Rep. Jim HagedornMINNEAPOLIS – U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, a Republican from southern Minnesota who followed his father’s footsteps into Congress, has died after a battle with kidney cancer. He was 59. Hagedorn’s wife, Jennifer Carnahan said in a Facebook post Friday that Hagedorn “passed away peacefully last night.” Hagedorn was diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer in February 2019, shortly…
PIERRE, S.D. – A bipartisan proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in South Dakota survived its first test in the Legislature. A Senate committee on Thursday recommended the proposal for a vote in the full Senate next week. Voters approved recreational marijuana legalization through a ballot measure in 2020. However, Republican Gov. Kristi Noem challenged its constitutionality and the state Supreme…
FRAZEE, Minn. (KVRR-KDLM) – No one was injured when two freight trains collided Thursday morning near Frazee, Minnesota. Becker County Sheriff Todd Glander says an eastbound train collided with a second train on an adjacent track shortly before 9:00 a.m. He says the second train did not appear to be moving. Glander says train traffic has been stopped until the…
South Dakota CapitolPIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota House has approved a pair of proposals initiated by Gov. Kristi Noem that would ban university trainings and public K-12 school lessons that make students feel “discomfort” on account of their race. Republicans overwhelmingly supported the bills, which would apply separately to higher education and K-12 public schools, though a few joined…
PIERRE, S.D. – An office in the South Dakota attorney general’s office to coordinate investigations into the disappearance and murder of Indigenous people will be started through a private donation from an organization connected to St. Joseph’s Indian School. Native American lawmakers who have been pushing for the funding in the state budget say they hoped the three-year grant of…
FARGO (KVRR) – Two people have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a state law that led to the creation of legislative sub-districts for two North Dakota Indian reservations. Charles Walen and Paul Henderson are challenging the addition of two sub-districts in legislative Districts 4 and 9 on the Fort Berthold and Turtle Mountain Reservations. The complaint says that the creation…
EMERSON, Manitoba (KVRR) – A vehicle blockade that was assembled last week at the Emerson Port of Entry, just north of Pembina, North Dakota has ended. The Emerson blockade was one of at least three border blockades that were set up to protest Canada’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine requirements. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrived and led the protesters away from…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Schools and bus companies across Minnesota have been given $3.5 million in grant money to outfit school buses with stop-arm cameras. The Minnesota Legislature has awarded the grants to 32 schools and bus companies to purchase and install the cameras and buy supporting software programs. According to the state Department of Transportation, Minnesota was seeing more…
Kim Potter MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota prosecutors have apparently backed away from their pursuit of a longer-than-usual sentence for the suburban Minneapolis police officer who confused her handgun for her Taser when she killed Daunte Wright. Kim Potter is scheduled to be sentenced Friday following her December conviction of first-degree manslaughter. In a court filing this week, prosecutors said a sentence…
BISMARCK, N.D. (KVRR) – Improving energy, agriculture and cybersecurity are big topics behind North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum’s State of the State Address at Fargo Theatre. The governor is concerned about 50,000 state sponsored cyberattacks from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in the last two years. He says the state’s IT department is doing well to combat them. Burgum…
