|
|
Welcome to the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Insider, a newsletter that features regular updates about upcoming Dem-NPL events, legislative happenings, and news that affects North Dakotans!
|
|
Did you know the DNC hosts a morning news show called the Daily Blueprint that is livestreamed on YouTube weekdays at 9 AM CDT? You can watch it live or later on the DNC’s YouTube channel here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Drinking Liberally!
The Press Box at Players Sports Bar & Grill
2050 1st Ave E. Dickinson
|
|
Join other like-minded individuals in Dickinson every Wednesday!
|
|
|
|
AFL-CIO Event: BisMan Celebration of Labor
|
Thurs, Sept 4, 5:00pm CDT
|
|
Jaycee Leadership Building
|
321 W. Century Ave, Bismarck
|
|
Join our friends with the AFL-CIO for a Celebration of Labor on Sept. 4 at the Jaycee Leadership Hall at the Jaycee Centennial Park! We will be serving up a union-made picnic along with some inspiring speakers! This is a family-friendly event, union families and union allies are all welcome!
|
|
|
|
Cass County Democratic-NPL Policy Meeting
1325 23rd St S, Suite B, Fargo
|
|
Our monthly meeting which includes representatives from the 11 Legislative Districts in Cass County, elected Legislators and staff.
|
|
|
|
Drinking Liberally!
The Press Box at Players Sports Bar & Grill
2050 1st Ave E. Dickinson
|
|
Join other like-minded individuals in Dickinson every Wednesday!
|
|
|
|
Dickinson Area Democratic-NPL meeting
The Press Box at Players Sports Bar & Grill
2050 1st Ave E. Dickinson
|
|
Districts 37, 36, and 39 meet every second Wednesday after Drinking Liberally!
|
|
|
|
Coffee with Friends
Luna Fargo
1545 S University Dr., Fargo
|
Join us for Coffee with Friends at Luna in Fargo on Saturday, September 13, from 9-10 am to reconnect and share. Katie Christensen Mineer, Cheryl Biller and Arlette Preston will join us. We appreciate Luna opening their space to us.
|
|
Paula Sell from D21 and Connie Hoffman from D10 have been planning this for Sept 13. At that time we can see if people want to continue to meet and if so, how often, and decide a focus or purpose for continuing to come together. Hope you can come
|
|
|
|
Drinks and Discussion with Dems
El Zagal Shrine Fargo
1429 3rd St N, Fargo, ND 58102
|
|
Our informal get-together to talk about current events, brainstorm on activities we can do together as a two district partnership, and just enjoy each other’s company in general.
|
|
hosted by District 45 Dems!
|
|
|
|
District 24 Meeting
Enderlin Senior Center
221 3rd Ave., Enderlin
|
|
Join us for our meeting in Enderlin!
|
|
|
|
Valley City High School Homecoming Parade
|
Line-up: 3:30 p.m. at the North end of Central Avenue
|
|
Parade starts at 4:00 p.m.
|
|
Parade ends at south end of Central Ave. Remember to wear your Democrat t-shirt!
|
|
|
|
Enderlin Sunflower Days Parade
|
Walk with the District 24 Democratic-NPL in the Enderlin Sunflower Days Parade
|
|
Line-up: 4:30 p.m. on Dewey Street
|
|
Parade starts at 5:00 p.m. Remember to wear your Democrat t-shirt!
|
|
|
|
District 45 Monthly Meeting
Northport Library Community Room
2714 Broadway North Fargo
|
|
This will be our regular monthly District 45 meeting.
|
|
|
|
|
Coffee & Donuts with Jess Piper
Atomic Coffee
222 Broadway N #100, Fargo, ND 58102
|
Come chat with our Burdick Dinner featured speaker, Jess Piper, the Executive Director for Blue Missouri. Jess is a mother to five and grandmother to three and lives on a small farm on the Missouri/Iowa border.
