A Closer Look with the Monitor

Three Republican Party officials this week filed a petition to the North Dakota Supreme Court challenging the eligibility of four legislative candidates. Reporter Jack Dura joins host Craig Blumenshine to talk about the arguments in the court case and the secretary of state’s position. Also, Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach talks about the power demand for a proposed Cass County data center , and...

Two stories this week put a spotlight on institutions that depend heavily on public trust.  Reporter Jack Dura joins host Craig Blumenshine to discuss a recent audit of the North Dakota Development Fund, a state-backed program that provides loans and  investments to businesses. Dura also talks about his recent reporting on a contested North Dakota Supreme Court race that is nonpartisan but has inv...

North Dakota farmers are heading into harvest season facing another major expense – record high diesel prices .  Diesel has climbed above $6 a gallon in parts of the state, roughly double what some farmers paid last fall. Monitor Deputy Editor Jeff Beach joins host Craig Blumenshine to discuss the impact of the high prices on North Dakota producers. Also, Monitor reporter Michael Achterling talks...

North Dakota raised its top interstate speed limit to 80 mph about a year ago. Today, Highway Patrol data shows shifts in where speeding tickets are being written. Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach talks with host Craig Blumenshine about the impact of lowering interstate speed limits around North Dakota cities. A Closer Look with the Monitor is a partnership with Prairie Public's Main Street .

The state is working with an archaeologist and funeral home to investigate human remains found near the North Dakota governor’s residence and relocate them to Bismarck cemeteries. Reporter Michael Achterling talks to host Craig Blumenshine about the anomalies discovered while crews were installing a fence and driveway extension on the Capitol grounds. One Bismarck historian questions why the state...

In this two-part episode of A Closer Look with the Monitor, we preview North Dakota’s special legislative session and how citizens can make their voices heard. North Dakota Monitor editor Amy Dalrymple joins host Craig Blumenshine to highlight what legislation will be considered next week and how the public can participate. Monitor contributor Ceilidh Kern brings an update to the state’s plan to p...

A year after North Dakota’s cellphone ban took effect in public schools, policymakers are eyeing how to approach artificial intelligence and school-issued devices. North Dakota Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach describes how a state education official is urging lawmakers to let schools retain flexibility on deciding how to use AI. Reporter Michael Achterling joins host Craig Blumenshine to talk abo...

An organization that helps people confront housing discrimination across the Dakotas is facing an uncertain future.  The Grand Forks-based High Plains Fair Housing Center is waiting on a federal grant that was expected in May. If the funding doesn’t arrive by September, the nonprofit will be forced to furlough half of its eight staff members. Reporter Jack Dura joins host Craig Blumenshine to talk...

More than 186,000 people in North Dakota and a neighboring county in Minnesota sought food assistance in the past year, a record for the Great Plains Food Bank. Monitor reporter Michael Achterling talks to host Craig Blumenshine about the increase and the impacts from cuts to federal programs. In the second half of this week’s podcast episode, deputy editor Jeff Beach talks about his recent report...

A team led by the North Dakota Geological Survey is excavating a mammoth skeleton that’s been hidden under a garage in the northwest part of the state. The mammoth was first discovered in the 1980s , but paleontology crews have spent weeks this summer working to recover it. North Dakota Monitor reporter Michael Achterling talks to host Craig Blumenshine about the rare find, which is the most compl...

Artificial intelligence is changing so quickly that lawmakers across the country are struggling to keep up.  Now, North Dakota has created a new legislative committee to study whether the state needs additional safeguards, and if so, what they should look like. The committee is not writing legislation just yet, but instead members are gathering information, hearing from experts, and looking at how...

Two recent stories deal with how state regulators handle environmental protection of permitting of major development projects.  One covers the legal challenges surrounding the permit for what could become North Dakota's largest dairy operation , where opponents argue state regulators failed to adequately evaluate  potential environmental impacts.  Another is the ongoing courtroom dispute over the...

