The Steve Hallstrom Show Episode 752: Cyber Sabotage, Cattle Rustling, and the Unending War on Free Markets

Host Steve Hallstrom wraps up the final day of a scorching July with an action-packed, wide-ranging Friday edition. Steve breaks down a national security alert involving a coordinated cyber attack on 30 Minnesota municipal water systems, audits a shocking $650,000 cattle rustling case in eastern North Dakota, and analyzes the Commerce Department's controversial move to take equity stakes in private tech companies under the CHIPS Act. Plus, author Dr. Bradley Thayer stops by to discuss the ideological battle against communism, and Ag Director Bridget Riedel reports live from the Ag PhD Field Day in Baltic, South Dakota. Key Moments Radio Auction Recap: Steve celebrates the success of the station's massive radio and video auction event, which featured over $60,000 in donated items—ranging from PXG golf clubs to German backyard greenhouses—and generated $40,000 in winning bids for bargain-hunting listeners. Iranian Cyber Attack Hits Minnesota Water Grid: Federal authorities and the FBI launch an investigation into a coordinated cyber attack targeting operations technology across 30 community water systems in Minnesota. Preliminary intelligence points to "Cyber Avengers," an Iranian-linked hacking group, though public drinking water supplies remain safe and uncompromised. $650,000 Cattle Rustling Sentence in Colfax: Daniel Doctor, a 44-year-old Colfax, North Dakota man, is sentenced to prison for siphoning nearly 150 head of cattle from partner ranchers over several years. Doctor concealed the theft by fabricating records of a fictional out-of-state feedlot, inflicting severe financial damage on local ag producers. UND Medical School Department Chair Removed: The University of North Dakota removes Dr. Dennis Lutz as chair of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences OBGYN department. Lutz faces a civil lawsuit alleging he secretly used his own genetic material during fertility treatments in the 1980s without patient consent, which DNA testing recently confirmed. Massive Border Breach in Spain: Authorities in Spain scramble to respond after an estimated 60,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into the North African enclave of Ceuta over a 24-hour period—an influx equal to 70% of the city's total population that resulted in 34 deaths. America's 100 Years War with Dr. Bradley Thayer: Dr. Bradley Thayer, author of "America's 100 Years War: How to Win Against Communism," joins the show to argue that the Cold War never truly ended. Thayer asserts that communist ideology simply shifted from the Soviet Union into American universities, media, think tanks, and progressive political platforms. Federal Equity Stakes Under the CHIPS Act: Steve raises…