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News
05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Married couples with joint incomes of up to $1.5 million from their farm operation could still qualify for crop subsidies under a five-year, $300 billion farm bill compromise that would boost the Agriculture Department’s food and farm programs.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Imation Corp. plans to close its floppy diskette plant in Wahpeton by the end of the year, a few months sooner than expected, after a group of former employees have taken over some of its contracts.
Imation, based in Oakdale, Minn., announced one year ago that it would phase out the plant’s near 390 jobs by mid-2009, as part of a company-wide re-structuring.
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Sweet studiesJohn M. Steiner / The Su
Third-grade students at Roosevelt Elementary School in Jamestown react Thursday as Tia Walker swings a plastic bat and breaks open a pinata filled with candy. The students have been studying a unit on Mexico.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
North Dakota and TransCanada Keystone Pipeline officials didn’t study alternative routes for the crude oil pipeline scheduled to be built through eastern North Dakota this summer, opponents of the line’s current route told a state district judge Thursday.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Iraqi police commandos captured the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq in a raid in the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said Thursday, in what could mark a significant blow to the Sunni insurgency in its last urban stronghold.
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Readying for tripJohn M. Steiner / The Sun
Theresa Kraft, third-grade student at Roosevelt Elementary School in Jamestown, plays Thursday with an egg from the nest of a bald eagle art project she made. The students did a small research project on animals that can be found at the Dakota Zoo in Bismarck. They will travel there next week.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Myanmar’s military regime allowed in the first major international aid shipment Thursday, but it snubbed a U.S. offer to help cyclone victims struggling to recover from a tragedy of unimaginable scale.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Jamestown College will present bachelor’s degrees to graduating seniors during the school’s 102nd commencement ceremony on Saturday at the Jamestown Civic Center. Baccalaureate is at 10:30 a.m., and commencement is at 2:30 p.m.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Local farm leaders are looking at the conference committee agreement on the farm bill as positive for production agriculture but are concerned whether it will become law.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Dodge Guizzette, 94, James-town, died Thursday, May 8, 2008, at the Veterans Administration, Fargo, N.D. Arrangements are pending with the Eddy Funeral Home, James-town.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
A psychiatric evaluation of convicted child killer Joseph Edward Duncan III has been completed, and a federal judge could decide soon if Duncan will be allowed to represent himself in his death penalty hearing.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Duluth fire investigators say the cause of the fire that killed three people over the weekend was accidental.
The fire started in a wall of the triplex and smoldered for a few hours, sending smoke throughout the apartment.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
A special seven-day deer season will be allowed in northeastern North Dakota this fall for the first time, to try to reduce the deer numbers there, the state Game and Fish Department says.
The rifle season for does will run from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2 north of U.S. 2 along the Red River. Bucks will be off limits.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
A Compass Airlines flight landed in Fargo after a fire was reported in a restroom. No one was hurt.
Passengers said it was a scary ordeal and credited two flight attendants with quickly extinguishing the fire and getting passengers into the first-class section of the plane where the smoke was not as heavy.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Noridian Administrative Services says it did not win a $150 million, five-year contract to provide Medicare administrative services in four states.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
The Stanton school is closing after 125 years.
The Mercer County school has just 16 elementary students enrolled this year. Students will attend the school in Center next year.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Wildlife officials say wounds to a horse were likely caused by broken juniper tree branches and not a mountain lion.
Kyle Bergquist says the pregnant mare was injured Tuesday night in a pasture east of Bismarck.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Firefighters and a high-tech truck from the Minot Air Force Base are credited with coming to the rescue of others battling a wildfire just outside Minot last month.
The base has an Oshkosh P-19R Strycker truck with a thermal-imaging camera mounted on top.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
The global rise in food prices is giving political ammunition to opponents of the country’s ethanol policy and creating some uncertainty for the burgeoning and heavily subsidized biofuels industry.
An informal coalition of oil refiners, environmentalists and food processors is trying to convince lawmakers that increased output of the alternative fuel is inflating food costs by siphoning off corn otherwise fed to livestock and discouraging U.S. farmers from planting wheat, soybeans and other crops.
