1. UND students work to free the wrongfully convicted
Several times a month, University of North Dakota law students Morgan Tuss and Anastasija Ceklic meet, pore over documents and try to determine if anyone in their investigatory files has been wrongfully convicted.
Along with their adviser, UND Law School professor Steven Morrison, the two make up a small group in Grand Forks known as North Dakota’s branch of the Innocence Project.
“You're doing the public good, and you're dealing with real-life situations,” said Ceklic, a second-year law student from Winnipeg.
“There's two parties, and there's two sides to every story,” said Tuss, also a second-year law student from Billings, Mont. “The vital part of the justice system is that you're innocent until proven guilty, and it's not the other way around.”
More from The Forum's April Baumgarten
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2. ND family buys newspaper ads, hires plane in search for beloved blind dog
Kurt and Yolanda Martin are sparing few expenses as they search for their beloved white Labrador retriever, Sami, a blind dog that apparently wandered away from the Martin's rural home in western North Dakota on Feb. 11 and hasn't returned.
"She's worth it," Yolanda says. "Every penny is worth it."
The Martins have even taken out advertisements in a half dozen daily newspapers in North Dakota and Montana, including The Forum and The Dickinson Press. In the Friday, Feb. 21, edition of The Forum, an ad with the headline "Please help find Sami" covered half of page C2. Half-page ads are not inexpensive.
The ad included a photo of the beautiful 85-pound dog, sitting in a chair like a queen, and her story, from being born in a puppy mill to finding a perfect forever home to being blinded in a surgery.
More from Forum Columnist Mike McFeely
3. Minnesota Capitol Notebook: More politicking and a call to give back $1.3B surplus
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Conversations around financial support for farmers and violent crime prevention plans took on a political tone at the Minnesota Capitol as lawmakers and other elected leaders dug into the motives behind the discussions.
Republicans put forth their pitch for how Minnesota should spend a $1.3 billion budget surplus: giving it back to taxpayers.
And efforts to boost transparency around prescription drug pricing got another push despite red flags from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Pharmaceutical, Research and Manufacturers of America, Medical Alley Association and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.
It was the second week of the legislative session and efforts to highlight plans that likely won't make it through the divided Legislature continued. With a budget address scheduled for next week, lawmakers could get a reality check on how they could dole out a projected $1.3 billion surplus and re-evaluate how much the state could borrow to fund public projects without downgrading Minnesota's AAA bond rating.
More from Forum News Service's Dana Ferguson
4. Western North Dakota newspaper reps, residents express frustration with Postal Service
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Newspaper business managers and residents of western North Dakota laid out their grievances with the United States Postal Service at a roundtable meeting with representatives from the government agency on Friday, Feb. 21. The mail service has experienced significant delivery issues in the western part of the state since the oil boom brought thousands of new residents to the region over the past decade.
U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-ND, acted almost as an intermediary between the two parties, suggesting potential remedies to the problems brought forward by the disgruntled customers.
Both the newspaper representatives and the two residents, from Bismarck and Minot, respectively, expressed frustration at the Bismarck meeting over chronically late or undelivered mail and a perceived inability to speak with a local contact at the agency about the problem.
Neal Shipman, the owner and editor of the McKenzie County Farmer newspaper in Watford City, said late deliveries of the weekly publication and the lack of sufficient explanations hurt his bottom line, as advertisers have stopped coming back. Shipman said he understands the service may occasionally have issues delivering the paper on time, but he noted there's often a lack of communication when problems arise and he has nothing to tell his upset customers.
More from Forum News Service's Jeremy Turley
5. Coworkers rally around longtime Fargo nurse fighting ALS
Former coworkers of a retired Fargo nurse are showing their support and rallying around their friend and colleague as she battles ALS.
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After a 20-year career in nursing, Nancy Erdmann is getting back some of the compassion and kindness she showed caring for others. The longtime nurse at Essentia Health is grateful for the support she now sees being given back to her.
Longtime Essentia Health nurses who worked with Erdmann in the neonatal intensive care unit visited her Friday, Feb. 21, to brighten her day and make preparations for fundraisers.