Today in Minot

BISMARCK, N.D. – Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has announced North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission (APUC) awards for eight projects. The awards totaling $926,800 were approved at the APUC quarterly meeting Nov. 19-20 in Jamestown.APUC is a program of the North Dakota Department of Agriculture that...

BISMARCK, N.D. – Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has announced Agriculture Diversification and Development (ADD) Fund awards for four projects. The awards totaling $1 million were approved at the ADD quarterly meeting Nov. 19 in Jamestown.The ADD Fund is administered by the North Dakota Department of Agriculture....

North Dakota is closing in on an encouraging milestone: traffic fatalities continue to trend downward. With one month left in 2025, Vision Zero reports 76 lives lost on the state’s roads — putting the year on pace to finish below last year’s historic low. But winter is here, and with it comes a stark reminder: crashes involving heavy vehicles are far more common in the colder months, especially in rural areas. Safety officials urge drivers to stay alert, give large vehicles space, and make defensive driving a habit. Joshua Mathisen with KX News has the full story.

North Dakota’s tech sector is getting a major boost as Packet Digital secures up to $50 million in federal funding to expand its battery manufacturing footprint in Fargo. The award comes through a Defense Department initiative aimed at fast-tracking innovative technologies for military use, particularly from smaller contractors. The investment will help scale production at the company’s Badland Batteries facility, supporting next-generation lithium-ion cells designed for unmanned air, sea, and space systems. State leaders say the move highlights North Dakota’s growing role in national defense innovation.

A beloved name in North Dakota’s music community has been lost. Gordon “Crazyfingers” Lindquist, an 88-year-old pianist known for his quick hands and warm presence on stages across the state, died Friday in a two-vehicle crash near Garrison. His performances were a fixture at events from Norsk Høstfest to the Dickens Village Festival, and tributes are already pouring in from groups he touched over decades. The other driver, a 32-year-old Tioga woman, was hospitalized. The Highway Patrol continues to investigate. Joe Skurzewski with KMOT has the full story.

Border politics collided with on-the-ground reality in Manitoba this year, and the gap between the two is striking. Nearly a year after conservation officers were reassigned to monitor the U.S. border—part of Canada’s response to tariff threats from President Trump—officials say they haven’t seen a single incident of migrant crossings or drug smuggling. The move was largely symbolic, critics argue, meant to show Washington that Canada was “doing something.” But with officers pulled from regular duties and no results to show, questions about cost, optics, and impact are mounting. Steve Lambert with The Canadian Press has the full story.

For Minnesota’s firefighters, a new kind of foam is beginning to reshape an old routine. Departments across the state are testing SoyFoam — a soybean-based alternative designed to replace the PFAS-laden products long used in fire suppression. The shift isn’t just about safety; it’s also about strengthening a farm economy squeezed by volatile export markets. Early reviews suggest the foam performs well, even if it feels a little thicker than traditional blends. With statewide donations underway, more crews are preparing to give it a try. Mathew Holding Eagle III with MPR has the full story.

The looming shutdown of Howard Miller, a century-old clockmaker in western Michigan, shows how quickly trade policy can ripple through local economies. The company points to fast-moving tariffs under the Trump administration as the breaking point, driving up costs on parts they couldn’t source domestically. Nearly 200 workers now face job losses, and longtime employees describe the chaos of shifting tariffs that made planning impossible. As Michigan’s political landscape adapts to the new trade reality, communities are left grappling with the fallout of a once-reliable manufacturer fading into history. Anna Clark with ProPublica has the full story.

Car dependency has shaped modern life in ways that once felt liberating but now increasingly feel limiting. The rise of the personal vehicle opened access to new neighborhoods, jobs, and opportunities, but decades of designing communities around cars have brought heavy trade-offs. Vast areas are now paved for roads and parking rather than places to live, gather, or walk, and transportation costs strain many household budgets. The result is a built environment that isolates people, reduces mobility for anyone who can’t drive, and erodes the sense of community that makes places thrive. Andy Boenau with Fast Company has the full story.