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Pelican show-offAP photo
An American white pelican shows off its gular pouch as a group rests on a gravel bar in the Yellowstone River near Norm Schoenthal Island in Billings, Mont., Wednesday. The migratory birds winter along the Pacific coast from California to South America and return to Montana in April. They nest in colonies on islands or peninsulas, and young are born in late May and early June. An individual bird can eat more that four pounds of fish per day.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
A Burleigh County inmate has pleaded not guilty in an attack on two officers earlier this week.
Jason Benefiel was charged Thursday with two felony counts of assault on a corrections officer.
South Central District Judge Bruce Haskell ordered Benefiel to be held without bond.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
There isn’t anything metropolitan about this tiny unincorporated town in southwest Wyo-ming, where a few single-family homes and a volunteer fire station stand against a skyline of snowcapped mountains.
But Boulder, with a population of just 75 people, has one thing in common with major metropolitan areas: air pollution thick enough to pose health risks.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
A spokesman for a 5,000-sow business planned in Grant County says it’s on hold because the economics of the hog business are not good now.
The Hilltop Pork operation is one of four planned by an investor group. Spokesman Craig Jarolimek said two are in operation, near Edmore and Souris.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says people should make sure they have a state agency Web site when searching online for North Dakota employment information.
Stenehjem said some Job Service North Dakota customers went to a copycat Web site that charges a fee for the services Job Service North Dakota provides free.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Bail has been set at $25,000 for a man charged after the explosion of a homemade bomb in a restaurant dining room over the weekend.
Benjamin Zachary, 20, of Burnsville, Minn., is charged with endangering by fire or explosion, Assistant Richland County State’s Attorney Ron McBeth said Thursday.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Child In Our Hands Preschool and Child Care, located at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Jamestown, will be host to a spaghetti supper from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. A freewill offering will be taken at the door. The event is open to the public. Supplemental funds provided by Thrivent Financial.
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05/09/2008 12:00 AM
The youth of Atonement Lutheran Church will once again be hosting their annual plant sale in the gym of the Anne Carlsen Center for Children from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. Doors open at 8 a.m. and pre-orders may be picked-up until noon.
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05/08/2008 02:22 PM
BISMARCK — A Bismarck judge will decide in about 10 days whether state permission for the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline construction should be delayed.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The Jamestown College Concert Choir will present a Commencement Concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Voorhees Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The Ron and Opal Show, representatives of the Roy Rogers Theater in Branson, Mo., are coming to Jamesown for two concerts.
The first show will be May 30 at the Jamestown Senior and Community Center. The night will begin at 6 p.m. with a dinner to be followed by the presentation of the show. The cost is $15.00 for the whole evening.
Ron and Opal will perform again at 6 p.m. June 1 at the Assembly of God church for an all-gospel concert.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The number of acres of North Dakota land scorched by grass fires this spring already has nearly matched the totals in the previous three spring-to-fall wildfire seasons.
About 32,000 acres have burned so far this year. The average annual total in each of the past three years is 33,000 acres, said Geremy Olson, a fire planning and prevention specialist with the state Forest Service.
North Dakota typically has about 600 grass fires a year.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
Relatives of a teenage boy accused of killing his sister say they’re frustrated by court delays in the case. They had to deal with another one Wednesday.
Fifteen-year-old Sergei Carlson has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and a deviate sexual act in the July 13 death of his 16-year-old sister, Whitney Carlson, of Fargo. The case is being tried in adult court.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
How dry is it in Jamestown? A meteorologist might reply “D0.”
Stutsman County, including Jamestown, recently moved to this ranking on the U.S. Drought Monitor map as issued by the National Weather Service.
“The most current drought monitor that was issued April 29 puts Jamestown as D0, which is abnormally dry,” said Charlene Prindiville, hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Bismarck. “That is the wettest of the dry classifications that run from D0 to D4.”
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The North Dakota Board of Higher Education’s budget recommendations for the next two years might be “dead on arrival” at the state Capitol, a state lawmaker says.
