North Dakota
South Dakota can continue to be isolated or we can join the growing passenger rail network. The choice is clear. — The South Dakota Standard
People live here. Yes, right here in South Dakota – our home that has often been derided as “flyover country”. For the first time in over 50 years, we have an opportunity to change that. We can have more affordable and convenient transportation options both within the state and to the outside world.
In February 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) conducted study workshops to identify how to better connect underserved parts of the country (as shown in the public domain map above, posted in wikimedia commons) with the passenger rail network. The study recommended a new train route across the state that would connect Rapid City, Pierre, Sioux Falls and points in between with Denver and the Twin Cities.
Regrettably, in the wake of the April 2024 South Dakota State Railroad Board meeting, misconceptions have surfaced that could end up halting progress and perpetuating our isolation. Some believe there is no travel demand here, while others claim that decades-long disinvestment in railroad infrastructure should stop us from ever having passenger rail service. These unfounded assertions could not be further from the truth.
Travel demand
The FRA study concluded there is a lot of travel demand for trains through South Dakota, one of just two states in the ‘lower 48’ without Amtrak trains. This comes as no surprise for people who live here, as we are the home of two major population centers and a burgeoning tourist industry across the state.
Population density doesn’t ride trains, people do. People in our region have outsized travel needs compared to those in more population dense regions.
We often have to travel longer distances to reach essential services, more frequently, and in some adverse travel conditions, compared to those living on the coasts. Across the Amtrak network, long-distance trains, such as the Empire Builder service in North Dakota and Montana, perform exceptionally well — especially in rural areas like South Dakota.
The trans-South Dakota, Twin Cities to Denver, route has over 4 times the travel demand (on a per-mile basis) compared to the much-vaunted, and long-needed, route via southern North Dakota and Montana: the North Coast Hiawatha. Despite the Hiawatha’s potential lower travel demand, the FRA has recognized and supported the route through inclusion in the Corridor ID program. The Rail Passengers Association (whose board I sit on) conducted research which identified $271 Million in potential economic benefits to the states served, far exceeding the costs to operate the train.
In addition to the proposed North Coast Hiawatha restoration, the trans-South Dakota route has more travel demand per mile than the much-requested Denver-to-Dallas and Houston route (which includes a leg of the Texas Triangle proposed service) and the Twin Cities-to-Phoenix route.
If there is justification to expand Sioux Falls and Rapid City airports (which I support), there is certainly the demand for modal diversification – especially for a transportation mode that can more directly serve additional communities all across the state.
National investment value
While existing neglected railroad infrastructure in South Dakota does not currently support passenger trains, that has no bearing on the need for rail service in our state. Any transportation infrastructure upgrade faces engineering and implementation challenges. When we are spending billions of dollars subsidizing the highway and aviation networks (not just essential air services), we can find the money to get South Dakota ‘on the map’.
We should have as much right to federal investment as those living on the coasts and the Northeast Corridor in particular, where proponents are proposing a $9 billion redevelopment project for Washington DC Union Station, to enhance service to a metropolitan area that already has many rail options.
As South Dakotans, we already should be investing more in our state railroad system for freight and economic development. Not completing long-proposed freight-focused projects has real financial costs to operators and South Dakota taxpayers. As a start, SDDOT could pursue some of the $2.4 Billion in CRISI NOFO funding currently available and seize the opportunity to apply for a comprehensive grant to address all proposed freight rail projects across South Dakota.
With regards to the argument that the geology of Pierre shale precludes passenger rail service, trains could utilize the Mitchell – Chamberlain – Kadoka – Rapid City alignment due to it having fewer recorded soil issues. Regardless, I am quite certain engineers can find ways to address these challenges. If we can figure out how to safely build two new Hudson River tunnels, and create projects like the Gotthard Base Tunnel and Tibetan Railway, we can find ways to manage these soil issues safely and cost-effectively.
Finally, some argue that we should not invest in South Dakota passenger rail because the state will lose Special Transportation Circumstance (STC) grant funding. This would happen anyway when Minnesota or Iowa establishes passenger rail service that enters the state as proposed in their State Rail Plans. And while out-of-state connections to Sioux Falls are badly needed, they will do little to help western South Dakota 340 miles away.
