North Dakota
How do y’all deal with ‘the road’?
Travel is a bear, and not pleasant, outside of drifting down rural roads towards the goal of seeing something special.
It consumes the-ever-more-precious gasoline, saps energy and is a vacuum of the only commodity nothing can fill: Time.
Yeah, it makes no sense to the outside observer how y’all deal with sports in North Dakota, and being here might lead to investing in oil stocks while diversifying into Goodyear or Michelin to hedge your bets. It takes a great amount of energy to be an athlete in “the 701,” and you kids might wanna express some gratitude for the parents who sit in the stands to appreciate your talents. (Do it now, young-uns.)
For the imbecile sportswriter, it’s a challenge. But I appreciate your hard-work towards what might seem ephemeral efforts. Don’t get me wrong … I’m selfish and get paid-well for what I do, but it’s astounding the lengths you go-to in-order to satisfy relatively minor goals. So-far as I can tell, you athletes, parents, (especially grandparents) and schools deserve a massive level of gratitude.
I heard recently that in rural communities they accommodate the travel-time by hosting half-squad practices in the gyms at co-op schools to deal with mid-week nonsense and that blew me away. In the interest of working-out with your team(s), you split interests to manage the act of being part of effort? Four prep athletes separate from 7 other teammates because of the sundial, while recognizing how important the workouts are?
Just, wow.
For the goofballs who don’t recognize how important “sports” are, that should show them what lengths people go to in the pursuit of being “teammates.” The team is everything; the team leads to success; the team is who you trust when the chips are down. Honestly, I have enjoyed great teammates and crummy ones, benefited from the hard-work of the one and decried the lack-of-impact of another. You-know-whom-you are: You’re either part of the team, or you aren’t.
As an adult, working in any environment, I can tell the people who stood in the high-school hallways — looking-cool-while-not-being-cool — from those who sweat for the gain. The tragic lack of character that foments the mindset of not-caring is foreign to me, and while I recognize those who cannot be part of the game because of a lack-of-skill it doesn’t mean ya cannot try, no?
Rural North Dakota cannot be satisfied by “specialization,” as it pertains to the big-city landscape. Let’s say you care ONLY about hockey, and invest 100 hours-per-week towards those goals and only wanna focus on the one sport? If you’re talented, people depend on you … it’s your obligation to satisfy-the-demand, because you CAN. Truth-be-told, it’s not up to you. Those of you who grew up here know what I’m talking about, and it’s not a matter of pride. It’s a matter of necessity.
In rural Ohio during the 1960s, they let my Dad run track at meets outside baseball-game-days because they needed him and he did it because he could.
I have a buddy called “Fuzzy” from Nebraska, and his description of that hometown is similar to Bowman: “There was nothing-else to do,” so that’s-what they did. I can think of roughly 25 things that are more destractive (and participated in roughly 5 or so), and I wish I wouldn’t-a been so selfish. Three-sport athletes were the norm for “Fuzzy” and his school in Nebraska, not the exception.
While it would be fun to “Spider-Man” people into the understanding (“With great power comes great responsibility”) of community, it’s obvious some get-it while others don’t. What’s incumbent on us all is that there are many jobs that only can be accomplished by roughly 10% of us.
Be part of the 10%; that’s my advice.
YOU know who you are; look in the mirror and tell me it’s not true. I know the high-school parents who travel all-over-heaven’s-half-acre to satisfy the demand, and they ain’t doing it for themselves. While I recognize they should invest in gas-stocks and tire-rubber, they prolly don’t … it’s because their personal-investment matters.
Yes, some of it is a desire for the halcyon days of their youths and occasionally because they need something to do on a Tuesday-, Thursday- or Friday-night, but it’s mostly because they know athletics make their children better- and more-altruistic people. And because they truly FEEL it.
I dunno about you, but I would rather feel-something than feel-nothing. Also, it’s a preference to recall success and know what it built in myself.
But: The work comes first. And it’s gratifying to see people willing to toil, travel, and I’m looking forward to seeing you out there. Y’all matter.
Gaylon is a sportswriter who originally is from Jensen Beach, Fla. and his column appears weekly. He can be reached at
gparker@thedickinsonpress.com
and/or 701-456-1213.
Gaylon is a sportswriter from Jensen Beach, Fla., but has lived all over the world. Growing up with an athletic background gave him a love of sports that led to a journalism career in such places as Enid, Okla., Alamogordo, N.M., Pascagoula, Miss. and Viera, Fla. since 1998. His main passion is small-town community sports, particularly baseball and soccer.
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.
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