North Dakota
Five Years Later: A look back at the early days of the pandemic in North Dakota
FARGO — March 11, 2025 is the five-year anniversary of North Dakota’s first confirmed case of COVID-19. What we didn’t know then is that it was the first of hundreds of thousands of cases for the state, and eventually, more than 100 million in America.
The state’s first case of Coronavirus was reported five years ago in Ward County.
In WDAY News’s 6 p.m. broadcast on March 11, 2020, there were reported supply shortages across the region. Stores across Fargo were out of toilet paper, and panic shopping was underway in Grand Forks.
The landscape of shortages changed dramatically over the pandemic, contributing to the global supply chain crisis that began in earnest the following year.
That same day, the Fargo VA began its first day of Coronavirus screenings, and West Fargo Public Schools canceled all out of state travel in March.
A particularly dramatic announcement came just two days after North Dakota reported its first COVID case. The North Dakota High School Activities Association suspended the winter tournament schedule. At that time, it was one of the few high school tournaments going on in the country. Those tournaments were eventually canceled for the year.
Area colleges transitioned to online classes. Then-Gov. Doug Burgum eventually announced K-12 schools would close for five days beginning March 16, while officials determined next steps. Classes resumed online on April 1 in Fargo. They remained online for the rest of the school year.
On March 13, President Donald Trump declared a national public emergency. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Burgum followed suit the same day.
“We’re taking a pragmatic, proactive, positive step, and again acting out of facts not out of fear,” Burgum said at the time.
Within a week, both governors ordered the closure of bars, restaurants and other entertainment venues via executive order. At the time, many of these were described as temporary measures. But as we all know, dramatic changes to our daily lives continued for years.
According to the latest data from the North Dakota Health and Human Services Vaccine Dashboard, just 10.5% of all people aged six months and older have been vaccinated for the 2024-2025 respiratory season. A total of 27.7% are up to date on their seasonal flu vaccinations.
Grand Forks Public Health epidemiologist Shawn McBride says the pandemic led to a lot of self reflection for people working in public health.
“We certainly saw an erosion of trust in public health agencies and health care providers during the pandemic,” McBride said.
He says the way people receive information has changed over time, and public health organizations need to adapt to those changes.
When it comes to improving the state vaccination rate, McBride points to reducing obstacles people may encounter when getting vaccinated.
“People need to take time off of work, or kids need to get away from school,” McBride said. “Sometimes those are things that are barriers that just don’t get people to go get that immunization. We need to make it easy for people, provide plenty of opportunities, and also make sure that there’s not a cost barrier as well.”
McBride emphasized that vaccines are safe, and effective, citing CDC data from a preliminary analysis of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness over the last respiratory season.
“it reduced the risk of hospitalizations by 45 to 46%,” McBride said. “In my mind, that’s a significant risk reduction. And we do all kinds of things every day to reduce our risk. We put a seat belt on, we make sure we’re driving the speed limit, or we’re asking kids to put on a bike helmet. It’s about reducing the overall risk to have severe outcomes from things when we encounter them.”
According to the CDC, there have been over 111 million cases of COVID-19 in the United States since 2020. Over 1.2 million Americans have died.
GRAND FORKS — A North Dakota composer’s dream is turning into a statewide invitation.
Williston-based musician Emily Black-Driscoll was chosen as the North Dakota Music Teachers Association’s commissioned composer for 2026. She’s preparing an original composition that will premiere in August.
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North Dakota
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.
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.”
North Dakota
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.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.
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