|
She was born and raised in rural America. She received degrees in English and Teaching from the University of Arkansas and was an American Literature teacher for 16 years. After the 2016 election of Trump, Jess became politically active.
|
|
Jess ran for office in 2022 for State Representative in HD1 in Northwest Missouri. She was not successful, but used the experience to organize progressives in rural Missouri.
|
|
Burdick Dinner 2025 with Jess Piper
Radisson Blu Fargo
201 5th St N, Fargo, ND 58102
|
The Burdick Dinner 2025 will be held on October 4th, 2025, at the Radisson Blu located in downtown Fargo! The fun-filled event will begin with a reception at 5:30pm followed by the dinner and program beginning at 6:30pm. Our featured speaker is Jess Piper, the Executive Direcor for Blue Missouri. We look forward to seeing you there!
|
|
Purchase your tickets before September 12 for a $25 early bird discount!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Help us spread our message—share these recent posts!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joel Heitkamp is joined by Jack Zaleski and Al Aamodt to talk about current events
Joel Heitkamp is joined in the studio by Al Aamodt and Jack Zaleski to talk about everything from Trump's policies to war to journalism practices. Jack Zaleski is a former Editor of the Devils Lake Daily Journal and The Forum’s editorial page, and now works as a columnist for The Forum. Al Aamodt is a former Fargo Broadcaster and KFGO Reporter.
|
|
|
|
Was the Search of John Bolton's Home and Office for Classified Documents Legitimate?
Dakota Rudesill, The Ohio State University, joins Afternoons Live with Tyler Axness to discuss the search of John Bolton's home and office.
|
|
|
|
Metro union members, supporters celebrate Workers' Labor Day
He called for North Dakotans to stand together on the topics that matter the most to local communities, like providing free school lunches to students.
|
“We are a state of great wealth,” Boschee said. “I think it’s honestly a sin that we have $12.5 billion sitting in a bank account and we can’t make sure that every kid has a snack at school.”
|
|
Everyone has the ability to fire up their friends and families come election time, he said.
|
“Most of our legislative seats are won or lost within about 250 votes, so it shows you the impact an organization like your union," he said, "or the people you interact with socially can have about who serves and represents you."
|
|
|
|
Letter: A money launderer's dream come true
Investors have pushed up the price over the years of Bitcoin and other crypto knowing that it will be used for hiding assets, tax evasion, and the ransoming of kidnapping and the unlocking of frozen computer systems. There will always be a market for the helping of untraceable illegal activities. Looks like it will now continue big time with government support. Especially advantageous for the Trump family and their crypto coin.
|
|
|
|
Letter: Trump Land
In Trump Land our kids will no longer be exposed to the horrors of colonization and slavery. We don’t want them feeling bad about our country. Just rewrite it! Out of sight! That leaves even some North Dakota republicans wondering – where are those Epstein files anyway?
|
In Trump Land you must not focus on how we as a people/country are being soiled and gutted by this administration’s toxic mix of lies, cruelty, corruption and self-indulgence. Instead look at the gold cherubs in the Oval Office, and the gold ballroom about to be built- not with gold paint, mind you. All real gold. Forget all that internal rot! Have some pizza and hamburgers.
|
|
|
|
Dr. Angela Smith with Public History at NDSU talks Smithsonian
Dr. Angela Smith joins Tyler Axness to discuss the importance of preserving history amid recent conversations from the President and the Smithsonian.
|
|
|
|
Tribal radio stations wait on $9M pledged in congressional handshake deal
Tribal radio stations that are supposed to receive millions to fill the hole created when Congress eliminated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting haven’t heard anything from the Trump administration about when it will send the money or how much in grants they’ll receive.
|
Unlike most government spending deals, the handshake agreement South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds negotiated with the White House budget director in exchange for Rounds’ vote on the rescissions bill wasn’t placed in the legislation, so it never became law.
