Free Republic

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...

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...

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...