By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
“North Dakota’s childcare system is not ‘strained.’ It is not ‘challenged.’ It is breaking. And when childcare breaks, the workforce breaks with it.” - Lisa Lehmann, owner of Growing Graces Childcare & Learning Center in Hankinson, on a growing waitlist for state childcare assistance.
Omelia Henderson of Legacy Childcare in Fargo, North Dakota, talks with children she supervises on Aug. 14, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
By Mary Steurer and Michael Achterling
Nearly 1,900 North Dakota families are on a waitlist for state childcare assistance.
A bill draft to be considered for North Dakota’s upcoming special legislative session would add $9 million in state funding to get some of the neediest families off of the growing waitlist.
“This is about low-income families who want to work,” said Senate Minority Leader Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, the primary sponsor of the bill draft to be presented to legislative leaders on Monday.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Levi Bachmeier speaks about a statewide education survey on student technology use during a press conference on May 28, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By Jeff Beach
The leader of North Dakota’s public schools last week advised lawmakers to focus artificial intelligence regulations on companies providing AI and chatbots, but leave AI use in the classroom up to school boards and educators.
Levi Bachmeier, the state superintendent of schools, testifying in front of the Legislature’s artificial intelligence and data center committee, expressed concern about young students and their exposure to AI, especially chatbots, but recognized AI can be a valuable tool.
“If I had to pick a villain, it would be companion chatbots,” Bachmeier said Thursday during a meeting held at Minot State University.
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven, left, speaks during a press conference next to Sen. Kevin Cramer and U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak at the North Dakota Petroleum Council in Bismarck on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
COMMENTARY
By Jack Zaleski
North Dakota’s delegation is back in the state to convince constituents that the House and the Senate are not hamstrung by partisanship and, in the case of majority Republicans, are not mired in foolish fealty to an increasingly feckless president.
Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer and Rep. Julie Fedorchak, Republicans all, will be doing their dog-and-pony shows across the state for the next few weeks. They will be spinning the Trumpist boilerplate which, if recent history is any guide, will be exercises in ducking tough questions while trying to explain away the president’s failing domestic and foreign policies.
Nonetheless, North Dakotans should seek out the representative and the senators ask them questions.
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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 about the impact the cuts could have for people seeking help with housing issues.
A Closer Look with the Monitor is a partnership with Prairie Public's Main Street.
EARLIER ND MONITOR NEWS AND COMMENTARY
Data centers, vapes, childcare aid emerge for North Dakota special session consideration | Michael Achterling, Jack Dura and Jeff Beach
North Dakota lawmaker wants clemency for men who killed 2 federal agents | Michael Achterling and Jack Dura
FROM STATES NEWSROOM
From left, moderator Kimberly Reed, former president and chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, asks questions of U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, and U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, at the Midwest Agricultural Export Summit in Sioux Falls on August 12, 2026. (Photo by Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
By Joshua Haiar
The year-round sale of higher ethanol-blended gasoline, called E15, does not have enough votes in the U.S. Senate unless it comes with compromises for small oil refineries, said Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota.
Ethanol is a gasoline additive made primarily from corn, and a lower E10 blend is already available year-round. Supporters of year-round E15 availability say it would strengthen the farm economy and make the country more energy independent. Without a law authorizing year-round E15, summertime sales require a federal waiver.
Opponents point to research showing emissions from higher ethanol blends could worsen summer smog — although the biofuels industry disputes that — while encouraging the conversion of grasslands for corn farming. Some lawmakers from oil-producing and refining states also oppose the expansion.
FROM OTHER ND MEDIA OUTLETS
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