North Dakota
During Chamber forum, Grand Forks legislative candidates disagree on North Dakota abortion ban
GRAND FORKS – During legislative forums Tuesday evening, Grand Forks candidates in Districts 42 and 18 disagreed on North Dakota’s abortion ban but did agree the Legislature needs to address property taxes.
The forum was sponsored by the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce and was moderated by Garth Rydland and Chamber CEO and President Barry Wilfahrt. The evening included one forum for District 42 House and Senate candidates and another for District 18 House and Senate candidates. Each forum included a similar set of questions about topics like the state’s abortion ban, ballot Measure 4 (regarding a proposal to end the state’s current property tax system) and legislation they would like to support.
Candidates in District 42
had the first forum and included Senate candidates Claire Cory, Republican; and Rodney Gigstad, Democrat; and House candidates Sarah Grossbauer, Democrat; Carol Hagen, Democrat; Emily O’Brien, Republican; and Doug Osowski, Republican.
Candidates in District 18
had the second forum and included Senate candidates Scott Meyer, Republican; and Kyle Thorson, Democrat; and House candidates Mary Adams, Democrat; Nels Christianson, Republican; Scott Nelson, Democrat; and Steve Vetter, Republican.
On abortion, all of the Democratic-NPL candidates were against the ban.
“I believe that the Legislature of North Dakota has no business in my doctor’s office or anyone else’s,” Grossbauer said. “How are we supposed to expect a 12-year-old who was raped to know that she was pregnant if she’s not menstruating? I think it was a slap in the face to every woman across this state.”
A judge recently
found the ban violates the state’s Constitution.
“I don’t believe in passing legislation that’s unconstitutional,” said Thorson. “We’re spending millions defending this bill in court along with many other constitutional bills that we passed before. My opinion is government should not be in these decisions.”
Most of the Republican candidates said that they are pro-life and for the ban, with the exception of O’Brien, who did not outright say she is against the ban.
“I’m not sure which specific bill that is being discussed. … In my own opinion I believe that it is between the individual and the doctor to have those conversations and make those decisions best for them,” O’Brien said.
Christianson said “I am unapologetically pro-life. The consensus pro-life statute passed by the Legislature protects the dignity of the life of the mother and the child.”
On Measure 4, which seeks to
eliminate the vast majority of property taxes in the state, many agreed the state needs to do something about rising taxes. Many are against the measure.
“Having just had some of our property north of Bismarck burned and having the fire department and the National Guard, it’s kind of a big thing for the first responders,” Hagen said. “We need to be able to have first responders and other resources, and Measure 4 would deflate or defeat a lot of those products.”
Other candidates said voters will make the right decision this November.
“I trust that voters will make the right decision for what they think is best for the state,” said Cory. “I support all forms of tax relief for District 42 residents, but I also encourage people to be informed on the measure before they go and vote.”
Osowski said the measure would provide a fix for the clear appetite for property tax reform.
“This would be the quickest way to release some financial burden on citizens that own homes and are subject to property taxes or unfair tax burdens,” said Osowski.
Meyer said that if reelected, property tax reform would be at the top of his agenda.
“I will be sitting at the table on property tax reform,” Meyer said. “I don’t want to start with the investment properties or centrally assessed things. No matter what, your Legislature will be working on this in 2025.”
If approved, the responsibility of paying property tax would no longer be on the property owner. Instead, the state would cover the current rate going forward, with local entities being responsible for any increases beyond the current rate. Adams and many of the other candidates at Tuesday’s forums noted that the plan has no set solution on where the funds — billions of dollars — will come from to pay for essential services.
“Whoever came forward with the (measure) said ‘Oh the Legislature will fix it’ but they can’t just fix it because property tax encompasses so many things,” Adams said. “Take away the tax, and then you’re going to get ‘fees’ because one way or the other, we have to pay for our infrastructure, our police department, our fire department; all those things that you don’t always use, but you’re glad that they’re there.”
On proposed legislation, many of the representatives that aren’t currently serving in office said they would focus on co-sponsoring legislation instead of crafting their own bills from scratch. But they did provide ideas of topics that the Legislature should tackle, like education funding or leave policy.
“We need to pass a school lunch bill so that kids can go to school and be able to concentrate on their studies (instead of being hungry), because that’s going to help everybody,” said Gigstad. “I think we need to explore a paid family leave bill (or) at least study the family leave situation.”
Tackling school meal funding and ensuring North Dakota students have access to nutritious food was a key issue for the Dem-NPL candidates.
