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Simulated sunlight powers a solar cell that converts atmospheric carbon dioxide directly into syngas. Credit: University of Illinois at Chicago/Jenny Fontaine ********************************************************************************************************************** Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have engineered a potentially game-changing solar cell that cheaply and efficiently converts atmospheric carbon dioxide directly into usable hydrocarbon fuel, using only sunlight for energy. The finding is reported in the July 29 issue of Science and was funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. A provisional patent application has been filed. Unlike conventional solar cells, which convert sunlight into electricity that must be stored...

In a nine-word per curiam decision, eight justices of the United States Supreme Court have revealed they are deadlocked in a 4 to 4 divide on the new immigration procedures of the Obama administration, with its executive decision to not deport the immigrant parents of children born in the United States (thus citizens) and give them legal status but less than citizenship in the process. The State of Texas, joined by 25 others states, filed a lawsuit to block this executive action, which affects between 4 and 5 million immigrants in the United States. The case was before the Supreme...

BISMARCK – Fargo entrepreneur Doug Burgum stunned the GOP establishment Tuesday with a convincing win over the party’s endorsed candidate, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, an improbable victory after trailing by nearly 50 points in a poll less than four months ago. With 389 of 432 precincts reporting, the millionaire former Microsoft executive held a 60 percent to 38 percent lead over Stenehjem, with Bismarck oilfield consultant Paul Sorum a distant third at less than 2 percent. Complete results were not available at press time. Burgum now emerges as the favorite in November in a state where Republicans hold every statewide...

Tuesday, June 7th primaries California – 546 delegates Montana – 27 delegates New Jersey – 142 delegates New Mexico – 43 delegates South Dakota – 25 delegates North Dakota – D Caucus – 25 D delegates

You are cordially invited to attend a post-election press conference with Donald J. Trump When: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 @ 9PM EDT Where: Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Westchester, NY Attire: PJs (Black Tie Optional) Dom Perignon and a selection of appetizers and French pastries with be served. R.S.V.P @ nikos1121

North Dakota’s hog and dairy industries are hoping voters will bless state lawmakers’ decision to allow non-family corporations to own operations, but it could be a tough sell in a state that has safeguarded its family farming heritage for nearly a century. Up for vote in the June 14 election is whether to uphold the 2015 Legislature’s move to loosen North Dakota’s corporate farming ban, which has tried to keep crop and pasture in the hands of small-operation farmers and away from large out-of-state businesses that some believe might have little regard for the land. “Family farming agriculture has delivered...

BISMARCK, N.D. — A constant stream of changes and scuffles are unsettling Donald J. Trump’s campaign team, including the abrupt dismissal this week of his national political director. A sense of paranoia is growing among his campaign staff members, including some who have told associates they believe that their Trump Tower offices in New York may be bugged, according to three people briefed on the conversations. And there is confusion among his donors, who want to give money to a “super PAC” supporting Mr. Trump, but have received conflicting signals from top aides about which one to support. On Thursday,...

Donald Trump's promise to get government out of the way of energy companies was greeted with hoots and hollers in shale-rich North Dakota, where the presumptive GOP presidential nominee presented his plan. Shortly before the speech Thursday, John Trandem, a North Dakota GOP delegate, became the decisive 1,237th to declare support for the New York tycoon's bid for the nomination. In his speech at an energy conference, Trump called for cutting regulations and for building the Keystone XL pipeline, which the Obama administration has blocked. "I'm drunk on Trump," proclaimed John Olson, a North Dakota unbound delegate and attorney representing...

"[Hillary] Clinton can't just shut down the mines, she could shut down the whole country," Trump said of the Democratic contender Thursday. -- White House hopeful Donald Trump on Thursday finally crossed his party's finish line and secured the necessary delegate count to clinch the Republican presidential nomination, thanks to the state of North Dakota. Trump obtained delegate No. 1,237 in the Midwest state, meaning he will be the GOP's definitive candidate in the November general election to run against whomever the Democratic Party nominates -- almost certainly Hillary Clinton. Trump thanked North Dakota supporters for pushing him over the...

John Trandem wanted to be the delegate who would put Donald Trump over the top, giving him enough delegates to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.

