North Dakota

Why is driving deadlier on North Dakota roads in the summer?

Published

2 years ago

July 20, 2024

Why is driving deadlier on North Dakota roads in the summer?

BISMARCK — With serious and fatal crashes consistently rolling in during the 100 deadliest days on the road between Memorial Day and Labor Day, North Dakota safety leaders are cautioning drivers about the “false sense of security” bright summer days can spark.

That sense of safety when the snow clears has earned North Dakota the unfortunate accolade of being named the state with the most reckless drivers by

Travel and Leisure.

While many point to high rates of intoxicated driving, cheap speeding tickets and the state’s rural road networks as reasons for crashes or reckless driving, officials in the state see a clear trend between summer driving conditions and catastrophic collisions.

During the 100 deadliest days, fatal crashes are twice as likely, according to the North Dakota Department of Transportation’s 2022 Crash Summary

report.

Since the end of May, there have been nearly 50 serious-injury or fatal crashes statewide, according to a Forum analysis of reports from the North Dakota Highway Patrol. Approximately one-third of those crashes were fatal, surpassing last year’s numbers at this point in the year.

Several of those crashes involved motorcyclists not wearing helmets and drivers or passengers not using seat belts.

A recent crash near Jamestown that left two children dead,

as well as the driver and another child critically injured, has officials emphasizing the risks of summer driving. The mother of the two boys said they were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

Combining risk factors like not using restraints or safety gear with faster summer driving speeds can be a recipe for disaster.

“The clear roads and the good weather conditions often give people a false sense of security. They know that they can travel faster,” said Karin Mongeon, director of NDDOT’s Highway Safety Division.

“Really, the winter weather in North Dakota slows people down,” she said.

Mongeon works closely with Vision Zero, a government initiative created in 2018 aiming to decrease statewide fatalities by preventing reckless driving behaviors.

Motorists drive through the busy intersection at 13th Ave and 45th Street in Fargo on Friday, July 19, 2024.

Chris Flynn / The Forum

The program prioritizes areas of concern based on statewide data submitted by county law enforcement. Prominent dangerous behaviors include drunken driving, lack of seat belt use and speeding.

Mongeon said that although any number above zero is devastating, there has been a decrease in road-related deaths in North Dakota since the initiative began.

From 2017 to 2022, fatalities decreased by over 15%, dipping below 100 and the national average for the first time in decades, according to the 2022 NDDOT crash summary. Of the 98 fatalities in 2022, 69% of people were not wearing seat belts, 38% of crashes were alcohol-related, 31% involved speed and or aggressive driving and 48% involved lane departures.

071724.DrivingFatalitiesBymonth.NDDOT — Driving fatalities skyrocket in the warmer months in North Dakota.

A 2023 report is set to be released in September, which will denote 106 deaths. Despite the spike, Mongeon said she anticipates the downward trend to continue.

Education and outreach have proven to be vital components of Vision Zero, according to Sgt. Jenna Clawson Huibregtse, the Highway Patrol’s safety and education officer.

Schools can designate themselves as Vision Zero schools, leaving it up to the students to pick their initiative, like distracted driving or wearing seat belts. Coordinators recruit by attending community events and sending representatives to school board meetings.

The Highway Patrol also recently began releasing crash information regularly on social media. Crash reports are also available on

the agency’s website.

“We’ve noticed that if we attach a face and a name and put all of our information in one place, that it is making a difference,” Clawson Huibregtse said.

“We live in such a great state; there’s responsible people driving every single day making good decisions, but we want people to be aware of the reality of what’s on the road and what our troopers see every day,” she said.

Another Vision Zero approach to safer roads involves physically rebuilding them.

Wider center and shoulder lines, roundabouts in place of intersections and more rumble strips are some projects keeping state engineers like Justin Schlosser busy. Since implementing more roundabouts alone, overall crash numbers have decreased by a

third, according to an NDDOT traffic study published earlier this month.

“If there’s a crash (in a roundabout), you’re going to have some kind of sideswipe or rear-end, which are typically less severe injury crashes than an angle crash, usually the most severe type of crash you can get into,” Schlosser said.

“There’s just a bigger emphasis on driver safety and making sure that we don’t lose any lives on our roadways, but Vision Zero has definitely put a higher emphasis on that and helped us get in the right direction,” he added.

Clawson Huibregtse pointed to another factor in reckless driving — speeding tickets.

North Dakota has some of the lowest citation fees in the nation, with amounts ranging from $5 to $100, depending on the zone. Offenders traveling 16 to 20 mph above the speed limit, for example, pay $15. Thirty-six to 45 over is a $70 fine and 46 mph-plus results in a $100 fine, as stated in the

Century Code.

