North Dakota

Casselton leaders request signs to show motorists bypass route

Published

5 months ago

October 12, 2025

Casselton leaders request signs to show motorists bypass route

CASSELTON, N.D. — Casselton leaders want signage that will guide trucks and passenger vehicles to a bypass west of the city instead of through the heart of the small town.

The Cass County Commission has thrown its support behind Casselton’s efforts to reroute North Dakota Highway 18 traffic. Commissioners voted unanimously Monday, Oct. 6, to sign letters of support for two projects: one to encourage the North Dakota Department of Transportation to install signs showing the bypass route and another asking the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council of Governments to study the potential for turn lanes on Highway 18 south of Casselton.

Highway 18 takes traffic that turns off Interstate 94 at Exit 331 north through Casselton’s residential and downtown area, as well as by Central Cass High School. Bill Hejl, a retired farmer from nearby Amenia, suggested posting signage for the bypass route as a way to help motorists find the more efficient route around town to businesses west of the city.

A map showing the Casselton bypass and where city leaders want signs, denoted by yellow trucks, to show motorists the route.

Contributed / Cass County Commission

“I’ve watched some semis coming from the north on Highway 18 from Amenia and go all the way through Casselton and then turn right and go west on I-94,” he said. “They could have taken the bypass route to the ethanol plant.”

Casselton leaders will ask the DOT to install signs that direct I-94 traffic to use Exit 328 to Lynchburg, about 3 miles west of Exit 331, to drive north on Cass County Highway 26. That runs into Cass County Highway 10, and motorists can then drive east to Highway 18 just north of Casselton.

The city also will ask the DOT to install a sign that would show southbound traffic on Highway 18 that vehicles can take Highway 10 to Highway 26, then to I-94.

The new signs would show several businesses along the bypass route, including the Tharaldson Ethanol and North Dakota Soybean Processors plants.

Many vehicles use the bypass route already, but signs will show those that go through town that there is an alternate route, Mayor Michael Faught said.

100725.N.FF.CasseltonBypass1.jpg — On Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, a semi-trailer truck heads toward Interstate 94 on North Dakota Highway 18, which runs through Casselton.

“We love to have them go through town, utilizing the stores, but this just kind of sets it up so truckers know there’s a (bypass) route,” he said.

The intersection of Highway 18 and Fifth Street North near Central Cass gets busy, especially during the harvest season, Faught said. A lot of vehicles go through that intersection, and roughly 1,100 students and staff members come to the school building each school day, said Central Cass Superintendent Morgan Forness.

“That’s a major intersection that brings both city, county and state highways all to the same intersection,” Forness said. “It’s also the access point for our school. So you can imagine, every morning 1,100 people converge on this site. It’s basically the one access point to the school.”

The school has access to parking lots so parents can drop off children in the lots, instead of while on Fifth Street, Forness said.

There are safety concerns about truck traffic going by the school, he said, especially as the community continues to grow. Discussions about adding bypass route signs is a timely topic, Forness said.

“When that number of people are coming to the school, for the most part, at the same time in the morning or leaving at the same time in the afternoon, it’s a very congested site for us,” he said. “Safety for students and those who walk and bike amidst a lot of traffic is something that we want to really stay on top of.”

Hejl is a nonvoting member of the Casselton Job Development Authority. His son, John Hejl, is the Casselton fire chief.

Signs directing vehicles to the bypass not only means less traffic going by the school, Bill Hejl said. It also will unclog streets for emergency vehicles, allowing for faster response times, he said.

“We just want to make sure our community, our residents and students are safe there,” Faught said. “We are just trying to be as safe as possible.”

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North Dakota

$2 million anonymous donor to Grand Forks Children’s Museum is revealed

Published

2 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Children’s Museum has revealed the anonymous donor of the $2 million in matching funds that prompted others to step forward and bring the fundraising campaign closer to its goal of $35 million.

“It is with deep gratitude that the Grand Forks Children’s Museum now shares the name behind that bold vision,” said Katie Mayer, executive director of the museum, in naming Pam Laffen of Grand Forks as the anonymous donor.

With this gift and other major contributions, the fundraising campaign “stands at just $1.75 million remaining, bringing the finish line clearly into view,” Mayer said.

The museum “reflects Pam’s passion for learning and her belief in creating meaningful opportunities for children which have guided her life’s work and are deeply reflected in this gift,” she said.

Laffen said, “I am honored to be part of a community that supports a project dedicated to encouraging growth in education and service for future generations.”

Recognizing the impact of Laffen’s gift, Mayer said, “Pam and her late husband, Lonnie, shared a deep appreciation for this community. Being raised in a rural area in North Dakota taught them to be actively engaged in their immediate and surrounding communities across the state.”

Members of the Grand Forks Children’s Museum Staff and Fundraising Team are (back row, from left) Alyssa Donacki, Diane Martinson, Ashley Stroble, Katie Mayer, Pam Laffen, Betsey Aasen and Kim Woods and (in front) Maura Tanabe (left) and Sally Miskavige.

Contributed / Grand Forks Children’s Museum

At the start of the “Unlocking Tomorrow, Together Challenge,” the $2 million would be released, or “unlocked,” with the receipt of each of eight $250,000 donations. The challenge actually resulted in “securing nearly 10 leadership-level commitments and accelerating the campaign even further,” Mayer said.