Nearly 7,400 are expected to pack the Events Center downtown, where Trump will address the Energy Conference there. This evening, those who both support and those who loathe Trump, got ready.

Thursday, May 26, 2016: Live stream of Donald Trump’s remarks at The Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, ND at the Bismarck Event Center beginning at 1:00 PM CDT. Bismarck Event Center beginning at 1:00 PM CDT. Thursday, May 26, 2016: Live stream of the Donald Trump for President rally in Billings, MT at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark. The event will begin at 4:00 PM MDT. Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark

Bill Clinton dismissed repeated attacks by Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders during a rally in North Dakota on Friday. The former president defended his wife Hillary, saying the GOP will do anything to "delegitimize" its opponents. "I know the Republicans have been mean to her and they say terrible things. You gotta respect 'em - they're good at this. They delegitimize the people they don't like. They aren't in the habit of attacking people they're not scared of," Clinton told the crowd at the Fargo, N.D., rally at Rheault Farm.

Curly Haugland loves the rules..... North Dakota’s top Republican gadfly, its rule-mongering crank, its official state pain in the ass. On the national GOP’s standing rules committee, he’s been the pedantic curmudgeon, the stubborn speed bump who for years has raised points of order only to watch establishment Republicans stampede over him. ... Haugland has become one of the most dangerous men in politics: He’s the mainstream GOP’s last hope to deny Donald Trump the Republican nomination in Cleveland. It would take a miracle—and almost certainly lead to a historic split in the party—but there is still a way, buried...

Montana and five other states say resident Barack Obama overstepped his power by rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline, whose developers are now suing four presidential cabinet members. The states along the pipeline’s route filed a friend-of-the-court brief this week arguing that Congress, not the executive, has the right to regulate interstate and international commerce. The pipeline, which would have crossed the Canadian border, was being developed by TransCanada, which is now suing the government. Because of the resident’s representations to the rest of the world that America would lead in reducing its carbon footprint, that that was the sole reason...

Oil and gas industry groups on Thursday sued federal agencies over revisions to land management plans in Colorado and other western states to protect the greater sage-grouse. The Western Energy Alliance and the North Dakota Petroleum Council filed the suit in North Dakota, saying the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service failed to follow proper procedures for public involvement in adopting the land use plan amendments. They also say the plans ignore sound science and will hurt western economies. Plan revisions being challenged include ones in northwest Colorado, where greater sage-grouse habitat substantially overlaps with oil and gas...

Donald Trump may be the only Republican presidential candidate who can realistically hit the magic 1,237 number for the majority of delegates, but according to a senior Republican National Committee official that does not mean he will become the GOP presidential nominee. "Even if Trump reaches the magic number of 1,237 the media and RNC are touting, that does not mean Trump is automatically the nominee," Haugland said. "The votes earned during the primary process are only estimates and are not legal convention votes. The only official votes to nominate a candidate are those that are cast from the convention...

F ARGO—Presidential candidate Ted Cruz's supporters claimed the bulk of North Dakota's Republican delegates this past weekend, but the impact of that win won't be apparent for months because all of the delegates in the state are unbound. Of the 25 delegates elected at the North Dakota Republican convention, at least 17 are supporting Cruz or leaning that way. {snip} But Dever believes a lot could change between now and July, when the Republican National Convention is held in Cleveland. That's why he was surprised to see his name alongside 22 others on a list of "Cruz supporters" that was...

FARGO, N.D. — Ted Cruz’s preferred candidates won the vast majority of convention delegates available in North Dakota over the weekend, taking 18 of 25 slots in the state in another show of organizational strength over Donald Trump. It’s still not clear how loyal all of Cruz’s slate will be if the Republican nomination heads to a contested convention in Cleveland, as several included on it told POLITICO they were only leaning toward Cruz, or simply opposed to Trump. But the result was bad news for Trump, who may need unbound delegates like those in North Dakota to lift him...

Only 6 candidates who did not appear on Cruz slate won: Gov Dalrymple, his wife (?), AG Stenehjem, Gary Emineth, John Olson & Kelly Schmidt