North Dakota

North Dakota Game and Fish Department encourages deer testing

Published

1 year ago

October 27, 2024

North Dakota Game and Fish Department encourages deer testing

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – In this week’s segment of North Dakota Outdoors, Mike Anderson tells us HOW deer hunters can participate in the chronic wasting disease surveillance program this fall.

Chronic wasting disease is a fatal brain disease of deer, moose and elk. Even though CWD has a low prevalence in North Dakota, the Game and Fish Department wants deer hunters in the 2024 surveillance units to get their deer tested.

“We’ll have collection sites set up during the rifle season up in the northeast and in 3B2 unit,” said Mason Ryckman, wildlife health biologist. “And so, it will just give the opportunity to hunters to drop off their deer heads at those collection sites.”

Hunters inside or outside the surveillance units can get their deer tested by requesting a self-sampling kit at gf.nd.gov, or by dropping off their deer heads at a Game and Fish Department district office, or deer head collection sites in the surveillance units.

“So once a hunter submits a sample, we get back to the lab, we’ll sample that deer and get that sample off to the diagnostic lab for testing. And from there, roughly a hunter can expect about four weeks to get their results back,” said Ryckman. “Those results will show up underneath their account on our Game and Fish website, and it’ll show up as an inbox message.”

The Game and Fish Department each deer season samples a quarter of the state as part of surveillance efforts.

“Our prevalence right now with CWD is relatively low in North Dakota. We do not want to see it spike up, and that’s why we’re conducting these management practices and doing our surveillance every year,” said Ryckman. “So just to kind of get an idea of the prevalence in the state and how to best manage to keep that prevalence somewhat low.”

It’s important for hunters to participate in the CWD surveillance efforts every year.

“Hunters can help by getting their deer tested and hopefully we can keep healthy deer herds on our landscape for future generations,’ said Ryckman.

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North Dakota

As ACA tax credits expire, a North Dakota rural hospital braces for 2026

Published

7 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

As ACA tax credits expire, a North Dakota rural hospital braces for 2026

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – With federal health care tax credits set to expire, rural hospitals in the state warn the ripple effect could strain their budgets while they are already operating on thin margins.

The Emergency Department at Jamestown Regional Medical Center is gearing up for more patients to come into their doors, uninsured, starting Jan. 1.

“We could be affected as early as January of the coming year. So it would happen very, very quickly. And nobody really knows what’s going to happen,” said Mike Delfs, the CEO of Jamestown Regional Medical Center.

Many rural residents are on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Since premiums are predicted to spike significantly, some people will drop insurance, and they will be forced to go to the ER when they get sick. Hospitals cannot refuse emergency patients, and will have to shoulder the cost on thin margins.

“We would be looking at anticipated bad debt, but to what degree we don’t even know, and it is kind of scary to think about,” said Delfs.

Hospital leadership and staff say that the uncertainty is wearing on them, on top of the common stressors rural providers have to deal with.

As of now, they say their best bet is to hope that Congress can put aside partisan differences and come up with a solution.

“We have real people who are either going to lose their insurance or its going to get so expensive they literally can’t afford it. And the downstream effect of that is now you are endangering hospitals in rural locations just by their mere viability,” said Delfs.

According to hospital leadership, without congressional action in 2026, the end of the year could leave the hospital with nearly one million dollars in unpaid medical bills.

North Dakota’s Republican congressional delegation says the Rural Health Transformation Fund will greatly benefit rural hospitals and blames democrats for voting against their healthcare plan.

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North Dakota

Pepperdine hosts North Dakota State following Koenen’s 22-point game

Published

19 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Pepperdine hosts North Dakota State following Koenen’s 22-point game

North Dakota State Bison (8-2) at Pepperdine Waves (7-2)

Malibu, California; Tuesday, 5 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: North Dakota State visits Pepperdine after Avery Koenen scored 22 points in North Dakota State’s 83-55 victory against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.

The Waves are 4-0 on their home court. Pepperdine is 1-0 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 18.2 turnovers per game.

The Bison are 3-0 on the road. North Dakota State scores 77.4 points and has outscored opponents by 15.3 points per game.

Pepperdine averages 8.1 made 3-pointers per game, 2.8 more made shots than the 5.3 per game North Dakota State gives up. North Dakota State averages 6.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.1 fewer made shots on average than the 7.3 per game Pepperdine allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Seleh Harmon averages 2.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Waves, scoring 10.4 points while shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc. Elli Guiney is shooting 47.3% and averaging 14.4 points.

Molly Lenz averages 1.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Bison, scoring 7.8 points while shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc. Koenen is averaging 18.2 points, 10 rebounds and 1.6 steals.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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North Dakota

North Dakota lawmakers from West Fargo announce bid for reelection

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

North Dakota lawmakers from West Fargo announce bid for reelection

WEST FARGO — Three incumbents from West Fargo will run for reelection to their state legislative seats.

North Dakota Sen. Judy Lee and Reps. Jim Jonas and Austen Schauer, all Republicans, announced Sunday, Dec. 14, that they would campaign to represent District 13 in the state Legislature. The district covers much of north West Fargo.

Austin Schauer.

Special to The Forum

Lee was first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 1994. Jonas and Schauer have served in the state House since 2023 and 2019, respectively.

The three ran unopposed in the 2022 election. The next election for their seats is in 2026.

Jim Jonas, candidate for West Fargo School Board. Michael Vosburg / Forum Photo Editor — Jim Jonas.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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