North Dakota

Careful cleanup continues on Foster County train derailment

Published

2 years ago

July 7, 2024

Careful cleanup continues on Foster County train derailment

BORDULAC, N.D. — An early morning train derailment on the east edge of Bordulac on Friday, July 5, led to 29 cars leaving the tracks and igniting a large fire at the site.

At approximately 3:53 a.m. Friday, first responders from Carrington Fire and Rescue and CHI Carrington EMS were dispatched to Second Street Southeast and 75th Avenue Southeast for a hazardous materials incident near Lake George just outside Bordulac.

Ten to 15 cars were reported to have caught on fire, with an estimate of 25 to 30 cars leaving the tracks upon initial inspection. The train was traveling east through Bordulac when the derailment occurred.

No injuries were reported from the accident, though EMS was on scene to provide backup for any fire or hazmat team personnel working to extinguish the fire and clean up and clear the site.

Heavy rains that came through the Carrington area the previous day may have been the culprit for the derailment. At the site of the incident, a culvert partially washed out, compromising the railroad bed. Though much of the estimated 145-car train passed through Bordulac without issues, the tail end of the train derailed.

County Road 1613, locally known as the Bordulac Highway, was closed to traffic, along with portions of Highway 200, during the early morning hours of July 5 as county and state officials worked to keep persons away from the area. The town of Bordulac was under mandatory evacuation, as well as one rural residence approximately 1/2 mile from the scene.

The fire burned for the remainder of the morning and much of the afternoon, continuing into Saturday and Sunday while CF&R worked around the clock to contain it.

According to Stutsman County Emergency Manager Andrew Kirking, working as Foster County’s interim emergency manager, primary goals set forth at an incident command meeting the afternoon of the derailment were threefold: to preserve the lives and safety of residents and responders, stabilize the incident and minimize environmental impact.

Along with extinguishing and cooling the rail cars, tactical objectives included removing as much material as possible from the cars and preparing the site for heavy equipment to remove them.

Kirking said that since the area is wet, boggy and marshy, timbers were used to stabilize the scene for responders to better combat the blaze and engage in cleanup operations.

“We just needed to get our ducks in a row before we attack it,” Kirking said that morning.

He reported at the initial meeting later on Friday that two pumping trailers doused the derailed cars “with success.”

“Quenching the fires has had an effect on the plume, slightly lightening its color from black to gray,” said Kirking, noting the smoke color change meant fewer materials actively burning and more steam released into the air. As a result, he said, the plume lost upward development, and air, soil and water monitoring continues with no life safety risks.

At 4 p.m. on Friday, NDResponse issued a Temporary Flight Restriction for one nautical mile surrounding the derailment site and 1,000 feet above the site and below. Operation of all aircraft, including drones, was prohibited with the exception of emergency services-approved aircraft effective for 48 hours, until 4 p.m. Sunday, July 7.

Smoke billows from the site of a train derailment near Bordulac, North Dakota, on Friday morning, July 5.

Erik Gjovik / Foster County Independent

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, which arrived on scene Saturday, the contents of the derailed cars involved methanol, anhydrous ammonia and plastic pellets. Kirking said the burning pellets contributed to the black smoke early in the crash. NTSB has been at the site, along with officials from the Federal Railroad Administration.

Saturday morning updates revealed that firefighting operations throughout the night and morning were incredibly successful, according to Kirking, and much of the fire had been extinguished by that time, with occasional flare-ups. Later that evening, recovery efforts for the rail cars began.

Because the cars still have products inside them, Kirking said that each unit must be individually evaluated, relocated and emptied of as much material as possible before final removal can occur.

“The situation is being closely monitored by environmental specialists to ensure as little product as possible is lost,” he said.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway has developed an in-depth and procedural recovery plan, and local responders have been briefed on the plan’s specifics and were still on-site as of Sunday afternoon and beyond for anything that may arise.

He reassured residents on Saturday that readings from the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality regarding air contamination in the area were effectively near zero, and that remote monitoring downwind also showed no contamination.

On Sunday, however, Kirking said air monitors detected low levels of anhydrous ammonia after one rail car began venting during removal from the site. For precautionary purposes, Bordulac-area residents were subject to a shelter-in-place notice, which has since been lifted.

Kirking concluded, “I would like to commend the efforts of responders, state and federal partners, the selfless aid of mutual aid partners, and the community commitment of Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway for their prompt and proportional response.”

