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    A Montana couple faces charges of murder and tampering with evidence in the 2019 disappearance and death of a 6-year-old girl on the Crow Indian Reservation. Prosecutors said that Mildred Alexis Old Crow was physically assaulted and left in a bathtub to drown before the girl’s body was hidden inside a plastic container for more than two years while the defendants collected her benefits. The defendants remained in custody Tuesday on $1 million bond each. They are scheduled to be arraigned in state court on March 28 and could face life in prison if convicted.

      A bill moving through North Dakota’s legislative pipeline would task school boards with developing a policy to require written parental permission before K-12 students receive instruction on a wide range of topics, including sexual orientation and romantic relationships.

      Gov. Kristi Noem signed a $7.4 billion state budget for the 2024 fiscal year, despite expressing disagreements with lawmakers. According to a report in the Argus Leader, Noem was critical of the Legislature’s projection for $2.38 billion in revenue in 2024 and lawmakers' decision to spend money on certain items in the budget. The budget signed Monday also accounts for future Medicaid expansion costs, helps National Guard members pay college tuition and freezes tuition at public universities and technical colleges. Noem remains quiet on whether or not she’ll veto or sign the Legislature’s plan to lower sales taxes from 4.5% to 4.2% until 2027.

      Burleigh County zoning regulations requiring companies building pipelines for carbon dioxide and other hazardous liquids to obtain a special permit and follow certain rules are taking effect after final passage.

      The North Dakota Senate has passed a bill that would give tax incentives to oil companies for "restimulating" oil wells in the state  through hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Fracking involves injecting high-pressure water deep underground to extract oil or gas from rock. Environmental groups have long opposed the practice, saying it can pollute groundwater and contributes to climate change. Supporters said the bill would benefit mineral owners, the state and environment; whereas opponents said oil companies can afford to restimulate wells without a tax break. Restimulation refers to the process of converting an old oil well into an updated well with enhanced oil production.

      A former employee at a North Dakota care center has been sentenced to two years in prison for the death of an elderly resident. Sixty-year-old Rachel Cooper pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and was sentenced Monday in Fargo. In addition to prison time, Cooper was sentenced to two years of supervised probation. Authorities say 78-year-old Gary Pearson was pushed and fell on Aug. 3, 2021, at Maple View Memory Care center. He later died. A criminal complaint said Cooper was cleaning Pearson’s bathroom and that the two appeared to have struggled over the bathroom door.

      Minnesota is moving to strengthen its status as a refuge for patients from restrictive states who travel to the state to seek abortions — and to protect providers who serve them. The state House on Monday voted 68-62 to prohibit enforcement in Minnesota of laws, subpoenas, judgements or extradition requests from other states against people who get, perform or assist with abortions in Minnesota. Supporters say a prime example of what they're worried about is a Texas law that deputizes individuals to enforce their state’s restrictions by allowing them to sue to anyone who helps a patient obtain an abortion elsewhere.

      Republican Gov. Kristi Noem signed legislation that puts more than $390 million into the state’s prison system, with most of that money going toward investing in new prison facilities. One of the bills signed by Noem on Monday allocates $60 million to construct a women’s prison in Rapid City. Another sets aside $54 million for property and design costs for a Sioux Falls men’s prison and puts $270 million into a fund for future men’s prisons in the state. Lawmakers widely supported the bills as they made their way through the session.

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      After several years of declining scores, only one third of fourth graders in North Dakota are proficient in reading. Seeing that stark slide prompted one local newspaper publisher to act by providing a newspaper kids can call their own.

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