Concluding thoughts
The Federal Railroad Administration’s comprehensive long-distance rail study resulted in the proposed network of routes that would greatly enhance transportation access across this country. The carefully-considered plan reflects the four primary criteria Congress established when considering potential new long-distance routes:
● link and serve large and small communities as part of a regional rail network;
● advance the economic and social well-being of rural areas of the United States;
● provide enhanced connectivity for the national long-distance passenger rail system;
and
● reflect public engagement and local and regional support for restored passenger railservice.
The proposed rail line across South Dakota meets all of these criteria.
Far from being too expensive to consider South Dakota for passenger rail service, Amtrak and the nation can ill afford to exclude us. We can ill afford to ignore the importance of South Dakota and railroads in our broader economy. South Dakota can continue to be isolated for decades to come, or we can join this nation’s growing passenger rail network. The choice is clear.
People live here!
Dan Bilka of Sioux Falls is co-founder and president, All Aboard Northwest. You can reach him at dan@allaboardnw.org
North Dakota
Challengers declare victory after ND Supreme Court rules against Legislature’s attempt to alter term limits
BISMARCK — A constitutional ballot measure to amend the state’s term limits law as proposed by the Legislature will not appear on November’s ballot, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday, siding with petitioners who argued the Legislature exceeded its authority and violated the state constitution in proposing the changes.
“The people’s voice was heard,” Grand Forks County Commissioner Terry Bjerke said in reaction to the news.
Bjerke was a member of the sponsoring committee behind the successful 2022 effort to pass a term limits initiative, which amended the state constitution by capping legislative term limits to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. The amendment, which became article XV of the state constitution, also included a clause barring the Legislature from making constitutional changes to term limits.
During the 2025 session, however, lawmakers narrowly approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 4008, in which the legislature proposed Constitutional Measure 1, a ballot measure to amend the term limits language to allow legislators to decide in which chamber they want to serve their 16 years, and to repeal the clause limiting the legislative assembly’s authority to propose an amendment to alter or repeal term limits.
Bjerke and former Minot legislator Oley Larsen brought the lawsuit challenging the validity of the Legislature’s action in January, and the state Supreme Court
heard oral arguments in the case
this spring.
“Those term limits may only be altered by a measure proposed by the people rather than the Legislative Assembly. And yet a few years later, the Legislative Assembly is doing what they are prohibited from doing,” attorney Zachary Wallen argued on Bjerke and Larsen’s behalf.
Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune
The Legislature’s attorneys argued the clause prohibiting legislative proposals to alter the constitutional term limits language “infringes on our republican form of government” by “limiting the people’s ability to vote on amendments proposed by their elected officials.”
Justice Jon Jensen seemed skeptical of that argument during the April 2 hearing, questioning whether a second vote was appropriate.
“The public did speak on this. The public spoke on it when it passed the original constitutional amendment and they said, ‘Legislature, you don’t even get to propose a change.’ They have already spoken on it,” Jensen said. “You want a second shot, or a second bite at the apple, not a first one, a second.”
In Thursday’s ruling, all five justices sided with Bjerke and Larsen.
“We … conclude the Legislative Assembly’s adoption of S.C.R. 4008 violated N.D. Const. art. XV … and declare S.C.R. 4008 and Constitutional Measure 1 void … We enjoin the Secretary of State from placing Constitutional Measure 1 on the November 2026 general election ballot,” the ruling said.
Bjerke thanked the legal team that worked on behalf of their lawsuit, and said he was grateful the court reached the conclusion it did.
“I’m thrilled that what the people voted on and approved has been validated,” Bjerke said.
He added that the Legislature had “multiple opportunities” to address term limits prior to 2022’s initiated measure and chose not to, and gave a nod to the country’s coming milestone and the process by which voters expressed their support for term limits.
“We’ve lasted 250 years,” Bjerke said. “I have two words for those elected leaders who think they aren’t: everyone’s replaceable.”
North Dakota
Fargo woman convicted in North Dakota fraud case now faces charges in Minnesota: A deeper dive
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A North Dakota woman who was sentenced to 180 days in jail in Cass County for defrauding healthcare providers and Medicaid programs is now facing additional fraud charges in Minnesota.
Christine Marie Pryor, 55, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to theft by deception involving more than $50,000. She was sentenced to first serve 180 days with a 3-year sentence suspended. She received credit for 44 days already served.
Pryor was ordered to pay $82,584.78 in restitution to Southeast Human Services in Fargo, where she worked between 2018 and 2019.
