News

Two bills fight to define ND ethics

February 15th, 2019

Dark Money movie playing at the Fargo Theater - North Dakotans for Public Integrity's Facebook page

BISMARCK – Two bills are fighting for ethical supremacy in the North Dakota State Legislature.

Senate Bill 2148, sponsored by Senator Tim Mathern, a Democrat from Fargo, received a ‘Do Pass’ from Special Ethics Committee on Monday. The bill, if passed, will establish the creation of an ethics commission in North Dakota, enforce regulations on naming sole contributors for political contributions over $200, impose fines on violations, and adopt rules passed by popular vote…

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​ETP’s case against ‘eco-terrorists’ dismissed in federal court

February 15th, 2019

Frontlines of the DAPL controversy 2017- photograph by C.S. Hagen

BISMARCK – Legal battles between corporate oil and anti-pipeline interests made shocking claims when lawsuits were first filed, on both sides of the pipeline.

North Dakota courts dismissed hundreds of criminal charges against the 836 NoDAPL activists arrested. While official documents show TigerSwan never received permission to operate within the state, many of the civil charges brought by the North Dakota Private Investigation and Security Board against the private security firm have…

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​Blackface in our own backyard, it’s not just in the South

February 13th, 2019

Design by Raul Gomez

FARGO – Blackface isn’t just a Virginia issue; it’s everywhere, even here in North Dakota.

Recently, prominent politicians in Virginia have acknowledged painting their faces black to stereotypically resemble people of African heritage. Closer to home, photographs from the 1950s or 1960s, discovered from a source who wishes to remain anonymous, shows that at Fargo Elks Lodge 260, blackface comedic acts were commonplace, as well as mocking Native American culture and women.

The…

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​More than two years later, last NoDAPL trials finish

February 5th, 2019

The legal tent at Oceti Sakowin where the Water Protector Legal Collective was born - photograph by Sarah Hogarth

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…

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State legislators attempt to dump Equal Rights Amendment

January 30th, 2019

National Woman's Party watchfire demonstrators standing with banners and fire in urn in front of White House during the early 1900s - Harris & Ewing, Washington, D.C

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.…

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​Bill to help murdered and missing Indigenous approved, moves toward House and Senate

January 29th, 2019

Representative Ruth Buffalo of Fargo presenting House Bill 1313 - photograph provided by Ruth Buffalo

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…

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​Native adoption scammer guilty, behind bars

January 28th, 2019

Betty Jo Krenz in then Congressman Kevin Cramer's 2014 campaign ad

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…

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​Facebook comment leads to firing of United Way CEO

January 28th, 2019

United Way logo

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…

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New bills target protesters, First Amendment

January 23rd, 2019

Photograph and design by Raul Gomez

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…

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North Dakota ​Legislature wants state to back Trump’s wall

January 22nd, 2019

Congressman Kelly Armstrong, Senator Kevin Cramer, and others including Fisher Industries in a picture of the company's proposed replica for Trump wall - Kelly Armstrong Twitter

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.…

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