The North Dakota Military Gallery was envisioned as a world-class addition to the State Heritage Center in Bismarck, a place to honor veterans, preserve military history and attract visitors from across the country. But just one year after groundbreaking, construction has stopped. The project, which depends on a combination of public and private donations, has raised only a fraction of its fundrai...

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will open its doors to the public this Saturday on the 250th anniversary of the United States’ declaration of independence.   The library will explore the former president’s legacy and his transformational years in the Badlands of North Dakota in the 1880s. But it will also confront Roosevelt’s history of racist remarks and the policies he supported that...

The proposed JETx transmission line took two significant turns this week.  JETx is a proposed 92-mile-long, high-voltage electric transmission line connecting substations near Jamestown and Ellendale through Stutsman, LaMoure and Dickey Counties. Companies Otter Tail Power and MDU Resources say it’s designed to improve the reliability and capacity of the regional power grid.  On Tuesday, the North...

North Dakota continues to explore opportunities in emerging energy technologies, including advanced nuclear power. This week on A Closer Look with the Monitor, reporter Jacob Orledge talks to host Craig Blumenshine about why state officials recently highlighted the Missouri River as the state's best source of water for potential nuclear energy projects. Orledge also discusses his new reporting abo...

Uncertainty around federal grants forced layoffs of some employees at the Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota and furloughs of even more. But Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach discusses how some of those workers are returning along with federal research dollars.  Plus, on Tuesday, North Dakota voters will decide a constitutional measure in the June 9th primary...

This week on A Closer Look with the Monitor, Deputy Editor Jeff Beach talks to host Craig Blumenshine about some absentee ballots he saw get rejected in 2024 because of issues related to the voter’s signature.  Jeff explains why it’s important for voters who vote by mail to make sure they use a consistent signature when they apply for a ballot and again on the envelope as they submit their ballot....

The U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed more than $150 million in funding cuts to tribal colleges, universities and postsecondary programs. This week on A Closer Look with the Monitor, host Craig Blumenshine speaks with Monitor reporter Mary Steurer about the proposed cuts , and what students and administrators at North Dakota tribal colleges say Tribal Nations would lose if the plan is a...

Rural grocers are facing growing pressures from changing customer habits, rising costs and workforce shortages.  This week on A Closer Look with the Monitor, host Craig Blumenshine speaks with Monitor Deputy Editor Jeff Beach about food deserts, efforts to help grocery stores remain viable and the creativity of store owners to serve their communities.  A Closer Look with the Monitor is a partnersh...

This week’s episode explores two different efforts to address North Dakota’s shortage of workers: helping people get degrees faster and developing new housing in rural areas. Jeff Beach, deputy editor of the North Dakota Monitor, talks to Craig Blumenshine, producer and host of Prairie Public’s Main Street , about the state’s new experiment with reduced credit bachelor’s degrees .  Monitor contrib...

A new website allows the public to view the financial interest statements of North Dakota officials and political candidates. Reporter Jacob Orledge talks to Craig Blumenshine, producer and host of Prairie Public’s Main Street , about the new transparency requirements and six lawmakers who failed to meet the deadline . A Closer Look with the Monitor is available on major podcast platforms, or wher...

The ongoing war in Iran has disrupted oil supply, pushed prices higher, and injected uncertainty into markets around the world. Here in North Dakota, those shifts are being felt, but not always in ways people might think. North Dakota Monitor reporter Jacob Orledge talks to Craig Blumenshine, producer and host of Prairie Public’s Main Street , about why the Bakken isn’t seeing a surge in new drill...

Under state law, North Dakota residents cannot vote while incarcerated for a felony. They can vote after they’re released, however, as long as they meet all other requirements. People can also vote if they’re serving time for a misdemeanor, or if they’ve been charged but not convicted.  Volunteers with the League of Women Voters of North Dakota have noticed that many North Dakotans with criminal r...

It has been 75 years since oil was first struck near Tioga, an event that helped transform not just a small North Dakota community, but the trajectory of the entire state. North Dakota Monitor reporter Jacob Orledge talks with Craig Blumenshine, producer and host of Prairie Public’s Main Street about how oil has shaped Tioga’s identity and North Dakota's economy – from boom and bust cycles to bill...