The 80 mph effect

By Amy Dalrymple | Editor

By Jeff Beach

North Dakota state troopers wrote fewer speeding tickets on stretches of interstate highway that went up to an 80 mph speed limit in 2025, but some areas where speed limits were reduced saw a spike in citations — especially at Dickinson. 

North Dakota’s top highway speed went up to 80 mph on Aug. 1, 2025. At the same time, stretches of interstate at Dickinson, Grand Forks, Jamestown and Valley City saw the speed limit reduced from 75 mph to 70 mph. 

State troopers wrote 223 tickets during the first year of Dickinson’s 70 mph zone, more than triple for the same area the previous year, according to data provided by the North Dakota Highway Patrol. 

By Mary Steurer

A bill to protect people from getting dragged through court for exercising their free speech could go before North Dakota lawmakers in January.

Sometimes people who speak out in the public interest are targeted by frivolous lawsuits intended to waste their time and money, and ultimately to silence them. This legal tactic is often referred to as a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP.

Most states have passed laws designed to keep those kinds of cases out of the courts, though North Dakota is not one of them.

A group of state leaders has recommended that the Legislature change that.

By Kevin Hardy

Cuts to the nation’s largest food assistance program will likely spill over into schools, causing students to lose access to free breakfast and lunch.

More than 1 million American children have lost access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, following a recent federal law. Now, as schools gear up for a new term, a portion of those children could be at risk of losing free meals — viewed as crucial supports for both childhood hunger and classroom learning.  

But the changes in cafeterias could affect even families who have never participated in the federal food stamp program.

Many students who receive free school meals automatically qualify because of their household participation in SNAP or Medicaid. So a reduction in those social service programs can directly threaten their eligibility for free school meals.

The state is working with an archaeologist and funeral home to investigate human remains found near the North Dakota governor’s residence and relocate them to Bismarck cemeteries.

Reporter Michael Achterling talks to host Craig Blumenshine about the anomalies discovered while crews were installing a fence and driveway extension on the Capitol grounds. One Bismarck historian questions why the state didn’t investigate sooner, as the area was known to be the site of one of the capital city’s oldest cemeteries.

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