“Any little thing we can do to help improve school performance will improve the society as a whole,” said Nelson. “We need to make sure we fortify our public schools, and by doing that, we start with the nutrition and the well-being of the students.”
More experienced candidates said that they don’t need the time to hit the ground running, unlike many of the less politically experienced candidates.
“Will you need on-the-job training with me? I’m ready to go, day one,” said Vetter. “I have a history of passing bills, getting things done, and solving problems.”
O’Brien also defended herself against an allegation
that she does not ilive in District 42.
“There have been several conversations. Four years ago it was the same conversation because my boyfriend and I have two children together,” O’Brien said. “I work very hard to still have my own house where all my mail goes; my children have a safe and comfortable place to go that mom has and dad has.”
The forums will be rebroadcast on the local cable channel prior to election day and available on the city of Grand Forks’ Facebook page. More information on the upcoming North Dakota general election on Nov. 5 can be found at
www.vote.nd.gov
.
Today in History revisits the Tuesday, December 29. 1959 edition of the Grand Forks Herald and highlights a story on the UND Hockey team being names North Dakota team of the year.
The University of North Dakota hockey team was named “Team of the Year” after winning the NCAA Championship in a 4-3 overtime victory over Michigan State. Forward Reg Morelli was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Runner-up honors went to the Bismarck High basketball team for winning its third straight Class A title.
Sioux Ice Champs N. D. Team Of Year
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (as published by the Grand Forks Herald on Dec. 29, 1959)
North Dakota hockey stock reached a peak early in 1959 when the University sextet captured the NCAA championship with a 4-3 overtime victory over Michigan State.
The feat earned the Sioux icemen the accolade of “team of the year” in the annual Associated Press poll of sports editors and sports directors.
Runner-up honors in the balloting went to the Bismarck high school basketball team, which won its third straight Class A high school title.
The St. Mary’s high school football team, which came from no- where to win the Class A grid crown, won third place.
The University hockey team had taken western championship for the first time the year before, and finished second to Denver in the 1957-58 NCAA tournament.
As the 1958-59 campaign rolled around there were many problems to be solved if the Sioux were to maintain their position atop the college hockey world.
One by one the questions were resolved, and on March 14, at Troy, N. Y., North Dakota went into overtime to cop the coveted NCAA title.
Tremendous spirit marked the Sioux climb to the top. The North Dakota team won four games during the season in overtime, including two in the NCAA meet.
Members of the championship team included George Gratton and Bob Peabody, goalies; Ralph Lyndon, Julian Butherta, Pete Gaze- ly and Bob Began on defense; and Jerry Walford, Stan Paschke, Guy LaFrance, Art Miller, Ed Thomlinson, Joe Poole, Les Merrifield, Ron King, Bart Larson, Bernie Haley, Garth Perry and Reg Morelli, forwards.
Morelli Voted Most Valuable
Morelli was voted most valuable player in the NCAA tourney. Morelli and Thomlinson were on the first team and Lyndon and Poole on the tournament’s second team.
The Bismarck basketball feat of three straight state championships tied a record set by Fargo in 1922- 23-24. The Demons had an overall 21-3 record, averaged 61.6 points per game and held opponents to 49.3 per tilt on the season.
Starters were Ron Carlson and Bob Smith at forward, Rod Tjaden at center and Art Winter and Rich Olthoff at guards.
Carlson and Winter were all-west choices.
Here are “team of the year” choices, points in parenthesis:
- UND hockey (37)
- Bismarck high basketball (24)
- St. Mary’s high football (16)
- Bottineau high basketball (11)
- Valley City Teachers basket- ball (10)
- Williston high wrestling (5)
- Grand Forks Legion baseball (2)
- Shanley high football (1)
- NDAC football (1).
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
A storm bearing down on the Great Lakes and New England is expected to bring rain, snow, and high winds over the next few days.
A narrow band from Fargo, North Dakota south to approximately Mason City, Iowa is under a blizzard warning ahead of the storm. That includes parts of of both states as well as parts of Minnesota. Winds in the affected areas are forecast to reach 45 miles per hour and, paired with an expected 3 to 8 inches of snow, are expected to create whiteout conditions through the start of the week.
Michigan’s upper peninsula is under a blizzard warning as well. There, snowfall is expected to be between 9 inches and 2 feet, and winds are expected to reach as high as 60 miles per hour, ABC News reports.
The National Weather Service has issued winter weather advisories for parts of the northeast, from the Scranton, Pennsylvania up through Burlington, Vermont and Portland, Maine. Freezing rain is expected in that area on Sunday and Monday.
