North Dakota
In last year of co-op, Four Winds-Minnewaukan beats Oak Grove to reach state tourney
FARGO — It’s not over yet for the long-standing co-op of Four Winds-Minnewaukan in northeast North Dakota. The two communities will be packing their suitcases one more weekend for a trip to the North Dakota Division A state boys basketball tournament.
They won’t have to go far from the Scheels Center, where the Indians defeated Fargo Oak Grove 60-50 Saturday afternoon in a state play-in game. The state tourney is across the street March 19-21 at the Fargodome.
It’s the final year for the Indians, with Four Winds going on its own and dropping to Division B while Minnewaukan will pair up with Warwick. It’s turning this season into somewhat of a going-away party.
“Most of these kids, they’re all friends, they’ve all grown up together,” said Indians head coach Rick Smith. “It’s a little sad in a way that we won’t get to see their kids anymore. It is what it is. It’s something out of our control but we have to move on and keep our focus on Fargo again next weekend.”
At 22-3, there have been plenty of victory celebrations.
It was looking easy for another one leading 48-34 early in the fourth quarter, until the Grovers scored seven straight to make things interesting. It was still a seven-point game with 3:15 left.
Anna Paige / The Forum
But Oak Grove went scoreless from that point until Ryder Soper’s steal and dunk with 29 seconds remaining. It was a double-digit lead at that point for the Indians.
“Too big of a hole in the first half and they won some battles and hit some shots when they had to,” said Oak Grove head coach Kyle Card. “We came out the second half and took it to them a little bit but they stretched it out too much.”
The last state appearance for the Indians was 2022 when they won the Class B championship, before getting moved to Division A the last three seasons. No longer will they have to watch teams on TV in the state tournament they’ve beaten during the season.
“We thought there might be a Class A jinx for a bit,” Smith said. “You have to be playing your best basketball come region time. Every region game is going to be a dogfight. The key tonight was to come out with a quick start and that’s exactly what we did. You can’t take these for granted because they don’t come around too often.”
Marial Deng, a 6-foot-5 University of North Dakota football recruit, led the way with 22 points. Four Winds-Minnewaukan showed some balance with eight players scoring.
Anna Paige / The Forum
Oak Grove finished 15-10, with the Grovers winning six of its previous eight heading into Saturday. Four Winds-Minnewaukan beat Oak Grove by 30 in the first game of the year, so there was that gauge of improvement.
“Just the way this team battled all year, from where we were when we got beat by 30,” Card said. “It’s a testament to our seniors and how hard they worked but we have a good group coming back.”
FW-M 19 36 47 60
Oak Grove 12 24 34 50
FW-M: Deng 22, Dubois 5, Black Jr. 2, Alberts 4, Delorme 7, Jackson Jr. 9, Lohnes 9.
OAK GROVE: Saunders 19, Koenig 6, Thomsen 2, Olson 8, Meidinger 4, Soper 11.
Anna Paige / The Forum
The season isn’t over yet for Wahpeton, who put the clamps on the Spoilers with a relentless defensive effort in the second Division A play-in game of the day. The Huskies advance to next week’s state tournament at the Fargodome holding Grafton to a season low in points.
“That says a lot of how we like to guard,” said Wahpeton head coach Jeff Ralph. “We don’t always guard that way but tonight we did.
Wahpeton won 13 of 15 heading into the game including defeating Valley City in the Region 1 third place game to reach the play-in game against the Spoilers, the Region 2 runnerup.
A 20-point second quarter boosted the Huskies to a 31-18 halftime lead with the trio of Brayden Steffens, Cooper Koolmo and Jack Gilbertson with eight points each.
A Steffens 3-pointer halfway through the third quarter made it an 18-point Huskies lead. The 6-foot- senior guard led the way with 19 points.
At one point 5-4 and not much going right, Wahpeton heads back to state where it was last year with momentum with a 19-6 record.
“We couldn’t make a basket, we couldn’t make a free throw and we really didn’t guard or rebound for a while in the beginning of January,” Ralph said. “But we got all that stuff fixed.”
Wahpeton 11 31 45 61
Grafton 6 18 30 43
Anna Paige / The Forum
Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough,” “Covid Kids” and “They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel.” He is also the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.
North Dakota
Fire burns at Pallet Green Recycling storage yard in rural Williston
WILLISTON, N.D. (KFYR) – UPDATE (5/10/2026 at 11:45 p.m.): A fire broke out at a Williston recycling business Sunday evening, and no one was injured.
Multiple crews responded to Pallet Green Recycling just before 8:30 p.m., according to the Williston Fire Department. Crews arrived at the scene where they fought heavy smoke and flames.
Industrial storage containers were on scene, and officials say it is unclear what, if any, chemical residue was inside them. Officials believe there is no danger to the public.
Williston Fire Chief Corey Johnson said the fire was contained to the business’s exterior storage yard, and crews were not concerned about it spreading beyond the property.
“Right now, the structures are protected in the area. We’re not concerned about the fire spreading off of the lot,” Johnson said.
Multiple departments from across Williams County responded, and extra water trucks were brought in due to the fire’s remote location.
