Public Service debate

By Amy Dalrymple | Editor

By Jeff Beach

A challenger for a seat on the Public Service Commission says North Dakotans do not feel like they are being heard by state regulators, while the incumbent defended the processes used by the state agency. 

Democrat Scot Kelsh said people feel like developers of projects such as power lines and pipelines are “running roughshod” over landowners. 

Republican Jill Kringstad, appointed to the commission in 2025, touted a change in state law that she advocated for as improving the public input process for the agency. The candidates participated in a Plain Talk Podcast debate Thursday.

By Jack Dura

Early in-person voting begins in certain counties throughout North Dakota during the next week, an opportunity one Bismarck-area group is highlighting to encourage Indigenous people to vote.

Staff of the Sacred Pipe Resource Center gathered Thursday with half a dozen voters to all cast their ballots shortly after polls opened for the first day of Burleigh County’s early vote. They donned matching black T-shirts reading “Democracy is Indigenous,” took pictures together and walked inside the Bismarck Event Center to vote.

Voting can be confusing or intimidating and it’s helpful to have support, said Daniela Aki, the center’s director of civic engagement.

“That’s kind of what we want to do is, again, bring down those barriers to voting and say, ‘This isn’t a scary process. We understand it, so come along with us,’” Aki said.

By Jennifer Shutt

The price health insurance companies charge for employer-sponsored plans increased again this year, as did the deductible many people must pay before those plans begin covering most healthcare costs, according to a survey released Thursday by the nonpartisan health organization KFF.

The cost of individual health insurance plans rose to $9,804 on average, while family coverage reached $28,303. Both represented a 5% increase over the last year.

Employees paid about $1,672 for individual coverage, while employers contributed $8,132. People with health insurance for a family of four paid $7,471, with employers providing $20,833.

State officials are curtailing some hunting in southern North Dakota because of a disease  outbreak. North Dakota Monitor reporter Jack Dura joins host Craig Blumenshine to explain what hunters need to know.

Also this week, lawmakers began discussing possible legislation to address data center development that focuses on electricity costs, water use and what happens when a facility is no longer operating. Reporter Jacob Orledge describes the proposal and where lawmakers might have differing views.

A Closer Look with the Monitor is a partnership with Prairie Public's Main Street.

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