Bordulac is a town of 18 people about 40 miles north of Jamestown.

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North Dakota

Challengers declare victory after ND Supreme Court rules against Legislature’s attempt to alter term limits

Published

9 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Challengers declare victory after ND Supreme Court rules against Legislature’s attempt to alter term limits

BISMARCK — A constitutional ballot measure to amend the state’s term limits law as proposed by the Legislature will not appear on November’s ballot, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday, siding with petitioners who argued the Legislature exceeded its authority and violated the state constitution in proposing the changes.

“The people’s voice was heard,” Grand Forks County Commissioner Terry Bjerke said in reaction to the news.

Bjerke was a member of the sponsoring committee behind the successful 2022 effort to pass a term limits initiative, which amended the state constitution by capping legislative term limits to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. The amendment, which became article XV of the state constitution, also included a clause barring the Legislature from making constitutional changes to term limits.

During the 2025 session, however, lawmakers narrowly approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 4008, in which the legislature proposed Constitutional Measure 1, a ballot measure to amend the term limits language to allow legislators to decide in which chamber they want to serve their 16 years, and to repeal the clause limiting the legislative assembly’s authority to propose an amendment to alter or repeal term limits.

Bjerke and former Minot legislator Oley Larsen brought the lawsuit challenging the validity of the Legislature’s action in January, and the state Supreme Court

heard oral arguments in the case

this spring.

“Those term limits may only be altered by a measure proposed by the people rather than the Legislative Assembly. And yet a few years later, the Legislative Assembly is doing what they are prohibited from doing,” attorney Zachary Wallen argued on Bjerke and Larsen’s behalf.

Petitioner’s attorney Zachary Wallen, right, jots down notes for a rebuttal during a North Dakota Supreme Court hearing dealing with a term limits ballot measure on Thursday, April 2, 2026.

Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune

The Legislature’s attorneys argued the clause prohibiting legislative proposals to alter the constitutional term limits language “infringes on our republican form of government” by “limiting the people’s ability to vote on amendments proposed by their elected officials.”

Justice Jon Jensen seemed skeptical of that argument during the April 2 hearing, questioning whether a second vote was appropriate.

“The public did speak on this. The public spoke on it when it passed the original constitutional amendment and they said, ‘Legislature, you don’t even get to propose a change.’ They have already spoken on it,” Jensen said. “You want a second shot, or a second bite at the apple, not a first one, a second.”

In Thursday’s ruling, all five justices sided with Bjerke and Larsen.

“We … conclude the Legislative Assembly’s adoption of S.C.R. 4008 violated N.D. Const. art. XV … and declare S.C.R. 4008 and Constitutional Measure 1 void … We enjoin the Secretary of State from placing Constitutional Measure 1 on the November 2026 general election ballot,” the ruling said.

Bjerke thanked the legal team that worked on behalf of their lawsuit, and said he was grateful the court reached the conclusion it did.

“I’m thrilled that what the people voted on and approved has been validated,” Bjerke said.

He added that the Legislature had “multiple opportunities” to address term limits prior to 2022’s initiated measure and chose not to, and gave a nod to the country’s coming milestone and the process by which voters expressed their support for term limits.

“We’ve lasted 250 years,” Bjerke said. “I have two words for those elected leaders who think they aren’t: everyone’s replaceable.”

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North Dakota

Fargo woman convicted in North Dakota fraud case now faces charges in Minnesota: A deeper dive

Published

19 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Fargo woman convicted in North Dakota fraud case now faces charges in Minnesota: A deeper dive

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A North Dakota woman who was sentenced to 180 days in jail in Cass County for defrauding healthcare providers and Medicaid programs is now facing additional fraud charges in Minnesota.

Christine Marie Pryor, 55, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to theft by deception involving more than $50,000. She was sentenced to first serve 180 days with a 3-year sentence suspended. She received credit for 44 days already served.

Pryor was ordered to pay $82,584.78 in restitution to Southeast Human Services in Fargo, where she worked between 2018 and 2019.

How the scheme unfolded

According to court documents, Pryor worked at multiple healthcare facilities in North Dakota and Minnesota between 2018 and 2023, using the identities and credentials of three licensed professionals without their knowledge. She submitted fraudulent Capella University diplomas and transcripts to gain employment.

Investigators say Pryor admitted she searched state licensing websites for therapists who shared her first name, then used those therapists’ last names and license numbers when applying for jobs.

