North Dakota
Multiple bills honor North Dakota veterans this session – KVRR Local News
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota News Cooperative) — The North Dakota Legislature is handling a number of bills to honor veterans this session, including seven to name roads and bridges after fallen North Dakota soldiers, and others that highlight current military members, prisoners of war, and service members who are missing in action.
The effort to rename North Dakota roads and bridges after fallen soldiers has “done a lot of healing and brought a spotlight to our vets here in North Dakota,” said Jim Nelson, the legislative director for the North Dakota Veterans Legislative Council.
House Bill 1228 would designate a portion of State Highway 5 and a bridge in Bottineau as the Lt. Cmdr. Carl J. Woods Vietnam bridge. Woods died on Sept. 28, 1965, near Qui Vinh, North Vietnam. After his helicopter was hit by antiaircraft fire, Woods flew the burning chopper 40 miles to the Gulf of Tonkin, where he bailed out before it crashed into the sea. Woods drowned before he could be rescued. A resident of Bottineau, Woods left behind his wife, son, and two daughters. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
House Bill 1212 would designate State Highway 18 from the intersection of State Highway 5 to the Canadian border as the Pfc. Henry Gurke Memorial Highway. Gurke was killed on Nov. 9, 1943, in Bougainville, Solomon Islands, when he smothered a grenade explosion with his body to protect nearby members of his unit from the blast. A native of Neche, Gurke is buried in the Union Cemetery there.
House Bill 1173 would designate the bridge on State Highway 31 north of New Salem as the Spc. Dennis “DJ” Ferderer Jr. Iraq Bridge. Ferderer was killed Nov. 2, 2005, in Duluiyah, Iraq. He enlisted in the Army after graduating from New Salem High School in 2003. His name is included on the Memorial to the Fallen in the Global War on Terrorism outside Fraine Barracks, which is the Bismarck headquarters of the North Dakota National Guard.
House Bill 1140 would designate the bridge on South State Avenue in Dickinson as the Spc. Jon P. Fettig Iraq Bridge. Fettig was killed in action outside Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on July 22, 2003. He was serving with the North Dakota Army National Guard’s 957th Engineer Company. He was the first North Dakota Army National Guard soldier killed in battle since the Korean War. Fettig’s name is included on the Memorial to the Fallen.
House Bill 1092 would designate the Carrington railroad overpass on U.S. Highway 52 as the Staff Sgt. Miles Shelley WWII Bridge. Shelley was killed April 1, 1944, in Bougainville, Solomon Islands, while serving with Company F, 164th Infantry Regiment. He received the Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart for his service in the Pacific theater. In Bougainville, he was killed after he called in an artillery strike on his own position so that the rest of his patrol could withdraw unharmed. He is buried in the Carrington Cemetery.
House Bill 1091 would designate the bridge on U.S. Highway 81 in Grafton as the Spc. 4 David Latraille Vietnam Bridge. Latraille was killed by enemy small arms fire on March 6, 1968, in Thua Thien, South Vietnam. He is buried in St. John’s Cemetery in Grafton.
House Bill 1090 would designate the bridge on State Highway 18 as the Spc. 4 Richard W. Orsund Vietnam Bridge. Orsund died on March 27, 1968, in Binh Duong, South Vietnam, from a metal fragment wound. He is buried in South Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Grafton.
During the 2023 legislative session, five bridges were named to honor veterans. These names provide lasting recognition and appreciation for local heroes who have given their life in a time of war while keeping their memory alive, recognizing the family they left behind, and allowing for community involvement, supporters say.
The 2025 Legislature’s efforts to honor veterans have not been restricted to naming roads and bridges.
House Bill 1293 would create a Burial Medallion Program for veterans’ graves. The medallion would be a small marker attached to an existing headstone or grave marker to indicate a veteran’s status. The bill passed the House 92-0 on Jan. 27. The Senate Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee is reviewing the bill.
House Bill 1403 designated Prisoner of War and Missing in Action Day as a state holiday by proclamation of the governor. POW/MIA Recognition Day honors and remembers the sacrifices of prisoners of war and service members who went missing in action. POW/ MIA Recognition Day is the third Friday in September and has been observed since 1979.
Under House Bill 1148, the governor will issue a proclamation on May 1 for Military Appreciation Month in honor of the men and women of the U.S. armed forces who have served and are still serving. Military Appreciation Month is in May of each year.
All of the veteran memorial bills have been approved by the House and will be considered by Senate committees.
(Story written by Ann Estvold – North Dakota News Cooperative)
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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