By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
“Everyone on some level understands that this is going to change the world. That kind of change is scary.” - Robert Mayo, research specialist with NDSU’s Challey Institute of Global Innovation and Growth, on data center development.
Sam Wagner, president of the Casselton City Council, speaks during an Artificial Intelligence and Data Center Committee meeting on Aug. 31, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By Jacob Orledge and Jeff Beach
North Dakota lawmakers studying data centers heard concerns Monday about transparency and nondisclosure agreements while others touted the potential economic benefits.
Many of the people who spoke during public comment raised issues about data centers, with some advocating for a moratorium on data center development, despite legislators’ decision not to take up the issue during this week’s special session.
Multiple people expressed concern there are no provisions for decommissioning a data center down the road.
Public Service Commission Chair Randy Christmann said his agency could develop a program that would plan for taking down a data center after it is no longer in use, but would need guidance from lawmakers.
A member of the State Historical Society of North Dakota and a member of the North Dakota Geological Survey perform soil tests on Aug. 26, 2026, near the governor's residence where human remains were discovered as part of a fence and driveway project on the Capitol grounds. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By Michael Achterling
Crews will begin work Tuesday to investigate and relocate human remains discovered during construction near the North Dakota governor’s residence.
Construction of a fence and driveway paused in May after crews discovered human remains and coffin fragments. Since then, surveys using ground-penetrating radar have identified up to 29 possible anomalies that need further analysis, Brandon Solberg, facilities management director, said in a statement.
The Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with the State Historical Society of North Dakota, contracted with an archaeologist to investigate and a funeral home to relocate all remains to Bismarck cemeteries, Solberg said.
One local historian questions why the state didn’t do the investigation on the front end.
The North Dakota Ethics Commission meets Aug. 26, 2026, at the Capitol. Commissioners, left to right, are Kelly Leben, Pam Sharp, Jared Huibregtse and Lisa Edison-Smith. Not pictured is Commissioner Mark Western. (Photo by Jack Dura/North Dakota Monitor)
By Jack Dura
North Dakota’s Ethics Commission plans to ask the Legislature again for more staff, citing a growing workload and a desire to drive an educational approach.
The commission on Monday reviewed and approved its second annual report covering July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. In that period, the commission received 34 complaints, closed or dismissed 43 complaints and issued five advisory opinions, according to the report.
“That’s the primary message here, is that there has been such an increase in all of the work that the commission has to do,” Commission Chair Pam Sharp told the North Dakota Monitor. Complaints and advisory opinions are time-consuming to handle, she said.
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FROM STATES NEWSROOM
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
A federal judge in Texas on Sunday paused a lawsuit seeking to revoke nationwide approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, saying the case won’t be heard until at least Dec. 1 and granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s request for a stay to continue its safety review of the drug.
The Republican attorneys general of Florida and Texas filed a lawsuit against the FDA last December seeking to permanently revoke the agency’s initial approval of mifepristone from 2000, along with subsequent decisions over the years that eased access for patients. Florida and Texas had agreed to the FDA’s request for a stay.
If a judge were to rule in favor of Florida and Texas, the medication would become unavailable in all states, regardless of abortion laws.
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