North Dakota
North Dakota Outdoors: Chronic wasting disease fatal if left unchecked
Submitted Photo
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease of deer, moose and elk that can cause long-term population declines if left unchecked. Photo from NDGF.
Even if you don’t hunt, I hope you’ve at least heard about chronic wasting disease. If you haven’t, let’s start today.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease of deer, moose and elk that can cause long-term population declines if left unchecked. There is no treatment or cure, and once established in an area, it remains indefinitely. For these reasons, CWD poses a major threat to North Dakota deer, elk and moose and the future of hunting these animals.
Combating CWD is a long-term endeavor that requires committed, diligent effort from all North Dakotans who value these big game animals. Through our cooperative dedication to the cause, we can protect these important species and North Dakota’s hunting heritage.
A deer with CWD will only begin to look sick in the late stages of the disease, several months after it has been infected. Most positive deer found in North Dakota appeared healthy when they were harvested. The only way to determine if your animal is infected with CWD is by getting it tested. Testing information is also critical for determining the distribution of CWD and evaluating the success of the Department’s management strategy.
With the 2023 chronic wasting disease surveillance season completed, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department reported 11 deer tested positive.
“The good news is that all these cases came from units where CWD has already been detected. None came from the southeastern part of the state where we were focusing our surveillance efforts,” said Dr. Charlie Bahnson, department wildlife veterinarian. “However, CWD was detected right across our border in eastern Manitoba near Winkler, and again near Climax, Minn., where it was first found in 2021.”
Positive cases detected in 2023 came from units 3A1, 3A2, 3E1, 3E2 and 3F2.
Casey Anderson, department wildlife division chief, said that despite lower harvest success, the department met its surveillance goal in units 2B, 2G and 2G1. The objective is to achieve a sampling goal of 10% of the allocated deer gun licenses for a given year.
Game and Fish will use its 2023 surveillance data to guide CWD management moving forward.
North Dakota
Recap: Penn State wrestling sets NCAA history with 77th consecutive dual meet win
Penn State goes two for two and sets a new NCAA record
12/20/2025 07:26:07 PM
Penn State won two matches at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals and has set a new NCAA Division I record with 77 consecutive dual meet victories. The Lions pass Oklahoma State’s previous mark of 76 by beating Stanford 42-0. Earlier in the day, Penn State shut out North Dakota State.
Here are the full results from both matches:
PSU vs. NDSU
125 pounds: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl, Penn State d. No. 31 Ezekiel Witt, NDSU, 6-5 (PSU 3-0)
133 pounds: No. 10 Marcus Blaze, PSU md. No. 29 Tristan Daugherty, NDSU, 11-3 (PSU 7-0)
141 pounds: Nate Desmond, Penn State d. Michael Olson, NDSU, 4-1 (PSU 10-0)
149 pounds: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness, PSU TF No. 24 Max Petersen, NDSU, 19-2 (5:16) (PSU 15-0)
157 pounds: No. 8 PJ Duke, Penn State md. No. 21 Gavin Drexler, NDSU, 16-5 (PSU 19-0)
165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU TF Boeden Greenley, NDSU 18-1 (3:45) (PSU 24-0)
174 pounds: No. 1 Levi Haines, Penn State F. Max Magayna, NDSU (1:38) (PSU 30-0)
184 pounds: No. 4 Rocco Welsh, PSU TF Andrew McMcgonagle, NDSU, 19-4 (6:17) (PSU 35-0)
197 pounds: Josh Barr, Penn State TF Devin Wasley, NDSU, 19-3 (3:20) (PSU 40-0)
285 pounds: No. 13 Cole Mirasola, PSU F Drew Blackburn, NDSU (:33) (PSU 46-0)
PSU vs. Stanford
125 pounds: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl, Penn State d. No. 12 Nicco Provo, Stanford, 4-2 (PSU 3-0)
133 pounds: No. 10 Marcus Blaze, PSU F No. 6 Tyler Knox, Stanford (6:44) (PSU 9-0)
141 pounds: #Nate Desmond Penn State md. Lain Yapoujian, Stanford, 9-0 (PSU 13-0)
149 pounds: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness, PSU d. 14 Aden Valencia, Stanford, 10- 4 (PSU 16-0)
157 pounds: No. 8 PJ Duke, Penn State d. No. 5 Daniel Cardenas, Stanford, 5-2 (PSU 19-0)
165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU F. EJ Parco, Stanford (4:23) (PSU 25-0)
174 pounds: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU md. Lorenzo Norman, Stanford, 14-4 (PSU 29-0)
184 pounds: No. 4 Rocco Welsh, PSU d. Abraham Wojcikiewicz, Stanford, 5-1 (PSU 32-0)
197 pounds: Josh Barr, PSU TF No. 19 Angelo Posada, Stanford, 19-3 (PSU 37-0)
285 pounds: No. 13 Cole Mirasola PSU TF Luke Duthie, Stanford, 21-6 (2:59) (PSU 42-0)
North Dakota
Suffolk prosecutors intercept, return scammed cash to North Dakota grandmother
An 80-year-old North Dakota grandmother scammed out of $8,500 has her money back after Suffolk County prosecutors and postal inspectors traced the package of cash, which was mailed to a Shirley address, and returned it earlier this week, district attorney’s officials said.
