News – Page 18 – TheMinotVoice.com

Montana Bill criminalizes ‘obscene’ material to minors by schools, libraries

by: Josh Wolsky | January 25, 2023

In Montana, the legislature is considering a bill that makes distributing ‘obscene’ material to minors a crime; it focuses on libraries and other government institutions. This is only news in North Dakota because a very similar bill is moving through the ND Legislature. We sometimes think of ourselves as the only place struggling with these issues,

Read & Share sourced from: Helena Independent Record

Legislature Debating Whether to Ban or Require Teaching of Divisive Topics

by: Josh Wolsky | January 24, 2023

It’s tough making sense of the North Dakota legislature some days. Senate Bill 2247 sets out to ban the teaching of divisive topics in the state’s institutions of higher education. The topics that are defined as ‘divisive’ center around race and sex and privilege and the past. The hearing on the bill brought out thoughtful

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House Passes Thanksgiving Alcohol Sales

by: Josh Wolsky | January 24, 2023

It’s always awkward when you’re asked to bring the beer to Thanksgiving dinner, but you forget you can’t buy it on that particular Thursday. Well if you forget this year, you may have the North Dakota Legislature to thank for saving your skin. The house passed a bill making Thanksgiving Day alcohol off-premise sales legal

Read & Share sourced from: The Dakotan

U.S. Approves First Small Modular Nuclear Reactor, Beginning New Era for Atomic Energy

by: Josh Wolsky | January 24, 2023

Nuclear energy is back. Well, it never really went away, but a new wave of small reactors is on the horizon, and the design that drives them was recently approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It’s just the seventh reactor design approved for use in the U.S. and what makes it different is its

Read & Share sourced from: Vice

What is milk? The legislature is attempting to answer the question

by: Josh Wolsky | January 24, 2023

If you go to the grocery store these days, you’ll quickly notice the milk section is a lot bigger than it used to be. But it’s not the cows that made it so. There are whole shelves of new products made from soy, almonds, oats, coconuts, and more. And it invites the question, what is

Read & Share sourced from: Dickinson Press

2023 Governor Awards For The Arts Selected

by: MinotVoice | January 24, 2023

Gov. Burgum has selected the recipients of the 2023 Governor’s Awards for the Arts. Individual Cultural Heritage: Bill Lowman, Sentinal Butte, Nonprofit Arts Organization: Empire Arts Center, Grand Forks Individual Achievement: Pieper Fleck Bloomquist, Grand Forks Champion for the Arts: former state Sen. Joan Heckaman, Dickinson For-Profit Arts Organization: Makoché Recording Studios, Bismarck Arts in

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House Bill 1446 Sets The Stage for A Debate On University Tenure

by: Josh Wolsky | January 24, 2023

Tenured University professors have long enjoyed a level of job security far less common in other lines of work. And if House Bill 1446 is approved, it’s a situation that will change. The bill sets forth the terms in which tenured professors can be removed by University Presidents and other delegated administrators. And there’s a

Read & Share sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

Scientists say they’ve found T. rex’s early ancestor in northeast Montana

by: Josh Wolsky | January 23, 2023

One of the lesser-known niche benefits of living in our part of the world — we’ve got dinosaurs. Well, we have their fossilized remains, at least. And a recent discovery in northeast Montana has people talking. It’s believed to be an ancestor of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Get the full story from the Billings Gazette.

Read & Share sourced from: Billings Gazette

What Keeps Public Employees In Their Jobs? It’s Not Just Pay

by: Josh Wolsky | January 23, 2023

High turnover in our local governments is expensive. It lowers the performance of the city and forces expensive recruitment and training of new employees. So what makes our employees want to leave their jobs? When it’s time to work on the budget, we hear a lot about wages and beneifits, but are there other factors

Read & Share sourced from: Government Executive

UND unveils new strategic plan

by: Josh Wolsky | January 23, 2023

Learning, equity, affinity, discovery, and service — they are the five pillars under which UND organized and developed its newly-released strategic plan. In the introductory letter, UND President Armacost writes, “UND LEADS does not have an end point. Its five pillars – Learning, Equity, Affinity, Discovery, and Service – will be UND’s foundation for years

Read & Share sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

North Dakota Development Fund approves $870K for Q4 2022

by: MinotVoice | January 23, 2023

The North Dakota Department of Commerce announced today that two companies were approved for a total of $870,000 in loan funds through the North Dakota Development Fund (NDDF) during the fourth quarter of 2022. “Businesses across North Dakota continue to thrive due to the state’s favorable business climate, which not only encourages start-ups and expansions

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Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo, Dilworth, and Horace Team Up for Fargo area State of the Cities Event

by: Josh Wolsky | January 22, 2023

The mayors of Fargo, West Fargo, Moorhead, Dilworth, and Horace gathered up for a joint ‘State of the Cities’ event recently. They teased exciting projects in the works, including some Fargo Dome news, and talked about the good things happening in their respective communities. Get the full story on what’s happening in the Fargo area

Read & Share sourced from: InForum

Why Are People in the US Becoming Radicalized?

by: Josh Wolsky | January 22, 2023

What makes a person slip from being passionate, but reasonable, to radicalized and unreasonable? It’s a question many across the country are asking because, in the U.S., the rate of radicalization is on the increase, more so than in other developed countries. The answers are still evolving, and they’re coming mostly by looking back and

Read & Share sourced from: WIRED

Minot Legislator Proposes Property Tax Credit for Older Residents

by: Josh Wolsky | January 22, 2023

It’s impossible to have a legislative session without talking about taxes, and the 2023 session is no exception. It’s always a question of who should pay and how much. And this session, a couple of bills related to property taxes propose for older residents to pay less; one of them is sponsored by Minot Representative

Read & Share sourced from: InForum

Need a hand? Atlas has you covered, but he’s a bit of a showoff

by: Josh Wolsky | January 21, 2023

The robots are coming. And when they get here, we better join them or hire them. The work and progress of Boston Dynamics has been a regular subject here on TheMinotVoice going back to our beginning. And looking back at the early posts shows just how fast this technology is moving. The two videos below

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Senate Bill 2199 Related to Transgender Pronoun Usage and Enforcement Fails

by: Josh Wolsky | January 21, 2023

A bill to redefine gender in North Dakota law has failed. Senate Bill 2199 proposed to limit gender definitions in state law to either male or female as determined at birth and created a $1,500 penalty for violation of the law. The bill was given a Do Not Pass recommendation in committee following considerable opposing

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