At Southeast Human Services, where she worked as a Licensed Addiction Counselor, Pryor earned $55,584.82 while providing therapy services to approximately 150 patients. She also opened her own counseling center, NIAM Brain Injury Center, in Fargo between 2020 and 2021, and worked at The Lotus Center in Moorhead, Minnesota, from 2021 to 2023.

Court documents say the three licensed professionals whose identities were used told investigators they had no knowledge of Pryor’s actions and did not give her permission to use their information.

Two additional charges against Pryor in North Dakota, unauthorized use of personal identifying information, were dismissed on motion of the state.

Additional charges in Minnesota

Pryor is also facing charges in Minnesota. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Tuesday charges against Pryor in Clay County District Court for six theft offenses and six identity theft offenses related to defrauding Minnesota’s Medicaid program of more than $150,000.

According to the Minnesota complaint, Pryor claimed to provide psychotherapy and alcohol and drug counseling services to Medicaid recipients despite having no license or credentials to do so. Prosecutors allege she used the credentials and identities of three licensed professionals while claiming to provide Medicaid-funded services to 169 clients.

The Minnesota charges were filed as part of National Health Care Fraud Takedown Day, a joint effort involving the Department of Justice and more than 40 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.

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North Dakota

NCAA Set to Change Unpopular Football Rule Just in Time for North Dakota State’s FBS Jump

Published

1 day ago

June 24, 2026

Press Room

NCAA Set to Change Unpopular Football Rule Just in Time for North Dakota State’s FBS Jump

North Dakota State playing in the FCS playoffs and College Football Playoff in back-to-back years? It’s likelier than you think.

That’s because on Wednesday, according to a report from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports, the NCAA Division I cabinet voted to repeal a rule that effectively barred teams transitioning from FCS to FBS from playing in postseason games in their first FBS seasons. The Bison are making that move along with Sacramento State in 2026.

The reported change has been a long time coming; the rule has hampered teams from immediate bowl eligibility for decades. Its good intentions of dissuading teams from rashly making the FCS-to-FBS leap have been rendered obsolete in recent years by the fact that programs generally arrive in FBS more prepared than ever before.

Consider the number of new FBS teams that have had to work within the provision in the past decade alone

Curt Cignetti’s James Madison program was impacted by the rule preventing teams transitioning up from FCS to play in the FBS postseason. | David Yeazell-Imagn Images

That list includes: Liberty (home for the holidays at 6–6 in 2018), James Madison (8–3 in 2022 under coach Curt Cignetti, and barely able to play in a bowl at 11–1 in ’23 due to a lack of bowl-eligible teams), Jacksonville State (8–4 in ’23 before backing in like the Dukes), Missouri State (7–5 in 2025, also backed in) and Delaware (6–6 in ’25, ditto).

James Madison in particular became a cause célèbre in ’23 because it started the season 10-0, climbing as high as No. 18 in the AP Poll in mid-November. Then-Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares bandied about suing the NCAA before the Dukes lost 26–23 to Appalachian State, an event that caused the program to back off and accept a bid to play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. James Madison lost that game 31–21, by which time Cignetti had left for Indiana.

There was a time when the FCS-to-FBS jump was an imposing one, and the NCAA did not want to incentivize making it lightly—not even a proud Florida A&M program could make a mid-2000s attempt at a jump stick. However, the Flames, Dukes and other teams have shown it’s not so great a climb for programs with the right resources and management.

Now the Bison and the Hornets stand to benefit.

How far can North Dakota State and Sacramento State go in the near term?

The Bison opened 12–0 last year before a shock loss to Illinois State in the FCS playoffs’ second round, so that question may answer itself. North Dakota State does not play a single Power 4 team—a potential strength-of-schedule albatross if it has designs on really surging. A potential roadblock: the fact that the Bison have to visit the Mountain West’s two favorites, UNLV (Oct. 10) and New Mexico (Oct. 24).

It’s a different story for the Hornets, a 7–5 squad a year ago whose move to the FBS is widely seen as a gamble on their growth potential. Sacramento State also does not play a major-conference team, but has a breakneck travel schedule ahead of it—the Hornets will visit Ypsilanti, Mich.; Bowling Green, Ohio; Muncie, Ind.; Mount Pleasant, Mich. and Honolulu. Combine that with a first-year coach—Oakland native and ex-MC Hammer choreographer Alonzo Carter—and it could be a long FBS debut in California’s capital.