Free Republic

Between buying up valuable American farmland and flying surveillance crafts over the country without consequence, China’s footprint in the United States has become far too large for many Americans, and some have decided to take a stand. After a long, drawn-out process that lasted over a year, Mayor Brandon Bochenski of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was finally able to obtain answers from the U.S. government regarding whether or not a Chinese-backed corn mill project, slated to be operational concerningly close to Grand Forks Air Force Base, was a national security risk and overall bad idea. The government finally agreed that...

Inter-agency body says it will not block company’s US$700 million corn milling plant in city of Grand Forks.. Residents who object to the project say it is too close to air force base and could be a ‘smokescreen’ for espionage .... A US inter-agency body charged with assessing national security risks involving foreign investments announced on Monday it will not block a Chinese agribusiness subsidiary’s proposed US$700 million corn milling project in North Dakota. After completing a 45-day review, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) concluded that Fufeng USA’s purchase of 150 hectares (370 acres) of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) joined 50 of his colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Austin Lloyd, U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack raising concerns over the recent acquisition of farmland near a U.S. military installation by a Chinese-based manufacturer with close links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The letter comes after a recent land acquisition near Grand Forks, North Dakota, by the Fufeng Group, a Chinese-based manufacturer with close links to the CCP. The area houses the Grand Forks Air Force Base,...

GRAND FORKS — Grand Forks police and the FBI on Thursday visited the home of Jodi Carlson, a leading opponent of a new corn mill to be owned by the China-based Fufeng Group, following up on a social media post quoting the Declaration of Independence that mentioned the overthrow of the government. The authorities ultimately found no cause for concern, a police report states. The incident has provoked an angry response from opponents of the corn mill project, many of whom are part of the “Concerned Citizens of Fufeng Project in Grand Forks” group where the activity took place. “This...

Chinese food manufacturer Fufeng Group bought 300 acres of land near Grand Forks, North Dakota, to set up a milling plant. The project is located about 20 minutes from the Grand Forks Air Force Base, raising national security concerns. ... At first glance, the largely barren, wind-swept tract of land just north of Grand Forks, North Dakota, seems to be an unlikely location for international espionage. There’s not much on the more than 300-acre patch of prime Dakota farmland right now other than dirt and tall grasses, bordered by highways and light industrial facilities on the outskirts of the city....

Proponents note their signature volume rivals the number of votes that put Mayor Brandon Bochenski in office in 2020. In only a few months, a group of worried voices opposing a proposed Grand Forks corn-milling plan has ballooned into a political movement big enough to demand a citywide vote on its future. A total 4,797 signatures were deemed valid by the city this month on a petition demanding a vote on a development deal with Fufeng Group, the China-based agribusiness behind the facility. Though the city had deemed the petition invalid--it has done do for legal and technical reasons--those nearly...

China makes a move to end imports of American agricultural products but first..... Speaking in a video posted Sunday Libertarian activist and People's Rights leader Ammon Bundy spoke about the present situtation across the United States noting among other things: "There's middle ground that's right...the police haven't been right they're not right, rioters are not right, they're in the wrong...... The owner of a Louisville, Kentucky business shot dead when Louisville Police and National Guard forces opened fire early this morning. They claimed they were fired upon. David McAtee's sister said: "My brother did nothing wrong. He was an innocent...

Two Active-duty Airmen assigned to the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., are dead following an early morning shooting at the base, according to an Air Force statement. The names and ranks of the victims are being withheld, pending next of kin notification. The shooting occurred around 4:30 a.m. on June 1. “Base emergency services responded to the scene, have it contained, and believe there is currently no risk to other personnel at this time,” according to the release. An investigation is underway and mental health experts are available “to care for those impacted,” the service...

by Brian Hayes A female Somali refugee recently charged with making multiple terrorist threats in a small North Dakota town claims she is innocent and being targeted because of her race and religion. But a local news station reports that not only has she been repeatedly charged with crimes in multiple states, she was previously arrested for her connection to a nationwide case of human sex trafficking. Hawo Osman Ahmed's reign of terror covers multiple years and states -- but she says she's just a victim of "racism" and Islamphobia. PJM reports: Ahmed, 26, is charged with a Class C felony...

Do you recognize either of these women or their children from this Herald photo taken March 8, 1966? The Grand Forks Herald is attempting to contact them for a story.ey all have quite the story.

When Cayla Vondal and Shi Laughlin began dating four months ago, the two juniors weren't sure if they would be able to walk down the Central High School Prom Grand March together as a same-sex couple. Vondal—who is a lesbian—and Laughlin—who is bi-sexual and identifies with the gender neutral pronoun "they"—have been friends since the first day of first grade. Neither of them had heard of a same-sex couple walking down the grand march, but when Vondal approached school administration, she was told there was no reason they couldn't.

Unprecedented turmoil in recent months in local and regional Presbyterian circles — including five lay leaders in a Grand Forks congregation quitting the church after being charged with violating church rules as well as a top administrator being dismissed suddenly — was the main business at a meeting here Monday. About 50 clergy and ordained lay elders of the Presbytery of the Northern Plains gathered for the one-day “stated meeting,” one of about three held each year. Besides the leavings, the conflict also included a gag order put in place by a higher church panel that had been lifted, it...

A district judge has granted a preliminary injunction to stop the NCAA from banning the University of North Dakota from hosting a postseason game because of its "Fighting Sioux" nickname, state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said. Stenehjem said judge Lawrence Jahnke alerted him to the decision Saturday night. Stenehjem did not know the details. UND is among a handful of schools with American Indian nicknames and logos that the NCAA considers hostile and abusive. Those schools are barred from holding postseason tournaments, or from using their nicknames during road playoff games. Stenehjem, in asking for the injunction, said the ban...

Large numbers of Grand Forks-area residents, organizations, nonprofits and business establishments have joined the nationwide effort to help Hurricane Katrina's victims. "We understand what it is like to be evacuated and stranded for an indeterminate amount of time and to suffer at the forces of mother nature," Grand Forks Mayor Michael Brown said. "Having weathered the Flood of 1997 and subsequent recovery we can especially empathize with those on the Gulf Coast who . . .

Suspect in missing girl's case a native Laredoan By The Associated Press Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., the man suspected in the disappearance of Dru Sjodin, has been accused of sex crimes before and was a native Laredoan. He wasn't always convicted though. In 1979, he sat in front of a jury facing charges that he followed a woman from a department store to her car and forced her at knifepoint to drive to a remote gravel road. The victim told police Rodriguez raped her twice before ordering her to drive him back. The jury heard testimony and returned a not-guilty verdict,...

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The man charged with kidnapping University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin, missing now for two weeks, denies responsibility for her disappearance, his attorney said Friday. "He came out and said, 'I did not kidnap her' " nor does he know her whereabouts, said David Dusek, the public defender handling Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.'s case, after meeting with his client for about 45 minutes. There were also signs Friday that the investigation was being scaled back, though investigators and Sjodin's family remained optimistic. "Dru, we're still looking for you, honey," said Allan Sjodin, the father of the...

Just watching MNF, KSTP reports arrest made in connection with case. 50 year old male...