The Board of Higher Ed is seeking a 53 percent spending increase from the Legislature for the state’s university system.
Board members said when they approved the request in April that there is a need to address such long-term matters as keeping college affordable for students and ensuring that schools can compete in the marketplace for instructors.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
Negotiators on a five-year, $300 billion farm bill say they have reached a tentative agreement on the legislation and it will be considered by the House and Senate next week.
But the Bush administration has objected to the bill, and the White House says it seems unlikely that Congress will pass farm legislation the president can sign. President Bush has said the bill is “bloated” with farmer subsidies in a time of record crop prices and is too expensive.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said after meetings Wednesday that the negotiating is finished, but he acknowledged that some minor issues remain unresolved.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
Woodrow Wilson Keeble, who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for heroism during the Korean War, will be given the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, North Dakota’s highest honor.
Gov. John Hoeven said Wednesday that a formal ceremony to present the award to Keeble’s family is being planned for this summer.
Keeble, who died in 1982, at age 65, was a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux tribe and the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award.
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New Russian leader sworn inAP photo
Dmitry Medvedev heads to take the oath of office during an inauguration ceremony Wednesday in the Kremlin in Moscow. Medvedev was inaugurated as Russia's president, pledging to bolster the country's economic development and civil rights, in what may signal a departure from his predecessor's heavy-handed tactics.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
North Dakota’s largest health care system is making some cost-cutting moves to shore up its finances over the long term.
The nonprofit MeritCare Health System might eliminate as many as 300 positions left open by future resignations and retirements, said Bruce Pitts, executive vice president of clinical services. MeritCare also will consider consolidating one or two of the 18 clinics in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
Despite recent news reports of its ineffectiveness, local educators praise one reading program.
Reading First, a national reading program that provides grants to schools demonstrating both achievement and financial need, hasn’t added to children’s comprehension levels, according to a study done by the Institute of Education Sciences, the Associated Press reported last week.
The program, which is in its third and final year at Washington, Louis L’Amour and Roosevelt elementary schools in Jamestown, hasn’t show an increase in reading proficiency here, said Bob Toso, superintendent, but measuring the program’s success this soon after its inception is too early.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The carnival rides at county fairs are getting harder to find.
The secretary of the North Dakota Association of Fairs, Neil Fleming of Cavalier, says a dwindling rural population, the high cost of fuel and insurance are among the reasons.
“The people just aren’t there, and the carnival gross is down all over,” Fleming said.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
A man who was supposed to be returning divorce papers at a courthouse pulled out a gun there instead Wednesday, opening fire in the lobby before two bailiffs fatally shot him.
Several people were in the lobby at the time, but only one of the bailiffs, who was shot in the shoulder, was injured. He was treated and released from a hospital.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The owner of a pregnant mare believes a mountain lion attacked the horse just east of Bismarck. The state Game and Fish Department is investigating.
The mare was attacked Tuesday night in a pasture near the McDowell Dam Recreation Area, said the owner, Kyle Berquist.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
Ships and cargo planes carried relief supplies to Myanmar on Wednesday as aid groups distributed food and other supplies to people left homeless by a deadly cyclone.
Operations continued to be hampered by the Myanmar government’s delay in issuing visas to aid workers. But U.N. and other agencies said they were making progress in persuading the government to let in more experts to help get aid to those who need it most.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The state Public Service Commission has approved a plan to expand a northeastern North Dakota wind project.
The plan by Langdon Wind, LLC would add 27 turbines to its existing wind center, which already covers nearly 40 square miles in Cavalier County. Electricity from the expansion will be purchased by Minnkota Power Cooperative of Grand Forks.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
A man has been arrested after the explosion of a homemade bomb in a restaurant dining room over the weekend, police say.
Police Chief Scott Thorsteinson said the man, who was arrested Wednesday morning in Wahpeton, faces a charge of endangering by fire. His name was not immediately released.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
Sister Thomas Welder, University of Mary’s president for the past 30 years, will step down next year.
