Craig Blumenshine takes a closer look at two major issues shaping North Dakota's future as The North Dakota Monitor's Deputy Editor Jeff Beach examines the legal fight over a permit for what could become the state's largest dairy operation and a closely watched court battle over whether public safety can be considered when approving pipeline routes.

Paper money has been part of United States currency since the Continental Congress authorized a two-dollar note in June 1776. But those notes were not the paper money we know today. They were bills of credit used to fund the defense of a new country's struggle for independence. When the Constitution was ratified in 1788, it prohibited states from issuing bills of credit or using anything other than gold and silver as legal tender.