North Dakota
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.”
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.
North Dakota
Runners will soon trek across North Dakota to bring awareness for families grieving the loss of a child – KVRR Local News
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — For more than 400 miles, 12 runners will trek across North Dakota to carry the stories of love, loss, and resilience from community to community.
“After having run Haven since 2017, the 10.15 Project came, and it just is so exciting because it’s really looking at pregnancy and infant loss and putting it in a new light. And really giving people the opportunity to do something that you can see and it’s meaningful,” said Jen Burgard, Founder and Executive Director of Haven.
The 10.15 Project was co-founded by Haven, an organization that supports grieving families. The relay begins on International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. And during the four days, the team hopes to bring awareness to families.
“It gives you pieces of solitude, of quiet, of reflection, and also a purpose. It gives you meaning, and I think endurance is one of the biggest pieces of this. It’s the endurance required to navigate pregnancy and infant loss is extreme. And I think this really mirrors that,” said Burgard.
While many of the runners come from different fields, many have also experienced a loss themselves.
“When it happened in my family, it was kind of something we were all struck by. You realize how common it is. And you know, I want to bring light to that,” said Ty Casey, Runner and Learning and Development Specialist at TrueNorth Steel.
Casey has multiple runs planned over the next few months, but with this run in particular, he hopes this will bring awareness.
“If this is one thing that can help bring light to it and help people be more open and help people to talk about it, and take some of the grief away that would be totally ideal for us just to help out a little bit,” said Casey.
The relay begins on October 15 in Medora and will end on October 18th in Fargo.
Spring Fever
District Game Warden Sam Feldmann
As winter begins to fade and ice fishing begins to slow, everyone gets the itch to be outside on nice days when it’s warming and the sun is shining. People are beginning to think about their garden or outdoor projects around the house they have been pondering all winter.
While others have been thinking about open water fishing, getting the boat ready, hitting the field to look for shed antlers in a favorite spot they’ve been watching deer all winter, or slipping into the field to lure a spring gobbler into shotgun range with a new call they’ve been practicing with all winter.
With the excitement of warm weather and getting out to enjoy everything a spring day has to offer, I would like to remind everyone of a few things while enjoying what North Dakota has to offer.
This year is a registration year for all motorized watercrafts. This doesn’t just mean you have to renew your registration. It means that when you get the new red stickers sporting “28” on them that they must be affixed to both sides of the bow of the boat.
Another reminder is that if you are going shed hunting, there are a few things to remember. Shed antlers are legal to possess. This time of year, our officers receive lots of calls about shed hunters locating “dead heads,” which are animals that have died and the antlers are still attached to the skull plate.
If you happen to locate a dead head, you cannot possess it without contacting your local game warden and receiving a permit for the animal. Also, if you are going to shed hunt on posted private property or a Private Lands Opens To Sportsmen tract, you need to obtain permission to do so. Wildlife management areas and other state and federal lands are open to shed hunting, but a good rule of thumb is to check the regulations on public property before heading out.
If you are going to be chasing turkeys this spring through the timber, there are a few things that should be remembered. Make sure you have your tag with you when you are in the field. Remember that your tag is only legal for one bearded wild turkey. If you are lucky enough to harvest a turkey you fooled into coming to your calling and decoy, you must tag it before doing anything else.
One last reminder for the spring activities. Remember that all licenses, whether it’s a hunting license or fishing license, expired March 31 and needed to be renewed as of April 1, 2026
With these few reminders out of the way, remember to have fun and enjoy what the great state of North Dakota has to offer.
MANDAN, N.D. (KVRR-KFGO) – Former North Dakota Game & Fish Director Terry Steinwand has been charged with molesting a child.
The Class “A” misdemeanor was filed after a Morton County District Court judge rejected a proposed plea agreement to a felony charge and prosecutors dismissed the charge while retaining the right to file an amended charge.
Steinwand is from Mandan. The 72-year-old is now charged with one count of sexual assault-offensive contact. The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail.
Steinwand was originally charged in September, 2025, when police say he admitted to sexual misconduct.
Steinwand worked for the Game & Fish Dept. for 40 years. He led the agency for about 15 years and retired in 2021.
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