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Public asked to weigh in on technology use in North Dakota schools

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Public asked to weigh in on technology use in North Dakota schools


A new North Dakota Department of Public Instruction survey seeks statewide feedback on potential changes to how students are using technology.

Superintendent Levi Bachmeier, who

took over the state’s top education role

in November, said he hopes the survey results will inform policymakers on potential reforms to school-issued device policies across the state. During his first student Cabinet meeting, he said a Mandan freshman told him the devices needed to be a “tool, not a toy.”

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“The world that these young people are inheriting requires them to use technology responsibly, but we know that these devices are just as addictive as substances,” Bachmeier said during a press conference Thursday. “And that can be just as true for the school-issued device in their hands as the cellphone they carry around in their pocket.”

North Dakota

banned the use of cellphones

during the school day during the 2025 legislative session, something Bachmeier said has received a near universal

positive response

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during its first year in effect.

The cellphone ban triggered a migration of some students from using their cellphones to access YouTube and other social media sites to using their school-issued laptops or tablets, Bachmeier said.

The

survey

includes questions about restrictions on device usage in elementary school, a potential prohibition on taking devices home, built-in make-up days into school scheduling before using virtual instruction and whether the state should require districts to use monitoring software on the devices.

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He added that some school districts already have monitoring software that tracks student technology usage, but it is not a uniform policy.

“It’s inconsistent,” Bachmeier said. “Our challenge is how do we find what’s the best that is going on in North Dakota and make that a reality for every student in our state.”

Sen. Michelle Axtman, R-Bismarck, a lawmaker who sponsored multiple education bills during the 2025 legislative session, said any potential reforms to technology policies should enhance instruction, support learning and allow students to develop interpersonal and critical-thinking skills.

“This effort today is not about eliminating technology from education,” Axtman said. “It’s about ensuring that technology serves learning rather than competes with it.”

Axtman said any potential changes to school device policies could be proposed during the 2027 legislative session and be implemented for the 2027-28 school year.

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“By working towards clear statewide expectations for school-issued device use, we will help schools create learning environments that are more focused, more productive and healthier for students,” she said.

The

survey

can be filled out by any North Dakota student, parent, educator or community member through Aug. 1.

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NDSU Sets North Central Research Extension Center Field Day for July 15

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NDSU Sets North Central Research Extension Center Field Day for July 15


FARGO, N.D. — Farmers, crop advisers, agribusiness professionals and community members are invited to a field day hosted by North Dakota State University’s North Central Research Extension Center on July 15. The annual event will provide the latest research-based information on crop production, livestock, soil health, pest management and agricultural markets from NDSU Extension specialists and researchers.

The annual field day highlights current research addressing the challenges and opportunities facing North Dakota agriculture.

“The NCREC field day is the opportunity to see how the research and Extension efforts at NCREC directly benefit producers,” says James Rogers, interim assistant director of NDSU’s North Central Research Extension Center. “It is a great opportunity to interact with researchers and Extension specialists.”

Registration and the morning program begin at 8:30 a.m. with a pest clinic, educational display booths, and coffee and donuts. The official program starts at 9 with welcoming remarks and presentation of the NDSU Partnership Award. The morning continues with a market outlook presented by Frayne Olson, NDSU Extension crops economist and professor, offering attendees insights into current agricultural market trends and economic conditions.

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Participants will then travel by trailer to a series of field stops featuring the latest NDSU Extension and research recommendations:

  • Forage and livestock management updates – Rogers and Lacey Quail, NDSU Extension livestock management specialist
  • Weed control strategies – Brian Jenks, weed scientist at the North Central Research Extension Center
  • Corn weed management updates – Joe Ikley, NDSU Extension weed specialist
  • Soil health trailer demonstration – Carlos Pires, NDSU Extension soil health specialist
  • Soybean and canola production updates – Ana Carcedo, NDSU Extension broadleaf crops agronomist
  • Hard red spring wheat variety research – Andrew Green, associate professor in NDSU’s Department of Plant Sciences
  • Small grains disease management – Andrew Friskop, NDSU Extension plant pathologist
  • Insect management updates – Jan Knodel, NDSU Extension entomologist

The field sessions conclude at noon with lunch, providing attendees an opportunity to visit with NDSU specialists and fellow producers.

For registration and additional information about the field day, visit ndsu.ag/NCREC-fieldday26 or contact the center at 701-857-7677.

— NDSU Extension



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Today in History: July 12, 1932 – A rumor turned into not only one tornado but a flock of them

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Today in History: July 12, 1932 – A rumor turned into not only one tornado but a flock of them


Today in History revisits the Tuesday, July 12, 1932, edition of the Grand Forks Herald and highlights a story of rumors growing in North Dakota about tornadoes obliterating cities, hail pounding crops into the ground, towns in ruins. Turns out the rumors were flying around faster than any wind in the forecast.

This Rumor Turned Into Not Only One Tornado, But Flock of Them

Townspeople at North Dakota Points Go About Affairs Undisturbed While Stories of Their Destruction Mount.

It started with a little rumor. It reached the proportions of a major tragedy, with three towns in North Dakota swept away, property and crops destroyed, persons killed and injured, (estimates to suit yourself), and ere it goes further the truth must out.

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It’s a story about a person or several persons who started rumors that there were storms, yea verily, tornadoes, and cyclones of great proportions in the vicinities of Cando, Devils Lake, Towner and other points throughout the Northwest.

Early Monday came queries about the tornado that left Devils Lake’s business district a complete wreck. Through the afternoon, far into the night they continued, the questions varying in respect to the exact whereabouts of the storm.

There were those who heard that Towner had been razed; another who had talked with a traveling salesman, just in from Rugby by motor, who reported that Cando was in ruins; still someone else who was informed that crops throughout the entire district had been driven into the ground by hail.

By the hundreds these rumors came to the Herald for verification, more information. This is the dope:

The Devils Lake Journal reports only slight showers throughout the day, no wind, no hail, no damage.

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The Towner railway agent says all is quiet along that front, no storms, not even any indications.

The Cando telephone operator gives the information that, contrary to rumors, all buildings are in their places, there are no dead or injured, the townspeople hadn’t heard about the storm.

Stories and rumors to the contrary, notwithstanding, the Northwest is not strewn over the countryside and blown to bits by wind. A few showers is the best it can do.

Grand Forks Herald archive image of a Kato’s Beauty Parlor advertisement as published in on July 12, 1932.
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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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The Crookston Masonic Lodge and Order of the Eastern Star present a donation check to Honor Flight of North Dakota and Minnesota

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The Crookston Masonic Lodge #141 and the Order of the Eastern Star #137 presented a $57,938 donation check to Honor Flight of North Dakota and Minnesota during a ceremony at the Masonic Lodge on Thursday. The donation will help cover the costs for the next round of Honor Flights for 2026, with two flights scheduled […]



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