News of Welder’s upcoming retirement came Wednesday from Martin White, chairman of the university’s board of trustees.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The Jamestown Area Grief Support Team is hosting a Community Service of Remembrance at 7 p.m. Monday at picnic shelter #55 at Klaus Park in Jamestown. Anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, either recently or in years past, is invited to come and share in this informal service honoring the memory of their loved ones in a supportive atmosphere.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it will start a job search to fill four vacant positions at the Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
Jamestown Middle School students will spray paint “Keep it Clean — Drains to River” messages on storm drains in Jamestown Friday, according to Dallas Grossman, environmental engineer with the North Dakota Department of Health. He said the goal of the stenciling project is to remind residents of the importance of protecting water quality.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
A burglary at Buffalo Lanes resulted in approximately $2,000 damage to the building but it appears nothing was taken, according to the Jamestown Police Department.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The National Association of Letter Carriers, in conjunction with the United States Postal Service, will be collecting non-perishable food items in the “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive in Jamestown Saturday. Residents are asked to leave foods like canned meats and fish, canned soup, pasta, vegetables and rice out next to their mailboxes before 10 a.m. Saturday to be picked up by mail carriers.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
A Japanese trade team will be inspecting wheat breeding, production and marketing during a visit to North Dakota, the state Wheat Commission says.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
Stutsman County Park Board commissioners Tuesday authorized the Bureau of Reclamation to write bid specs and bid a project to remodel the bathhouse at the Marina Campgrounds on the Jamestown reservoir. The bathhouse must comply with Americans with Disabilities requirements by 2010.
Dennis Lorenz, county park superintendent, presented a proposal for remodeling that would cost $97,869 and add handicap facilities to the north end of the building.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
When the Pentagon announced an obscure California company had won a lucrative military contract, no one mentioned any plans for a Caribbean outpost — a tropical shell the company quickly created that allowed it to duck millions in taxes and deflect U.S. lawsuits.
It’s legal, at least for now. Contractors large and small have been heading offshore to shield piles of taxpayer dollars, according to an Associated Press investigation, but irate lawmakers are thundering that they’ll put an end to it.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The Jamestown High School frosh/middle school baseball team moved its record to 12-6-1 on the season with a win, loss and tie on Saturday.
In the opening game, Jamestown tied with the Valley City junior varsity 2-2 when the game was called due to the varsity game. Zach Compson, Kasey Gengler, John Hagen and Danny Paulsrud had hits for the Blue Jays.
In the second game, Fargo Shanley defeated Jamestown 11-6. Compson had two hits, one a double, and a pair of RBI while Dustin Deery had a hit and a pair of runs driven in. Jake Nieland, Tony Smith and Riley Schafer each added hits.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The North Dakota State Historic Preservation Review Board met at the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck to consider five buildings and a trail for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the federal government’s list of properties it considers worthy of recognition and preservation.
The properties are:
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
North Dakota’s state historic sites will open May 16 and remain open through Sept. 15. Among the sites opening that day are Fort Buford near Williston, the Chateau de Mores in Medora, Fort Totten near Devils Lake, Gingras Trading Post near Walhalla, Fort Abercrombie near Fargo and Wahpeton, the Former Governors’ Mansion and Camp Hancock in Bismarck, Fort Clark Trading Post near Washburn, and Whitestone Hill Battlefield near Kulm.
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The Sunday following Jamestown College’s commencement will be special in many ways. In addition to May 11 being Mother’s Day, it is also the date for Daniel Walstad’s encore performance of his stage production of “Beneath Our Apple Tree.”
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05/08/2008 12:00 AM
The Jamestown Area Homeschool Association’s first art show and exhibit is at the Arts Center through May 11, featuring the art works of area homeschoolers.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
The tourist season is heating up and the National Buffalo Museum has already had 300 more visitors than at this time last year.
And with all that’s happening around Jamestown this summer, Felicia Sargeant, museum director, doesn’t expect the traffic to slow up much. Not only does the museum have two white bison as a draw, the staff is involved in Jamestown’s 125th Anniversary Celebration and it’s also planning the annual Tatanka Festival. The festival, which celebrates White Cloud’s birthday, is the weekend following the 125th. The Stutsman County Fair coincides with the festival this year.
