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Former Democrat Caucus chair talks about his campaign for Congress

FARGO – Ben Hanson is young, but politically, he’s already made a name for himself. He’s the “hard-charging Democrat opponent” running for the state’s only position in Congress.

He’s running against Kevin Cramer, bestower of the title and the congressman “too many in North Dakota know little about.” Hanson plans to represent North Dakota in Washington D.C.

“Come 2018, I was not going to let this seat go…

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Sophia Wilansky says she’s lucky she’s right handed. Since nearly losing her left arm from an exploding projectile on Backwater Bridge one year ago, cooking has become a tedious art. She can no longer be involved in circus acrobatics.

Daily chores like carrying a purse by its strap, or lifting a grocery bag, aren’t possible. The injuries are permanent; she will carry the scars all her life.

“Makes it harder to do a lot of physical things, can’t even do a downward dog properly in…

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LINCOLN, NEBRASKA – Nebraska regulators passed the $8 billion Keystone XL Pipeline project Monday morning.

After leaking more than 210,000 barrels of crude oil from Keystone I into the South Dakota prairies, TransCanada, the company behind the 1,200-mile pipeline, was approved for building a second pipeline, the Keystone XL, in Nebraska. Keystone XL has been a controversial project, facing fierce opposition by environmental groups, landowners, and Native American Tribes.

The…

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AMHERST, SOUTH DAKOTA – Four days before TransCanada anticipated obtaining permits for the Keystone XL project, the company’s older pipeline leaked, spilling more than 210,000 gallons of Canadian crude oil into the South Dakota plains.

The spill occurred near the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe Reservation.

“It’s not if pipelines leak, but when they will leak, and we’re experiencing a leak, a pretty substantial amount,” Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Flute said in a…

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[Editor’s note: HPR began investigating elected state politicians after Jake MacAulay, director of right-wing think tank Institute on the Constitution, linked with the Confederate hate group League of the South, spoke at NDSU. His speech included racist and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. A picture MacAulay posted with West Fargo’s Representative Christopher Olson and a Lutheran minister on his Instagram while on campus raised questions about elected officials in the state. While not all…

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For several years now, the vast oil sites of North Dakota have earned it the abominable designation as the deadliest state to work in. Striking a somewhat curious contrast, it might also be one of the best.

A recent study by Trove Technologies, a San Francisco-based storage and moving company, ranked the state sixth in the country for discretionary income, or the balance left after paying monthly expenses like rent, food and taxes.

“And we as a team ask ourselves the question, 'If we…

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FARGO – Betty Jo Krenz is now in the Stutsman County State’s Attorney’s Office crosshairs.

Krenz, approximately 46, and formerly living in Woodworth, was once a case manager for the Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services. Her role within the tribe ended in 2011. She became a high-profile figure speaking out on tribal issues and was included in a 2014-campaign advertisement approved by Congressman Kevin Cramer, R-ND. She appeared in Cramer’s campaign ad entitled “No One Should Have…

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FARGO – In 1933, “Onkel” Herman Stern received a coded letter from a relative called “The Chammer.” Postmarked Venlo, Holland, containing one word, typed in capital letters and double-spaced.

U N B E L I E V A B L E

A warning followed: “Before saying one more thing – I must warn you never to refer to it in a letter… Whenever you write just say ‘I’m in receipt of your letter from Holland and glad to learn that everything is okay’”

The Chammer spent his savings to…

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FORT BERTHOLD – Olivia Keri Lone Bear disappeared approximately 15 days ago, leaving friends, family, and scouts puzzled. Why was no statewide alert issued? Why are the relationships between tribal and state police so strained? Why are police saying they have “other things to do besides look” for a missing Indigenous woman, according to an investigator?

Why would one of Lone Bear’s trusted friends speak only on the condition of anonymity, fearing retribution?

What is known is that…

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FARGO – In what critics describe as a Presidential temper tantrum, Donald Trump scaled back subsidies to reduce premiums after striking out with his administration’s attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The cuts slashed funding, narrowed the timeframe for health insurance hunters to enroll, and gave insurance companies pause. North Dakota Democrats are pointing fingers at Republican leaders, saying Congressman Kevin Cramer, Senator Tom Campbell, and Senator John…

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