The cause remains under investigation.
This is a developing story. Your News Leader will provide updates as more information becomes available.
ORIGINAL STORY (5/10/2026 at 9:39 p.m.): Crews responded to a large fire at a storage yard in rural Williston on Sunday night.
The fire is located at Pallet Green Recycling, according to the business owner.
Sylvia Luebke captured video of the scene from a distance around 8 p.m. The fire sent a large plume of smoke over the area. Luebke said it was still burning as of around 9 p.m.
Williston Rural Fire is working to battle the fire. The department was unable to comment at this time.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
Copyright 2026 KFYR. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
ND Guard officer in charge of DC special mission
Submitted Photo
U.S. soldiers with the Nebraska and North Dakota National Guards, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, pose for a group photo at a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, April 28. N.D. National Guard 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, front row, far left, served as the officer in charge of the mission when soldiers assigned to JTF-DC responded to the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner April 25. About 2,500 National Guard members are supporting the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, providing critical assistance to the Metropolitan Police Department to help ensure the safety of residents, commuters and visitors throughout the District. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Norris.
WASHINGTON – U.S. soldiers with the North Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska Army National Guard, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, responded to a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner (WHCAD) at the Washington Hilton in Northwest Washington April 25.
The Guardsmen were at the WHCAD at the request of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) as an additional patrol unit created specifically for the event, which celebrates the contribution of news organizations and independent journalists alike who provide notable coverage relating to the presidential administration.
“Our mission was to assist the U.S. Secret Service with crowd control,” said Capt. Kevin Peatrowsky, an operations officer with the Nebraska National Guard (NENG) assigned to JTF-DC.
As the Guardsmen were monitoring their area of operations, they saw USSS agents sprint toward the hotel entrance.
“They were running full speed with their weapons drawn,” said Sgt. 1st. Class Allen Haney, a team member with the Arkansas National Guard. “We immediately followed suit.”
Staff Sgt. Kirsten Confer, a NENG combat medic and battle captain, recalled her response to the incident: “We fell back on our basic training. You run toward danger and move in a way that makes sense for the situation.”
According to Confer, the Guardsmen entered the hotel and immediately began securing the scene and ensured that the guests evacuated safely. At the direction of a federal agent, Confer began a rapid trauma assessment on the suspect which resulted in finding knives and ammunition on the shooter. Simultaneously, the Arkansas soldiers moved outside to provide crowd control at a pedestrian barricade outside the hotel.
“From there, we assisted wherever we could,” said 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, a National Guardsman from North Dakota who served as the officer in charge for the mission. “We were initially helping with crowd control. After that, we realized that the USSS had begun rerouting everyone in the hotel, so we moved to the doors. We were controlling entry into the venue, so we had moved a couple more people outside, so we had five inside, eight outside.” Both Arkansas and Nebraska worked well alongside one another and, alongside the federal agencies. Hill also noted that relying on his soldiers allowed him to move to different teams, which helped allow him to plan and coordinate with different agencies.
According to 1st Lt. Jonathan Goins, a platoon leader with the Arkansas National Guard, Arkansas soldiers also helped establish a security perimeter for the staging of the presidential motorcade. Later, the team assisted federal agencies and MPD with crowd control, which helped clear the way for the president and administration officials, he said.
“Guardsmen on this mission represent the very best of the nation,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, the interim commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard. “The world got a brief glimpse, but I see them each day serving and doing amazing things across the District.”
North Dakota
Stampede stay alive with 2-1 OT win in Fargo
FARGO, N.D. (KELO) — The Sioux Falls Stampede staved off elimination with a 2-1 overtime win over the Fargo Force in game four of the USHL Western Conference Finals Saturday night.
Thomas Zocco scored the game-winner 12 minutes into the extra period. Arseni Marchenko put Fargo on the board first in the first period. Noah Mannausau tied the game for the Herd in the second period.
Sioux Falls outshot Fargo 53-49, including 9-5 in overtime. Linards Feldbergs made 48 saves.
Three of the four games of the series have gone to overtime. The winner-take-all game five is Tuesday at the Premier Center.
-
Massachusetts18 seconds agoSmoke from North Attleborough fire visible for miles
-
Minnesota7 minutes agoMinnesota gas prices surge: Twin Cities hits $4.18, costs climb $1.28 from 2025
-
Mississippi12 minutes ago
Vote Clarion Ledger Mississippi girls high school athlete of the week May 4-9
-
Missouri19 minutes agoJudge denies Missouri AG’s bid to immediately halt 7-OH kratom sales by American Shaman
-
Montana25 minutes agoHalf a million absentee ballots sent to Montana voters for primary election • Daily Montanan
-
Nebraska31 minutes agoInside America’s Only Federal Quarantine Unit for Hantavirus Cruise Passengers
-
Nevada37 minutes agoWhat hikers should do if they spot a rattlesnake in Nevada
-
New Hampshire43 minutes ago
Newly naturalized US citizens pledge allegiance in Exeter, N.H., where revolutionaries made history – The Boston Globe