Rob Port is the editor of SayAnythingBlog.com, a columnist for the Forum News Service, and the host of the Rob (Re)Port on Fargo-based WDAY AM970 from noon-2pm weekdays.

Author Archives: Rob Port

Ethics Measure panelists were, from left, Susan Wefald, founder of North Dakotans for Public Integrity, Dina Butcher, president of North Dakota for Public Integrity, Geoff Simon, executive director of Western Dakota Energy Association and Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, chairman of the Government & Veterans Affairs Committee. Tom Stromme / Bismarck Tribune

Free Speech Group Says Ethics Ballot Measure May Violate the 1st Amendment

- 10 hours ago - ,

Free Speech Group Says Ethics Ballot Measure May Violate the 1st Amendment

- 10 hours ago - ,

“North Dakota’s current campaign finance and lobbying laws are already unclear. The initiative could raise serious First Amendment concerns because of the additional vague rules it appears to impose on citizens and groups that wish to speak about public matters and state government,” says Eric Wang, a senior fellow at the Institute for Free Speech.…

A screenshot from an ad critical of Senator Heidi Heitkamp being run in North Dakota by Christians United for Israel. YouTube

Pro-Israel Group Hits Heitkamp on Iran Vote, Says She Voted to Unlock “$150 Billion for Global Terror”

- 11 hours ago - ,

A pro-Israel group has launched an ad, with a $225,000 buy behind it according to their press release, ripping Senator Heidi Heitkamp for supporting the Obama administration’s deal with Iran. The ad features Marine veteran Grant Neal telling the audience that the deal “unlocked $150 billion for global terror.” The ad “will air on Fargo…

FILE -- Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-S.D.) during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 12, 2018. Heitkamp is one of three Democrats who are up for reelection in states President Donald Trump carried and voted to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch. (Tom Brenner/The New York Times)

Senator Heitkamp Doesn’t Want to Be Photographed With Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee

- August 15, 2018 - ,

UPDATE: Senator Heitkamp’s office has released a photo of the discussion since this post was written. Still, her office didn’t allow independent photo journalists take pictures. The challenge for incumbent Senator Heidi Heitkamp this election cycle is positioning herself far enough to the right where she’ll pick up the Republican and right-of-center votes any candidate…

Photo for The Washington Post by Ilana Panich-Linsman

A North Dakota School May Be Getting AR-15’s for Security, and What’s the Big Deal?

- August 15, 2018 - ,

For some reason a request put in by the Bismarck Police Department for AR-15’s, to be kept (and hopefully never used outside of training) by school resource officers in that jurisdiction is making national news. I can’t figure out why. Is it the model of the gun? The much-hyped AR-15 which has been much derided…

Print Column: The Public’s Loss of Faith in Mass Media Began Long Before Donald Trump

- August 15, 2018 - ,

MINOT, N.D. — It’s become fashionable for journalists to blame Donald Trump and his attacks on “fake news” for undermining the public’s trust in mass media. An example of this are recent editorials from newspapers across the country, coordinated by a call to action from the Boston Globe, criticizing the President’s “dirty war on the…

House Minority Leader Rep. Cory Mock, D-Grand Forks, right, answers questions along with Senate assistant minority leader Sen. John Grabinger, at a press conference in Bismarck requesting North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to withdraw from a Texas lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act. Bismarck Tribune photo

Attorney General Stenehjem Responds to Democrats, Says Lawsuit Challenging Obamacare Is His Duty

- August 14, 2018 - ,

Lately North Dakota Democrats have been trying to make a campaign issue out of a lawsuit challenging the legality of Obamacare. The suit was filed by the State of Texas, which is paying for it, and Attorney General Wayne Stenehejm joined North Dakota to the list of plaintiffs. The Democrats – most recently Senator Heidi…

President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Monday as his choice for the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh served as a clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy in the early 1990s alongside Justice Neil Gorsuch. Washington Post photo by Bonnie Jo Mount

Linda Thorson: “Women for Kavanaugh” Bus Coming to Fargo

- August 14, 2018 - ,

This guest post was submitted by Linda Thorson, the state director for the North Dakota chapter of Concerned Women for America. Would you like Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota) to vote for the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as our next Supreme Court justice? You have the opportunity to rally for that cause! As the…

Dave Owen, middle, chairman of the North Dakota Marijuana Legalization Initiative, celebrtaes a high-five with volunteer Becky-Muhs-Rettig inside the Secretary of State's office at the state Capitol on Monday in Bismarck. More than a dozen people volunteers filed into the room to submit the more than 18,000 petitioned signatures to Jaeger's office. The measure would legalize the growing, possessing, distribution and use of marijuana for people over 21-years-old. If the measure signatures are verified, it will be placed on the November ballot. 7-9-2018

Secretary of State Approves Recreational Marijuana Measure for the Ballot

- August 13, 2018 - ,

Today Secretary of State Al Jaeger’s office approved a third ballot measure for North Dakotans to vote on in November. The organizers behind a measure to legalize recreational marijuana submitted 15,777 signatures. Of those 738 were disqualified for various reasons, leaving the measure with a signature total 1,587 more than the law requires. Here’s the…

Dickinson State University Sign Dickinson Press photo

Trump to Sign Funding Ban for Universities Hosting Chinese Institute Once Touted at North Dakota Universities

- August 13, 2018 - ,

Back in 2010 the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education approved requests from Dickinson State University and North Dakota State to create Confucius Institutes on their campuses. In 2012 the folks at DSU, mired in a horrendous diploma mill scandal, announced they were ending the program. It doesn’t seem as though a similar program…

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