By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
Measure 2 opponent Bob Harms gestures while debating Measure 2 proponent Zac Ista on Oct. 13, 2026. (Photo by Jack Dura/North Dakota Monitor)
By Jack Dura
North Dakota voters will decide this fall whether to approve free school meals for K-12 students in a ballot measure proponents see as a way to ease costs for families while opponents view it as a wrong addition to the state constitution.
Measure 2 would provide free breakfast and lunch for North Dakota’s roughly 125,000 K-12 students, costing as much as $134 million every two years. Supporter Zac Ista, the Democratic House minority leader from Grand Forks, and opponent Bob Harms, a former state GOP chair and legal adviser to two past governors, debated the measure on the Plain Talk Podcast hosted by Rob Port and Chad Oban.
Ista said the measure will ensure every student receives a nutritious breakfast and lunch and take as much as $1,000 per student off of families per school year. Harms criticized the measure as a constitutional amendment, requiring a vote for potential future changes.
Rep. Anna Novak, R-Hazen, speaks during a meeting of the Artificial Intelligence and Data Center Committee on July 15, 2026. Novak tuned in remotely Tuesday to present the framework of her proposed data center regulations. (Photo by Jacob Orledge/North Dakota Monitor)
By Jacob Orledge
A lawmaker from North Dakota’s coal country is working on proposed legislation to regulate some of the more controversial aspects of data centers in the state.
Rep. Anna Novak, R-Hazen, briefed some of her legislative colleagues Tuesday on the framework of her bill. It focuses on three aspects: the cost of electricity, water use and requirements for when a facility is decommissioned.
“Those are the major concerns of the North Dakota citizens,” Novak said. “The locals certainly have their responsibility on things. But when it comes to those three things, they're looking for help from the state, and that's very reasonable.”
The state government does not directly regulate data center development, though there have been increasing calls for the state to take action.
A farmer fills up a tractor with diesel. (Photo by Preston Keres/USDA)
By Cami Koons
Farmers will be eligible to receive one-time payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide relief for high fuel and input costs.
USDA and President Donald Trump announced Monday night at a rally in Kansas that farmers would have $8 billion made available in the Harvest Fuel Relief program. Farm groups expressed appreciation Tuesday for the relief program, but said they also hope to see long-term policy solutions that will support the farm economy.
The relief announcement comes as farmers are in the thick of harvest and filling up with diesel fuel at historically high prices — more than $6 per gallon nationally — due to global trade disruptions.
Christie Massen, left, lab services section director for the Department of Health and Human Services, speaks during a tour of the new State Laboratory next to Lt. Gov. Michelle Strinden on Oct. 20, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By Michael Achterling
North Dakota’s new State Lab officially opened Tuesday with public health and environmental quality officials praising the enhanced safety equipment and testing capabilities.
Construction began in April 2024 on the $70 million federally funded facility. The new lab will house about 50 staff of the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Environmental Quality with room to expand if needed.
“With the expanded space, we no longer have to test in hallways and have equipment sitting in our hallways, and not enough workspace,” said Christie Massen, lab services section director for the Department of Health and Human Services.
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FROM STATES NEWSROOM
Dan Osborn, an independent candidate for U.S. Senate, sits at a conference room in Hyannis, Nebraska, on Oct. 15, 2026. Osborn met with three voters, including a local rancher who supports President Donald Trump. (Photo by Jonathan Shorman/States Newsroom)
By Jonathan Shorman
HYANNIS, Neb. — With 19 days until Election Day, Dan Osborn sat across from three skeptical voters in a conference room in this blink-and-you-miss-it rural Nebraska town.
Osborn, a bearded former union leader and Navy veteran, wants to become the first independent U.S. senator from Nebraska since World War II by defeating Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts. The state’s top Democrats are backing Osborn’s bid rather than fielding a candidate.
In addition to Osborn, the other independent Senate candidates — Brian Bengs of South Dakota, Seth Bodnar of Montana and Todd Achilles of Idaho — and their supporters see an opportunity to crack the dominance of the two parties in the Senate.
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