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Clouds of ash over ChileAP photo
A cloud of smoke produced by intensified eruption of the Chaiten volcano is seen Tuesday in southern Chile. The eruption spewed incandescent material and blasted ash some 20 miles into the Andean sky, forcing authorites to do a complete evacuation of the area.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
Just months ago, ethanol was the Holy Grail to energy independence and a “green fuel” that would help nudge the country away from climate-changing fossil energy.
Democrats and Republicans cheered its benefits as Congress directed a fivefold increase in ethanol use as a motor fuel. President Bush called it key to his strategy to cut gasoline use by 20 percent by 2010.
But now with skyrocketing food costs — even U.S. senators are complaining about seeing shocking prices at the supermarket — and hunger spreading across the globe, some lawmakers are wondering if they made a mistake.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
Barack Obama swept to victory in the North Carolina primary Tuesday night and declared he was closing in on the Democratic presidential nomination. Hillary Rodham Clinton led narrowly in Indiana, struggling to halt her rival’s march into history.
“Tonight we stand less than 200 delegates away from winning the Democratic nomination for president of the United States,” Obama told a raucous rally in Raleigh, N.C. — and left no doubt he intended to claim the prize.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
Passenger air service in rural areas of the upper Midwest would not be harmed by a Northwest-Delta airline merger, but high fuel prices could affect service, a Delta executive said.
Delta Air Lines President Ed Bastian, who appeared Monday before Minnesota lawmakers at the Capitol, said a reduction in service to small communities outside airline hubs such as the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport would “not be triggered by the merger.”
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
The Stutsman County Commission denied a request by Virgil Dagman Tuesday to lower the assessment for 2007 on a property he purchased in 2007 for less than its assessed value. The property was assessed at $74,000 but sold for $66,000.
An abatement would have reduced the amount of property tax due for 2007 by $293.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
The White House told members of Congress on Tuesday that the cost of the five-year farm bill is still too high, saying negotiators are using budget gimmicks to hide the real expense.
The cost of the almost $300 billion bill and the amount of subsidies directed toward wealthy farmers remain the major sticking points between the White House and both Democratic and GOP negotiators. President Bush has threatened to veto the legislation.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
An inmate charged in an earlier assault attacked two Burleigh County Detention Center officers, leaving one with a broken nose and the other with bruises on his head, the sheriff says.
“It’s no doubt the worst one we’ve ever had in the detention center, where an officer was assaulted,” Sheriff Pat Heinert said of Monday’s attack.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
Couples, single parents and grandparents raising grandchildren — whatever the dynamics of the 21st century family, one thing is certain: sharing ideas on child rearing can be very helpful according to the Barnes and Stutsman County Parent Resource Center, a partner of the NDSU Extension Service.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $3.8 million in grants to North Dakota airports in the second round of grants issued in the past weeks. The grants were an-nounced in a joint press release from the North Dakota congressional delegation.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
The name of a James-town man who was hit by a car last week while on a bicycle has been released.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
Jamestown Public Schools announced that the last day of school will be May 22. Schools will dismiss at 2:40 p.m. Buses will run at that time.
Graduation will be at 2:30 p.m. May 25 at the Jamestown Civic Center.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
The North Dakota National Guard says all 182 members of a Fargo-based military police unit are now in Iraq.
The Guard says the 191st Military Police Company will be working on security and supporting troop ma-neuvers. It was mobilized in January and trained at Fort Dix, N.J.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
An 11-year-old Boy Scout who found and returned a wallet containing more than $800 has received some good karma for his good deed.
Thanks to publicity about his action, J.R. Bouterse has gotten his own lost wallet back.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
Fuel — albeit costly — should be in sufficient supply this summer in North Dakota, industry officials say.
Fuel shortages last summer forced North Dakotans to pay among the highest prices in the nation for gasoline and diesel. Energy officials said as many as eight nationwide refinery outages — caused by fires, floods, repairs and maintenance — combined with a record harvest for some crops to pinch fuel supplies in North Dakota and elsewhere.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
Michael Bommarito is the new executive director for the North Dakota Republican Party and his predecessor, Mike Schatz, is now a deputy director.
