Bemidji Now Host Nell Grills Mayor, Sheriff, Fire Chief in Special Episode

Bemidji Now host Nell put three of the area's top officials in the hot seat Tuesday, releasing a special April 1 episode in which she pressed Mayor Jorge Prince, Beltrami County Sheriff Jason Riggs, and Bemidji Fire Chief Justin Sherwood with what the program billed as "the TOUGH Questions."

The episode broke from Bemidji Now's standard news summary format, with Nell taking sole control of the program for the one-off installment. Having the mayor, the county's top law enforcement officer, and the city fire chief in the same conversation gave the segment an unusual cross-jurisdictional reach, touching on issues that span city and county lines: public safety coordination, emergency response, and municipal operations.

Sheriff Riggs oversees 114 employees and patrols more than 3,000 square miles of Beltrami County, a territory that more than doubles in population during peak tourist season. Fire Chief Sherwood has prioritized firefighter staffing levels and cancer prevention protocols since taking the department's top role, and has publicly flagged a concerning statewide rise in fire deaths through 2026. Mayor Prince leads a city government serving roughly 12,000 residents at the center of that sprawling county landscape.

The joint format put those three distinct spheres of authority into a single, direct exchange, a setup that rarely surfaces outside a formal council chamber or emergency briefing.

The full episode is available on Bemidji Now's website and on the podcast platforms where the show is distributed. Listeners wanting to follow up on specific policy points can consult the Bemidji City Council's public meeting agendas or the Beltrami County Board schedule for upcoming opportunities to engage officials directly.