North Dakota
Port: What a strange time to be Kirsten Baesler
MINOT — It’s no big secret that Kirsten Baesler, who has served as North Dakota’s superintendent of public schools since 2012, is not well liked by our state’s MAGA movement.
Baesler has faced challenges from the far-right nearly every time she’s run for reelection. Last year, her latest challenger, religious zealot Jim Bartlett, succeeded in
wresting the North Dakota Republican Party’s state convention endorsement away from her.
(Superintendent is officially a nonpartisan position, but the political parties traditionally endorse candidates at their conventions anyway.)
When Baesler’s nomination to serve in President Donald Trump’s Department of Education
was announced,
most of North Dakota’s Republican statewide elected leaders congratulated her. The holdout?
Sen. Kevin Cramer,
perhaps Trump’s most ardent supporter in state elected office. It’s traditional that the state’s top leaders congratulate a colleague on moving on to federal service, but Cramer had nothing to say, and the silence was meaningful.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Trump’s slash-and-burn approach to downsizing the federal government has reached the Department of Education. His administration
announced Tuesday
that 1,315 of the cabinet department’s employees had been fired in addition to 572 who had previously accepted voluntary separation agreements and 63 probationary employees who were let go.
That’s a 47% reduction in the department’s workforce, and Trump has vowed to eliminate the department entirely, though he’ll need approval from Congress to go that far. As a conservative, I’m not sad to see our bloated federal workforce get downsized, though I wonder if Trump’s manic and chaotic approach to that end will prove salubrious to our nation’s well-being.
Time will tell.
What’s curious is seeing moderate Baesler, who enjoyed
the endorsement of North Dakota’s teacher and public workers union
but not the Republican Party, in a central position to dismantling the federal government’s education wing.
Though, in fairness to Baesler, she’s been clear about that objective, if not as blunt as other Trump administration leaders.
“Yes, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to meet with the Education Transition Team, including Linda McMahon,”
Baesler told me in January
when I was the first to report that she was in talks for a position in Trump’s administration. “We have a shared interest in returning education control back to the states and creating a work-ready focus in education.”
“This is an opportunity to build on the relationships I’ve formed with fellow state education leaders over the past 12 years to implement the changes that will help our students become future-ready citizens,” Baesler said in
a press release
officially announcing her nomination. “I look forward to working alongside Secretary-designate McMahon to deliver on President Trump’s education agenda and return education decisions to the states,”
The U.S. Senate has
since confirmed
McMahon’s nomination to serve as secretary of Education.
I texted Baesler for comment about the Department of Education firings and she did not reply. Dale Wetzel, her state communications director, had indicated that she would have no further comment after announcing her nomination.
Also, it’s worth mentioning that under Baesler’s leadership, North Dakota’s Department of Public Instruction has shrunk. In 2013, the first appropriations bill for the department considered by lawmakers under Baesler’s tenure
listed DPI’s workforce at 99.75 full time equivalent employees,
or FTEs.
A dozen years later, as lawmakers in Bismarck
consider budget questions
during their 2025 session, Baesler’s presentation to the Senate Appropriations Committee lists 86.25 FTEs, a roughly 14% reduction.
In 2013, Baesler’s DPI requested total funding, including state and federal funds, of roughly $2.2 billion which, adjusted for inflation, would be north of $3 billion in the 2025 session.
Currently, her department is asking for $2.9 billion for the 2025-2027 biennium, which is actually a decrease in spending after inflation.
Baesler, at least from a fiscal perspective, has always been more conservative than her populist critics have given her credit for.
Even so, it’s odd to see her heading into the MAGA milieu in Washington, where her more temperate and collaborative approach to education policy sticks out like a sore thumb, though Baesler is hardly the first of North Dakota’s political leaders to track that trajectory.
Former Gov. Doug Burgum went from
weeping exhortations for masking
during the pandemic, from
condemning the Jan. 6 riots
and
attending President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration,
to
proclaiming that Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Strange days, indeed.
North Dakota
North Dakota Seeks to Recover $778K Surety Bond for Grain Sellers in Hansen-Mueller Case
The surety bond amount would be used to pay farmers and grain sellers who were not paid for grain sold to the company under standard contracts.
The state’s indemnity fund that is owned and operated by the North Dakota State Treasury, is available to reimburse someone who sold grain to a licensee under a credit-sale contract who was not fully compensated under such a contract.
Assessments to the state’s indemnity fund stop when the fund hits $6 million and restart if it drops below $3 million. According to the state, indemnity fund coverage is limited to 80% of a farmer’s unpaid credit-sale contract, up to a maximum payout of $280,000 per insolvency.
North Dakota is the second state to file such a motion, following the Nebraska Public Service Commission.
Also, this week, the Nebraska PSC asked the bankruptcy court for an extension of the Dec. 29, 2025, deadline to notify creditors of its plan to pay farmers in the state using funds from a $1 million surety bond.
Because of the Christmas holiday, the Nebraska PSC said it will be unable to meet the deadline and asked for an extension to Jan. 5, 2026.
Under the Nebraska Grain Dealer Act, dealers are required to post surety bonds to obtain licenses. If payment terms are violated by the company, the Nebraska Public Service Commission can forfeit the bond and distribute it to valid claimants.
Read more on DTN:
“Nebraska to Use $1M Hansen-Mueller Bond,” https://www.dtnpf.com/….
Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com
Follow him on social platform X @DTNeeley
(c) Copyright 2025 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
A true story of sacrifice: North Dakota film ‘Hazel’s Heart’ begins streaming on major platforms
FARGO – People around the country can now watch a movie based on a heroic North Dakota teenager.
“Hazel’s Heart” was filmed and directed in North Dakota and follows the story of 16-year old Hazel Miner, who sacrificed her life to save her two siblings during a brutal March 1920 blizzard near Center, N.D., in Oliver County.
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North Dakota
Wintering Well Series Back For Another Season At McKenzie Co. Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum
For those who are looking for community interaction, interested in learning an old-fashioned skill, or just simply looking for a way to offset those winter blues, join McKenzie County Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum, 904 2nd Ave. SW, Watford City, for another season of Wintering Well: Slow Down & Savor. Classes begin Jan. 2, 2026, and will continue the first Friday of each month through the winter, 5-7 p.m. CT..
The holiday season is a time where many remember and honor past traditions, though it can also be a time where the usual business of life gets ramped up. In this modern word, we are heavily inundated with outside pressures that tell us to “keep busy and work harder”. Technology can be a constant pull, drawing us away from quiet connection.
But, for many of the people who settled and lived in this region before us, life, the holidays and winter in general carried a different feeling altogether. The winter season was often a time that was looked forward to and folks seemed more willing to go along with nature rather than struggling against it. Winter is a time of rest and renewal. A time for life to slow, and strength and energy to be gathered for spring, summer and fall. With the cold winter outside their doors, people were content to sit by the fire, catch up with friends and family, and engage in pastimes that were both fun and functional.
These Hygge style Wintering Well evenings offer an opportunity to slow down and savor this time of year. Bring a crocheting, knitting or embroidery project or start a new one. Even if you have no experience with these skills, bring a crochet hook and some yarn and other participants can help you get started. In addition to learning new skills and practicing existing ones, there is good conversation to share, new relationships to foster and snacks will be served.
These classes are intended for adults, but tweens who want to learn are welcome to come along with their parents. There is no charge to join, but donations are always welcome.
Take a step back from technology and busy schedules to reconnect with the old-fashioned life at these cozy, creative sessions, and Winter Well this season.
For more information, visit McKenzie County Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum’s Facebook page or call them at 701-842-6434.
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