February 5th, 2019
MANDAN – The last trials for 836 activists arrested during the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy have finished, with a large majority of the cases dismissed.
On Tuesday, the state’s final court case was against Katrina Silk, who was found not guilty of engaging in a riot, disobedience of safety orders during a riot, criminal trespass, and disorderly conduct, but was convicted of physical obstruction of a government function. District Judge David Reich sentenced her to 60 days of…
January 30th, 2019
BISMARCK – Forty-three years ago, North Dakota became the 34th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and now white male legislators want to take it back.
Republican Representative Chuck Damschen proposed House Concurrent Resolution 3037 to the Sixty-sixth Legislative Assembly, to withdraw the state’s ratification of the 1972 bill.
The proposal comes at a time when many states are whipping up support for the Equal Rights Amendment, as adoption of the ERA into the U.S.…
January 29th, 2019
BISMARCK – Ruth Buffalo “ate no for breakfast” Tuesday morning and put on her red lipstick before the House Human Services Committee unanimously approved her bipartisan bill to help murdered and missing Indigenous people.
“Sounds like a recipe for awesome,” one friend responded to her Facebook post. Eating no for breakfast means Buffalo won’t take a refusal for an answer.
House Bill 1311 provides law enforcement with training regarding murdered and missing Indigenous. The…
January 28th, 2019
JAMESTOWN – The woman involved in faking adoptions of Native children pleaded guilty Monday morning and was sentenced to five years in jail after the judge heard victim’s impact statements.
The felony jury trial for Betty Jo Krenz, 47, of Woodworth, was cancelled after she changed her plea Monday morning to guilty, according to court records. Krenz was sentenced to nearly five years imprisonment on one felony count and one misdemeanor count of theft of property.
An additional charge…
January 28th, 2019
GRAND FORKS – If there is one cardinal rule for doing business in North Dakota it is never publicly criticize – always praise – the hand that feeds or you will be ostracized, sometimes threatened, or fired without pay.
Oil. Coal. President Donald Trump. Even the United Way.
Patricia Berger, president and CEO of the United Way of Grand Forks, and Area, Inc. contributed to a Facebook post written by longtime TV personality and former WDAZ journalist and anchor Terry Dullum after…
January 23rd, 2019
BISMARCK – Nearly two years after the last No-DAPL tent was torn down and activists scattered, elected representatives have seemingly forgotten the world’s eyes were once riveted on North Dakota.
Two bills have been introduced to the state’s legislature to curb protests against what the state calls critical infrastructure, including systems related to utility services, fuel supply, energy, hazardous liquids, natural gas, or coal. Both bills are not limited in scope, encompassing…
January 22nd, 2019
BISMARCK – The state is trying to throw its weight behind President Donald Trump’s campaign promise by proposing a resolution committing the Sixty-sixth Legislative Assembly to support Trump’s wall.
House Concurrent Resolution 3025 urges Congress and the President to fund construction of a wall and border control impediments along with strengthening the border control infrastructure to ensure compliance with and enforcement of federal immigration laws, the resolution starts.…
January 16th, 2019
BISMARCK – Backed by police and educators, state legislators hope to curb violent crime and rising suicide rates by proposing bipartisan legislation that would allow police to temporarily confiscate firearms from those deemed dangerous individuals.
Representative Karla Rose Hanson, a Democrat from Fargo, wrote House Bill 1537, which would establish Public Safety Protection Orders or “red flag” laws against individuals deemed dangerous to themselves or others.
“Public Safety…
January 15th, 2019
BISMARCK – North Dakota legislators introduced a bill to require physicians to provide information to patients about a questionable “abortion reversal” pill.
House Bill 1336 targets the “informed consent” section of the North Dakota Century Code and seeks to legally bind physicians to tell women planning on having an abortion about the possible effects of a reversal to abortion-inducing drugs.
“It may be possible to reverse the effects of an abortion-inducing drug if she…
January 15th, 2019
BISMARCK – While state legislators busy themselves with writing bills to suppress initiated measures, reinforce marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, solicit stronger penalties for protests, and require schools to offer Bible classes, the state’s Democrats and a handful of Republicans proposed a bill to clarify legalized breastfeeding in public.
If passed, penalties could be enforced on those who prohibit women from exercising their rights, according to House Bill 1330. The bill stemmed…
By Josette Ciceronunapologeticallyanxiousme@gmail.com What does it mean to truly live in a community —or should I say, among community? It’s a question I have been wrestling with since I moved to Fargo-Moorhead in February 2022.…