“It’s just not a deterrent at all for people to not behave recklessly when they know that there’s really no financial penalty,” Clawson Huibregtse said. “And it shouldn’t come down to that, it should come to the life and limb thing, but it just comes down to people’s pocketbooks sometimes.”

Increasing citation amounts has been struck down at past legislative sessions. But with more public interest in the issue, Clawson Huibregtse said she wouldn’t be surprised if the topic resurfaces this coming session.

“We hope, the more we work together across agencies, that we’re going to bring that number to zero, or as close as we can to zero,” she said.

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North Dakota

Presidential Searches at 3 North Dakota Colleges Narrowing

Published

5 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Presidential Searches at 3 North Dakota Colleges Narrowing

(Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – Two North Dakotans are semifinalists for the Bismarck State College president’s job as North Dakota State University narrows its presidential candidate list.

Valley City State University also is searching for a new president, with an application period closing this month..

Kevin Black, chair of the State Board of Higher Education and co-chair of the North Dakota State University Presidential Search Committee, said the committee reviewed over 60 applications. The committee is planning off-site interviews with candidates March 9-10 and campus visits with semifinal candidates March 23-27.

“We’re really excited about taking the next step and there’s some very quality people in there,” Black said.

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North Dakota

After falling short a year ago, West Fargo United wins ND girls hockey state title

Published

17 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

After falling short a year ago, West Fargo United wins ND girls hockey state title

FARGO — One season ago, a Cinderella run for the West Fargo United girls hockey team came up just short in the state championship game.

United, the No. 7 seed, fell to Legacy/Bismarck in the 2025 final.

This time around, the team had momentum swaying in its favor, riding nine consecutive wins into Saturday’s title game against Grand Forks at Scheels Arena.

Led by goals from a pair of senior captains, United capped its redemption season with a 10th straight victory, fending off the KnightRiders 2-1 to claim the North Dakota girls hockey state tournament championship.

“It just means everything,” said United’s Payton Stocker, whose goal at the 12:31 mark of the second period gave her team a 1-0 lead. “We’ve worked so hard and throughout the season, it’s just been such a battle. Winning and coming out on top is just such a great feeling.”

West Fargo United captains react as they are presented the team’s 2026 state championship hockey trophy after defeating Grand Forks on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, at Scheels Arena in Fargo.

Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald

Stocker was followed up in scoring by United captain Rachel Spanier. The defenseman fired a slap shot from the left point that beat Grand Forks goaltender Kylie Schmaltz to make it 2-0 with 35 seconds remaining in the middle frame.

Reagan Wilson locked things down in net for United, finishing with 23 saves and picking up an all-tournament team nod.

“This is my first year of high school hockey,” the sophomore goaltender said. “I can’t believe coming in here and winning a state title with all of these girls. I just love them so much.”

While it was the senior duo of Stocker and Spanier finding the net for United on Saturday, contributions were seen across the board.

Sophomore Emma Hassler also put forth an all-tournament campaign with five goals and an assist for six points over the three-day stretch.

030226 WFGOUnited3.jpg — Grand Forks’ Dustee Balek’s shot is blocked by West Fargo United goalie Reagan Wilson in the North Dakota girls hockey state championship game on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, at Scheels Arena.

Freshman Kaylee Augdahl finished the tournament with four points — including

a double-overtime winner

over Fargo North/South in Friday’s semifinals — and junior Liana Williamson added three assists.

“It wasn’t just us (seniors),” said Stocker, who joined Hassler and Wilson on the all-tourney team. “It was everyone collectively. Being seniors, it feels a lot better. It was a great feeling.”

United, the No. 5 seed this year, capped its season with a record of 17-9-0.

“These girls are awesome,” first-year United head coach Kennedy Blair said. “They’ve worked super, super hard since last April. Wake up early in the mornings, go into off-ice training, on-ice training and all that.

“This group of girls is really special. They’re a really close-knit group, and they trusted our coaching staff coming in as a first-year group.”

030226 WFGOUnited2.jpg — West Fargo United players pose for the camera as they wait for the 2026 state championship hockey trophy after defeating Grand Forks on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, at Scheels Arena.

Blair knows a thing or two about winning championships. She was a North Dakota state champion goaltender with the former Bismarck Blizzard co-op and also won an NCAA Division I national title with the Wisconsin women’s program in 2021.

Yet, she never imagined ending her first year as a high school varsity coach with a state championship.

