North Dakota
North Dakota family in Austria for Taylor Swift concert dismayed by cancellation over terror threat
VIENNA, Austria — A rural Cass County teenager who’s waited more than a year to see Taylor Swift in a concert overseas has had her hopes dashed, along with hundreds of thousands of others after shows there were canceled over a terror threat.
Nora Severance, 17, a senior this fall at Northern Cass High School, secured tickets for her family to the Eras Tour stop in Vienna, Austria, back in June 2023.
She, her mother and 19-year-old brother arrived there Tuesday night in advance of the show set for Thursday, Aug. 8, while her father stayed back to work on the farm.
The family learned late Wednesday night that the Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows at Ernst Happel Stadium would not go on because of an alleged plot to carry out a suicide attack outside of the concert venue.
Elisabeth Mandl / Reuters
Nora Severance woke up the next morning to a flurry of texts from her friends, wondering what was going on.
“I think it was the right call,” she said of the cancellation in a Thursday night phone call from Vienna.
Contributed / Nicole Severance
Nicole Severance was asked how she conversed with her children about the terror threat.
“Sadly, it’s something that they’ve grown up with their whole life, and so it’s just kind of a daily thing,” she said.
There was also a feeling of resignation about the concert cancellation.
“We can’t control everything,” she said.
A 19-year old man from Austria was arrested over the alleged plot to strike the Swift concert and made a full confession in custody,
Reuters reported.
The man swore allegiance to the Islamic State on the internet and had chemicals, technical devices and machetes at his home, said Franz Ruf, Austria’s general director for public security.
Two other Austrian youths aged 17 and 15 were also detained over the reported plot.
The 17-year-old had recently been hired at a company providing services at the stadium, according to security officials.
The three shows in Vienna were expected to draw 65,000 concertgoers each day, with an additional 10,000 to 15,000 fans gathering outside of the area, police said.
Coincidentally, the family toured Schönbrunn Palace on Wednesday, a former royal residence visited by thousands of people daily.
Nora Severance said it was weird that there were no metal detectors and their bags were not searched.
“We had that conversation yesterday, right prior to this being canceled,” her mother said.
Nora Severance said she was looking forward to arriving at the stadium early Thursday night in order to trade the friendship bracelets she had made and to meet new people.
Contributed / Nicole Severance
The first and last time she saw Taylor Swift in concert,
she was just eight years old.
Her mother had entered a sweepstakes and won free tickets and meet-and-greet access to the superstar on her
“1989” world tour stop at the Fargodome in October 2015.
Calling it a “really good experience,” the teenager said, “that’s kind of what made me start to listen to her music more and want to see her again.”
Her mom said she doesn’t consider herself a “Swiftie” but appreciates the positive messages that Swift brings to young girls through her music.
The family originally sought Swift concert tickets in the U.S., for Minneapolis or Kansas City, but they sold out quickly and resale ticket prices were far too expensive.
“It just financially made more sense to fly to Europe and make a trip out of it,” Nora Severance said.
Alyssa Goelzer/The Forum
They went for the Austria tour stop because it was one of the first European dates to go on sale.
The family secured standing tickets on the floor at the Vienna stadium for the original asking price of $100 apiece.
By comparison, the cheapest resale ticket prices for upcoming U.S. dates are going for around $2,500 a piece for “nosebleed” seats, Nora Severance said.
Swift’s next stop is Thursday, Aug. 15, at Wembley Stadium in London, where she has five shows scheduled.
People with tickets to the Vienna shows will be refunded within 10 business days, according to Swift’s website.
Nora Severance said her family will be in Europe for another 10 days, traveling to Hungary and Switzerland.
“We had things planned, thankfully, so we’ll make the best of it,” she said.
A new North Dakota Department of Public Instruction survey seeks statewide feedback on potential changes to how students are using technology.
Superintendent Levi Bachmeier, who
took over the state’s top education role
in November, said he hopes the survey results will inform policymakers on potential reforms to school-issued device policies across the state. During his first student Cabinet meeting, he said a Mandan freshman told him the devices needed to be a “tool, not a toy.”
“The world that these young people are inheriting requires them to use technology responsibly, but we know that these devices are just as addictive as substances,” Bachmeier said during a press conference Thursday. “And that can be just as true for the school-issued device in their hands as the cellphone they carry around in their pocket.”
North Dakota
banned the use of cellphones
during the school day during the 2025 legislative session, something Bachmeier said has received a near universal
positive response
during its first year in effect.
The cellphone ban triggered a migration of some students from using their cellphones to access YouTube and other social media sites to using their school-issued laptops or tablets, Bachmeier said.
The
survey
includes questions about restrictions on device usage in elementary school, a potential prohibition on taking devices home, built-in make-up days into school scheduling before using virtual instruction and whether the state should require districts to use monitoring software on the devices.
He added that some school districts already have monitoring software that tracks student technology usage, but it is not a uniform policy.
“It’s inconsistent,” Bachmeier said. “Our challenge is how do we find what’s the best that is going on in North Dakota and make that a reality for every student in our state.”
Sen. Michelle Axtman, R-Bismarck, a lawmaker who sponsored multiple education bills during the 2025 legislative session, said any potential reforms to technology policies should enhance instruction, support learning and allow students to develop interpersonal and critical-thinking skills.
“This effort today is not about eliminating technology from education,” Axtman said. “It’s about ensuring that technology serves learning rather than competes with it.”
Axtman said any potential changes to school device policies could be proposed during the 2027 legislative session and be implemented for the 2027-28 school year.
“By working towards clear statewide expectations for school-issued device use, we will help schools create learning environments that are more focused, more productive and healthier for students,” she said.
The
survey
can be filled out by any North Dakota student, parent, educator or community member through Aug. 1.
This story was originally published on NorthDakotaMonitor.com.
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VALLEY CITY — A truck hauling bees rolled over Thursday, May 28, on westbound Interstate 94 near mile marker 292 near Valley City, releasing millions of bees and closing the right lane of traffic.
The crash was reported at about 4:45 p.m. Thursday, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol. Officials said the westbound right-side lane was closed following the rollover.
Millions of bees were released in the crash, and beekeepers were called to the scene to help recover and contain the insects.
Officials said the cable barrier area marked where large groups of bees had clustered.
Drivers were asked to slow down, follow directions from emergency responders and give crews and the bees plenty of space while work continued at the scene.
WIBAUX, Mont. (KFYR) – Several fire departments from both North Dakota and Montana are fighting a grass fire about 40 miles south of Wibaux in the Pine Unit area.
The editor of the Wibaux Pioneer Gazette tells us no structures are in danger at this time, and the Wibaux, Beach, Golva and Glendive Fire Departments are working to put out the flames.
The public is asked to avoid the area at this time.
Copyright 2026 KFYR. All rights reserved.
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