|
Instead, Rounds is trusting the Trump administration to move $9.4 million in funding from an undisclosed account to more than two dozen tribal radio stations in rural areas of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Wisconsin that receive community service grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
|
|
|
|
Julia Krieger says, "this tragedy was a lot more than just a school, it was the whole community" regarding the Minneapolis school shooting
Joel Heitkamp is joined by Julia Krieger to talk about the recent shooting at the Catholic church school shooting that killed two children and injured 17. Julia grew up in southern Minneapolis attending Annunciation Catholic School, and shares her thoughts on the community and tragedy taking place.
|
|
|
|
Canadian tourism down in North Dakota, with poll linking downturn to tariffs, rhetoric
|
Border crossings for personal vehicles into North Dakota from Canada were down about 30% for the first half of this year compared to 2024 — a trend that could stem from the U.S. executive branch’s policy and rhetoric.
|
The North Dakota Department of Commerce estimates that Canadian visitors spent roughly $14.4 million less in the first six months of 2025 than they did over the same time period last year. The department monitors border crossing numbers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
|
|
|
|
Speaking out: Race hate as spiritual treason
In 2025 President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem have set a goal of arresting and deporting 3,000 people a day. They no longer provide due process required by Miranda. A United States citizen in Bismarck has been apprehended and questioned by ICE solely on the color of his skin. Trump and Noem are seeding race hate.
|
In 1955 Ed Sullivan of "The Ed Sullivan Show" said “We’ve been called upon to search our hearts and souls of hatred, cleanse them of natural hate and fear of our neighbors… Bigotry and intolerance or religious hate and discrimination are spiritual acts of treason.” My fellow North Dakotans of all faiths and those without any, let us embrace true spirituality however you define it, and reject treasonous hate and discrimination.
|
|
|
|
Celebrate labor tonight at the Fargo-Moorhead Labor Hall!
On Tuesday, August 26th at 5:00 people across the Red River Valley will gather to send a clear message to billionaires and union-busters on Workers’ Labor Day: We built this country, and we’re taking it back. The theme for this event is “It’s Better in a Union: Fighting for Freedom, Fairness and Security”. Joel is joined by the West Area Labor Council President, Mark Fromke, to talk about it.
|
|
|
|
North Dakota soybean yields tempered by cool spring
Avery Hansen, international market development specialist for the North Dakota Soybean Council, gave a presentation to the China trade team. The trade delegation was also scheduled to visit a farm near Wahpeton and a grain elevator near Mooreton.
|
It is unclear if China will buy U.S. soybeans in the near term as trade negotiations continue between the two countries. Trade issues were not discussed at the meeting.
|
|
|
|
Supreme Court should uphold sovereign status for Native nations in Voting Rights Act case
“The main issue was whether private plaintiffs could enforce Section 2 of the VRA through § 1983. The court held that Section 2 does not unambiguously confer an individual right enforceable under § 1983.”
|
It is easy to discern that three of the individual plaintiffs, Wesley Davis, Collette Brown, and Zachary S. King qualify as private individual plaintiffs. I applaud each of them for standing up for what is right, true, and just. Hoka! Giddihah! Miro’gaxx! Good Luck!
|
However, I beg to question as to how, why and if the tribal governing bodies known as “Tribes” should have gotten directly involved or granted any legal standing in the case. Treaty Tribes, are supposed to be separate, sovereign and on at least an equal footing with states. Most, if not all of us in the Great Plains are Treaty Tribes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Check out these messages from national Democrats
|
|
|
|
|
Trump Is Building His Own Paramilitary Force | The Ezra Klein Show
ICE now has the biggest budget of any law enforcement agency in America.
|
“ICE and Customs and Border Protection have long been the most rogue, kind of renegade and certainly pro-Trump police agencies in the federal government,” explained Radley Balko, a journalist who’s covered policing for decades. “What I think we are seeing right now is Trump is attempting to build his own paramilitary force. They want people whose first, ultimate loyalty in this job is going to be to the president.”
