General News

New voting machines for North Dakota are set up in a room at the Capitol.

"We're putting them through the paces, said Deputy Secretary of State Jim Silrum. "We want to make sure they can handle our open primary, and any election we would throw at it."

It is the Secretary of State's job to certify the new devices, and de-certify the devices that are no longer used.

Several North Dakota hazard mitigation projects have been selected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for further review under the federal Flood Mitigation Assistance and Pre-Disaster Mitigation programs.

The projects have a combined price tag of around $18 million. They include flood protection for Fargo’s water and wastewater treatment plants; storm shelters at Tobacco Gardens Recreational Area in McKenzie County and in Beulah; riverbank stabilization projects in Jamestown and south of Bismarck; and 11 other projects around the state.

The US Meat Export Federation expects Japan to open its border to imported beef from the US, regardless of the age of the cattle.

And the Federation says that will likely result in $150 to $200 million in additional trade with Japan.

The country had previously barred imports of US beef from cattle over 30 months of age since 2005, when some US cattle tested positive for so-called “mad cow” disease.

North Dakota Beef Commission member Clark Price of Hensler was at a recent meeting in Kansas City, where the Federation made that announcement.

The North Dakota legislature broke up North Dakota into 19 multi-county “human service zones” as an extension of the previous state legislative Senate Bill 2206 approved by lawmakers in 2017, to provide stronger services to the entire state. Chip Ammerman, Director of Cass County Social Services, says the basis for the legislation is strong.

A group is working to get enough signatures to refer the bill dealing with a proposed Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum to voters.

That facility would be built in Medora.

The 2019 Legislature passed a bill to appropriate $15 million from the state’s General Fund, plus allow for a $35 million loan from the Bank of North Dakota to create an endowment fund – if $100 million can be raised privately. The $50 million would go toward maintenance and operation.

The bill was one of Gov. Doug Burgum's priorities in the 2019 Legislature.

The 2019 Legislature voted to merge the state’s Department of Career and Technical Education with the Center for Distance Education.

The Center for Distance Education manages online course offerings.

State CTE director Wayde Sick called it a good marriage.

"The Center for Distance Ed provides courses broader than just career and technical education," Sick said. "But this will only strengthen what our virtual career-tech ed centers are doing."

Sick said the CDE can use its technology, and CTE can use its curriculum and expertise to reach even more students.