North Dakota
Lt. Governor Tammy Miller discusses run for governor; Armstrong responds
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Lt. Governor Tammy Miller is now a candidate for Governor of North Dakota after making her announcement on Thursday. There’s been a lot of speculation about this run. Lt. Governor Miller, R-North Dakota, said she is looking to continue with some Burgum administration policy issues.
Miller has served as North Dakota’s 39th Lt. Governor since 2022 after taking over for then Lt. Governor Brent Sanford when he left office. Prior to that, she served as Chief Operating Officer in the Governor’s office. Before entering public service, she worked in the private sector at Border States Electric.
“Worked there for a number of years and then became the CEO. I was the CEO for 14 years and during that time, grew the company dramatically,” said Miller.
Miller said she thought now was the right time to run for Governor as she has worked with Governor Burgum for many years and sees the great momentum they have going in the state from growing the economy to the progress they’ve made on eliminating income tax.
“I want to take the state to the next level, and I think being Governor is a great way to do that, and I think being a business leader makes me well qualified for the job,” said Miller.
Miller enters an already growing field as she faces Democrat Travis Hipsher, Independent Michael Coachman and Republican Kelly Armstrong. Miller said there is plenty of time to talk about the differences between her and Armstrong.
For his part, Armstrong said: “In my time in office, I have devoted myself to defending the interests of North Dakotans, including our property rights, energy resources, borders, liberties, innocent lives and the 2nd Amendment. I am proud to compare my conservative record with that of any Republican or Democrat opponent.”
As far as her platform, Miller is running on an extensive list of issues. However, there are two that are most important to her.
“Continue to diversify the economy, and let’s push back on the regulations that are coming out of the Biden Administration,” said Miller.
Since she has worked with Governor Burgum, the question becomes whether he will endorse her. Burgum is also close friends with Kelly Armstrong.
“I have had lots of conversations with the governor; he has provided lots of good advice. I haven’t asked him for an endorsement, but I would be elated if I got an endorsement from Governor Burgum,” said Miller.
If she is elected, she said she’ll be ready on day one.
“I would certainly hit the ground running because I have worked in the Governor’s office for four years. I know all of the state agencies, all of the leadership,” said Miller.
Miller said her next step is to travel the state, meeting with as many North Dakotans as possible.
Miller said one thing that many voters wouldn’t know about her is her small-town roots as she grew up in a community of 34 people. She said she believes in strong family values, giving back to her community and hard work.
Copyright 2024 KFYR. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
Letter: Be wary of plans for large-scale dairies in North Dakota
To the editor,
There is a history of confined animal feeding operations ruining the environment in many states. The new
Riverview Dairy
operations set to enter the eastern part of North Dakota near Hillsboro and Wahpeton should be looked at through the eyes of how we want our livestock industry to expand.
Twenty-five thousand confined dairy cows is huge. Yes, they have state of the art waste disposal systems — or do they? What about flooding? Not unheard of in the Red River Valley. Additionally, the water required for these animals may seem fine but what about in a drought? Do you want to compete for drinking water with cows? Aquifers are being depleted for ag use already.
Twenty-five thousand animals hooked up to machines. Not grazed. Not good.
Workers will be temporary and not connected to the communities. Their money will be sent out of state/country. The money from Riverview will be sent out of the state. Riverview has multiple dairies in other states. Most inputs will be bought wholesale and not locally.
Ag Commissioner Doug Goehring said this LLP can do business without the change to our corporate farming law in the last legislative session. However, they sure are being subsidized by support for infrastructure stemming from other legislation piggy backed on that change in our anti-corporate farming law. A law that was meant to support local farmers to expand by accessing capital from other sources. This dairy will finish the small dairy opportunities in North Dakota using money meant to support them.
Karen Anderson
Warwick, North Dakota
North Dakota
Yankton County, SD deputies arrest South Dakota fugitive after 4-week search
YANKTON COUNTY, SD (KTIV) – There’s a new development in a manhunt that started last month in South Dakota.
Authorities in Yankton County say they’ve found an Iowa man wanted for violating his parole and arrested him after a nearly four-hour standoff Monday night.
The Yankton County Sheriff’s Office says its deputies learned 48-year-old Jason Sitzman was inside a home in Lesterville, South Dakota, and went to that home trying to make contact with him.
Sitzman was wanted on warrants for violating his parole in Iowa, as well as, for failure to appear in court in Yankton County and for aggravated eluding of law enforcement.
