A judge has denied a request by environmental group Greenpeace to gather evidence on a right-wing, pro-fossil fuel mailer that may have targeted potential jurors in its legal battle with Energy Transfer, the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Some Morton County residents in October reported receiving a 12-page direct mailer called “Central ND News” containing material complimentary of Energy Transfer as well as stories that highlighted criminal activity by anti-Dakota Access Pipeline protesters. 

Greenpeace is one of many activist groups that backed the demonstrations in 2016 and 2017. Protesters camped in rural south-central North Dakota for months in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which says the pipeline is a tribal sovereignty and environmental threat.

Energy Transfer filed suit against Greenpeace in Morton County District Court in 2019, accusing the group of coordinating a misinformation campaign against the company and of engaging in criminal acts during the demonstrations.

Greenpeace seeks court permission to research mailer critical of DAPL protests

The pipeline developer seeks tens of millions of dollars in damages from Greenpeace.

Greenpeace says its role in the protests was limited, that it did not spread misinformation about Energy Transfer and that it never participated in or endorsed criminal activity. The case is scheduled for trial before a nine-person jury beginning in February.

In court documents, Greenpeace expressed concerns that the direct mailer was written specifically to give Energy Transfer the upper hand when the suit goes to trial. It requested permission from Southwest Judicial District Court Judge James Gion to conduct discovery into a Texas company that printed and distributed the Central ND News.

“We should have the right to figure out who sent it, when they did and why,” Everett Jack, an attorney representing Greenpeace, said in a hearing in December.

Energy Transfer has disputed this claim, arguing there’s no meaningful evidence the mailer was intended to prejudice the jury. Trey Cox, representing the pipeline developer, last month called Greenpeace’s motion a “thinly veiled attempt” to delay the trial and move the case to a different court.

In a Dec. 17 order, Gion seemed to agree with Greenpeace that the mailer may have been an effort to sway jurors.

“The Court takes an extremely dim view of attempts to influence a jury panel before the trial,” he wrote.

Still, the judge found it would not be appropriate to approve the discovery request without further evidence the mailer has had a measurable impact on the jury pool.

“There is only one way to determine if such an attempt is successful, and unfortunately the Court agrees with Energy Transfer that way is through the jury questionnaires and jury selection,” he wrote in the order. “If the Court cannot empanel a jury in Morton County, there will obviously be a delay in the trial and the Court can revisit this issue at that time.”

The direct mailer resembles a print newspaper. Its distribution in Morton County residents was first reported in a joint article by the North Dakota News Cooperative and climate news publication Floodlight. The article identifies the owner of the publication as Metric Media, which has launched hundreds of conservative-leaning local news outlets that rely heavily on algorithmically generated content.

FARGO — A Grand Forks man connected to a former North Dakota senator who traveled abroad with plans to sexually abuse children is appealing

his own federal child sex abuse conviction,

arguing a search warrant in the case was unconstitutional.

Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier, 37, argued evidence showing he possessed child sex abuse material should have been thrown out due to what his defense team called an “overbroad” search warrant. The warrant was used to search Morgan-Derosier’s home in September 2020 for evidence that he violated a judicial order that banned him from doing business as Team Lawn, his landscaping business.

The search turned up a thumb drive that contained child sex abuse materials, according to court documents. Police applied for a search warrant once they found images of children being sexually abused, court documents said.

The evidence likely would have been used in a trial in North Dakota U.S. District Court, but Morgan-Derosier pleaded guilty in September 2023 to charges that said he received, distributed and possessed child sex abuse materials. The plea came after U.S. District Judge Peter Welte denied Morgan-Derosier’s motion to suppress.

Prosecutors also said the defendant sexually abused multiple children over the years, including some he met online and lured to a physical location. Morgan-Derosier and another man sexually abused a boy in 2020 together in a tent near Park Rapids, Minnesota, court documents said.

Morgan-Derosier did not have to admit to the sexual abuse, but he is serving a 40-year sentence for possessing thousands of child sex abuse materials and sharing some of the images online.

Morgan-Derosier reserved the right to appeal his conviction based on the search warrant.

He filed a notice to appeal

last year in the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In an appeals brief that was recently unsealed, Morgan-Derosier’s attorney argued that the search warrant was unconstitutional, overbroad and lacking particularity. His team also argued that the warrant led to evidence of a crime that was unrelated to the investigation of his business dealings, the brief said.

“The warrant essentially authorized the police to seize all computers and electronic devices for any crime that was committed at any time,” the brief said. “It is difficult to conceive a less particular or more broad case.”

Morgan-Derosier has been connected to former Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks.

The Forum reported on phone records

that showed Holmberg and Morgan-Derosier exchanged dozens of text messages while Morgan-Derosier was jailed in August 2021.

During Morgan-Derosier’s

January 2022 detention hearing,

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl said a “77-year-old man from Grand Forks” texted Morgan-Derosier on Aug. 23, 2021, about bringing Morgan-Derosier’s 19- or 20-year-old boyfriend “over for a massage.” Puhl did not identify the 77-year-old, but the age matched Holmberg’s at the time.

In an interview with The Forum, Holmberg denied asking Morgan-Derosier about a massage but acknowledged he texted Morgan-Derosier about patio work and “a variety of things.”

Other documents and audio recordings revealed Holmberg gave Morgan-Derosier a

ride to Bismarck

shortly after police searched Morgan-Derosier’s home. Once there, Morgan-Derosier spoke with North Dakota consumer protection officials about his business, according to a transcript from the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office. Holmberg attended a legislative energy development and transmission committee meeting that day.

Holmberg was

charged in October 2023

in federal court, with prosecutors saying he

traveled to Prague

multiple times in the 2010s with plans to sexually abuse children. He pleaded guilty to the charge in August.

During that plea hearing,

prosecutors said Holmberg and Morgan-Derosier watched child sex abuse material together.

Holmberg has been

jailed in Minnesota

after

a judge

determined he

violated presentence release conditions.

A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled in his case.

Holmberg served in the North Dakota Senate from 1976 to 2022, when he

resigned shortly after The Forum

broke the story about his connection to Morgan-Derosier.

North Dakota isn’t very populated, so we don’t have massive schools, but we do have a few that are significantly bigger than the others in our state.

How many students attend the largest high schools in our state? I took it upon myself to make a list of the biggest schools in our state according to the number of students attending in 2024-2025.

According to Public School Review, the average public high school in North Dakota has 222 students.

Let’s take a look at the schools that far exceed that number!

Now, let’s break it down.

Top 5 Schools By Number of Students

West Fargo Sheyenne High School was named the largest public high school in our state by Public School Review, and Niche.com. 2024-5’s enrollment is at 1,473.

According to both sources, Bismarck’s Century High School is the second-largest public high school in the state. The school currently has 1,427 students enrolled.

Fun Fact: This school ranks in the top 20 percent of all schools in North Dakota for overall test scores.

West Fargo High School is the third-largest high school in our state. Currently, 1,423 students attend this school.

The fourth largest high school in the state is another one of Bismarck’s schools. Legacy High School takes this spot with 1,418 students.

Fun Fact: This school ranks in the top 5 percent for North Dakota’s high school graduation rate.

The fifth spot is actually a tie. Williston High School and Fargo Davies High School both currently have 1,363 students attending this year.

There you have it! While these numbers are accurate now (2024), I’m sure they will continue growing as more families move to the state.