|
Balko is the author of “Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces.” And he’s been tracking the changes at ICE and the Trump administration’s escalating law-and-order tactics on his excellent newsletter, The Watch.
|
|
|
|
FEMA workers put on leave after letter criticizing Trump administration, group says
Some employees at the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency were put on leave on Tuesday after they signed an open letter, opens new tab of dissent against the agency's leadership, according to the non-profit group whose website published the letter.
|
The development is likely to fuel concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration does not tolerate dissent. In July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed 139 employees on administrative leave after they signed a letter expressing criticism of Trump's policies.
|
|
The Stand Up for Science website said the letter had over 190 signatories as of Tuesday evening.
|
"Once again, we are seeing the federal government retaliate against our civil servants for whistleblowing — which is both illegal and a deep betrayal of the most dedicated among us," the group said.
|
|
|
|
'F---ing crazy': ICE swoops in on firefighters IN THE MIDDLE of battling wildfire
Trump’s Border Patrol raided a Washington wildfire camp, forcing firefighters to pause their work for hours before agents made two arrests.
|
|
|
|
Miles Taylor warns: 'We need America to wake up' as Trump punishes opponents
|
The suspension of FEMA staffers and the FBI raid of John Bolton are just the latest examples of the Trump administration targeting critics or political enemies. That ire is something Miles Taylor knows all too well. While serving in Trump’s first administration, he anonymously criticized the president and has been dealing with the fallout ever since. Amna Nawaz spoke with Taylor to discuss more.
|
Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show.
|
|
|
|
'Who pays the tariffs?' Furious constituents grill GOP House member, causing him to leave
Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., exited a town hall in his home district through the back door Wednesday night after he faced relentless heckling in Baldwin County.
|
|
|
|
Forget Trump’s Words. His Actions Prove He Doesn’t Mind if Kids Die.
But as usual, the rhetoric is completely the opposite of the reality. The drastic Medicaid cuts in the big, ugly bill will impact mental health services in a vast array of ways. MindSite News, which covers mental health policy, wrote after the bill became law: “The previous five years—including the final year of Trump’s first presidency—had seen the renewal of a federal commitment to mental health. Over those years, federal funding for mental health services increased. New programs like the 988 hotline were created and funded. Funding streams were established to boost crisis response services and to support school-based mental health. Tough new health insurance regulations were enacted to improve access to coverage for mental health services.”
|
|
|
|
CVS Holds Off on Offering Covid Vaccines in 16 States
CVS will make the vaccines available nationwide if the advisory panel recommends them, Ms. Thibault said. But since the panel hasn’t yet made a decision, the company is holding off in states where it believes its pharmacists need a C.D.C. endorsement.
|
|
|
|
$8 Soybeans? That’s the Reality for Some Farmers as China Remains Absent From Buying
China is the world’s largest soybean buyer, but as of late, it has been turning to Brazil for beans amid trade tensions with the U.S. To put it into perspective, Beijing bought 54% of U.S. soybean exports in the 2023/24 marketing year.
|
According to the American Soybean Association (ASA), farmers can’t afford casual trade policies when China walks away from U.S. soy.
|
ASA points out China is the world’s top soybean buyer, and there’s no competition in that space. ASA says over the last five soybean marketing years, China has imported an average of 61% of the world’s traded soybean supplies — more than the rest of the world combined.
|
|
|
|
Dictator for a Day… a Month… Years?
