The Bemidji Pioneer has an interesting take on how the proposed voter ID amendment might affect Native American voters.

 
“It’s taken a long time for us to be able to encourage tribal members that it is their constitutional right to vote in the American governmental process, not just their own tribal elections,” said Jacqueline Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians. “We just don’t want to create any barriers or perceptions of barriers that a tribal ID is not good enough.” 
 
The yet unanswered question is what IDs will be accepted as proof of identity. The bill says “government-issued” IDs, which proponents of the measure cite as proof tribal IDs will be accepted. Opponents aren’t so sure. Here’s the paper’s full story.
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Just across the border in Fargo, city workers spent Friday morning removing political signs illegally placed on public boulevards.
 
The signs, paid for by the Texas-based Republican political action committee Now or Never Inc., were placed on streets around the city in what the Fargo Forum described as “an apparent campaign attack on Democrat Heidi Heitkamp, who is engaged in a nationally watched U.S. Senate race against Rep. Rick Berg.”
 
The signs were generally grouped in threes, with one red-and-white “Obama/Heitkamp” sign between two blue-and-white “Romney/Berg” signs, the paper reported.
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The Grand Forks Herald, Eric Hylden

The Grand Forks Herald, Eric Hylden

Officials upped the reward for tips leading to the arsonist in a northwest Minnesota fire late last month that forced parts of Karlstad to be evacuated.
 
The Department of Natural Resources is now offering $8,500. Investigators have determined the Karlstad fire was probably arson, and they say other recent fires in the area also are likely arson and may have been started by the same suspects, according to the Associated Press.
 
The Karlstad fire, started Sept. 30 in Marshall County, destroyed 11 homes. The most recent fire burned 25 acres on Oct. 15 northeast of Karlstad. Another fire on Sept. 9 burned 88 acres and was only about a mile from the start of the Karlstad fire.
 
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