North Dakota
Port: Court filings allege years of domestic violence by expelled former ND lawmaker
MINOT — On March 4, 2021, the North Dakota House of Representatives stopped its busy legislative schedule to consider harassment accusations against state Rep. Luke Simons of Dickinson.
The claims against Simons spanned years and included not just staff at the Bismarck Capitol and news media members but also some of his fellow lawmakers, such as Grand Forks Rep. Emily O’Brien and Casselton Rep. Brandy Pyle, both Republicans. Ultimately, the House made the unprecedented move of
voting to expel Simons,
something that had never happened before in state history.
That expulsion has become one of the fault lines in the North Dakota Republican Party, dividing traditional conservatives from an ascendant faction of MAGA populists closely aligned with former President Donald Trump.
Many outspoken members of the populist faction — including former lawmaker Rick Becker, who is currently seeking election to the U.S. House of Representatives and opposed Simons’ expulsion during floor debate in 2021 — have claimed that Simons was removed improperly and wasn’t afforded due process.
Now Simons, who has stayed active in politics, including providing
a recent defense of a Williston-area Republican lawmaker
who has refused to resign after berating law enforcement officers with homophobic slurs during a DUI arrest, is accused of a years-long history of mental and physical abuse against his wife and children. That’s according to court documents in a divorce proceeding his wife filed in June 2023. The filings, in which she is the plaintiff, indicate that the two have been separated since October 2021.
Forum Communications Company does not typically name the survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.
“Throughout our marriage, Luke has a history of assaulting myself and our children,” states a declaration filed in the case by the plaintiff on March 1, 2024. “Social service reports exist that document Luke has beat our children with a 2×4, extension cords, and also used a crowbar for spankings. He has run into me with a 4 wheeler, attacked me until I was on the floor, punched my nose and broke my glasses and phone.”
“Luke punched the walls of our home and choked me until I passed out,” the declaration continues. “We have been separated following a significant domestic violence incident in October 2021, in which Luke assaulted me and bit one of our daughters, requiring the intervention of Luke’s father and our church.”
The filing includes photos of the bite wound. The plaintiff alleges that Simons bit another of their children after becoming frustrated while teaching that child to drive.
One exhibit in the case is a testimonial from Simons’ wife dated November 2021, just months after Luke Simons’ expulsion from the Legislature. Titled “My Story,” it contains allegations of abuse by Luke Simons against his wife dating back to their wedding night in 1999.
Describing it as “such a happy, scary, time for a young lady,” the plaintiff indicates that she “did something wrong or said something wrong and made him upset” at which point “he pushed me out of bed and I slept on the floor” with “no clothes and no blankets.”
She also alleges that Luke raped her in the basement of his parent’s home after a Wednesday church meeting, and that he perpetrated physical abuse against her — everything from kicks to punches to choking and slaps — during the more than 18 years they lived together on their ranch. “I found out that chains really hurt and even leave chain shaped bruises,” she wrote.
She claims that Luke accused her of being deficient in her “Bible studies” because she was “missing the part about wives being submissive to their husbands.” She says Luke claims she was talking “with a bad attitude just like liberal Democrats.”
Under a section of the document titled “Reasons to get away,” the plaintiff wrote, “I don’t remember the last time I felt 100% safe and secure in my own home.” She also wrote that she wants to “get away from Luke and his weird ideas about women and girls and their proper place.”
In his own court filings, Luke Simons doesn’t dispute that abuse occurred in the marriage.
“Plaintiff alleges Defendant was abusive throughout the parties’ entire relationship,” a pre-trial brief filed by Luke Simons’s legal counsel states. “Defendant does not deny that abuse occurred but does deny that it occurred to the extent Plaintiff claims. He admits that he has made mistakes in the past and has sought counseling to overcome his issues.”
At least one member of Simons’ own family also acknowledges that abuse occurred in the relationship. One of the exhibits in the plaintiff’s filings is a text message sent by Ben Simons, brother to Luke Simons, to the couple’s children in which he refers to “wrong” perpetrated by his brother even as he opposes the divorce.
“Your mom is still proceeding with divorcing your dad,” he wrote in the Aug. 10, 2023, text. “There is not one spiritual leader in her life that has condoned this. Your mom is being wrong. I know your dad has been very wrong for a lot of your growing up years but now it’s your mom that is in the wrong.”
“I wished so bad that your whole family would’ve not covered up the wrong that your dad did and maybe your family could’ve been helped sooner,” Ben Simons, a former Republican candidate for the Legislature, continued. “I was so mad at your dad when I found out, I couldn’t even talk to him. Now I don’t want to cover up what wrong your mom is doing.”
I sent a list of questions to Jamie Haynes, attorney for Luke Simons in this proceeding. I asked him which specific allegations of abuse Luke Simons denies.
Haynes told me his client declined to answer. “This is a private family matter that involves children. Luke won’t defend himself. He loves his family and hopes that this can be reconciled in the future.”
Sandra Kuntz, an attorney who is representing the plaintiff in these proceedings, declined to comment on behalf of her client.
Today in History revisits the Tuesday, December 29. 1959 edition of the Grand Forks Herald and highlights a story on the UND Hockey team being names North Dakota team of the year.
The University of North Dakota hockey team was named “Team of the Year” after winning the NCAA Championship in a 4-3 overtime victory over Michigan State. Forward Reg Morelli was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Runner-up honors went to the Bismarck High basketball team for winning its third straight Class A title.
Sioux Ice Champs N. D. Team Of Year
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (as published by the Grand Forks Herald on Dec. 29, 1959)
North Dakota hockey stock reached a peak early in 1959 when the University sextet captured the NCAA championship with a 4-3 overtime victory over Michigan State.
