MINOT, N.D. — NDGOP party chairman Perrie Schafer says he’s looking into the controversy around the use of homophobic slurs and other bigoted language in a messaging group organized by the North Dakota Young Republicans, and there may be consequences for Republican candidates who were a part of it. “This is an organization,” he said…
Plain Talk: Cass County prosecutor candidate talks conflict of interest and campaign, ACLU talks abortion
Minot, N.D. — Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned its precedents finding a right to an abortion in the U.S. Constitution, the nature of the debate over abortion has changed. On this episode of Plain Talk, Cody Schuler, the advocacy manager for the ACLU of North Dakota, talks about how that debate has…
Plain Talk: Cara Mund, Rick Becker, recreational marijuana, and Liz Cheney
MINOT, N.D. — North Dakota’s general election got a lot more interesting over the last couple of weeks. First, Cara Mund, a former Miss America, jumped into the U.S. House race as an independent to take on Republican incumbent Kelly Armstrong and Democratic-NPL challenger Mark Haugen. Then state Rep. Rick Becker went back on his…
Plain Talk: PACT Act, Kansas abortion vote, and more
MINOT, N.D. — Kansas, a very red, very Republican state, just voted, in a landslide, to maintain status quo protections for abortion. Meanwhile, in Congress, there was a vicious debate over the last week over who hates veterans. In Michigan, Democrats backed a pro-Trump, election conspiracy Republican in a primary against a GOP incumbent that…
Plain Talk: ESG investing could downgrade North Dakota’s credit rating
Minot, N.D. — The ESG movement in venture capitalism – the acronym stands for “environment, social, and governance” – is a threat to North Dakota’s economic well-being, but not just in the way you might be imagining. Our state’s primary industries — energy and agriculture — are also carbon-heavy industries, which is why our state…
Plain Talk: Sen. Kevin Cramer talks Fufeng controversy, PACT Act, same-sex marriage, and more
MINOT, N.D. — As the controversy over a corn milling plant near Grand Forks, and the Grand Forks Air Force Base, to be built by a Chinese company whose leader is a member of the Chinese Communist Party, continues to unfold, Sen. Kevin Cramer sees the need for legislation to address the matter. Federal officials…
Democratic-NPL chairman talks about pro-life candidate controversy, 2022 cycle
MINOT, N.D. — Last week the North Dakota Democratic-NPL saw some internecine conflict over their U.S. House candidate, Mark Haugen, who is pro-life and supports the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Patrick Hart, the chairman of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL, joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the challenges of managing the disparate points of view…
Plain Talk: North Dakota has slashed the time it takes to permit a carbon capture project
MINOT, N.D. — I suspect that many in the general public, when they hear about carbon capture, think of it as some pie-in-the-sky thing. Something that’s being developed. That’s in the work. Not really something that is, as yet, a practical part of modern industry. Except, the state of North Dakota just permitted its first…
Plain Talk: Attorney General’s Office identifies rogue employee who deleted emails
MINOT, N.D. — Last week, in response to an open record request filed by myself and others for emails, Attorney General Drew Wrigley announced that his office wouldn’t be able to satisfy those requests in full . An employee, who was not a supervisor or attorney in his office and who had no authority to do so,…
Plain Talk: A North Dakota gas station owner responds to President Biden’s accusations about prices
MINOT, N.D. — President Joe Biden is putting the blame for high gas prices on gas station owners. “My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril,” he wrote in a tweet posted before Independence Day. “Bring down the…