North Dakota

Port: How is a wastewater lagoon political?

Published

11 months ago

April 10, 2025

Port: How is a wastewater lagoon political?

MINOT — Our nation is closing in on $37 trillion in debt, which represents almost 123% of our gross domestic product.

That’s a problem we have to fix, and spending cuts have to be part of the equation. Yet that immutable reality still doesn’t justify the approach President Donald Trump’s administration is taking to spending cuts.

Case in point, recently, the administration announced the cut of $20 million in grants that were headed to North Dakota infrastructure projects. Among the cuts was $7.1 million for a water intake project in Washburn, almost $8 million for a regional wastewater project in Lincoln, south of Bismarck, and nearly $2 million for a wastewater lagoon project in Fessenden.

These projects represent the boring but vital functions of government that most of us are oblivious to. We all want our waste to go away when we flush the toilet or rinse out the sink, and we take for granted that the waste is flowing through a system where it’s handled appropriately. But doing that takes planning and, perhaps most important, funding.

The sort of funding the Trump administration just cut for North Dakota projects.

What’s galling is that, when called on to defend these cuts, the Trump administration called the BRIC program, from which these funds derived, “wasteful” and “political.”

“The BRIC program was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program. It was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters,”

read a statement from FEMA,

which is now under the control of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

Political?

How in the world is a wastewater lagoon political?

We could have a debate about whether this sort of funding should come through FEMA, or the federal government at all. You could argue that the funding should be provided locally, except that the city of Fessenden has 425 citizens, and local officials estimate that raising the funds from local taxpayers would mean

a roughly $6,000 tax hike on every property owner in Wells County.

The state of North Dakota could step in and provide those funds, too, but there’s an upper limit on our capacity to do that. Like Wells County, the state of North Dakota has a relatively tiny tax base. Replacing the federal funding that flows into our state with state tax dollars would be fiscally devastating. Entering the current legislative session, roughly 30% of Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s executive budget was the appropriation of federal dollars.

Our liberal friends sometimes like to deride this state of affairs as evidence that North Dakota is a beggar state. The truth is more complicated. We have a lot of resources — energy, agriculture, etc. — that are vital to the rest of the country. Thus, it behooves federal taxpayers to fund infrastructure here, from roads to bridges to wastewater lagoons.

Without those federal dollars, North Dakota couldn’t function because we don’t have the tax base to support our infrastructure.

This is tough medicine for North Dakota’s pro-Trump electorate. The Trump administration is branding even valid infrastructure projects as “wasteful” and “political” and it’s left our congressional delegation scrambling to balance the stupidity of that with the unavoidable reality that this is precisely what North Dakota voters cast their ballots for.

Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak appeared

on a recent episode of the Plain Talk podcast,

and we asked her about the Trump administration’s approach to these cuts. Her answer was all over the map. She said she would “love” to talk about DOGE (special Trump adviser Elon Musk’s government efficiency initiative), but then said DOGE doesn’t work for her and that she won’t defend their approach, before circling back to say that it’s going to be a “really productive process.”

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I think Fedorchak knows that DOGE is a mess, but can’t come out and say that because Republicans who register even modest criticisms of Trump are, as a practical political matter, walking out onto a dangerous limb.

It shouldn’t be that way, but it is.

Trump critics spend a lot of time wondering what it will take to break through the MAGA miasma and convince voters that they’ve made a mistake. My answer? It’s going to take some pain.

Voters will need to be impacted in some meaningful ways. The value of their retirement accounts will have to dwindle amid the trade war, or they’ll have to get slammed with massive property tax hikes as local officials try to fill in the gaps on infrastructure spending.

That’s what it will take, and DOGE may well be delivering.

Rob Port is a news reporter, columnist, and podcast host for the Forum News Service with an extensive background in investigations and public records. He covers politics and government in North Dakota and the upper Midwest. Reach him at rport@forumcomm.com. Click here to subscribe to his Plain Talk podcast.

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North Dakota

Today in History, 1943: 2 North Dakota men die in separate Army plane crashes

Published

9 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Today in History, 1943: 2 North Dakota men die in separate Army plane crashes

On this day in 1943, two North Dakota army officers, Second Lieut. Arthur B. Kuntz and First Lieut. Bernard A. Anderson, were killed in separate medium bomber training crashes in Florida and Georgia.

Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:

Army Plane Crashes Kill Two N. D. Men

Two North Dakota officers in the army air forces were killed Sunday in bomber crashes during training flights, Associated Press dispatches revealed Monday.

Second Lieut. Arthur B. Kuntz of Harvey (Wells county) was killed with 10 others from the Avon Park, Fla., army bomber base when two medium bombers collided during a routine formation flight. Both planes crashed and there were no survivors.

First Lieut. Bernard A. Anderson of Warwick (Benson county) was one of six killed when a medium bomber from MacDill field, Tampa, Fla., crashed near Savannah, Ga. Lieutenant Anderson was co-pilot of the plane.

None of the other victims of either accident was from the Dakotas or Minnesota.

Lieutenant Kuntz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Kuntz of Harvey, was graduated from the army air force navigation school at Hondo, Texas, as a second lieutenant last October, and received his wings as a navigator.

