By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
Jamie Selzler (Photo courtesy of North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party)
By Michael Achterling
Jamie Selzler, an active leader of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, will take Fargo Mayor Josh Boschee’s seat in the state Senate, the District 44 Dem-NPL executive committee announced Tuesday.
Selzler, a former executive director of the Dem-NPL Party, has served as the state’s Democratic National Committeeman for the past three years and has been active in state politics for more than two decades, according to a statement from the party.
Boschee, elected mayor in June, resigned from the Legislature on Monday. Selzler will complete the term, which ends in 2028.
The Big Four Bridge over the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. (Photo by Sarah Ladd/Kentucky Lantern)
By Jacob Fischler
The stopgap spending bill supported by an overwhelming majority of U.S. senators does not address tens of billions in expiring transportation funding, leaving states facing a massive effective budget cut starting Oct. 1.
The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, which authorized highway and transit programs for five years, expires Sept. 30. Roughly $38.6 billion per year in extra federal transportation funding is set to expire with it, even if the continuing resolution the Senate advanced 89-4 Monday becomes law.
The stopgap measure, a version of which has also passed the House, would keep the government funded mostly at current levels, and reauthorize highway and transit programs through Dec. 11.
But it would not renew the advance appropriations that provided $184 billion over five years for a host of transportation programs under the infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed in his first year in office. The potential impact for North Dakota is $70.4 million for fiscal year 2027.
Firefighters work under an orange sky at the Rowe Creek Complex Fire in Oregon in late July. As fires spread rapidly across the Pacific Northwest this summer, wildfire veterans say extreme conditions and aggressive fire suppression could put crews in danger. (Photo by Brett Deedon/Oregon State Fire Marshal)
By Alex Brown
As millions of acres burn across the western United States, some wildland fire veterans are fearful that aggressive fire suppression tactics ordered by the Trump administration — coupled with extreme, fast-moving blazes — could put firefighters in danger as conditions escalate this month.
EARLIER ND MONITOR NEWS AND COMMENTARY
Gov. Armstrong announces special session, emergency actions to ban kratom in North Dakota | Jack Dura and Michael Achterling
Fargo Mayor Josh Boschee resigns from North Dakota Senate | Michael Achterling
AROUND THE REGION FROM STATES NEWSROOM
A vehicle drives down U.S. Highway 85 with the Spearfish Canyon cliffs on its right and Spearfish Creek on its left. (Courtesy of Paul Horsted)
By Makenzie Huber
The South Dakota Department of Transportation plans to reconstruct a 16-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 85 from the Wyoming border to the intersection with U.S. Highway 14A at Cheyenne Crossing, which includes picturesque stretches through a canyon cut by Spearfish Creek.
The department says the $47 million project will make the road safer for locals, commuters and visitors. But a surge in public concern about the project’s potential impact on the scenic character of the area led the department to extend the public comment deadline from June 19 to Sept. 4. The department has received more than 200 comments so far regarding the latest version of the proposal.
Iowa sets new transmission standards for noise, guy wires, field strength | Iowa Capital Dispatch
Thanks for reading North Dakota Monitor. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.