A leadership gift of $250,000 from the Pancratz Family Foundation, based with the Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation, has helped to “unlock one of the final keys in the challenge,” according to an announcement from the museum. The gift has added “meaningful momentum at a pivotal time in the campaign.”

The foundation’s commitment to the museum “reflects a strong belief in expanding opportunity for children and families, and helped carry the challenge to completion.”

The final keys to the $2 million matching grant were “propelled by an extraordinary wave of generosity from families and businesses across our community,” Mayer said.

A vertical climber, to be named for Pam Laffen, is designed to physically and symbolically connect the land and sky levels of the museum, Mayer said. It will span two stories and include a slide. Designed to face 42nd Street, it will be visible from the road, serving as a signature feature of the building.

The climber will reflect the guiding phrase “In land, we root. Through sky, we rise. Together, we grow.”

“The words echo both the spirit of the community and the belief that learning, curiosity, exploration and opportunity are built step-by-step, grounded in place and lifted by possibility,” Mayer said.

Pamela Knudson is a features and arts/entertainment writer for the Grand Forks Herald.

She has worked for the Herald since 2011 and has covered a wide variety of topics, including the latest performances in the region and health topics.

Pamela can be reached at pknudson@gfherald.com or (701) 780-1107.

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North Dakota

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Published

14 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Kalamazoo — There’ll be a new champion in the NCHC.

Will Zellers scored the game-winning goal in the third period as No. 3 North Dakota downed No. 4 Western Michigan, 5-3, Friday night at Lawson Arena. The Broncos never led and trailed all of the third period, though a late push nearly tied the game with the net empty.

“Overall in the game, I thought it was a pretty tightly contested effort. I thought they just scored too easy,” Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “You know, for us, we had a couple breakdowns, and they’re so talented, so good, they took advantage when we broke down.”

The teams finish the regular season Saturday night. Western Michigan came into Friday’s game tied with Denver in standings points and five points behind North Dakota, needing that many to get a share of the Penrose Cup it won last season en route to an NCAA championship, too.

As far as regular season results go, the Broncos will play for second seed in the NCHC Tournament, needing to outpace Denver, which plays Arizona State this weekend.

Western Michigan (23-9-1, 15-7-1 NCHC) goaltender Hampton Slukynsky made 16 saves on 20 shots in the loss while North Dakota’s Jan Spunar stopped 22 of 25 shots. It was a battle of two of the NCHC’s top netminders, and each made key stops in a tight-checking, physical game.

Zellers put North Dakota (25-7-1, 17-5-1) up 4-2 4:42 into the third period off an assist from Detroit Red Wings draft choice Dylan James.

“He kind of made a play out of nothing there,” said North Dakota coach Dane Jackson, who is in his first season as head coach after being on the coaching staff since 2006. “And that was a really nice kind of moment where you go OK, we got a little got a little leeway here, and we can just kind of play a little bit more free.”

North Dakota took a 3-2 lead into the third period with goals from defenseman Sam Laurila alongside forwards Ollie Josephson and Josh Zakreski. Defenseman Zach Bookman and forward Liam Valente scored for Western Michigan.

One too many times in the second frame, Western Michigan’s blue line let a North Dakota forward in all alone to face Slukynsky, who stopped a couple of rushes in the opening minutes of the period.

With four minutes until the intermission, the Broncos finally got burned. On a feed from linemate Anthony Menghini, Lakreski cut to the glove side of a sprawling Slukynsky and beat him with the backhand. The goal gave North Dakota the 3-2 lead, after a seeing-eye shot from Bookman along the right wall had tied it up two apiece 8:10 into the period.

“I actually thought the second period was our best period,” Ferschweiler said. “… We started to take over. We got the goal, tied 2-2, and are kind of just humming along. Four minutes left, we just hand them a goal. Blown coverage. That was inexcusable, honestly, with some of our better players on the ice.”

The opening period played out as a back and forth track meet through the neutral zone as each side settled in. Laurila put North Dakota up 1-0 with his first career goal. After Slukynsky denied him on a trio of tries earlier in the shift, he fired a shot to beat the Western Michigan netminder 4:40 into the game.

It took just a minute and 34 seconds after Laurila’s opener for Western Michigan’s top line to get it right back. A blue-collar shift from captain Owen Michaels fed linemate Will Whitelaw along the left boards, and he sprung Valente for a breakaway goal that evened up the score.

“I thought we gave it to them too easy a couple times tonight,” Whitelaw said. “And I think when you’re playing a team like that, obviously they’re gonna put it in your net. But I think it’ll be a big lesson for our group going forward.”

For the better part of the first period, the Lawson Lunatics peppered North Dakota defenseman Jake Livanavage with jeers, but he got his own licks in with 7:48 left in the first period as he fed Josephson right at the net for the 2-1 goal. That score held through the first period.

With 2:02 remaining and Slukynsky pulled, forward Zaccharya Wisdom pulled Western Michigan within one. He nearly had the equalizer with 40 seconds on the clock on a backdoor try, but he mistimed the shot. Mac Swanson scored an empty-netter with 20.7 seconds on the clock to clinch the win, and with it the Penrose Cup, presented to North Dakota in the locker room and then paraded around the ice.

“It’s the hardest regular season championship to win, in my opinion,” North Dakota forward Ben Strinden said. “So it’s awesome. Obviously, it’s not our end goal, but we’re going to enjoy it for sure.”

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood

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