Marcus Lattimore all made their national debuts as U.S. Army All-Americans.

For more information, visit usarmyallamericanbowl.com.

Daily hours for the park are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ticket prices are $14 for adults and $11 for children and seniors. The twilight rate, tickets after 4 p.m., is $8.

Raging Rivers is located at 2600 46th Ave. S.E. For more information, call 663-3393.

Judge Hovland sentenced Rambough to seven years in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Rambough was also ordered to register as a sex offender and to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victim’s Fund.

In November 2010 Rambough was found in possession of three videos which depicted child pornography on his cell phone. The videos were discovered on Rambough’s cell phone by a member of the household. The videos appeared to have been surreptitiously taken from a hidden compartment in the family bathroom.

The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security Investigations, Mandan Police Department, Morton County State’s Attorney’s Office and North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Delorme prosecuted the case.

Since both of my loyal readers are used to me asking odd questions, I was wondering whether or not either of them have ever found themselves bragging about their sisters. And, for the record, I’m really not sure if either of them have sisters… but I got one… so here goes.

Last Friday my sister Bee (for those of you outside of the family her name is Jenny Kuller) was awarded Teacher of the Year… and her brudder couldn’t have been prouder.

You see, Bee has been a special educations teacher for 31 years and during that time she’s created way more smiles than frowns in literally hundreds of her students’ lives.

Her kids are the ones who by the grace of God need extra help to perform many of the things you and I take for granted. I couldn’t get close to counting the myriad of disorders and disabilities that Bee has worked with over her 31 years.  Many of her kids suffer complications and dysfunctions that are beyond description… kids in wheelchairs are a daily part of her classroom. Many of her students have such a difficult time expressing themselves that it takes a trained eye and a creatively responsive team to find ways to connect with every student under their tutelage… and, thanks to Bee and her team, all of their students graduate with a smile.

Each of her students requires a broad spectrum of one-on-one help. Some need two teachers. Most folks have no idea that many of these kids even exist… and when confronted with one we usually smile or nod and move on.

Not Bee, her job is to dig in and find out what makes these kids tick, and once she breaks through their veneer she helps them find their talents and works with their needs in order to develop an individualized educational program for each student.

Bee doesn’t do this alone. It takes a team of support, and their efforts must be quite rewarding because Bee always says, “I love this job, I can’t believe they pay me to do this, and unbeknownst to most folks the kids always teach me more than I teach them.”

And all your big brudder can say, Bee, is, “Thanks for doing what you do, you’ve indeed left hundreds of kids better off than you found them… Love ya Bee ‘n’ sure proud to be your brudder…”