North Dakota

Port: Measure 2 is needed reform for North Dakota's initiated measure process

Published

2 hours ago

September 7, 2024

Port: Measure 2 is needed reform for North Dakota's initiated measure process

MINOT — You readers of this column are, on average, well-informed and politically literate, but I would not be surprised if most of you couldn’t give me a description of Measure 2, on which we will be asked to cast our ballots in November.

It’s

a constitutional amendment initiated by the Legislature

that, if approved by voters, would limit future ballot measures to no more than a single subject, bar people who aren’t North Dakota residents from circulating petitions in support of a ballot measure, and for constitutional measures, require two votes for approval — one on the June primary ballot, and once again on the November ballot. Oh, and for constitutional amendments, the required number of signatures would go up, from 4% of the statewide population to 5%.

These are weighty, consequential changes to the initiated measure process. You probably know little about them, because our lawmakers have a terrible habit of putting proposals like this one on the ballot and then doing next to nothing to make the case for them. This proposed amendment was passed in the state House and Senate with large supermajorities — 73-18 in the former, 44-2 in the latter — yet where are those majorities now to explain the merits of this measure to voters?

They’re nowhere to be found, perhaps because they lack confidence that voters will support it.

According to the North Dakota Poll,

sponsored by the North Dakota News Cooperative, just 36% of voters supported the proposal in November, while 46% said they opposed it.

Those aren’t good numbers for the measure’s proponents, but they also don’t paint a picture of an unwinnable argument. They communicate a need for persuasion, but this measure will fail if nobody organizes the affirmative argument.

So, in the spirit of Don Quixote tilting at a windmill, allow me to make the case.

Let’s concede that our initiated measure process is deeply broken. Supporters of the status quo (who are, if you look carefully, usually paid political professionals) would have you believe that the petitioning process is some exercise in pure citizen activism. It is not. It has become a playground for deep-pocketed interests who pay temp workers hundreds of thousands of dollars to hound North Dakotans for enough signatures to get their pet projects on the ballot.

Signature fraud is almost routine, and what little lawmakers have done to try to close the loopholes that allow this fraud has been furiously opposed by the aforementioned paid activists because they like the loosey-goosey status quo that allows them to bulldoze their way onto the ballot.

Still, the public has made clear that they want this process to exist despite the apparent problems attendant to approving complicated legislation at the ballot box. So, Measure 2 is a compromise. It preserves the process but makes some necessary tweaks — no more complex proposals aimed at bamboozling voters or armies of out-of-state mercenaries to harass you for signatures at the farmers market or street fair. And amendments to our constitution would get extra scrutiny. Two votes, instead of one, and a higher signature threshold.

These proposals will not fix what ails the initiated measure process, but they will at least improve it. I hope you’ll vote yes.

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

3 months later, family of Spirit Lake hit-and-run victim still searching for answers

Published

9 hours ago

September 7, 2024

Press Room

3 months later, family of Spirit Lake hit-and-run victim still searching for answers

ST. MICHAEL, N.D. — A family searching for answers offered an emotional plea for justice in the death of 46-year-old William “Billy” Foote.

His body was found in some brush May 29, the apparent victim of a hit-and-run crash. The last place he was seen alive was at St. Michael Catholic Church on the Spirit Lake Reservation when he walked away after a prayer service.

“A lot of hurt, anger, questions,” said his sister, Colleen Anderson.

Those are the emotions she deals with every day. She described her brother as a loving and genuine person who was all about family. He was a father to three teenage boys and an uncle to many.

“Always there for you if you needed him, no question, he gave anything if he had to help,” Anderson said.

On May 27, Foote attended a prayer service at the church for his aunt and cousin who had died. After the service, he wanted some alone time and went for a walk. The next day, he never showed up for the funeral.

“We all looked at each other and asked our family. … We just started questioning things,” Anderson said.

Someone on a walk found Foote’s body two days later, about a mile from the church. It was covered in brush.

The family said police told them it appeared he had been hit by a car.

The FBI, which has jurisdiction over crimes committed on reservations, declined to comment for this story.

The family shared pictures of a car being impounded. Its windshield was smashed. The family said they were told it was seized as part of the investigation.

“I hope they see him every day, I hope they feel the pain,” Anderson said.

Foote’s family said people know what happened. By sharing their grief, they hope police will get the big break they need so the healing process can begin.

“It’s our everyday lives that we have to wonder who and why. Those questions being answered could put our family at a little bit of ease,” Anderson said.

Anyone with information about the deadly hit-and-run accident is asked to call police.

Matt Henson is an Emmy award-winning reporter/photographer/editor for WDAY. Prior to joining WDAY in 2019, Matt was the main anchor at WDAZ in Grand Forks for four years.

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North Dakota

Read the last batch of former North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem's emails

Published

17 hours ago

September 6, 2024

Press Room

FARGO — Over two years after a records request from The Forum led to the revelation that former

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem’s

emails were ordered to be deleted, the last of those public documents have been released.

The initial records request submitted by The Forum in June 2022 was prompted by the news that the Attorney General’s Office had seen a $1.7 million cost overrun on the lease of office space. Current Attorney General Drew Wrigley told reporters earlier this month that a copy of Stenehjem’s phone was stored on a Bureau of Criminal Investigation computer after the former attorney general’s phone was unlocked using their software.

The Forum received 6,366 emails Thursday, Sept. 6, from the Attorney General’s Office. The emails span 8 documents, each containing about 1,000 pages.

Read the full story here.

Read the entirety of the emails below:

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.

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North Dakota

UPDATED: Woman arrested after standoff in Wahpeton

Published

23 hours ago

September 6, 2024

Press Room

UPDATED: Woman arrested after standoff in Wahpeton

WAHPETON, N.D. — A 41-year-old Wahpeton woman is in custody after a 90-minute standoff on Thursday night, Sept. 5.

Officers were called to a residence in Wahpeton at about 6:40 p.m. Thursday for a violation of a protection order and vandalism, according to a news release from the Wahpeton Police Department.

When officers arrived, they located the suspect, Michelle Elizabeth Luna, sitting inside a vehicle outside her residence.

As officers approached the vehicle, Luna brandished a gun, according to the release from Wahpeton Police Chief Matthew Anderson.

Police established a perimeter around the area as they attempted to contact the woman, who barricaded herself in the vehicle, the release said.

A shelter-in-place order was issued for a 12-block radius, asking residents to stay inside their homes and away from the scene. According to a Facebook post from the Wahpeton Daily News, the standoff was in the 1000 block of Seventh Avenue North.

After attempts to contact Luna were unsuccessful for roughly 90 minutes, the Southern Valley Special Response Team responded to the scene, Anderson said.

Officers were able to enter the vehicle and found Luna lying inside with the shotgun. She was arrested and is being held at the Richland County Jail, the release said. She faces charges of violation of a protection order, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.

The shelter-in-place order was lifted at about 9:30 p.m.

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