Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

FARGO — Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in North Dakota aged 10 to 24, a sobering statistic The 463 Foundation is determined to change.

The foundation, created by Todd and Elizabeth Medd after losing their son Liam to suicide in 2021, hosted a suicide prevention night at Discovery Middle School on Tuesday, Jan. 14. The event emphasized the importance of mental health awareness and reducing stigma.

“Our goal is to make sure that one person hears the right message or the message at the right time,” said Todd Medd, co-founder of the foundation. “With that message, they can either use it for themselves or share it with others as well.”

The Medd family spoke to students and parents about warning signs such as self-segregation or sudden behavioral changes and highlighted studies showing teen suicides can often be impulsive, with 25% of cases occurring within five minutes of the first thought.

Todd Medd emphasized the power of open dialogue. “Vulnerability breeds vulnerability,” he said. “When you share your challenges, it opens the door for deeper conversations with your kids.”

The 463 Foundation will continue its efforts to spread hope and awareness, including its fourth annual baseball tournament in June to support Fargo youth baseball and promote its mission.

MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – Farmers and ranchers work with their hands, but sometimes the biggest issue is not having enough.

President-elect Donald Trump will soon be taking office and bringing changes to immigration laws.

When needing an extra hand, producers seek assistance from migrant workers.

These workers go through the H-2A program, granting temporary employment for performing agricultural labor.

Ag Commissioner Doug Goehring said in 2023, North Dakota received 4,600 migrant workers, and that number is expected to grow.

“The margins are even slimmer, so now you have to produce more and you have to produce more acres because of what’s happened with family living,” said Goehring.

He said concerns in the agriculture community aren’t necessarily about immigration, but rather with the Department of Labor, with producers facing lengthy wait periods for paperwork to go through.

“I brought these issues to Sonny Perdue, the Secretary of Agriculture at that time, he actually helped streamline the process,” said Goehring.

He said the public sometimes conflates the issues of illegal immigration and of legal migrants following the correct steps to work here.

“Sometimes the public doesn’t quite understand that, so they think H-2A workers are some of the illegals that are coming across the border. They’re not,” said Goehring.

Goehring added he hopes issues with backlogs in the Labor Department will change when the new administration takes over.

Goehring also addressed the concern of migrant workers taking jobs from American citizens.

He said the processes migrants and employers go through allows plenty of opportunities for American citizens to apply and be hired.

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BISMARCK – A bill introduced Monday, Jan. 13, in the North Dakota Legislature would prevent the Game and Fish Department from using hunting and fishing license dollars or application fees for research or management related to chronic wasting disease.

Introduced by

Reps. Bill Tveit, R-Hazen,

and

Dori Hauck, R-Hebron,

HB 1236

would require that the department use license and application fees only for programs and administration not related to CWD.

“Hunting and fishing license fees and application fees … may be used only for department programs and administration unrelated to chronic wasting disease,” the bill states.

Sens.

Mark Enget, R-Powers Lake,

and

Paul Thomas, R-Velva,

are carrying the legislation in the Senate.

The bill marks the

second proposed legislation so far this session

to limit the Game and Fish Department in its efforts to manage CWD, a neurological disease that is always fatal to deer, elk and moose. On Jan. 7,

Sen. Keith Boehm, R-Mandan,

introduced

SB 2137,

a bill that would prevent the Game and Fish Department from prohibiting or restricting the use of supplemental feed on private land – a practice more commonly known as baiting – for big game hunting. A similar bill was introduced during the 2023 legislative session and overwhelmingly passed the House before being narrowly defeated in the Senate during the closing days of the session.

SB 2137 has its first committee hearing at 10:20 a.m. Friday, Jan. 17, before the Senate Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee. Anyone interested in

submitting testimony on the bill

can do so on the North Dakota legislative branch website at ndlegis.gov and doing a search for SB 2137 in the “Find a bill” window. A hearing for HB 1236 hadn’t been scheduled as of Tuesday morning.