North Dakota

Griggs County Sheriff and Chief Deputy are first female duo in North Dakota

Published

8 months ago

April 5, 2025

Griggs County Sheriff and Chief Deputy are first female duo in North Dakota

COOPERSTOWN, N.D. — They are one of the smallest sheriff’s departments in North Dakota, but the Griggs County Sheriff’s Office has made state history.

Sheriff Amberly Michaelis and Chief Deputy Danielle Bjorlie are the first female sheriff and chief deputy duo in North Dakota.

Griggs County might look like any other small-town department, but Michaelis and Bjorlie are breaking new ground in law enforcement.

“I never would have guessed it,” Michaelis said.

“Honorable to think we did that here in Griggs County,” she added.

This marks the second time Michaelis has served as sheriff in Griggs County. Her law enforcement career began 15 years ago in Florida.

“At the end of the day, the way we can help people and try to better our community is really what it’s all about,” Michaelis said.

Bjorlie, who has been in law enforcement since 2007, echoed the sentiment. She comes from a family of first responders.

“When I was little, I talked about this the other day, I climbed in the back of my dad’s car when he was responding to a grass fire because I wanted to see what was going on … one of the other firemen ratted me out because he saw me peeking my head over,” Bjorlie said.

Neither woman focuses much on being a female officer.

“You just go out and do your job every day. I don’t really get much flak from other people as being a female,” Michaelis said.

“No one really treats us differently, there’s maybe been a handful of times when it has happened,” Bjorlie said.

In addition to keeping the community safe, the two women are focused on building strong connections with local children, hoping to inspire future leaders.

“Try to be that role model for them like I had for me, just trying to do the best I can so that other kids might be interested,” said Bjorlie.

“I hope that females can look at us as role models and it can open their eyes that they can do whatever they put their mind to,” Michaelis said.

The Hettinger County Sheriff’s Office recently became the second in state history to have both a female sheriff and chief deputy. Sheriff Sarah Warner is the longest-serving female sheriff in North Dakota with 15 years of service.

Matt Henson is an Emmy award-winning reporter/photographer/editor for WDAY. Prior to joining WDAY in 2019, Matt was the main anchor at WDAZ in Grand Forks for four years.

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North Dakota

Pepperdine hosts North Dakota State following Koenen’s 22-point game

Published

3 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Pepperdine hosts North Dakota State following Koenen’s 22-point game

North Dakota State Bison (8-2) at Pepperdine Waves (7-2)

Malibu, California; Tuesday, 5 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: North Dakota State visits Pepperdine after Avery Koenen scored 22 points in North Dakota State’s 83-55 victory against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.

The Waves are 4-0 on their home court. Pepperdine is 1-0 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 18.2 turnovers per game.

The Bison are 3-0 on the road. North Dakota State scores 77.4 points and has outscored opponents by 15.3 points per game.

Pepperdine averages 8.1 made 3-pointers per game, 2.8 more made shots than the 5.3 per game North Dakota State gives up. North Dakota State averages 6.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.1 fewer made shots on average than the 7.3 per game Pepperdine allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Seleh Harmon averages 2.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Waves, scoring 10.4 points while shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc. Elli Guiney is shooting 47.3% and averaging 14.4 points.

Molly Lenz averages 1.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Bison, scoring 7.8 points while shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc. Koenen is averaging 18.2 points, 10 rebounds and 1.6 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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North Dakota

North Dakota lawmakers from West Fargo announce bid for reelection

Published

16 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

North Dakota lawmakers from West Fargo announce bid for reelection

WEST FARGO — Three incumbents from West Fargo will run for reelection to their state legislative seats.

North Dakota Sen. Judy Lee and Reps. Jim Jonas and Austen Schauer, all Republicans, announced Sunday, Dec. 14, that they would campaign to represent District 13 in the state Legislature. The district covers much of north West Fargo.

Austin Schauer.

Special to The Forum

Lee was first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 1994. Jonas and Schauer have served in the state House since 2023 and 2019, respectively.

The three ran unopposed in the 2022 election. The next election for their seats is in 2026.

Jim Jonas, candidate for West Fargo School Board. Michael Vosburg / Forum Photo Editor — Jim Jonas.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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North Dakota

Bids awarded for construction of Highway 85

Published

1 day ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Bids awarded for construction of Highway 85

WATFORD CITY, N.D. (KUMV) – The North Dakota Department of Transportation awarded more than 150 million dollars in bids to continue expanding highway 85 south of Watford City.

More than $83.8 million will go to Park Construction out of Minneapolis for one segment. It covers about five and a half miles south of the Long X Bridge, going through another section of the badlands. It’s expected to be a three-year project due to the rough terrain.

The next segment covers 12 and a half miles south from the badlands to the highway 200 intersection. The winning bid went to Strata out of Grand Forks for $61.7 million. It will be a two-year project.

Funding for these projects were provided by both the state and federal government.

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