Wishek Star Editor Fran Materi had a bad break recently. A stubborn foot infection was compounded by a broken bone. He had surgery recently at St. Alexius Medical Center in Bismarck. Recovery is expected to take eight weeks. He has been transferred to a swing bed in a Mandan facility where they can continue to address the infection.

Materi, a Wishek native, has been with the Wishek Star for nearly three decades—twenty years with Redhead Publishing, the parent company of the newspaper. The last two winters have been unkind to the award-winning journalist. Last winter, a slip on the ice resulted in a broken shoulder.