ST. PAUL (KVRR) — Minnesota lawmakers are almost 12 hours into their one-day special session to pass 14 budget bills worth $66 billion and have only passed seven so far. One of the most contentious issues was to repeal a 2023 state law that made illegal immigrants eligible for the MinnesotaCare program as part of Health and Human Services funding….
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — A bipartisan group of Fargo citizens wants to shake up the election process for mayor and city commission by enacting a non-partisan primary. Former KVRR news director Jim Shaw was among a group addressing the city commission along with current Cass County Commissioner Tony Grindberg and State Representatives Karla Rose Hanson and Scott Wagner. They want…
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — Ever since North Dakota voters created an ethics watchdog agency seven years ago, dubious lawmakers have pushed back against giving it power to actually keep an eye on state officials. That was true in the session that just ended, as legislators shut down many requests from the Ethics Commission, keeping the agency on a…
WASHINTON, D.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump is bringing back the travel ban policy from his first term. He signed a proclamation this evening preventing people from a dozen countries from entering the United States. The countries include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. In addition to the ban,…
Courtesy: FOX 9WASHINGTON, D.C. (KVRR) — President Trump has appointed the man who prosecuted the Feeding Our Future investigation to serve as Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota. Joseph Thompson has served as a federal prosecutor for sixteen years. Thompson says he looks forward to continuing our office’s work combatting violent crime, the scourge of fentanyl and other deadly drugs, and…
U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., talks to voters through a virtual town hall meeting on March 25, 2025. (Amy Dalrymple/North Dakota Monitor)WASHINGTON, D.C. (North Dakota Monitor) — U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., will host another online public forum, with topics including the “one, big beautiful” budget bill being considered by Congress. The forum will be at 7 p.m. CDT June…
Jamie Azure, chair of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, speaks during the Tribal Leaders Summit in Bismarck on Sept. 4, 2024. Turtle Mountain, Spirit Lake Nation and three tribal citizens are challenging a ruling in a voting rights case. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Spirit Lake Nation and three…
Opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline gather Nov. 1, 2023, in Bismarck ahead of a public meeting on an environmental impact statement. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe opposes the pipeline, citing concerns for its water supply and sovereign rights. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)WASHINGTON, D.C. (North Dakota Monitor) — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is asking the D.C. Circuit…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Kevin Cramer has introduced a bill to address a shortage of mental health providers in our nation’s schools. It’s called the Mental Health Excellence in Schools Act. It would create a program giving schools that sign up for the program money to fund some of the cost of attendance for students studying to become school psychologists,…
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KVRR) — U.S. Department of Agriculture has released $1 billion in disaster relief for livestock producers impacted by wildfire or drought in 2023 or 2024. The Emergency Livestock Relief Program funding comes as part of the $21 billion in weather-related assistance include in the year-end legislation passed by Congress in December. It’s the first of two assistance programs…
