North Dakota
Plain Talk: ‘Constant distractive state’
MINOT — When Pat Traynor, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s interim Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, said that excessive use of cellphones and other digital devices is “probably the biggest public health threat that we have,” I wrote that he was wrong, and
accused him of stoking a moral panic.
Traynor came on today’s episode of the Plain Talk podcast to talk about it, and said that our devices leave us “continuously distracted.” Referring to North Dakota’s law circumscribing cellphone use in public schools, he wondered how studens can be effectively educated when in a “constant distractive state.”
Since cellphones aren’t going away in our society any time soon, does a ban on their presence in schools help or hinder our ability to teach kids how to deal with them responsibly? Traynor says that part is up to families.
“Remember there’s 24 hours in a day. Just from a standpoint of, parents still control the environment within which their kids grow up. Values. Norms,” he said. “For instance, when you have a family meal together, are you present? And that goes for us, goes for me, with my kids and everything of the sort. But you’re in charge of your family structure, as a parent or with guardians and others that take care of children.”
Also on this episode, me and guest co-host Kyler Collom,
from The Dakotan,
discussed the use of
a religious litmus test
in appointing state Rep. Kathy Skroch to replace former Rep. Cindy Schreiber-Beck in District 25, and the mounting
controversy
around a similar appointment process playing out in District 42, where Rep. Emily O’Brien resigned her seat to take a position in Armstrong’s administration.
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BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Here’s something North Dakotans can take pride in: North Dakota has the third-highest average IQ in the nation, tying with Vermont at 103.8. That is 3.5 points above the national average.
The state with the highest average is Massachusetts at 104.3 and the state with the lowest average is Mississippi at 94.2.
Ninety-four percent of North Dakotans graduate high school, making it the state with the sixth-highest graduation rate in the nation.
Copyright 2026 KFYR. All rights reserved.
WEST FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Authorities have identified the man killed and the driver involved in a fatal overnight crash in West Fargo.
Jose Rodriguez, 38, of West Fargo, died after being struck by a vehicle early Wednesday morning, according to the North Dakota State Patrol.
The driver, Carly Vizenor, 25, of West Fargo, was not injured. Charges and restraint use remain under investigation.
The crash happened at approximately 2:46 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of 32nd Avenue South and 9th Street West.
According to the State Patrol, a 2016 Ford Fusion was traveling westbound on 32nd Avenue South when it struck Rodriguez, who was crossing the street approximately 20 to 30 yards east of the 9th Street intersection.
The driver left the scene and returned approximately 10 minutes later.
Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the scene.
The North Dakota State Patrol, West Fargo Police Department, and West Fargo Fire Department all responded to the crash.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.
Getty
NDSU could make the CFP in 2026.
Winning has been the standard at North Dakota State for decades, and one college football analyst expects a similar result in the FBS right away.
Brett McMurphy of On3 believes NDSU will run the table 12-0 with a Mountain West Conference championship and make the College Football Playoff. McMurphy projects the Bison to face Oregon in the CFP, the Fargo Forum’s Jeff Kolpack reported.
That would mean the Bison would go on the road to Eugene against a perennial FBS contender, which didn’t go well for the last Group of Six team to play the Ducks. Oregon steamrolled James Madison 51-34 in last season’s CFP before the Ducks took down Texas Tech and lost to eventual national champion Indiana.
It’s not impossible for the Bison to get that far based on Sagarin Ratings and the program’s history of success against FBS teams. The Bison would need to maximize what they can control and to have a few things fall their way.
That said, all of this would be contingent upon the Bison receiving clearance for postseason competition from the NCAA on Thursday. Transitioning teams normally face a two-year postseason ban, and NDSU had been in a similar situation before, with a four-year postseason ban during the move from Division II to the FCS in 2004.
NDSU Looking to Pass JMU Again
In 2016, the JMU interrupted NDSU’s five-year FCS championship run with a playoff upset at the Fargodome.
NDSU then beat JMU in the 2017 season championship to win a sixth title in seven years. The Bison beat JMU again in the FCS championship game again for the 2019 season before the Dukes joined the FBS in 2022.
JMU’s success at the FBS level has resulted in two bowl game appearances and Sun Belt Conference title. Amid the conference crown, the Dukes slipped into the CFP as the ACC went topsy-turvy when a 5-5 Duke Blue Devils team at the time upset Virginia.
JMU made the CFP, and Miami represented the ACC while Notre Dame sat at home despite a 10-2 record and a close early-season loss to the national runner-up Hurricanes. NDSU, meanwhile, had a 12-0 regular season in the FCS and got stunned in the FCS playoffs by Illinois State, the second team ever to win a playoff game in Fargo.
The Bison looked like a program retooling to get back up from a postseason disappointment in January, but February brought the news of NDSU’s long-anticipated move up to the FBS. The Mountain West Conference invited the Bison amid the conference’s restructuring with five teams leaving for the Pac-12.
That made the former FCS titan attractive to the Mountain West, which notably lost former CFP entrant Boise State. Whether or not NDSU can become the Mountain West’s new Boise State or pass JMU as a premiere Group of Six team remains unknown.
Common Opponents Key For Bison
The Bison have the odds stacked against them in 2026 to make the CFP, but it’s not impossible.
NDSU doesn’t have a Power Four opponent, but the Bison can make up for that by margin of victory, especially with any Mountain West contenders that have Power Four opponents during the season.
New Mexico has the biggest Power Four opponent among Mountain West teams with Oklahoma, and UTEP faces Oklahoma and Michigan. San Jose State faces USC, another team with CFP hopes.
NDSU beating New Mexico, UTEP and San Jose State handily will especially help in making a run for the playoff.
Matthew Davis covers the NFL, WNBA and college sports for Heavy.com. As a contributing writer to the StarTribune, he has also covered Minnesota prep sports since 2016. More about Matthew Davis
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