730: 'This is the wrong way of making decisions' (Video)
Plain Talk
Gov. Kelly Armstrong called a special session to address what he and public health officials say is a crisis related to unregulated says of kratom in its natural and synthetic forms. Sen. Tim Mathern, a Fargo Democrat, says the session is unneccessary, but if we're going to have it, he'd rather it be focused on data centers. "Should we deal with kratom? Yes. Are there people who are hurt by it? Yes. There are many other substances that people are hurt by," he said. "Hundreds more persons per year die of alcohol. Hundreds more die per year of tobacco use and all kinds of other issues. So, let's...
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730: 'This is the wrong way of making decisions'
Plain Talk
Gov. Kelly Armstrong called a special session to address what he and public health officials say is a crisis related to unregulated says of kratom in its natural and synthetic forms. Sen. Tim Mathern, a Fargo Democrat, says the session is unneccessary, but if we're going to have it, he'd rather it be focused on data centers. "Should we deal with kratom? Yes. Are there people who are hurt by it? Yes. There are many other substances that people are hurt by," he said. "Hundreds more persons per year die of alcohol. Hundreds more die per year of tobacco use and all kinds of other issues. So, let's...
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729: 'We do disagree with the position that natural kratom leaf products should also be banned' (Video)
Plain Talk
There's been a lot of talk in North Dakota in recent weeks about kratom after Gov. Kelly Armstrong issued executive orders banning the substance and called lawmakers into a special session in Bismarck with an eye toward making that ban permanent. But what does the kratom industry think about it? "We agree with the governor in part and we disagree in another part," Mac Haddow said on this episode of Plain Talk. "It's a lot like being married, right? We have to get it right at the end." Haddow is a former state lawmaker, and a Reagan-era chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Health and Human...
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729: 'We do disagree with the position that natural kratom leaf products should also be banned'
Plain Talk
There's been a lot of talk in North Dakota in recent weeks about kratom after Gov. Kelly Armstrong issued executive orders banning the substance and called lawmakers into a special session in Bismarck with an eye toward making that ban permanent. But what does the kratom industry think about it? "We agree with the governor in part and we disagree in another part," Mac Haddow said on this episode of Plain Talk. "It's a lot like being married, right? We have to get it right at the end." Haddow is a former state lawmaker, and a Reagan-era chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Health and Human...
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728: 'Any moron can sound like Hemingway with ChatGPT' (Video)
Plain Talk
On this episode of Plain Talk, recorded on location inside Brewhalla at the TedXFargo event, we talked about a deeply uncomfortable topic. Suicide, namely. Our guest was Haley DeGreve, founder of the an advocacy group focused on mental health issues which also provides training for the public on how to recognize mental health episodes and health. We think about CPR training, and first aid training, but what about someone who is having a manic episode, or contemplating suicide? "Where our organization has leaned into that gray area is there are people like you and I who care, but we don't know...
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728: 'Any moron can sound like Hemingway with ChatGPT'
Plain Talk
On this episode of Plain Talk, recorded on location inside Brewhalla at the TedXFargo event, we talked about a deeply uncomfortable topic. Suicide, namely. Our guest was Haley DeGreve, founder of the an advocacy group focused on mental health issues which also provides training for the public on how to recognize mental health episodes and health. We think about CPR training, and first aid training, but what about someone who is having a manic episode, or contemplating suicide? "Where our organization has leaned into that gray area is there are people like you and I who care, but we don't know...
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727: 'I'm comfortable overreacting' (Video)
Plain Talk
"We know of at least 23 deaths in North Dakota where it's listed as a primary cause," Gov. Kelly Armstrong said on this episode of Plain Talk, referring to the substance kratom. Armstrong made headlines this week when he announced a temporary executive order banning kratom, and that he was calling lawmakers to Bismarck for a special session to pass more permanent policy. Some claimed that kratom is a ruse intended to cover other issues, such as the red-hot data center debate, or the but Armstrong made it clear that the session is very much about kratom. "We've basically only started testing...
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727: 'I'm comfortable overreacting'
Plain Talk
"We know of at least 23 deaths in North Dakota where it's listed as a primary cause," Gov. Kelly Armstrong said on this episode of Plain Talk, referring to the substance kratom. Armstrong made headlines this week when he announced a temporary executive order banning kratom, and that he was calling lawmakers to Bismarck for a special session to pass more permanent policy. Some claimed that kratom is a ruse intended to cover other issues, such as the red-hot data center debate, or the but Armstrong made it clear that the session is very much about kratom. "We've basically only started testing...
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726: 'We are defending people who don't deserve to be defended' (Video)
Plain Talk
On this Plain Talk, recorded live from TedXFargo, me and co-host Chad Oban talked about the rationalizations and excuses we make for ourselves in politics. Which also just happened to be the subject of my talk at the event. The decisions we're making politically — who we vote for, who we give money to, who we oppose — are what's driving what's happening to our country. But when things go poorly, we like to blame others. The lobbyists. The billionaires. The media. I'll not defend those things, but we also have to look in the mirror. We have to point the finger at ourselves. We are defending...
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726: 'We are defending people who don't deserve to be defended'
Plain Talk
On this Plain Talk, recorded live from TedXFargo, me and co-host Chad Oban talked about the rationalizations and excuses we make for ourselves in politics. Which also just happened to be the subject of my talk at the event. The decisions we're making politically — who we vote for, who we give money to, who we oppose — are what's driving what's happening to our country. But when things go poorly, we like to blame others. The lobbyists. The billionaires. The media. I'll not defend those things, but we also have to look in the mirror. We have to point the finger at ourselves. We are defending...
info_outlineNorth Dakota got a new crime report from Attorney General Drew Wrigley's office, and the numbers look pretty good.
The rate of incidents per 100,000 citizens for the most serious "Group A" crimes was down 7.4% from 2024 to 2025. Crimes against persons (murder, assault, etc.) were down 3%, crimes against property were down 12.2%, crimes against society (drug and gun violations, etc.) were down 3.2%, and total statewide arrests were down 3.7%.
But to hear Wrigley tell it, that's merely the plateau at the top of a rise in crime that he says necessitates the reform to sentencing laws he's been furiously campaigning for during multiple legislative sessions since taking office.
He'll be pushing hard for it once again in the upcoming legislative session (there's no real doubt that he'll be easily re-elected in November over Democratic-NPL challenger tim Lamb), though he says he's asking for something different this time.
"The proposal going forward, this is not the same we've done in the past," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. He says he's not asking for mandatory minimum sentences this time. Rather, he's asking for "truth in sentencing," or the requirement that some types sentences come with a prohibition on any sort of release before 85% of the sentence is served.
"I lost," he said, referring to the debates over legislation he's backed in previous legislative sessions. "They don't want to have long mandatory sentences. They don't want to extend existing sentences. And so, Drew Wrigley lost that battle."
During the interivew, Wrigley kept up his pattern of verbal assaults on the honesty and integrity of officials in Gov. Kelly Armstrong's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He accused them of "well-doumented prevarication" and even at one point used his fingers to do air quotes when he used the word "professionalism" for DOCR.
When challenged about that, Wrigley walked it back, saying that DOCR's personnel are professionals, but insisted "they have shown no capacity to deal with recidivism" and, furthermore, do not have the "constitutional responsibility" for it.
"They are the executive branch. They are to carry out the sentence the judicial judicial branch gave them. That's to be carried out by the executive branch, not altered as it is day one," he said.
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