But of course, the business of this president is not fundamentally like that of his predecessors. The business of this president is subverting our free government. And yesterday was another day at the office for carrying out that business.
|
President Trump’s most notable executive order sought to further bolster his claim that he could call on state National Guard troops, regardless of whether state authorities wanted him to, to “assist in quelling civil disturbances.” Trump was straightforward about what he was doing. When asked, “Are you prepared to order National Guard troops into American cities if those governors don’t request the federal deployment,” he answered, “I am.”
|
|
|
|
‘It Feels Like the CDC Is Over’
Last night and this morning, current and former CDC employees told me that many scientists who remain wonder how they will continue, and whether the agency is still dedicated to providing science-based guidance to the nation. “People are at their wit’s end, and there has been trauma after trauma after trauma,” one longtime CDC official, who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions from HHS, told me today. “I just don’t know how much more our staff can take.”
|
|
|
|
DNC chair says he's tired of Democrats bringing 'pencil to a knife fight'
"You know what winning the argument gets you? A nice round of applause and a few likes on Instagram," Martin said. "But the reality is it doesn't make life any better for any person. We have to stop settling on winning arguments with each other. We have to win elections."
|
|
|
|
SE Cupp: Trump admin is 'absolutely, without question' authoritarian
Is the United States on a fast track toward autocracy? That's the question New York Times columnist Ezra Klein explores in a new podcast. CNN Political Commentator SE Cupp says it is clear Trump wants to be an authoritarian, but the question Democrats are failing to answer is how to combat that.
|
|
|
|
Idaho’s parental consent law impedes 988 suicide crisis hotline access for some youth
Some of those young people can’t move forward in their call without a parent giving permission.
|
Sometimes, a parent or guardian can get on the phone, according to Idaho 988 Director Lee Flinn, “but in most situations, the minor hangs up because they tell us they feel like they can’t do that.”
|
|
“We really do want and hope that minors have a parent or two parents that support them, but one of the things that we hear sometimes is that they don’t have a parent they can talk to,” Flinn said.
|
She emphasized that the hotline still accepts calls from anyone, and encourages people of any age to call, text or chat online if they are in crisis.
|
|
|
|
Breaking: CBS Reports Joni Ernst Will Not Seek Election in 2026
Ernst was already in trouble, but I have little doubt that the special election last week had a lot to do with her decision: Iowa Democrats celebrate as Drey wins special election, breaks GOP supermajority.
|
|
|
|
Team Trump Probes Dissent at CDC as ‘F-CK RFK’ Sign Goes Up at Agency
Matters only degenerated from there. As this work week came to a close, former and current CDC staff assured Rolling Stone that the internal rank-and-file animus toward the president, Kennedy, and their allies in the federal government has only intensified in recent days. Some staffers are actively plotting their escape strategies, and how best to give RFK Jr. the middle finger (figuratively or literally) on the way out the door. Meanwhile, a senior Trump administration official adds that the CDC and other agencies will continue to aggressively investigate, and punish, the ongoing “mischief” and so-called “deep state activity” that Team Trump expects to flare up again, and that such actions “won’t be tolerated.”
|
|
|
|
Oklahoma lawmaker guilty of domestic abuse, assault gets one-year suspended sentence
A Republican state representative Thursday was charged and pleaded guilty to three domestic-violence related crimes, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said.
|
Rep. Ty Burns, R-Pawnee, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of domestic abuse and two misdemeanor counts of assault and received a one-year suspended sentence, the Attorney General’s Office said.
|
Burns, 46, was charged in connection with domestic violence incidents in November 2024 and April 25, 2025, involving family members, including his wife, who sustained an eye injury, according to court records.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Century Club supports our year-round work to build party infrastructure supporting candidate recruitment, local district and regional leadership, issue-based education, and tools for Dem-NPL success.
|
|
|
|
|
Help us elect great Democrats up and down the ballot!
|
|
|
|
|
The North Dakota Democratic-NPL is launching a new grassroots program called “Neighbor to Neighbor” where volunteers will connect with voters in your community to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. As a volunteer, you will be responsible for connecting with voters in 25 homes in your neighborhood or friends and family to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot about 3-4 times this year.
|
|
|
|
Grassroots organizers are the lifeblood of the Dem-NPL! Sign up to volunteer with the Dem-NPL!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
