VIDEO: House passes GOP bill to speed Keyston XL pipeline approval

WASHINGTON – House Republicans pushed through a bill Wednesday to bypass the president to speed approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. Democrats criticized the legislation as a blatant attempt to allow a foreign company to avoid environmental review. The bill was approved, 241-175, largely along party lines.

North Dakota GOP chairman stepping down

BISMARCK - The chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party is stepping down.

MN House passes lawmaker pay hike panel

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota House voted Friday to take the politically charged decisions about their salaries out of their own hands, approving a constitutional amendment that would ask voters if there should be an independent state council to set legislative pay.

MN House backs nursing home pay hike

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota House has voted to give nursing home workers in the state a 5-percent pay increase.

Minnesota House defeats construction projects bill

ST. PAUL — A state Capitol facelift, college campus building projects and regional civic center upgrades got thrown in limbo Friday when the Minnesota House failed to muster enough votes for an $800 million construction bill.

With time short, MN lawmakers meet over weekend

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Legislature is meeting over the weekend as the clock counts down on the regular session.

Minn. House votes to up candidate donation limits

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota House has passed a bill that raises the maximum donations that candidates for office can accept from donors.

Detroit Lakes native enters Minnesota governor's race

HAMEL, Minn. – Jeff Johnson tried to make peace as last year’s Minnesota Republican convention split into two factions, and now looks to bridge that gap and more as he launches a run for governor.

• Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson

ND lawmakers vote to close oil industry loophole

BISMARCK – The North Dakota Legislature voted Friday to close a tax loophole used by the oil industry that the Tax Department says is costing the state $50 million each year.

Fargo-area Republicans to hold meeting

WEST FARGO – Fargo area Republicans will hold a reorganization meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday here at the Sheyenne 9th Grade Center, 800 40th Ave. E.

House kills K-12 funding, property tax relief bill on second try

BISMARCK – A funding plan for North Dakota’s K-12 schools and the prospects for more property tax relief hung in limbo Friday evening after House lawmakers defeated the bill early on the last day of the legislative session.

Hoeven says Senate will vote Monday on bill including diversion approval

FARGO – A federal bill that could authorize the $1.8 billion flood diversion project for Fargo-Moorhead is expected to reach the Senate floor Monday.

• Sen. John Hoeven talks

Iowa Senate panel to review ethics complaint in Bachmann payment

DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa Senate ethics panel is scheduled to meet to review a complaint that a state senator accepted payments from a presidential campaign in 2012.

‘We stand on his shoulders’: Guy, four-term governor of North Dakota, lauded for lifetime of selfless service

FARGO – The life of Bill Guy, the farmer from Amenia who became a four-term governor of North Dakota, was celebrated Tuesday in a memorial service at Fargo’s First Presbyterian Church.

• Former U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad speaks at the memorial service

Obama to try again to close Guantanamo Bay prison

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he will revive his push to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a first-term campaign promise that a Democratic-led Congress rejected as impractical and potentially unsafe.

• A detainee peers out