See more history at Newspapers.com

An ad featured in The Forum on March 2, 1943. Newspapers.com

Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.

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North Dakota

Presidential Searches at 3 North Dakota Colleges Narrowing

Published

21 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Presidential Searches at 3 North Dakota Colleges Narrowing

(Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – Two North Dakotans are semifinalists for the Bismarck State College president’s job as North Dakota State University narrows its presidential candidate list.

Valley City State University also is searching for a new president, with an application period closing this month..

Kevin Black, chair of the State Board of Higher Education and co-chair of the North Dakota State University Presidential Search Committee, said the committee reviewed over 60 applications. The committee is planning off-site interviews with candidates March 9-10 and campus visits with semifinal candidates March 23-27.

“We’re really excited about taking the next step and there’s some very quality people in there,” Black said.

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North Dakota

After falling short a year ago, West Fargo United wins ND girls hockey state title

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

After falling short a year ago, West Fargo United wins ND girls hockey state title

FARGO — One season ago, a Cinderella run for the West Fargo United girls hockey team came up just short in the state championship game.

United, the No. 7 seed, fell to Legacy/Bismarck in the 2025 final.

This time around, the team had momentum swaying in its favor, riding nine consecutive wins into Saturday’s title game against Grand Forks at Scheels Arena.

Led by goals from a pair of senior captains, United capped its redemption season with a 10th straight victory, fending off the KnightRiders 2-1 to claim the North Dakota girls hockey state tournament championship.

“It just means everything,” said United’s Payton Stocker, whose goal at the 12:31 mark of the second period gave her team a 1-0 lead. “We’ve worked so hard and throughout the season, it’s just been such a battle. Winning and coming out on top is just such a great feeling.”

West Fargo United captains react as they are presented the team’s 2026 state championship hockey trophy after defeating Grand Forks on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, at Scheels Arena in Fargo.

Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald

Stocker was followed up in scoring by United captain Rachel Spanier. The defenseman fired a slap shot from the left point that beat Grand Forks goaltender Kylie Schmaltz to make it 2-0 with 35 seconds remaining in the middle frame.

Reagan Wilson locked things down in net for United, finishing with 23 saves and picking up an all-tournament team nod.

“This is my first year of high school hockey,” the sophomore goaltender said. “I can’t believe coming in here and winning a state title with all of these girls. I just love them so much.”

While it was the senior duo of Stocker and Spanier finding the net for United on Saturday, contributions were seen across the board.

Sophomore Emma Hassler also put forth an all-tournament campaign with five goals and an assist for six points over the three-day stretch.

030226 WFGOUnited3.jpg — Grand Forks’ Dustee Balek’s shot is blocked by West Fargo United goalie Reagan Wilson in the North Dakota girls hockey state championship game on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, at Scheels Arena.

Freshman Kaylee Augdahl finished the tournament with four points — including

a double-overtime winner

over Fargo North/South in Friday’s semifinals — and junior Liana Williamson added three assists.

“It wasn’t just us (seniors),” said Stocker, who joined Hassler and Wilson on the all-tourney team. “It was everyone collectively. Being seniors, it feels a lot better. It was a great feeling.”

United, the No. 5 seed this year, capped its season with a record of 17-9-0.

“These girls are awesome,” first-year United head coach Kennedy Blair said. “They’ve worked super, super hard since last April. Wake up early in the mornings, go into off-ice training, on-ice training and all that.

“This group of girls is really special. They’re a really close-knit group, and they trusted our coaching staff coming in as a first-year group.”

030226 WFGOUnited2.jpg — West Fargo United players pose for the camera as they wait for the 2026 state championship hockey trophy after defeating Grand Forks on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, at Scheels Arena.

Blair knows a thing or two about winning championships. She was a North Dakota state champion goaltender with the former Bismarck Blizzard co-op and also won an NCAA Division I national title with the Wisconsin women’s program in 2021.

Yet, she never imagined ending her first year as a high school varsity coach with a state championship.

“No, I didn’t,” said Blair, who also won North Dakota High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year honors. “But I had belief in these girls that we could get to the state championship again.”

It’s the United co-op’s first-ever state title — which consists of West Fargo, West Fargo Sheyenne and West Fargo Horace high schools.

Prior to Saturday, the last time a West Fargo girls program won the state title was in 2014 when it was still a standalone program competing as the Packers.

“It’s amazing considering United hockey has never won a championship game,” Wilson said.

Grand Forks, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, ended its campaign with a 21-5-0 record.

Ella Yahna’s fourth goal of the tournament — which came on a 2-on-1 rush with the assist from teammate Reese Meagher, put the KnightRiders within one shot with 8:17 remaining in the third.

Grand Forks, however, was unable to find the equalizer as its bid for a first state championship came up just short.

“I thought we came out in the first and we had a tough time,” Grand Forks head coach Kelly Kilgore said. “I felt we battled some nerves. I really liked our second period … We carried the play and tilted the ice a little bit back in our favor. The shots kind of started to really turn in our favor.”

Stocker said she wouldn’t have wanted to win a state title as a senior with any other group of teammates.

“(They mean) everything,” Stocker said. “We’re so tight and they’re all my friends. Leaving them is going to be hard. But they mean everything to me. We’re all so close and I love them a lot.”