North Dakota
Alzheimer's Association: 'Six in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once'
FARGO — On Sunday, June 30, a silver alert was issued for 84-year-old Alpha “Al” Ault who went missing in Morton County. The man was safely located near Huff Hills.
“When somebody’s missing, we always utilize the same amount of resources. So an aircraft, a bloodhound who is trained to track people, a lot of law enforcement agencies, volunteer organizations,” said North Dakota Highway Patrol Sergeant Jenna Clawson Huibregtse.
Huibregtse says it doesn’t matter if you’re qualified or not to search. It matters when you pay attention to what the alert says.
“Look at the clothing description, what that person might be driving and be the eyes and ears for us out there,” Huibregtse said. “Because the public is across the whole state, and we are just, you know, in a few select areas as law enforcement officers.”
She says almost every missing person is found by a community member before police, especially in rural parts of North Dakota.
“We’re typically finding people within five or 10 minutes, somebody gets the alert on their phone and they’re right in the right place at the right time,” Huibregtse said.
If you’re that person who finds an elder that may be at risk of wandering, the Alzheimer’s Association urges you to approach them calmly, then call police.
“Just ask them, you know, ‘Are you doing OK? It looks to me that you may be lost. Can I help you?’ And then ask them their name, ask them where they’re coming from,” said Alzheimer’s Association North Dakota Program Director Joan Danks.
With that information, Danks says you’ll be to help keep that elder safe until police arrive.
“Six in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once, and many people do so repeatedly,” Danks said. “So it’s very common, and it can also be very dangerous — even sometimes life threatening. And that stress of this risk really does weigh heavily on caregivers and family members.”
They say it’s never too late to report a missing person if you find them.
If you’re a caregiver or family member looking for help to reduce the risk of wandering, you can enroll into the
Alzheimer’s Association’s wandering response service online for free.
My name is Anne Sara, better known as Sara.
I was born an only child in Port-au-prince, Haiti and moved to the U.S at the age of 2.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is where I was raised.
After graduating with my bachelor degree at Albright College, I moved to Florida to continue my studies.
WDAY is the reason why I moved to North Dakota.
North Dakota
Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – On Friday, North Dakota U.S. Senator John Hoeven, Governor Kelly Armstrong and Health and Human Services Commissioner Pat Traynor explained how the state plans to use millions of dollars from the Big Beautiful Bill’s Rural Health Transformation Fund to transform healthcare across the state.
They spoke extensively about the special session to allocate the funds, and confirmed that it is still tentatively set for Jan. 21.
The Big Beautiful Bill allocated $25 billion for rural healthcare nationwide. North Dakota received $500 million for five years and $200 million for the first year. There is still another $25 billion left to be spent, and North Dakota is hoping to receive an extra $500 million.
“I truly believe that with the plan we’re putting in place and the things we built that line up with that, we’ll get a billion dollars over five years,” said Hoeven.
Federal rules require the state to lock in contracts for the money by October first— a deadline officials say is driving the need for a special session.
In the first year, North Dakota will focus on retention grants to keep existing staff, technical assistance and consultants for rural hospitals, as well as telehealth equipment and home patient monitoring.
Governor Armstrong says the special session will include policy bills tied to how much federal rural health funding the state can earn.
“We’re going to have a physical fitness test for physical education courses, nutrition education, continuing education requirement for physicians, physician assistant licensure compact—which North Dakota has been doing, dealing with that since the heart of the oil boom and moving forward—and then an expanded scope of practice for pharmacists,” said Armstrong.
Hundreds of millions of dollars could reshape healthcare in rural North Dakota, and state leaders say the next few weeks are key to receiving and spending that money wisely.
The governor says he only wants to focus on bills related to the Rural Health Transformation Program during the special session and doesn’t intend to deal with other state issues during that time.
Copyright 2026 KFYR. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
North Dakota officials celebrate being among big winners in federal rural health funding
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tony Osburn scored 27 points as Omaha beat North Dakota 90-79 on Thursday.
Osburn shot 8 of 12 from the field, including 5 for 8 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 9 from the line for the Mavericks (8-10, 1-2 Summit League). Paul Djobet scored 18 points and added 12 rebounds. Ja’Sean Glover finished with 10 points.
The Fightin’ Hawks (8-11, 2-1) were led by Eli King, who posted 21 points and two steals. Greyson Uelmen added 19 points for North Dakota. Garrett Anderson had 15 points and two steals.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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