By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
7-OH products, a concentrated synthetic kratom derivative, are displayed at a retail store in Bismarck on Aug. 5, 2026, hours before a state ban took effect. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By Jack Dura
Kratom and derivative products are now illegal in North Dakota just days after Gov. Kelly Armstrong announced a ban on the substance and related derivatives.
Lawmakers are preparing to draft legislation restricting kratom for a special session. The attorney general has announced how to dispose of kratom products. And police and prosecutors will be dealing with enforcement.
Here is what to know about kratom, the ban in North Dakota and what officials are doing.
John Hoffman, a volunteer at the Dream Center in Bismarck, moves boxes of food on Aug. 5, 2026. North Dakota food pantries saw record demand in the past year. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By Michael Achterling
More than 186,000 people accepted help from the Great Plains Food Bank’s network of food pantries in the past year, a new record for the organization.
The food bank, serving North Dakota and Clay County, Minnesota, said one in four people in the region relied on the network during the fiscal year that ended June 30, said Ann Prifrel, CEO of Great Plains Food Bank.
The total number of people using the food bank increased 16% compared to the previous fiscal year, according to the nonprofit food shelf.
“Our neighbors are struggling to make ends meet,” Prifel said in an interview.
Pfc. Jorden Edlin, left, and U.S. Army Spc. Kaliyah Johnson, right, with the Mississippi National Guard patrol at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 2, 2026. (Photo by Photo by Sgt. Alex Lopez/Joint Task Force DC)
By Sam Gauntt
The deployment of National Guard troops hailing from all across the country to Washington, D.C. is expected to cost taxpayers more than $1.4 billion in additional funds through 2029.
The estimate from Jules Hurst III, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the Pentagon’s comptroller, came in response to a series of questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as a part of Hurt’s confirmation process.
According to the information provided by Hurst, the National Guard deployment is planned to continue until January 2029, the end of Trump’s second term.
Dem-NPL leader Jamie Selzler tapped to replace Fargo mayor in North Dakota Senate | Michael Achterling
Gov. Armstrong announces special session, emergency actions to ban kratom in North Dakota | Jack Dura and Michael Achterling
FROM STATES NEWSROOM
By Shauneen Miranda
President Donald Trump is urging Republican senators to “release their holds” and pass a measure making daylight saving time permanent nationwide.
A bipartisan bill passed the House in July but faces hurdles in the Senate, where members from both parties have pushed back against ending the semiannual clock changes.
“People are sick and tired of having to change their clocks twice a year,” Trump wrote in a social media post Tuesday night, adding that “it is foolish, inconvenient and, in some cases, very costly.”
US Senate confirms Trump’s pick for CDC director | Shauneen Miranda
Hopes grow for higher ethanol blend with inclusion in US Senate farm bill | South Dakota Searchlight
Small Texas law firm run by Trump ally wins contract for legal aid to immigrant kids | Ariana Figueroa
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