The party made the announcement Tuesday. Bommarito began the job Monday.
Schatz, of New England, remains on the staff as deputy director for western North Dakota. He is also a candidate for the Legislature in District 36.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
A crackdown on cursing at Fargo North High School has led to about two dozen students being suspended.
Students who curse at a teacher, administrator or staff person are suspended the rest of the day plus two more days, Principal Andy Dahlen said. The same penalty applies for a student who swears at another student during a confrontation.
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05/07/2008 12:00 AM
What appeared to be a military bomb that was found in a curbside pile of garbage here turned out to be harmless.
Delmar Ruff, a supervisor in the city’s solid waste department, said the device was discovered by a driver on Monday.
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05/06/2008 12:00 AM
The Montpelier Pee Wee Baseball and T-ball Club was the victim of vandalism Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
Tonia Kjellberg, coach, said vandals had been driving over and rutting up the infield behind Montpelier school for years.
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05/06/2008 12:00 AM
A $5 million project to develop a digital elevation map of the Red River Basin is expected to turn flood forecasting into a game of inches.
The aerial laser imaging should be accurate within a half a foot or better and provide enough detail to detect the contours of a golf green, officials said Monday.
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05/06/2008 12:00 AM
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, announced Monday it would expand its discounted prescription drug program to offer 90-day supplies for $10, plus add several women’s medications at a discount and lower the price of more than 1,000 over-the-counter drugs.
The move marks the third phase of a company program that began in 2006 and has saved customers more than $1 billion, Wal-Mart said.
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05/06/2008 12:00 AM
North Dakota’s state parks are hurting for summer help, and officials are turning to teachers, young teens and retired workers to fill jobs once coveted by college students.
“The issue deals with our current situation where there are more jobs in North Dakota than we have people to fill them,” said Doug Prchal, director of the state Parks and Recreation Department. “Another dilemma we face is that maybe we’re a dollar or two behind the actual competitive market, and kids today are reluctant to work on weekends.”
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05/06/2008 12:00 AM
A former prison guard accused of trying to help three men escape from a Rugby jail has been sentenced to four years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson on Monday ordered Keri Ann Brandt to serve the federal sentence after she completes a five-year prison term from the state case. The consecutive sentences were part of a plea deal between Brandt and prosecutors.
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05/06/2008 12:00 AM
A Massachusetts study suggests that restaurant smoking bans may play a big role in persuading teens not to become smokers.
Youths who lived in towns with strict bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than those in communities with no bans or weak ones, the re-searchers reported in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Me-dicine.
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05/06/2008 12:00 AM
Jamestown residents can donate blood at a community blood drive from noon to 6 p.m. on May 12 and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 13, at Trinity Lutheran Church. Call Donna Gullickson at 252-1136 to schedule an appointment.
Donors will also be able to get a cholesterol check. United Blood Services does a “total cholesterol” test that allows donors to eat before the test — no fasting is required.
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05/06/2008 12:00 AM
A Massachusetts study suggests that restaurant smoking bans may play a big role in persuading teens not to become smokers.
Youths who lived in towns with strict bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than those in communities with no bans or weak ones, the re-searchers reported in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
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05/06/2008 01:55 AM
BISMARCK — Michael Bommarito is the new executive director for the North Dakota Republican Party.
Bommarito began the job Monday.
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05/06/2008 12:00 AM
On a 3-2 vote, the City Council overturned a proposal that would have allowed the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. a say in amending or ratifying its policies and procedures.
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05/06/2008 12:00 AM
Myanmar’s government said Monday more than 10,000 people were feared killed in a cyclone that unleashed 12-foot tidal surges and high winds that swept away bamboo homes in low-lying coastal regions, cutting off electricity and water in the country’s largest city.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
Parts of northwestern North Dakota have been waiting more than 20 years for a pipeline that will bring a stable supply of Missouri River water. It has run into opposition from north of the border, where Canadian officials are calling for an expensive treatment system, and from the south, where the state of Missouri says it could harm an already dry river basin.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
If all goes as planned, Arrowwood Lake will return to the marsh it once was, following its natural cycle of dry to flood.
