John Hageman
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John Hageman covers North Dakota politics from the Forum News Service bureau in Bismarck. He attended the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, where he studied journalism and political science, and he previously worked at the Grand Forks Herald and Bemidji Pioneer.
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- 7 years 3 months
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BISMARCK — Attorneys for a North Dakota licensing board and an out-of-state company butted heads before the state's highest court Tuesday, May 14, over allegations the firm operated here illegally during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
BISMARCK — A North Dakota legislative leader said Monday, May 13, that lawmakers won't return to Bismarck for a special session to ease restrictions imposed on State Auditor Josh Gallion and will instead wait nearly two years before considering any changes. Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, made the declaration during an hourlong meeting in Gallion's state Capitol office. He said House Majority Leader Chet Pollert, a Republican from Carrington who attended by phone, agreed with the decision.
BISMARCK — The head of North Dakota's corrections system is looking forward to a wide-ranging legislative study of her department after lawmakers rejected plans to shuffle prisoners around the state. North Dakota lawmakers budgeted $400,000 to hire a consultant to aid in a study of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The agency's budget bill mandated that legislative leaders appoint a special six-member committee to examine the department before the 2021 session.
BISMARCK — North Dakota's lieutenant governor expressed confidence Tuesday, May 7, that the upcoming census will produce a more accurate result after the last headcount struggled with a deluge of oil workers and other residents. Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford, a city councilman and mayor of Watford City during a period of rapid growth in the western region of the state, estimated that tens of thousands of residents were missed during the most recent census in 2010.
BISMARCK — The head of the North Dakota Department of Transportation's driver's license operations is on paid administrative leave during a workplace investigation, a spokeswoman for the agency said Wednesday, May 1. Glenn Jackson has been on leave since February, said DOT spokeswoman Jamie Olson. She said she was unsure what was behind the investigation and didn't know when it would be completed.
BISMARCK — North Dakota's chief elections official hopes to have new equipment at the polls for the 2020 contests after state lawmakers approved $12 million for the devices. Secretary of State Al Jaeger said Wednesday, May 1, the money will be used to purchase new ballot scanners and electronic poll books, which serve as voter records at individual precincts, across the state. The $12 million approved by lawmakers includes $3 million of federal funding.
BISMARCK — Forum Communications Co. President and CEO Bill Marcil Jr. was elected to the board of the News Media Alliance, an industry advocacy group, the organization said Wednesday, May 1. Marcil, who is also publisher of the company's flagship newspaper, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, was elected to a one-year term that began Wednesday. Mark Aldam, the executive vice president and chief operating officer at Hearst, was named its board chairman.
BISMARCK — North Dakota lawmakers introduced nearly 1,000 bills and resolutions during the 2019 legislative session, which ended Friday night , April 26. They approved less than two-thirds of them.
BISMARCK — The North Dakota Senate rejected a House-backed resolution seeking to make it harder for lawmakers to tap earnings from the state's oil tax piggy bank Thursday, April 25. House lawmakers had insisted on pushing some form of the proposed constitutional amendment, but it found little support across the hall in the session's final days. As introduced by Grand Forks Democratic Rep. Corey Mock, it would have required earnings from the Legacy Fund to be transferred back to its principal rather than the state's general fund, where it's up for grabs in the Legislature.
BISMARCK — A backer of marijuana decriminalization efforts in the North Dakota Legislature said she was disappointed by an amended bill that advanced Wednesday, April 24.