North Dakota
North Dakota Native American Hall of Honor inducts new members • North Dakota Monitor
The North Dakota Native American Hall of Honor welcomed several new inductees Friday — including a superintendent, a former Bureau of Indian Affairs attorney, two accomplished athletes and the 1997-98 United Tribes Technical College basketball team.
The four individuals who were inducted are all members of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. The basketball team included players from the Cheyenne River, Fort Berthold, Turtle Mountain, Crow and Omaha reservations.
Two inductees received the Hall of Honor’s leadership award: Marc Bluestone Sr., former superintendent of New Town Public Schools, and tribal law attorney Thomas Fredericks.
Bluestone, who is now retired, worked for the school district for more than three decades. Student attendance, graduation rates and test scores all improved under his tenure.
Bluestone advocated for a law passed by the 2021 Legislature requiring all North Dakota primary middle schools to teach Native history, and he has helped develop numerous educational resources on the subject.
Fredericks received a leadership award for his work as a Native American rights lawyer.
He said he first developed an interest in tribal law when he became the director of Standing Rock Sioux Reservation’s Community Action Agency in the 1960s. The agencies were established as part of former President Lydon Johnson’s Administration’s War on Poverty in the 1960s.
“It was a very, very eye-opening time,” Fredericks said.
In 1970, Fredericks helped start the University of Boulder School of Law’s American Indian Law Program.
He later served as associate solicitor for Indian Affairs — the first Native American to hold the position — and assistant secretary of Indian Affairs under President Jimmy Carter.
Fredericks also helped start the National Native American Bar Association and is a founder and former executive director of the Native American Rights Fund. He retired in 2020.
Terry Kraft received a sports award for winning state titles in high school football, basketball and track.
MHA Chairman Mark Fox, who grew up with Kraft in Parshall, described him as a “natural athlete.”
Both reminisced about playing sports outside regardless of the weather.
“In a small town on a reservation, that’s all you did was play,” Kraft said.
Kraft served as a caretaker for Minot High School for nearly four decades, according to his nomination. He also coached junior high and tackle football for Minot Middle School and flag football for the Minot YMCA.
Rusty Gillette of Bismarck earned a sports award for his success as a high school basketball player, coach and powwow dancer.
His former coach at Bismarck High School, Steve Miller, described him not only as a star athlete, but someone of “great character.”
“Rusty took great pride in being a team player,” Miller said.
Gillette is also an accomplished graphic artist and business owner, his nomination notes.
The 12 members of the United Tribes Technical College basketball team were also recognized Friday night: Lonny White Eyes, Joe Howe, Dusty Traversie, Robert Webster, Galen Eberhard, Jon Derby, Travis Albers, Tanner Albers, Lee Logg, Jason Logg, Erik Abbey and Aron Abbey.
It was the first UTTC team to qualify for the National Junior College Athletic Association finals. The team is also remembered for achieving the program’s first 20-win season.
“That team, at that time — what they did was unheard of,” said former coach Kevin Finley. Gillette also coached the team.
The North Dakota Native American Hall of Honor is a collaboration between the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, the State Historical Society of North Dakota and the State Historical Society Foundation. In addition to leadership and sports, the Hall of Honor also recognizes individuals for military service and arts and culture. An exhibit honoring inductees is on display at the North Dakota Heritage Center.
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Filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court
North Dakota
Kaitlyn Grace Lucier, Fargo, Chapter 7
Samuel Todd Hicks, formerly known as Thomas Samuel Hicks, Fargo, Chapter 7
Teresa and Dominik Renwick, Fargo, Chapter 13
Susan Renee Fuller, formerly known as Susan R. Schaffer, doing business as Susie’s Sparkling Cleaning Service, Fargo, Chapter 7
Shannon Lynn Taylor, Fargo, Chapter 7
Jesse Patrick and Jaime Elizabeth Brown, Williston, Chapter 7
Kerri Lee Weishaar, Minot, Chapter 7
Terry Marie Moritz, Valley City, Chapter 7
Joshua Allen Sewill, Hatton, Chapter 7
Bryan Eugene Flecker, Minot, Chapter 7
Anna Marie Rahm, formerly known as Anna Marie Tanner, and Joshua Edward Rahm, Bismarck, Chapter 13
Sherri Rae Fisher, Baldwin, Chapter 13
Heather Lynn McElroy, formerly known as Heather Anderson, Grand Forks, Chapter 7
Kaitlyn Autrey, Grand Forks, Chapter 7
Michelle Lynn Miller, Fargo, Chapter 13
Kimberly Georgeann Callahan, Fargo, Chapter 13
Erin Elaine and Jose Luiz Murphy, Bismarck, Chapter 7
Shelly and Kieth Quimby, St. Thomas, Chapter 7
Minnesota
Bankruptcy filings from the following counties: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail, Polk, Traverse, Wadena and Wilkin.
David Howard Gilpin, Osakis, Chapter 7
Timothy Virgil Hoag, Moorhead, Chapter 7
Jason Darryl Dykhoff, Ottertail, Chapter 7
Zachary Nicholas Hodgson and Jolynn Beth Warnes, formerly known as Jolynn Beth Hodgson, Kensington, Chapter 7
Riley Matthew Hinman, Alexandria, Chapter 7
Layne Christopher Condiff, Park Rapids, Chapter 13
Thomas Beecher Hoyer, Menahga, Chapter 13
Christine Karen Jakubek, also known as Cristine Anderson, Chapter 7
Chapter 7 is a petition to liquidate assets and discharge debts.
Chapter 11 is a petition for protection from creditors and to reorganize.
Chapter 12 is a petition for family farmers to reorganize.
Chapter 13 is a petition for wage earners to readjust debts.
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North Dakota
Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – On Friday, North Dakota U.S. Senator John Hoeven, Governor Kelly Armstrong and Health and Human Services Commissioner Pat Traynor explained how the state plans to use millions of dollars from the Big Beautiful Bill’s Rural Health Transformation Fund to transform healthcare across the state.
They spoke extensively about the special session to allocate the funds, and confirmed that it is still tentatively set for Jan. 21.
The Big Beautiful Bill allocated $25 billion for rural healthcare nationwide. North Dakota received $500 million for five years and $200 million for the first year. There is still another $25 billion left to be spent, and North Dakota is hoping to receive an extra $500 million.
“I truly believe that with the plan we’re putting in place and the things we built that line up with that, we’ll get a billion dollars over five years,” said Hoeven.
Federal rules require the state to lock in contracts for the money by October first— a deadline officials say is driving the need for a special session.
In the first year, North Dakota will focus on retention grants to keep existing staff, technical assistance and consultants for rural hospitals, as well as telehealth equipment and home patient monitoring.
Governor Armstrong says the special session will include policy bills tied to how much federal rural health funding the state can earn.
“We’re going to have a physical fitness test for physical education courses, nutrition education, continuing education requirement for physicians, physician assistant licensure compact—which North Dakota has been doing, dealing with that since the heart of the oil boom and moving forward—and then an expanded scope of practice for pharmacists,” said Armstrong.
Hundreds of millions of dollars could reshape healthcare in rural North Dakota, and state leaders say the next few weeks are key to receiving and spending that money wisely.
The governor says he only wants to focus on bills related to the Rural Health Transformation Program during the special session and doesn’t intend to deal with other state issues during that time.
Copyright 2026 KFYR. All rights reserved.
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