GRAND FORKS — Two Grand Forks residents are among six finalists to fill two seats on the state Board of Higher Education, State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler announced this week.

A nominating committee selected the six finalists, and the names will next go before Gov. Kelly Armstrong to make the final two appointments, which then must be confirmed by the North Dakota Senate.

The selected nominees will fill the board seats currently held by Casey Ryan, a Grand Forks physician who is finishing his second four-year term on the board and is not eligible for reappointment, and Jeffry Volk, a retired Fargo consulting engineer, who is eligible for a second term.

The finalists for Ryan’s seat are:

• Levi Bachmeier, business manager of the West Fargo school district and education adviser to former Gov. Doug Burgum,
• Russel Crary, a Grand Forks real estate developer, and
• Rich Wardner, of Dickinson, a former North Dakota Senate majority leader and retired K-12 teacher and coach.

The finalists for Volk’s seat are:

• Beverly Johnson, of Grand Forks, a retired physical therapy professor and clinical education director at the UND medical school,
• Warren Sogard, owner and chairman of American State Bank and Trust Co., of Williston, and
• Volk, the incumbent.

The nominating committee met Tuesday to review a dozen applicants for the two openings, according to a release. Baesler is chairwoman of the nominating committee, and other members are Jon Jensen, chief justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court; Nick Archuleta, president of North Dakota United, which represents teachers and state employees; House Speaker Robin Weisz, R-Hurdsfield; and Senate President Pro Tempore Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston, the release said.

The Board of Higher Education has eight voting members and two nonvoting members who represent the system’s faculty and staff. It oversees the North Dakota University System’s 11 colleges and universities.

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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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