But, Sitzman, and another woman who was inside, refused to leave the house. That was at around 7:00pm. Around 10:45pm authorities used chemical agents inside the home to get Sitzman and the woman outside. The woman is identified as 23-year-old Kendra Kirrman.
Both were taken into custody and charged with obstructing law enforcement.
Law enforcement have been looking for Sitzman for more than a month. Back on June 19th… he reportedly fled South Dakota authorities on a motorcycle… riding into Nebraska before ditching the bike at the Chalkrock Wildlife Management Area in Cedar County. Authorities searched the area using drones and a helicopter but weren’t able to find Sitzman.
Copyright 2024 KTIV. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
North Dakota judge will decide whether to throw out a challenge to the state's abortion ban
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Attorneys argued Tuesday over whether a North Dakota judge should toss a lawsuit challenging the state’s abortion ban, with the state saying the plaintiffs’ case rests on hypotheticals, and the plaintiffs saying key issues remain to be resolved at a scheduled trial.
State District Judge Bruce Romanick said he will rule as quickly as he can, but he also asked the plaintiffs’ attorney what difference he would have at the court trial in August.
The Red River Women’s Clinic, which moved from Fargo to neighboring Moorhead, Minnesota, filed the lawsuit challenging the state’s now-repealed trigger ban soon after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The clinic was North Dakota’s sole abortion provider. In 2023, North Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature revised the state’s abortion laws amid the lawsuit. Soon afterward, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, joined by doctors in obstetrics, gynecology and maternal-fetal medicine.
North Dakota outlaws abortion as a felony crime, with exceptions to prevent the mother’s death or a “serious health risk” to her, and in cases of rape or incest up to six weeks of pregnancy.
The plaintiffs allege the law violates the state constitution because it is unconstitutionally vague for doctors as to the exceptions, and that its health exception is too narrow.
The state wants the complaint dismissed. Special Assistant Attorney General Dan Gaustad said the plaintiffs want the law declared unconstitutional based upon hypotheticals, that the clinic now in Minnesota lacks legal standing and that a trial won’t help the judge.
“You’re not going to get any more information than what you’ve got now. It’s a legal question,” Gaustad told the judge.
The plaintiffs want the trial to proceed.
Meetra Mehdizadeh, a staff attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights, said the trial would resolve factual disputes regarding how the law would apply in various pregnancy complications, “the extent to which the ban chills the provision of standard-of-care medical treatment,” and a necessity for exceptions for mental health and pregnancies with a fatal fetal diagnosis.
When asked by the judge about the trial, she said hearing testimony live from experts, as compared to reading their depositions, would give him the opportunity to probe their credibility and ask his own questions to clarify issues.
In an interview, she said laws such as North Dakota’s are causing confusion and hindering doctors when patients arrive in emergency medical situations.
“Nationally, we are seeing physicians feeling like they have to delay, either to run more tests or to consult with legal teams or to wait for patients to get sicker, and so they know if the patient qualifies under the ban,” Mehdizadeh said.
In January, the judge denied the plaintiffs’ request to temporarily block part of the law so doctors could provide abortions in health-saving scenarios without the potential of prosecution.
A recent state report said abortions in North Dakota last year dropped to a nonreportable level, meaning there were fewer than six abortions performed in 2023. The state reported 840 abortions in 2021, the year before the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
The court’s decision enabled states to pass abortion bans by ending the nationwide right to abortion.
Most Republican-controlled states now have bans or restrictions in place. North Dakota is one of 14 enforcing a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Meanwhile, most Democratic-controlled states have adopted measures to protect abortion access.
The issue is a major one in this year’s elections: Abortion-related ballot measures will be before voters in at least six states. Since 2022, voters in all seven states where similar questions appeared have sided with abortion rights advocates.
___
Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this story.
-
World7 days ago
One dead after car crashes into restaurant in Paris
-
News6 days ago
Video: Young Republicans on Why Their Party Isn’t Reaching Gen Z (And What They Can Do About It)
-
News1 week ago
In Milwaukee, Black Voters Struggle to Find a Home With Either Party
-
Politics6 days ago
Fox News Politics: The Call is Coming from Inside the House
-
News1 week ago
Video: Biden Asks America to ‘Lower the Temperature’
-
World5 days ago
Freshers' week in Strasbourg for new EU lawmakers
-
News6 days ago
Video: J.D. Vance Accepts Vice-Presidential Nomination
-
World6 days ago
Trump to take RNC stage for first speech since assassination attempt