Officials said the woman received a call Dec. 12 from someone pretending to be her granddaughter, saying she had been in a traffic accident in Suffolk County and needed bail money.
The caller said she was charged with three crimes and then handed the phone to a man posing as her lawyer, who gave the grandmother instructions on how to send cash through the mail, district attorney’s officials said.
The grandmother mailed the cash, but the man kept calling, pestering her for more money, prosecutors said. The woman, who eventually realized she had been scammed, called police in Devils Lake, North Dakota, and reported the con.
Detectives, who made no arrests, tracked the package to Shirley. The Suffolk County Financial Crimes Bureau then worked with inspectors from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to intercept the package two hours after it arrived on Wednesday and returned the money to the North Dakota woman.
“Our office is dedicated to combating scammers who prey on the senior citizen community, who criminals believe to be easy prey,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement. “Bad actors should know that Suffolk County will not be a haven for mailing scams, and that we will do everything within our power to prevent citizens from being swindled by predatory scammers.”
North Dakota
Bill to improve rural veteran health care sees support from North Dakota providers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — North Dakota organizations have submitted letters of support for a federal bill that would improve veterans’ access to local health care options, which has been examined by the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
The bill – the Critical Access for Veterans Care Act – from Sen. Kevin Cramer and Sen. Tim Sheehy would allow veterans living in the rural United States to seek health care services at their local critical access hospitals or rural health clinics, a press release said.
“The Community Care program literally can be a lifeline,” said Cramer, R-N.D. “(What) prevents it from being a lifeline as often as it ought to be is all of the roadblocks that get put up. After hearing from veterans and rural health care providers and leaders across North Dakota, I proposed a solution with Sen. Sheehy to simplify access to the critical access network, whether it’s a critical access hospital (or) rural health clinic.”
Cramer and Sheehy’s (R-Mont.) bill would amend the VA (Veterans Affairs) MISSION Act of 2018 to make a new category under which “care is required to be furnished through community providers, specifically for care sought by a veteran residing within 35 miles of the critical access hospital or rural health clinic,” the release said.
The release also said a number of veterans live in rural areas and face major challenges to accessing timely and quality health care. In North Dakota, there are 37 critical access hospitals, but only five of those communities housing them also have a VA community-based outpatient clinic. The state has one VA medical center in Fargo and eight community-based outpatient clinics in total.
The bill has received letters of support from the North Dakota Rural Health Association and a coalition of 22 North Dakota rural health care providers, the release said, who wrote that the legislation will offer a streamlined and practical approach building on existing infrastructure and recognized designations in rural health care. The American Hospital Association, America’s Warrior Partnership and the National Rural Health Association have also voiced support for the bill.
Another letter of support for the bill has come from Marcus Lewis, CEO of the North Dakota Veteran and Critical Access Hospital. A veteran himself, he said he lives more than three hours from the nearest VA hospital and works two hours away from it. However, there are three community health care facilities within 50 miles of his home.
“Despite the availability of this high quality local care, I am currently paying out of pocket for needed therapy because accessing services through the Community Care Network has proven prohibitively difficult,” he wrote.
Cramer said the VA system gives veterans less access to care that is readily available, and the goal of the bill is to give rural veterans access to their local critical access hospitals without strings attached.
“I worry if the bill is watered down, quite honestly, that we turn the authority back over to the bureaucracy to decide,” he said.
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