1. Fargo Black Lives Matter leader claims Moorhead officer tried to force his way into her car during traffic stop
A Black Lives Matter leader from Fargo is calling for an investigation into a Moorhead police officer who she claims tried to force his way into her vehicle during a traffic stop this weekend.
Faith Shields-Dixon recounted being pulled over Saturday afternoon, Aug. 15, along Eighth Street South near Concordia College. Officers told her she was going 44 mph in a 30 mph zone, which she denied. She told reporters on Monday she didn't want to argue with officers and that she would have taken the ticket and headed on her way.
One officer, who she identified as Eric Zimmel, prevented that from happening when he started to look inside her vehicle with a flashlight, she said.
"I said, 'You can't search my vehicle. That's against the law. You've no right, you've no warrant, and I do not give you permission to search my vehicle,'" she told reporters.
ADVERTISEMENT
2. North Dakota Legislature cancels in-person meetings after staffer tests positive for COVID-19
The North Dakota Legislature has canceled all in-person interim committee meetings for the next few weeks because a Legislative Council staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
The employee is showing no COVID-19 symptoms, but after consulting with legislative leaders, it was decided that all in-person meetings for the next few weeks should be canceled for everyone's safety, said John Bjornson, Legislative Council director.
"Rather than (having) the chance of spreading it throughout the state by having legislators come into town here, we're going to just take the safe approach and not have any meetings for the next week for sure," Bjornson said, adding that they will take the week to decide what their remote meetings will look like.
The Legislative Council has 32 employees and Bjornson said a few of them may have been in close contact with the individual and they are now in self-quarantine.
Read more from The Forum's Michelle Griffith
3. As Democrats' convention begins, Trump promises economic turnaround at Mankato campaign stop
ADVERTISEMENT
President Donald Trump made campaign stops in Minnesota and Wisconsin on Monday, Aug. 17, in an attempt to woo Midwestern voters into supporting his re-election bid with promises for a thriving economy and job growth in a second term.
Trump's visits in Mankato, Minn., and Oshkosh, Wis., landed on the kickoff day of the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, signaling the president's intentions to counter-program his opposition's week-long spectacle. Former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to accept the Democratic Party's nomination this week.
Minnesota and Wisconsin are viewed as key swing states that could deliver to the president either his reelection or his defeat in November. The president also will make a tarmac visit Tuesday, Aug. 18, in Yuma, Ariz.
4. UND has 29 athletes test positive for COVID-19, will pause workouts
Twenty-nine UND athletes have tested positive for COVID-19, UND confirmed Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
UND says there are 38 active cases campus-wide -- a mix of students, staff and faculty. UND athletic director Bill Chaves said more than 200 athletes have been tested.
"Given this situation, we have paused workouts this week so that we can hit a reset on a number of items moving forward," Chaves said. "Per our existing protocols and university protocols for isolating and quarantining -- which have been in development for the past several months -- those who have tested positive were immediately isolated. In addition, we continue to work with UND Health and the State of North Dakota's Department of Public Health on quarantining any close contacts.
"Since we have begun weekly testing of all of our student-athletes that wanted to workout in our facilities six weeks ago, we have now had two instances where positive cases have spiked and have been the majority of our total cases. The first being after the July 4 weekend and the second coming with Thursday's results which we learned of over the weekend and coincided with fall seasons being postponed."
Read more from Forum News Service's Tom Miller
5. Architecture firms unveil competing designs for Roosevelt library in North Dakota
For the first time, North Dakotans have an idea of how the proposed Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora might actually look.
Three well-known international architectural firms presented detailed design concepts on Monday, Aug. 17, at the library board's meeting in Medora.
ADVERTISEMENT
Representatives from Chicago-based Studio Gang, Copenhagen-based Henning Larsen and Oslo-based Snøhetta gathered in the Old West-themed tourist town in western North Dakota to woo board members, potential donors and locals with high-definition renderings of their unique approaches to the project. The board named the firms as finalists in May for a design competition that will culminate in a winner next month.
Several big names attended the presentations Monday, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, first lady Kathryn Burgum, board member Melani Walton and her husband, Rob Walton, an heir to the Walmart fortune and one of the richest people in the world. The governor has expressed a great deal of enthusiasm for the project and spearheaded an eventually successful effort to set aside public funding for it.
