By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
Tribal police recruits participate in the Indian Country Police Officer Training Program at Camp Grafton near Devils Lake, North Dakota. (Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs)
By Michael Achterling
Basic law enforcement training for tribal police officers expanded to North Dakota this year, offering tribes in the northern region a training option other than the U.S. Indian Police Academy in New Mexico.
Twelve recruits from nine tribal law enforcement agencies participated in the first 14-week class of Camp Grafton’s Indian Country Police Officer Training Program, with graduation set for Tuesday.
Camp Grafton Training Center, a North Dakota National Guard base near Devils Lake, previously offered advanced law enforcement training for the BIA. But the only basic training option was in New Mexico, which leaders in North Dakota and other northern states have said is a barrier to recruiting new tribal police officers.
Patrons use free Wi-Fi at a public library in Chicago. For nearly 30 years, the E-Rate program has helped connect schools and libraries to the internet, but the Trump administration is reviewing the program. (Photo Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)
By Robbie Sequeira
A multi-billion-dollar federal program that helps schools and libraries afford broadband internet is under review by the Trump administration, leaving education officials and advocates worried about potentially significant cuts.
The E-Rate program provides about $3 billion annually for internet access and telecommunications to more than 100,000 schools and 11,000 libraries across the country. It is the fifth-largest stream of federal funding for schools nationwide, according to the Schools Superintendents Association.
In North Dakota, 408 schools, 35 libraries and one consortium received E-Rate dollars for funding year 2024, according to the latest available data.
The Federal Communications Commission said it is reviewing “whether the program should be narrowed or otherwise reoriented to reflect the extent to which its connectivity objectives have been achieved.”
An explosion of data center facilities, including the one pictured here in northeast Oregon on May 18 have been built along the Columbia River Gorge during the last few years. (Photo by Jordan Gale/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
By Madyson Fitzgerald
Data center developments are continuing to spread throughout the country as the demand for digital processing power grows — especially as artificial intelligence systems become more prevalent. But in addition to concerned residents, some federal, state and local officials are worried about how data centers could drive up utility bills, strain water resources and hurt the environment.
And now, tribal communities are grappling with the fact that more developers are eyeing their land for future data center projects.
“Because of the history with treaties, removal actions and those sorts of things, tribal lands are probably more pristine and not as developed as other state, federal or local government lands,” said Tana Fitzpatrick, the associate vice president of tribal relations at the University of Oklahoma and a member of the Crow Tribe in Montana and a descendent of the Lakota Sioux, Ponca and Chickasaw nations.
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North Dakota raised its top interstate speed limit to 80 mph about a year ago. Today, Highway Patrol data shows shifts in where speeding tickets are being written.
Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach talks with host Craig Blumenshine about the impact of lowering interstate speed limits around North Dakota cities.
A Closer Look with the Monitor is a partnership with Prairie Public's Main Street.
EARLIER ND MONITOR NEWS AND COMMENTARY
FROM STATES NEWSROOM
The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 13, 2026. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
By Jennifer Shutt
President Donald Trump tried to maintain power following his loss in the 2020 election by exerting pressure on state election officials to, in some cases, “find” the votes.
Loyalist Republicans in Congress then attempted to deny Joe Biden the Oval Office when lawmakers gathered to certify the Electoral College, bringing to light loopholes and deficiencies in the law that could have denied voters their choice.
Similar flaws exist for U.S. House elections.
What’s less understood is that the House itself has the ability to investigate and potentially overturn the results of any of its 435 races. In a House narrowly controlled by one party or the other, disputes over a handful of seats could become significant.
South Dakota public university enrollment drop includes fewer undergrad and international students | South Dakota Searchlight
Caretakers clean Alex Pretti memorial site after vandalism | Minnesota Reformer
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