What is milk? The legislature is attempting to answer the question

If you go to the grocery store these days, you’ll quickly notice the milk section is a lot bigger than it used to be. But it’s not the cows that made it so. There are whole shelves of new products made from soy, almonds, oats, coconuts, and more. And it invites the question, what is

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House Bill 1446 Sets The Stage for A Debate On University Tenure

Tenured University professors have long enjoyed a level of job security far less common in other lines of work. And if House Bill 1446 is approved, it’s a situation that will change. The bill sets forth the terms in which tenured professors can be removed by University Presidents and other delegated administrators. And there’s a

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Stark County’s Pretrial Recovery Program Aids Sobriety in North Dakota

A new criminal justice program in Stark County is proving useful at keeping people out of jail and off drugs and alcohol. It’s called a pretrial recovery program, and for non violent offenders, they can stay out of jail if they agree to drug and alcohol monitoring. The program started early in 2022, and the

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Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge preservationists, railroad officials square off at state permit hearing

The fight to save a historic Bismarck rail bridge spilled into a permit hearing on Friday held by the Department of Water Resources. BNSF is seeking a permit to build a new bridge, and a citizens group fighting to save the existing structure is hoping the state agency will provide relief by denying the permit.

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Why Are People in the US Becoming Radicalized?

What makes a person slip from being passionate, but reasonable, to radicalized and unreasonable? It’s a question many across the country are asking because, in the U.S., the rate of radicalization is on the increase, more so than in other developed countries. The answers are still evolving, and they’re coming mostly by looking back and

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Insulin, Price Caps, and Perspectives from the Outside

A U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services study from 2020 found that insulin prices in the U.S. are as much as 10 times higher than in other developed countries. It’s an issue that’s getting the attention of state legislatures across the country, and the solution that’s increasingly adopted — regardless of which party is

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Senate Bill 2199 Related to Transgender Pronoun Usage and Enforcement Fails

A bill to redefine gender in North Dakota law has failed. Senate Bill 2199 proposed to limit gender definitions in state law to either male or female as determined at birth and created a $1,500 penalty for violation of the law. The bill was given a Do Not Pass recommendation in committee following considerable opposing

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Magrum’s Feud with Gov. Burgum puts North Dakota’s economic wellbeing at risk

Senator Jeff Magrum filed several bills earlier this week related to the Summit Carbon pipeline; the bills, largely related to eminent domain and property rights, got more than a little media attention around the state. But Rob Port speculates that it may not be a purely political move. From his perspective, it looks personal. He

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Minot-area water projects get hearing

Minot’s water projects are front and center priorities this legislative session, as they have been for the past several sessions. At stake is state funding for shares of the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project and the Northwest Area Water Supply project. State dollars are needed to keep the projects moving. Thursday, Mayor Tom Ross

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North Dakota legislative budget writers adopt early revenue forecast

How our legislators build the state budget depends a whole bunch on how much money they think they’ll have. How do they that out? They forecast. It’s tricky business because it depends on predicting things like oil prices and sales tax revenues and other factors that tend toward volatility. Nonetheless, the revenue forecast that will

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ND Communities rely on local champions to attract workers

Have you found the good life in North Dakota? If so, how did you find it? If you’re from here, you were probably taught where to find it, but what if you’re a transplant? In a manner of speaking, that’s the question the Department of Commerce is asking, and to answer it, they’re putting local

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Bills aimed at speeding up construction in Montana see little opposition in Senate committee

The Montana legislature may be budging in on the local development and building approval process. The state is facing a housing shortage, and lawmakers are looking to get bureaucracy out of the way of construction. Two bills, one to allow local jurisdictions to combine forces in the planning and approval phase, and another to force

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North Dakota bills take aim at gender issues; LGBTQ advocates voice opposition

The culture wars rage on in the early going of the ND legislative session. Several bills aimed at, as supporters say, protecting kids from left-wing ideology are working through the system. At stake are the pronouns people use to describe themselves, the right to perform conversion therapy, drag shows, sports participation, and penalties for doctors

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A poison pill was just dropped into debate over North Dakota’s public worker pensions

North Dakota’s pension for public workers is short $2 billion, and the task to solve that problem falls to the legislature. It’s an issue fraught with politics and special interests. And when we boil it down, it can metaphorically be explained with a question: do we put another band-aid on, or tear the one we’re

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Grand Forks County Commission members consider establishing county administrator position

In the election last November, Grand Forks County residents approved a home rule charter measure; it authorizes the creation of a County Administrator position, and the County Commissioners are considering it. In Grand Forks, though, it’s largely a renaming act. The administration of the County has long been in the hands of a ‘Director of

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Should School Board Candidates Be Required To File Campaign Finance Reports? Proposed Legislation Says Yes

Currently, candidates for local school board officers are not required to file campaign finance reports the same as other local office candidates. But two bills proposed in the current legislative session would change that. The bills propose to exempt school board candidates in districts with less than 750 students, but for all others, campaign finance

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