The feat earned the Sioux icemen the accolade of “team of the year” in the annual Associated Press poll of sports editors and sports directors.
Runner-up honors in the balloting went to the Bismarck high school basketball team, which won its third straight Class A high school title.
The St. Mary’s high school football team, which came from no- where to win the Class A grid crown, won third place.
The University hockey team had taken western championship for the first time the year before, and finished second to Denver in the 1957-58 NCAA tournament.
As the 1958-59 campaign rolled around there were many problems to be solved if the Sioux were to maintain their position atop the college hockey world.
One by one the questions were resolved, and on March 14, at Troy, N. Y., North Dakota went into overtime to cop the coveted NCAA title.
Tremendous spirit marked the Sioux climb to the top. The North Dakota team won four games during the season in overtime, including two in the NCAA meet.
Members of the championship team included George Gratton and Bob Peabody, goalies; Ralph Lyndon, Julian Butherta, Pete Gaze- ly and Bob Began on defense; and Jerry Walford, Stan Paschke, Guy LaFrance, Art Miller, Ed Thomlinson, Joe Poole, Les Merrifield, Ron King, Bart Larson, Bernie Haley, Garth Perry and Reg Morelli, forwards.
Morelli Voted Most Valuable
Morelli was voted most valuable player in the NCAA tourney. Morelli and Thomlinson were on the first team and Lyndon and Poole on the tournament’s second team.
The Bismarck basketball feat of three straight state championships tied a record set by Fargo in 1922- 23-24. The Demons had an overall 21-3 record, averaged 61.6 points per game and held opponents to 49.3 per tilt on the season.
Starters were Ron Carlson and Bob Smith at forward, Rod Tjaden at center and Art Winter and Rich Olthoff at guards.
Carlson and Winter were all-west choices.
Here are “team of the year” choices, points in parenthesis:
- UND hockey (37)
- Bismarck high basketball (24)
- St. Mary’s high football (16)
- Bottineau high basketball (11)
- Valley City Teachers basket- ball (10)
- Williston high wrestling (5)
- Grand Forks Legion baseball (2)
- Shanley high football (1)
- NDAC football (1).
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.
A storm bearing down on the Great Lakes and New England is expected to bring rain, snow, and high winds over the next few days.
A narrow band from Fargo, North Dakota south to approximately Mason City, Iowa is under a blizzard warning ahead of the storm. That includes parts of of both states as well as parts of Minnesota. Winds in the affected areas are forecast to reach 45 miles per hour and, paired with an expected 3 to 8 inches of snow, are expected to create whiteout conditions through the start of the week.
Michigan’s upper peninsula is under a blizzard warning as well. There, snowfall is expected to be between 9 inches and 2 feet, and winds are expected to reach as high as 60 miles per hour, ABC News reports.
The National Weather Service has issued winter weather advisories for parts of the northeast, from the Scranton, Pennsylvania up through Burlington, Vermont and Portland, Maine. Freezing rain is expected in that area on Sunday and Monday.
Buffalo and Jamestown, New York, are also both under flood watches from Sunday afternoon until Monday afternoon.
Back in the Great Lakes region, both Cleveland and Detroit are bracing for high winds. Forecasters expect the cities will see gusts of up to 60 miles per hour on Sunday night through early Tuesday morning.
In the upper midwest, both Minneapolis and Green Bay are forecast to see between 5 to 9 inches of snow. A level 1 of 5 severe storm threat exists in a stretch from northern Indiana south into Missouri. That band includes Indianapolis, St Louis, Louisville, and Nashville. The affected region will be subject to high speed, damaging wind gusts, according to Fox Weather.
The storm began dropping snow on Sioux Falls and Fargo early on Sunday morning, and will continue to sweep east across the northern sections of the U.S. The midwest will begin to see storm conditions on Sunday afternoon, and the northeast will be affected shortly thereafter.
Road travelers in the affected regions should be wary. Parts of the I-95 corridor between Philadelphia and Boston may be made treacherous by freezing rain around 5 pm on Sunday night.
Forecasters believe that the storm system will clear by Monday night, though lake-effect snow is likely to follow in its wake for Great Lakes communities. That snow will likely continue into Tuesday and potentially Wednesday.
In northern New England, wintry precipitation may produce up to a quarter of an inch of ice in the area. While the interior northeast is expected to receive some lake-effect snow as well, forecasters believe snowfall in the region will be lighter.
The storm comes on the heels of another winter weather system that swept across the northeast earlier this week, dropping snow on New York and New Jersey and forcing thousands of flights to be either cancelled or delayed.
LINCOLN, N.D. (KFYR) – Lincoln got its very own cat cafe last week.
Ashley Kneavel learned about cat cafes while visiting another state.
“I fell in love with the concept and wanted to bring something like that to North Dakota,” said Kneavel.
And so with the help of Furry Friends Rockin’ Rescue director Julie Schirado, she got to work.
“About a year ago, I think it was, we started building this together,” said Kneavel.
Furry Friends’ role in the operation? Providing the cats. All of them are pre-vetted, meaning they are spayed and neutered and fully vaccinated.
Meaning they’re also ready for adoption.
“Instead of them sitting at a shop, they get to sit in an atmosphere that’s closely resembled to a home,” said Kneavel.
The cafe has already had three of its four-legged residents adopted.
“It’s a great thing to see when somebody comes in and connects with them on a deep level and takes them home,” said Kneavel. “It’s just… I don’t even know how to describe it, it’s just very rewarding.”
One of her goals in the future is to install a drive-thru window.
To learn how to adopt a furry pal from the cafe, or how to book a visit, click here.
Copyright 2025 KFYR. All rights reserved.
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