MINOT, N.D. — “I’ve largely stayed out of that stuff,” Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski says about national hot-button issues. He says he’s tried to focus on local issues like public safety and infrastructure during his first term in office. But when it became public that the University of North Dakota is pursuing a new policy on…
Trumpism isn’t aging well
MINOT, N.D. — Since the 2016 election, North Dakota has been one of the most consistently pro-Trump states in the union. Even now, according to polling data from multiple surveys that I’ve seen but am not at liberty to share in detail, the disgraced former president remains popular among North Dakotans. But is there evidence…
Republicans must stop being afraid of the truth
MINOT, N.D. — “The election was fair, as fair as we have seen. We simply did not win the election, as Republicans, for the presidency,” Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota told ABC News during a recent interview. Not so long ago saying such a thing would not be an act of courage. But in today’s…
Friday Mailbag: Election integrity, our constitutional rights, and sports on campus
MINOT, N.D. — Minot, N.D. — Greetings to you on a snowy Friday. At least, it’s snowy where I’m at. I had to run the snowblower over the driveway twice. My six-year-old, though, is enjoying his first snow day home from school ever. I think it’s everything he dreamed it could be. I wonder, though,…
Plain Talk: Fargo mayoral candidate says current leadership is missing opportunities
MINOT, N.D. — “We have opportunities that are being missed,” says Shannon Roers Jones. Roers Jones is currently a state representative, having been elected to the House from District 26 in 2016. She was just re-elected to that seat by a small but comfortable margin in 2020, and now she’d like to be mayor of…
UND hasn’t earned the trust to implement a controversial gender inclusion policy
Minot, N.D. — Back in October this column brought to public light a draft gender inclusion policy at the University of North Dakota. Among other things, the policy would punish students or university employees who intentionally use the wrong pronouns. It would also grant transgender students the right to use all university facilities, including bathrooms and even…
Port: A North Dakota cop seized a journalist’s cellphone. The public is owed more than an apology
MINOT, N.D. — Not so long ago I was writing a series of stories about an abusive and unprofessional city manager working, at the time, for the City of Minot. Among my sources for those stories were city employees who were speaking to me on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution from the manager,…
If North Dakota can’t spend rental assistance money prudently, then we shouldn’t spend it at all
MINOT, N.D. — The State of North Dakota received $352 million in funding through the federal government’s Emergency Rental Assistance program. The money was intended to help renters who had fallen behind during the pandemic, but now the state is set to return about 42% of that funding, or $149 million dollars. Why? The state…
Plain Talk: Majority Leader Pollert reflects on career, Rep. Howe talks possible secretary of state campaign
MINOT, N.D. — After more than two decades in the North Dakota Legislature, having served in some consequential ways, as an influential appropriator and eventually leader the majority Republican caucus, Rep. Chet Pollert is calling it a career. On this episode of Plain Talk, he talked about that decision, as well as what changed during…
Is it illegal for Sen. John Hoeven to seek a third term?
MINOT, N.D. — Sen. John Hoeven, first elected to his current office in 2010, has announced that he’ll be seeking a third term in 2022. Under section 16.1-01-13.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, that’s illegal. “A person is ineligible to have that person’s name placed on the ballot at any election for the office of United…