One of the innovative things the State of North Dakota has done during the coronavirus pandemic is work with a Fargo-based developer ProudCrowd to create a contact tracing app. Contract tracing is an epidemiological technique aimed at tracking where an outbreak is happening and who it is happening to so that policies can be targeted.…
Plain Talk: Former NDGOP Chairman and Burgum Supporter Says the Governor Is “Using His Wealth” to Punish the Legislature
Gary Emineth is a long-time activist in North Dakota politics, and at one point served as the chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party. He was an outspoken supporter of Gov. Doug Burgum’s 2016 campaign, but he sees problems in Burgum’s decision to spend big money defeating other Republicans in primary races. Two of Burgum’s former…
Plain Talk: “At What Point Will the Governor Give That Local Control Back?”
Brandt Dick is already a superintendent. He works for the public school system in Underwood, North Dakota. He’d like to continue to be a superintendent, albeit of all of North Dakota’s public schools. He’s asking North Dakota voters to do that this election year. He’s one of three candidates for the position on the June…
Plain Talk: “A New Realm of Virtue Signalling”
On this episode of the Plain Talk podcast, U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., recounts being lectured about not wearing a mask by a reporter who was wearing a mask, albeit around his neck and not up over his mouth and nose. “All this is turning into a new realm of virtue signaling,” he said. Will…
Plain Talk: State’s Attorney Says if Great River Closes Their Coal Power Plant, They Should Take Down Their Transmission Line Too
To hear Ladd Erickson tell it, when Coal Creek Station was built the justification for constructing the power transmission line that services it across acres and acres of prime North Dakota farmland (to the consternation of many farmers at the time) was that the coal plant would generate economic activity. Erickson is the State’s Attorney…
Plain Talk: “Opening up Our Own Economy Is Not Enough”
“Opening up our own economy is not enough,” Dr. Jeremy Jackson, head of North Dakota State University’s Center for the Study of Public Choice and Private Enterprise, said on this episode of Plain Talk. “We need other places to open up.” Jackson is the author of a new forecast for North Dakota’s economy which has some…
What Saudi Arabia Has to Say to North Dakota
A one-two punch from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a price war in the international oil markets, has hit North Dakota hard. Thousands are losing their jobs. Oil production in the state is tanking, and tax revenues are sure to follow. The latter of the two just-mentioned causes for this was kicked off, in…
Plain Talk: Cramer Talks COVID-19 Relief, Oil, Guns, and Coal Creek Station
“I don’t know how he could have handled it better.” That’s what Sen. Kevin Cramer said on this episode of Plain Talk in praise of fellow Republican, Gov. Doug Burgum, and his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in North Dakota. Cramer has also praised President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis. “His actions have demonstrated…
Plain Talk: Coal’s Future Is ‘More in Doubt Now Than It Was Five Years Ago’
Jason Bohrer is President of the Lignite Energy Council, an industry group representing coal interests in North Dakota. His group made a move about, you guessed it, coal. “You get 50 miles outside those coal mines, people don’t know much about them,” he said, referring to the coal operations in central North Dakota. “What they…
Governor Burgum: Working Together, We Can Achieve a Safe ND Smart Restart
This guest post was submitted by North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum Since this historic journey began with the first case of COVID-19 being confirmed in North Dakota on March 11, we have learned much about this insidious disease. We have learned that it spreads quickly and without regard for borders. We have learned that it…