How the scheme unfolded
According to court documents, Pryor worked at multiple healthcare facilities in North Dakota and Minnesota between 2018 and 2023, using the identities and credentials of three licensed professionals without their knowledge. She submitted fraudulent Capella University diplomas and transcripts to gain employment.
Investigators say Pryor admitted she searched state licensing websites for therapists who shared her first name, then used those therapists’ last names and license numbers when applying for jobs.
At Southeast Human Services, where she worked as a Licensed Addiction Counselor, Pryor earned $55,584.82 while providing therapy services to approximately 150 patients. She also opened her own counseling center, NIAM Brain Injury Center, in Fargo between 2020 and 2021, and worked at The Lotus Center in Moorhead, Minnesota, from 2021 to 2023.
Court documents say the three licensed professionals whose identities were used told investigators they had no knowledge of Pryor’s actions and did not give her permission to use their information.
Two additional charges against Pryor in North Dakota, unauthorized use of personal identifying information, were dismissed on motion of the state.
Additional charges in Minnesota
Pryor is also facing charges in Minnesota. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Tuesday charges against Pryor in Clay County District Court for six theft offenses and six identity theft offenses related to defrauding Minnesota’s Medicaid program of more than $150,000.
According to the Minnesota complaint, Pryor claimed to provide psychotherapy and alcohol and drug counseling services to Medicaid recipients despite having no license or credentials to do so. Prosecutors allege she used the credentials and identities of three licensed professionals while claiming to provide Medicaid-funded services to 169 clients.
The Minnesota charges were filed as part of National Health Care Fraud Takedown Day, a joint effort involving the Department of Justice and more than 40 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
NCAA Set to Change Unpopular Football Rule Just in Time for North Dakota State’s FBS Jump
North Dakota State playing in the FCS playoffs and College Football Playoff in back-to-back years? It’s likelier than you think.
That’s because on Wednesday, according to a report from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports, the NCAA Division I cabinet voted to repeal a rule that effectively barred teams transitioning from FCS to FBS from playing in postseason games in their first FBS seasons. The Bison are making that move along with Sacramento State in 2026.
The reported change has been a long time coming; the rule has hampered teams from immediate bowl eligibility for decades. Its good intentions of dissuading teams from rashly making the FCS-to-FBS leap have been rendered obsolete in recent years by the fact that programs generally arrive in FBS more prepared than ever before.
Consider the number of new FBS teams that have had to work within the provision in the past decade alone
That list includes: Liberty (home for the holidays at 6–6 in 2018), James Madison (8–3 in 2022 under coach Curt Cignetti, and barely able to play in a bowl at 11–1 in ’23 due to a lack of bowl-eligible teams), Jacksonville State (8–4 in ’23 before backing in like the Dukes), Missouri State (7–5 in 2025, also backed in) and Delaware (6–6 in ’25, ditto).
James Madison in particular became a cause célèbre in ’23 because it started the season 10-0, climbing as high as No. 18 in the AP Poll in mid-November. Then-Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares bandied about suing the NCAA before the Dukes lost 26–23 to Appalachian State, an event that caused the program to back off and accept a bid to play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. James Madison lost that game 31–21, by which time Cignetti had left for Indiana.
There was a time when the FCS-to-FBS jump was an imposing one, and the NCAA did not want to incentivize making it lightly—not even a proud Florida A&M program could make a mid-2000s attempt at a jump stick. However, the Flames, Dukes and other teams have shown it’s not so great a climb for programs with the right resources and management.
Now the Bison and the Hornets stand to benefit.
How far can North Dakota State and Sacramento State go in the near term?
The Bison opened 12–0 last year before a shock loss to Illinois State in the FCS playoffs’ second round, so that question may answer itself. North Dakota State does not play a single Power 4 team—a potential strength-of-schedule albatross if it has designs on really surging. A potential roadblock: the fact that the Bison have to visit the Mountain West’s two favorites, UNLV (Oct. 10) and New Mexico (Oct. 24).
It’s a different story for the Hornets, a 7–5 squad a year ago whose move to the FBS is widely seen as a gamble on their growth potential. Sacramento State also does not play a major-conference team, but has a breakneck travel schedule ahead of it—the Hornets will visit Ypsilanti, Mich.; Bowling Green, Ohio; Muncie, Ind.; Mount Pleasant, Mich. and Honolulu. Combine that with a first-year coach—Oakland native and ex-MC Hammer choreographer Alonzo Carter—and it could be a long FBS debut in California’s capital.
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