“No, I didn’t,” said Blair, who also won North Dakota High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year honors. “But I had belief in these girls that we could get to the state championship again.”

It’s the United co-op’s first-ever state title — which consists of West Fargo, West Fargo Sheyenne and West Fargo Horace high schools.

Prior to Saturday, the last time a West Fargo girls program won the state title was in 2014 when it was still a standalone program competing as the Packers.

“It’s amazing considering United hockey has never won a championship game,” Wilson said.

Grand Forks, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, ended its campaign with a 21-5-0 record.

Ella Yahna’s fourth goal of the tournament — which came on a 2-on-1 rush with the assist from teammate Reese Meagher, put the KnightRiders within one shot with 8:17 remaining in the third.

Grand Forks, however, was unable to find the equalizer as its bid for a first state championship came up just short.

“I thought we came out in the first and we had a tough time,” Grand Forks head coach Kelly Kilgore said. “I felt we battled some nerves. I really liked our second period … We carried the play and tilted the ice a little bit back in our favor. The shots kind of started to really turn in our favor.”

Stocker said she wouldn’t have wanted to win a state title as a senior with any other group of teammates.

“(They mean) everything,” Stocker said. “We’re so tight and they’re all my friends. Leaving them is going to be hard. But they mean everything to me. We’re all so close and I love them a lot.”

FIRST PERIOD: No scoring.

SECOND PERIOD: 1, WFU, Stocker (Augdahl, Hassler), 12:31. 2, WFU, Spanier (Augdahl, Stocker), 16:25.

THIRD PERIOD: 3, GF, Yahna (R. Meagher), 8:43.

SAVES: WFU, Wilson 7-13-3—23. GF, Schmaltz 7-3-14—24.

030226 KnightRiders2.jpg — Grand Forks’ Reese Meagher skates past West Fargo United’s Reaghen Mathias in the first period of the North Dakota girls hockey state championship game on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, at Scheels Arena.

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$2 million anonymous donor to Grand Forks Children’s Museum is revealed

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Children’s Museum has revealed the anonymous donor of the $2 million in matching funds that prompted others to step forward and bring the fundraising campaign closer to its goal of $35 million.

“It is with deep gratitude that the Grand Forks Children’s Museum now shares the name behind that bold vision,” said Katie Mayer, executive director of the museum, in naming Pam Laffen of Grand Forks as the anonymous donor.

With this gift and other major contributions, the fundraising campaign “stands at just $1.75 million remaining, bringing the finish line clearly into view,” Mayer said.

The museum “reflects Pam’s passion for learning and her belief in creating meaningful opportunities for children which have guided her life’s work and are deeply reflected in this gift,” she said.

Laffen said, “I am honored to be part of a community that supports a project dedicated to encouraging growth in education and service for future generations.”

Recognizing the impact of Laffen’s gift, Mayer said, “Pam and her late husband, Lonnie, shared a deep appreciation for this community. Being raised in a rural area in North Dakota taught them to be actively engaged in their immediate and surrounding communities across the state.”

Members of the Grand Forks Children’s Museum Staff and Fundraising Team are (back row, from left) Alyssa Donacki, Diane Martinson, Ashley Stroble, Katie Mayer, Pam Laffen, Betsey Aasen and Kim Woods and (in front) Maura Tanabe (left) and Sally Miskavige.

Contributed / Grand Forks Children’s Museum

At the start of the “Unlocking Tomorrow, Together Challenge,” the $2 million would be released, or “unlocked,” with the receipt of each of eight $250,000 donations. The challenge actually resulted in “securing nearly 10 leadership-level commitments and accelerating the campaign even further,” Mayer said.

A leadership gift of $250,000 from the Pancratz Family Foundation, based with the Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation, has helped to “unlock one of the final keys in the challenge,” according to an announcement from the museum. The gift has added “meaningful momentum at a pivotal time in the campaign.”

The foundation’s commitment to the museum “reflects a strong belief in expanding opportunity for children and families, and helped carry the challenge to completion.”

The final keys to the $2 million matching grant were “propelled by an extraordinary wave of generosity from families and businesses across our community,” Mayer said.

A vertical climber, to be named for Pam Laffen, is designed to physically and symbolically connect the land and sky levels of the museum, Mayer said. It will span two stories and include a slide. Designed to face 42nd Street, it will be visible from the road, serving as a signature feature of the building.

The climber will reflect the guiding phrase “In land, we root. Through sky, we rise. Together, we grow.”

“The words echo both the spirit of the community and the belief that learning, curiosity, exploration and opportunity are built step-by-step, grounded in place and lifted by possibility,” Mayer said.