By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
From the left, Republican Public Service Commissioners Sheri Haugen-Hoffart and Jill Kringstad and Democratic-NPL candidates John Pederson and Scot Kelsh. (Photos courtesy of the PSC and the candidates)
By Jeff Beach
Democratic candidates for North Dakota Public Service Commission say recent statements by a PSC attorney about pipeline safety point to larger problems in state government.
PSC attorney Zachary Pelham told a judge that the agency can’t consider public safety when evaluating the route of an interstate hazardous liquid pipeline in North Dakota.
John Pederson and Scot Kelsh, Democrats who are challenging Republican incumbents for two positions on the PSC, took issue with those comments during a news conference last week.
“The narrow legal arguments in district court that the Public Service Commission cannot consider safety are emblematic of a broader leadership problem at the commission,” Pederson said.
Republican incumbent Sheri Haugen-Hoffart said in an interview that the federal Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration would have jurisdiction over safety for the interstate pipeline. She said the PSC docket reflects that.
“I am comfortable that we consider safety when it comes to siting,” she added.
U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, left, speaks with Talon Metals president Mike Kicis, center, and Jessica Johnson, Talon's vice president for external affairs, on May 28, 2025, in Beulah, N.D., where Talon signed an agreement to process nickel at the Westmoreland coal mine. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
By Peyton Haug
A ceremony last year celebrated a key step in converting a former North Dakota coal mine into a processing site for nickel mined in Minnesota.
But now the future of the project looks less clear, with a feasibility study also examining whether to send the nickel by rail to Michigan.
At an event last May, Westmoreland Mining signed an agreement to let Talon Metals use parts of an old coal mine in Beulah to transform ore into concentrate.
However, according to the company’s external affairs manager, Jess Johnson, Talon Metals might instead use its existing Eagle Mine and Humboldt Mill site in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for processing.
“We are evaluating both options for ore to either go to North Dakota or go to the already operating mill in Michigan,” she said. “It could be both.”
Cattle roam in a pasture near Killdeer in southwest North Dakota. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
By Jack Dura
A North Dakota judge is set to decide whether the process for who serves on the state’s Beef Commission is unconstitutional.
South Central Judicial District Judge Jackson Lofgren heard arguments Monday from attorneys for the state and the Ranchers Rights Initiative. The group’s directors – Kenneth Graner, Michael Heaton and Jeremy Maher – are three cattlemen who say the law plays favorites over who serves on the board that decides how to use cattle sale fees from ranchers to promote beef.
The group wants the judge to strike down the law. The state wants the judge to dismiss the challengers’ claims. The judge said he will work to get an opinion out as quickly as he can.
EARLIER ND MONITOR NEWS AND COMMENTARY
FROM STATES NEWSROOM
A mail ballot drop box is seen at a polling station on Nov. 4, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
By Jacob Fischler
The Trump administration on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a district court ruling that blocked President Donald Trump’s broad March 31 executive order restricting vote-by-mail.
The move came just two days after a federal appeals court denied the administration’s request to resume the controversial plan, which would force significant limits and voter information collection requirements on states in regard to vote-by-mail.
It also sets up a high-stakes confrontation at the high court between the administration and the 23 states that sued over the Trump order, a little more than three months before the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
Smoky skies as Montana fire activity increases | Daily Montanan
SD fund helps 911 centers consolidate, with more mergers on the way | South Dakota Searchlight
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