North Dakota
North Dakota taking steps to ban candy, soda purchases with SNAP benefits
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Some foods such as soda and candy may soon be prohibited purchases in North Dakota through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, officials said Tuesday.
The North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services plans to seek permission from the federal government to prohibit certain foods from being purchased with SNAP benefits. The proposal was mentioned Tuesday to a legislative committee but details are still being developed.
The move is part of an effort to secure more federal funding through the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program. While states are guaranteed at least $500 million from the program, they can get more money if they enact certain policies the federal government favors.
States with pending or approved SNAP waivers that limit non-nutritious food purchases will be considered more competitive applicants, Sarah Aker, executive director of medical services for the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, told lawmakers.
The agency plans to apply for the waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture ahead of the Nov. 5 application deadline for the rural health funding.
“We’re working out the definitions so that the retail community can have a smooth transition, but we’re eliminating things that cause chronic disease, so candy and soda,” said Pat Traynor, interim Health and Human Services commissioner.
Traynor said the earliest the changes could affect North Dakota SNAP recipients is next year, and the new changes would take months to implement.
North Dakota had about 57,000 SNAP recipients in May, according to USDA data.
At least 12 states have received federal approval to restrict SNAP recipients from using their benefits to buy foods such as soda and candy, Stateline reported. Some states have restricted only soda, while others have included energy drinks, prepared desserts and other sugary drinks. The trend is related to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to “make America healthy again.”
Sen. Jeff Magrum, R-Hazelton, remarked during Tuesday’s legislative committee meeting that the government’s definition of what food is and isn’t healthy seems to differ over time.
“What if they ever classified beef as non-nutritious, or something to that effect?” he asked. “When they base the money on non-nutritious, that’s kind of a moving target.”
Aker said the state has control over how it defines non-nutritious food under the waiver.
Emily O’Brien, deputy commissioner for Health and Human Services, said the department is still working out which soda and candy products will be included in the waiver.
“We’re fine-tuning what the definitions look like,” O’Brien said. “We want to have buy-in, too, from our partners on implementation.”
John Dyste, president of the North Dakota Grocers Association, said he’s been in contact with state officials about the SNAP waiver and plans to meet with the department.
Dyste said he does not think prohibiting candy and soda from SNAP purchases would be difficult for grocery stores to implement, though may be more challenging for smaller stores without a point-of-sale system.
Senate Minority Leader Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, said eliminating soda and candy from the SNAP program is a “fine idea,” and hoped it would give North Dakota’s application for the Rural Health Transformation Program a boost.
She also said she wants to be certain the state’s rural grocery stores are able to make the changes effectively without burdening their businesses.
“If the points of sale all have to be changed and it’s going to change the operations of the benefits, then they’ll get pushback for doing it,” Hogan said.
North Dakota Monitor is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
The number of roosters heard during the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 2026 spring pheasant crowing count survey was 23.2 crows per stop, up 9% statewide from last year.
“Overwinter survival of adult pheasants has been outstanding. Typically, we lose up to 75% of our pheasant population each winter, but that has not been the case as of late,” said RJ Gross, Department upland game management biologist.
By region, observers heard 32.7 crows per stop in the southwest, up 5% from 2025; 22.2 crows per stop in the northwest, up 4%; and 23.1 crows per stop in the southeast, up 24% from last year. The count in the northeast, which is not a primary region for pheasants, was 9.3 crows per stop, up 43% from 2025.
Crowing counts are just one part of the picture, providing a glimpse of the population going into the breeding season. But Gross expects more good news as the peak of the pheasant hatch approaches.
“Entering the nesting season, residual grass cover looked good,” Gross said. “We have received ample precipitation that has led to increased growth in nesting and brood rearing cover across the state. Combined with high overwinter survival over the past three years and near ideal nesting habitat conditions, things are looking great for pheasants in North Dakota.”
Pheasant crowing counts are conducted each spring throughout North Dakota. Observers drive specified routes, stopping at predetermined intervals, and counting the number of roosters heard crowing. The number of pheasant crows heard is compared to previous years’ data, providing a trend summary.
As always, the late summer roadside counts conducted in July and August will give a better idea of brood production and the hunting outlook for fall.
For the full story, watch this week’s North Dakota Outdoors Webcast with R.J. Gross.
FARGO — It’s summer and that means time for class reunions, and the Wahpeton Class of 1960 is all in.
Most of the graduates are now in their 80s, but the success and impact they’ve had on other generations is remarkable.
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CLAY COUNTY, Minn. (Valley News Live) – A man is facing felony charges after authorities say he assaulted a woman inside a camper at Buffalo River State Park, then fled on a bicycle before a K9 unit tracked him down.
James Michael McArdell, 37, is charged with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and felony domestic assault.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Clay County District Court, a park ranger heard a woman screaming inside a camper at the park just before 9 a.m. on June 16 and called 911. The ranger reported that a man had biked away from the scene.
When deputies arrived, a woman told them McArdell had shown up at her campsite the afternoon before. The next morning, she told him to leave after a verbal argument. He refused.
The complaint states McArdell began destroying items inside the camper. When the woman went back inside to confront him, McArdell jumped on her, held her down, and punched her repeatedly in the head with a closed fist. The woman grabbed a nearby crescent wrench to defend herself, but McArdell took it from her and struck her in the wrist with it.
The complaint says McArdell blocked the woman from leaving the camper multiple times. He fled only when she got the door open and he spotted the park ranger outside on the phone. The woman reported lumps on her head and a sore wrist.
Officers located McArdell several hours later. According to the complaint, he fled into tall grass when he saw law enforcement, and a K9 unit was used to track him down.
Court documents show McArdell has two prior domestic violence convictions from 2023 in North Dakota. At least one was a felony for assaulting the same victim. The prior convictions elevate the current domestic assault charge to a felony under Minnesota law.
McArdell is detained at the Clay County Jail pending further proceedings.
Second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon carries a maximum of seven years in prison, a $14,000 fine, or both. The felony domestic assault charge carries up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.
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