By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
“We’ll keep the organization going because I really believe, strongly, the Fair Housing Act is an important civil right that we all have.” - Michelle Rydz, executive director of the High Plains Fair Housing Center, on impacts to the nonprofit from delayed federal grant funding.
Balconies of an apartment building are seen Sept. 8, 2026, in Bismarck, N.D. (Photo by Jack Dura/North Dakota Monitor)
By Jack Dura
The only fair housing organization in the Dakotas has furloughed some of its staff due to the delay of a crucial federal grant.
The Grand Forks-based High Plains Fair Housing Center has been awaiting the $425,000 Fair Housing Initiatives Program grant since May. Executive Director Michelle Rydz said she and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development were getting ready to sign the grant last week, when “for some reason they stopped,” Rydz told the North Dakota Monitor.
As a result, she has furloughed three of her eight staff and may soon need to furlough a fourth. The center investigates, mediates and resolves housing discrimination complaints, and assists with accommodations.
Energy drinks and soda sit in a refrigerator at a retail store in Bismarck on Aug. 27, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
COMMENTARY
By Amy Dalrymple
North Dakota was set to ban people from using federal food assistance to buy candy, soda and other sugary drinks starting this month.
The federal government, which has encouraged states to adopt such policies, then abruptly asked the state to postpone until Nov. 1 just days before it was set to take effect. This delay could give North Dakota a chance to reassess whether the policy is worth its hefty price tag to implement.
President Donald Trump has targeted Canadian airline manufacturer Bombardier in his trade war with Canada. In this photo, an Air Canada Express Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft departs Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Photo by Getty Images/Yassine Bahammou)
By Ashley Murray
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on American goods kicked in Tuesday, escalating a trade war with one of the largest U.S. trading partners that President Donald Trump continued to antagonize over the holiday weekend.
Trump posted an AI-generated cartoon image of himself Sunday evening in which he is depicted as a hockey player striking Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is shown down on the ice, with a hockey stick.
“Get up, governor,” a speech bubble from Trump’s mouth reads, apparently referring to Canada as a U.S. state rather than a sovereign country.
Nearly $28 billion in U.S. exports crossing the border to Canada now carry up to 50% tariffs, a dollar-for-dollar match on Trump’s taxes on Canadian goods imposed last month, according to Canadian officials.
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EARLIER ND MONITOR NEWS AND COMMENTARY
FROM STATES NEWSROOM
By Jacob Fischler
The hotly contested U.S. Postal Service rule restricting mail-in voting usurps Congress’ authority, as well as states’ power to administer elections, more than 250 current and former members of Congress said in a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.
All 47 members of the U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus, 199 current House Democrats and 15 former House Republicans signed the friend-of-the-court brief opposing President Donald Trump’s policy to add several requirements to mail ballots.
The U.S. Constitution “is unambiguous” in empowering states to run elections, while Congress can enact laws to oversee elections generally, they argued.
“Congress has passed several laws regulating federal elections—though it has always done so surgically, deliberately leaving the States with considerable room to maneuver,” they wrote.
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