5 things to know today: Coyote Station, Roll call, Medical marijuana, Over limit, Child care

Otter Tail Power Co. has reversed an earlier decision to stop drawing electricity from the coal-fired Coyote Station near Beulah, North Dakota, in light of uncertainties about its ability to provide power during peak demand periods.

The decision is contingent on Otter Tail not having to make major capital investments — such as having to meet more stringent environmental requirements — to keep Coyote Station running.

Otter Tail Power, based in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, had announced in 2021 that it planned to end its use of Coyote Station at the end of 2028.

But a variety of changes since then, including uncertainty in its capacity commitments to the Midwest power grid during peak times, have caused Otter Tail Power to reconsider its plans, Nate Jensen, the utility’s manager of resource planning said Friday, April 7.

“We’re now saying we want to continue on Coyote unless there is a large, non-routine capital expense requirement,” he said.

One example of a major capital investment is if federal environmental regulators were to force Coyote Station to meet more stringent regional haze requirements. If that were to happen, Otter Tail Power could find other sources of electricity to keep providing reliable and affordable power, Jensen said.

Read more from The Forum’s Patrick Springer

From the Bismarck Tribune via Forum News Service

Gov. Doug Burgum on Friday vetoed a bill that would exempt the Legislature from holding recorded roll call votes on nonprocedural votes for consideration of amendments to legislation.

The governor rejected House Bill 1463 by Rep. Todd Porter, R-Mandan. The bill passed the state House of Representatives in an 87-3 vote, and the Senate, 44-2 — veto-proof majorities.

Porter in committee testimony earlier this session said such non-roll call votes are “very common practice in the Legislature,” and that “This bill cleans up the conflict between the legislative rules and the (state) open records law.”

Burgum said in a veto message to House Speaker Dennis Johnson, R-Devils Lake, that the bill “would allow the Legislature to adopt far-reaching amendments affecting the central policy or fiscal impact of a bill without affording the public the accountability of a recorded roll call vote.”

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A nurse at the Cass County Jail who was recently fired for failing a drug test alleges the firing was unjust, citing her possession of a medical marijuana card and that she never brought the controlled substance onto jail property.

Katie Rodacker-Bartch appealed the firing to the city after she was terminated on March 28 for failing a drug test conducted after coworkers complained about the strong odor of marijuana. The former jail employee claims she was discriminated against for her disability and that her private medical records had been shared, something she describes as “mortifying.”

Rodacker-Bartch has a medical marijuana card through the state of Minnesota and is prescribed cannabis and adderall to manage mental health conditions , she said.

Members of the Fargo Civil Service Commission voted 3-1 on Monday, April 3, to uphold the termination. The commission’s role in these situations is to ensure that disciplinary actions are not motivated by political or otherwise “improper” considerations, according to Commissioner Kurt Losee.

Fargo City Attorney Nancy Morris said Rodacker-Bartch was fired because a positive test for cannabis is a policy violation for both the city of Fargo and Cass County Jail.

“She was tested for the use of a controlled substance due to reasonable suspicion and that test was positive,” Morris said. “In other words, she was under the influence of a controlled substance while at work. Whether or not she was impaired is irrelevant under the circumstances.”

Morris added that measures for testing for cannabis impairment are imperfect.

Read more from The Forum’s Melissa Van Der Stad

Helmut Schmidt / The Forum

Northland Vapor in Moorhead continued selling edible products containing THC levels well above the legal limit and in shapes that may appeal to children after Minnesota pharmacy officials placed an “embargo” on the products, according to court documents filed in late March.

A temporary restraining order was filed March 28 in Minnesota District Court against Northland Vapor Moorhead LLC, Northland Vapor Bemidji LLC and Wonky Confections LLC.

The restraining order noted that items under the embargo that began in December could not be moved, sold, given away or destroyed without permission of the court or Minnesota Board of Pharmacy. Those items included THC edibles that are “50 times allowable levels,” the original lawsuit said.

The business continued selling the products in Minnesota despite the embargo, court documents allege, adding the vape shop refused to provide the pharmacy board with test results and documents showing where other product may be located.

Misleading test results were posted to their website, court documents allege, and the company changed the website URL and product names to conceal sales of illicit products.

A former warehouse employee told the pharmacy board on March 11 that Northland Vapor production manager Jeff Mitchell would disable surveillance cameras and swap out better-selling flavors of THC gummy bears in embargoed boxes with versions that do not sell as well, then re-seal the boxes, according to court documents. Those items were then brought to a Fargo facility, court documents said.

Read more from The Forum’s Kaity Young

Alyssa Goelzer/The Forum

Touting what is considered the largest investment in public education in Minnesota’s history, Gov. Tim Walz arranged a roundtable discussion at the Moorhead Public Library on Friday, April 7, to hear about needs surrounding child care.

With Walz’s goal of making Minnesota the best state in the country for kids, he has put forward in his 2023 budget a $12 billion package that would lower the cost of child care for middle-class families, expand tax cuts, reduce child poverty and create a new state agency to focus on families and children.

Walz, Minnesota Department of Revenue Commissioner Paul Marquart, Moorhead Mayor Shelly Carlson and Sen. Rob Kupec, DFL-Moorhead, were joined by organizations involved in child care and concerned parents, who said the workforce shortage and affordability were two of the main obstacles.

The investment would come as a series of four packages within the One Minnesota Budget and also would provide universal school meals and better access to mental health resources, Walz said during the discussion.

Read more from The Forum’s C.S. Hagen

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.