FARGO — March 11, 2025 is the five-year anniversary of North Dakota’s first confirmed case of COVID-19. What we didn’t know then is that it was the first of hundreds of thousands of cases for the state, and eventually, more than 100 million in America.

The state’s first case of Coronavirus was reported five years ago in Ward County.

In WDAY News’s 6 p.m. broadcast on March 11, 2020, there were reported supply shortages across the region. Stores across Fargo were out of toilet paper, and panic shopping was underway in Grand Forks.

The landscape of shortages changed dramatically over the pandemic, contributing to the global supply chain crisis that began in earnest the following year.

That same day, the Fargo VA began its first day of Coronavirus screenings, and West Fargo Public Schools canceled all out of state travel in March.

A particularly dramatic announcement came just two days after North Dakota reported its first COVID case. The North Dakota High School Activities Association suspended the winter tournament schedule. At that time, it was one of the few high school tournaments going on in the country. Those tournaments were eventually canceled for the year.

Area colleges transitioned to online classes. Then-Gov. Doug Burgum eventually announced K-12 schools would close for five days beginning March 16, while officials determined next steps. Classes resumed online on April 1 in Fargo. They remained online for the rest of the school year.

On March 13, President Donald Trump declared a national public emergency. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Burgum followed suit the same day.

“We’re taking a pragmatic, proactive, positive step, and again acting out of facts not out of fear,” Burgum said at the time.

Within a week, both governors ordered the closure of bars, restaurants and other entertainment venues via executive order. At the time, many of these were described as temporary measures. But as we all know, dramatic changes to our daily lives continued for years.

According to the latest data from the North Dakota Health and Human Services Vaccine Dashboard, just 10.5% of all people aged six months and older have been vaccinated for the 2024-2025 respiratory season. A total of 27.7% are up to date on their seasonal flu vaccinations.

Grand Forks Public Health epidemiologist Shawn McBride says the pandemic led to a lot of self reflection for people working in public health.

“We certainly saw an erosion of trust in public health agencies and health care providers during the pandemic,” McBride said.

He says the way people receive information has changed over time, and public health organizations need to adapt to those changes.

When it comes to improving the state vaccination rate, McBride points to reducing obstacles people may encounter when getting vaccinated.

“People need to take time off of work, or kids need to get away from school,” McBride said. “Sometimes those are things that are barriers that just don’t get people to go get that immunization. We need to make it easy for people, provide plenty of opportunities, and also make sure that there’s not a cost barrier as well.”

McBride emphasized that vaccines are safe, and effective, citing CDC data from a preliminary analysis of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness over the last respiratory season.

“it reduced the risk of hospitalizations by 45 to 46%,” McBride said. “In my mind, that’s a significant risk reduction. And we do all kinds of things every day to reduce our risk. We put a seat belt on, we make sure we’re driving the speed limit, or we’re asking kids to put on a bike helmet. It’s about reducing the overall risk to have severe outcomes from things when we encounter them.”

According to the CDC, there have been over 111 million cases of COVID-19 in the United States since 2020. Over 1.2 million Americans have died.

MINOT — A letter signed by 129 lawyers is protesting the State Bar Association of North Dakota’s decision to distance itself from a continuing education seminar aimed at helping lawyers serve clients from the LGTBQ community.

The seminar was not canceled. It’s now being hosted by a legal aid nonprofit. Tony Weiler, the executive director for SBAND, announced that his association

had withdrawn as a sponosor of the event

due to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump targeting state bar associations, among other groups, for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, or “DEI,” initiatives.

“We see no legitimate reason SBAND ended its involvement in hosting the CLE webinar,” the letter states.

“SBAND advertises and maintains CLE webinars on a variety of topics for the benefit of its members,” the letter continues. “We are deeply concerned with SBAND taking a political stance pursuant to a Federal Executive Order by removing a CLE aimed at serving the legal needs of LGBTQ+ North Dakotans. This type of CLE is no different than one aimed at serving the needs of the poor, the disabled, or other underserved groups.”

Among the signatories of the letter are some prominent names, including former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, state ethics commissioner Murray Sagsveen, former U.S. House candidate Cara Mund, former U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider, former U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon and current state House Minority Leader Rep. Zac Ista.

“LGBTQ+ individuals deserve our respect. SBAND’s recent decision sends a disappointing message to our colleagues, our clients, and the community. It also calls into question what other important CLE topics or SBAND sections might be at risk. We request that SBAND reconsider its position, because a CLE addressing the legal needs of LGBTQ+ individuals certainly improves the practice of law,” the letter concludes.

Bismarck-based attorney Katie Winbauer organized the letter. “SBAND’s response was focused on an Executive Order targeting bar associations that promote DEI efforts. If members do not speak up, I am deeply concerned with how far this decision could go,” Winbauer told me. “I am proud to stand alongside 128 other attorneys from across the state who said ‘this is not acceptable.’”

By way of justifying its decision, SBAND has referred to an executive order

Trump signed on Jan. 21

that directs the creation of “A plan of specific steps or measures to deter DEI programs or principles (whether specifically denominated ‘DEI’ or otherwise) that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences.”

“As a part of this plan, each agency shall identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars,” the order continues.

But the order doesn’t currently have the force of law. It is

currently enjoined

by a federal court in Maryland. What’s more, it’s not clear that SBAND receives any federal funding (Weiler has previously declined any further comment on this matter).

The association does have an official role in regulating North Dakota’s legal profession that is sanctioned by state government. Attorneys who operate in North Dakota must pay dues to the bar association. In 2015, SBAND was subject to a lawsuit from an attorney who objected to the use of mandatory dues payments in pursuit of political objectives, including opposition to a ballot initiative. Weiler has cited that case in defense of SBAND’s decision to distance itself from the LGBTQ seminar, but the situations seem dissimilar.

Using revenues from mandatory dues to take political positions is one thing, but the seminar at the heart of this controversy was a voluntary offering among a plethora of options North Dakota attorneys have available to obtain the continuing education credits their licensing requires.