Buffalo and Jamestown, New York, are also both under flood watches from Sunday afternoon until Monday afternoon.
Back in the Great Lakes region, both Cleveland and Detroit are bracing for high winds. Forecasters expect the cities will see gusts of up to 60 miles per hour on Sunday night through early Tuesday morning.
In the upper midwest, both Minneapolis and Green Bay are forecast to see between 5 to 9 inches of snow. A level 1 of 5 severe storm threat exists in a stretch from northern Indiana south into Missouri. That band includes Indianapolis, St Louis, Louisville, and Nashville. The affected region will be subject to high speed, damaging wind gusts, according to Fox Weather.
The storm began dropping snow on Sioux Falls and Fargo early on Sunday morning, and will continue to sweep east across the northern sections of the U.S. The midwest will begin to see storm conditions on Sunday afternoon, and the northeast will be affected shortly thereafter.
Road travelers in the affected regions should be wary. Parts of the I-95 corridor between Philadelphia and Boston may be made treacherous by freezing rain around 5 pm on Sunday night.
Forecasters believe that the storm system will clear by Monday night, though lake-effect snow is likely to follow in its wake for Great Lakes communities. That snow will likely continue into Tuesday and potentially Wednesday.
In northern New England, wintry precipitation may produce up to a quarter of an inch of ice in the area. While the interior northeast is expected to receive some lake-effect snow as well, forecasters believe snowfall in the region will be lighter.
The storm comes on the heels of another winter weather system that swept across the northeast earlier this week, dropping snow on New York and New Jersey and forcing thousands of flights to be either cancelled or delayed.
LINCOLN, N.D. (KFYR) – Lincoln got its very own cat cafe last week.
Ashley Kneavel learned about cat cafes while visiting another state.
“I fell in love with the concept and wanted to bring something like that to North Dakota,” said Kneavel.
And so with the help of Furry Friends Rockin’ Rescue director Julie Schirado, she got to work.
“About a year ago, I think it was, we started building this together,” said Kneavel.
Furry Friends’ role in the operation? Providing the cats. All of them are pre-vetted, meaning they are spayed and neutered and fully vaccinated.
Meaning they’re also ready for adoption.
“Instead of them sitting at a shop, they get to sit in an atmosphere that’s closely resembled to a home,” said Kneavel.
The cafe has already had three of its four-legged residents adopted.
“It’s a great thing to see when somebody comes in and connects with them on a deep level and takes them home,” said Kneavel. “It’s just… I don’t even know how to describe it, it’s just very rewarding.”
One of her goals in the future is to install a drive-thru window.
To learn how to adopt a furry pal from the cafe, or how to book a visit, click here.
Copyright 2025 KFYR. All rights reserved.
Ohio State Transfer QB Lincoln Kienholz Commits to Louisville
Capture of Nicolas Maduro: What it could mean for Oklahoma
J.D. PicKell explains why Oregon-Indiana Peach Bowl rematch is perfect for Dan Lanning
Anti-war protesters gather in East Liberty as McCormick, Fetterman laud U.S. action in Venezuela, Lee and Deluzio denounce attack
Rhode Island GOP chairman Joe Powers to step down Jan. 15
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Kamala Harris blasts Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro as ‘unlawful and unwise’
US Republicans back Trump on Venezuela amid faint MAGA dissent
Who is Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s leader after Maduro’s capture? | CNN
Trump says US will ‘run Venezuela’ after seizing President Maduro in military assault | BBC News
He can make anything out of toothpicks (1983)
-
Entertainment1 week agoHow the Grinch went from a Yuletide bit player to a Christmas A-lister
-
Connecticut1 week agoSnow Accumulation Estimates Increase For CT: Here Are The County-By-County Projections
-
World6 days agoHamas builds new terror regime in Gaza, recruiting teens amid problematic election
-
Indianapolis, IN1 week agoIndianapolis Colts playoffs: Updated elimination scenario, AFC standings, playoff picture for Week 17
-
Southeast1 week agoTwo attorneys vanish during Florida fishing trip as ‘heartbroken’ wife pleads for help finding them
-
World1 week agoSnoop Dogg, Lainey Wilson, Huntr/x and Andrea Bocelli Deliver Christmas-Themed Halftime Show for Netflix’s NFL Lions-Vikings Telecast
-
World1 week agoBest of 2025: Top five defining moments in the European Parliament
-
Business1 week agoGoogle is at last letting users swap out embarrassing Gmail addresses without losing their data