North Dakota articles

Kevin Ackley and Zac Echola are shown inside the dugout Wednesday, June 19, at Fargo's North Softball Complex. They are members of Red River Valley Democratic Socialists of America, a growing organization that formed a coed team to raise visibility and make connections in the community. Chris Flynn / The Forum

Nobody Even Like Remembers East Germany Any More, You Guys

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Nobody Even Like Remembers East Germany Any More, You Guys

- 2 days ago - ,

A profile of a group of people with fringe views starting a softball team to become better known in their community might be fun if we were talking about Big Foot enthusiasts or ufologists. But when it’s people promoting an ideology which has resulted in millions upon millions of dead bodies an uncritical, credulous newspaper…

West Fargo's Willow Park Elementary School Forum file photo

Report: North Dakota Leading the Nation in Growing School Spending and It’s Not Even Close

- June 24, 2019 - ,

Education is important, and because it’s important, we spend a lot of time debating education. And the bulk of that debate is how much we ought to be spending on education. If you follow political debates long enough, you begin to learn there are certain assumptions made about education budgets. Because they’re for the children,…

Young Americans Have Been Flocking to Energy Industry Opportunities in North Dakota and the Middle Part of America

- June 21, 2019 - ,

Sometimes it’s hard to describe to people how much I love North Dakota. I was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and spent the first ten years of my life in Wasilla. When my family moved here the 4th grade version of me resented it. I loved the mountains and the trees. I wasn’t sure how to…

Seen here in 2017, Rep. Mike Brandenburg, R-Edgeley, testifies at the North Dakota Public Service Commission hearing on the Foxtail Wind Farm at Ellendale, N.D. Keith Norman / Forum News Service

Some Lawmakers Considering a Special Session After PSC Turned Down a Wind Farm Permit

- June 19, 2019 - ,

Last week the Public Service Commission turned down a siting permit for a large (23,000 acres, 76 turbines) wind farm project in Burke County. NextEra, the company behind the project, had pushed for a permit despite opposition from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department who argued that…

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No, Grand Forks Herald, Tougher DUI Laws May Not Actually Be Right for North Dakota

- June 19, 2019 - ,

The Grand Forks Herald today has an editorial praising Minnesota for their progress in reducing DUI-related fatalities, and lashing North Dakota for failing to achieve the same progress. The editorial is correct in a top-level sort of way. Minnesota has made tremendous progress on this front. From 1998 to 2017 the state saw a more than…

Small Town Grocery Stores Don’t Need Government Assistance, They Need Better Business Models

- June 17, 2019 - ,

“An interim committee of the North Dakota Legislature will study how food gets into rural areas and how the system can be improved,” reports my colleague Jenny Schlecht She’s referring to SCR4013 (read it below) introduced by Senator Jim Dotzenrod (R-Wyndmere), and co-sponsored by Senator Jerry Klein (R-Fessenden) who is a retired grocery store owner…

Senators board buses heading to a private meeting at the White House on North Korea outside Capitol Building in Washington, April 26, 2017. (Gabriella Demczuk/Copyright 2019 The New York Times)

Exploding National Debt Is Just the Will of the People at This Point

- June 14, 2019 - ,

A caveat on the headline, there are times when real spending cuts happen in state and local government. We can have a debate about whether or not it happens enough. But when it comes to the federal budget? I’m not sure there is anything approach a consensus on any sort of meaningful spending reductions. Don’t…

Wind turbines abut a traditional farm July 7, 2014, south of Wilton, N.D. Michael Vosburg / Forum News Service

The Wind Industry’s Arrogance Comes Around to Bite Them as the Public Service Commission Says a Rare “No”

- June 12, 2019 - ,

North Dakota’s Public Service Commission has shot down a wind farm siting permit requested by NextEra Energy for a project in Burke County (north of Powers Lake). One commissioner described the decision as “historic.” The most important line from my colleague John Hageman’s report on the decision is this (emphasis mine): Public Service Commissioners unanimously…

Crews clean up leftover camping supplies and other debris at the Oceti Sakowin protest camp before a Wednesday deadline to vacate in Cannon Ball, N.D., Feb. 21, 2017. (Nick Cote/Copyright 2017 The New York Times)

What Have the Anti-Oil Activists Ever Done for Us?

- June 11, 2019 - ,

A few recent headlines in the regional media are interesting, given their juxtaposition. Our state’s battle to be reimbursed for the heavy costs of handling the violent and often unlawful #NoDAPL protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline continues. “North Dakota’s congressional delegation is calling on President Donald Trump’s administration to address the state’s year-old request…

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