A $10 million U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reclamation project that took nearly 15 years to complete is re-establishing the natural state of not only Arrowwood Lake, but other parts of the Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge as well. Mud Lake, Jim Lake and Depuy Marsh have all been part of the project to mitigate the impact of Jamestown Dam on the refuge.
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Thinking aheadA Concordia College senior has a message for the real world before her graduation Sunday at Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead, Minn. more...
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
A powerful cyclone killed more than 350 people and destroyed thousands of homes, state-run media said Sunday. Some dissident groups worried that the military junta running Myanmar would be reluctant to ask for international help.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
Minot State University might be facing a $1.1 million budget deficit during the 2008-09 school year, President David Fuller says.
Fuller said MSU’s utility costs have risen by about $400,000, which he said is significant for a university that has a $30 million budget. He also said good-paying jobs in the oil fields might reduce student numbers.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
Former Gov. George Sinner is 80 years old this month and North Dakota Democrats are sponsoring a party for him in the Capitol.
The open house is 2-4 p.m. Tuesday in the Capitol’s Memorial Hall, which is just outside the office Sinner occupied from 1985-92.
Sinner’s 80th birthday is actually May 29.
Sinner farmed at Casselton, was a legislator and served on the state Board of Higher Education before being elected governor in 1984. He and former first lady Jane Sinner live in Fargo.
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Planting seedlingsAP photo
Ross Jacobsen of Minnetonka, Minn., ties a ribbon around a tree at Trails End Campground to mark an area that he planted during the Gunflint Green Up on Saturday near Grand Marais, Minn. Hundreds of volunteers from around the state gathered for the Gunflint Green Up, a project to plant around 75,000 pine seedlings in areas burned by a wildfire that broke out one year ago this weekend. more...
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
At about 10:15 a.m. Saturday, the Jamestown Fire Department responded to a kitchen fire at 907 Eighth Ave. N.E.
Deputy Fire Chief Gordie Christianson said the owner came home and saw the smoke when he opened the door. When he saw fire in the kitchen, he left and called 911. When firefighters ar-rived the kitchen was engulfed in flame.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
Valley City is trying a new method of getting something for its old police cars — putting them on eBay.
The Valley City Police Department replaces one car every year. City Commissioner Jon Wagar said officials used to trade in the old cars to local dealers, and get about $1,000 for them.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
A group that funds developers of North Dakota farm products will consider about $746,000 in grant requests at its quarterly meeting in Dickinson later this month.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
A fire at a Duluth home has killed three people.
The Duluth News Tribune reports the victims are two adults and a child.
The fire was reported just after 10 a.m. at a home in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
North Dakota rural electric cooperatives are asking Congress for more federally guaranteed loans to help them upgrade facilities.
The North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives estimates its members will spend $2 billion over the next three years to upgrade transmission lines and emission controls.
“We’re seeing a strong demand for capital as we make needed investments to meet growing power demand,” said Dennis Hill, executive vice president of the electric co-op association.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
Another swastika has been found on the University of North Dakota campus. Four members of UND’s anthropology department say campus administrators are not doing enough to address the problem of “institutionalized racism.”
The latest swastika was discovered Friday at University Place apartments — the sixth university housing unit marred with swastikas or other racial graffiti in recent months.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
Conservationists are shifting the debate over oil and gas development across the West from the preservation of a single species here or there to the potential impacts that development could have on entire landscapes due to climate change.
At the center of the debate are oil and gas lease sales held each quarter by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The agency offered about 100 parcels covering some 112,000 acres in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma two weeks ago and has more than 175,000 acres up for lease in Colorado next week.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
Dale Heinert began commuting to work by bicycle when the price of gas began skyrocketing — in 1973.
But that was only part of the reason he decided to park his car and grab the handlebars.
“I just wanted to ride my bike — it’s a stress-reliever,” said Heinert, an engineer who works in downtown Bismarck. The fit 56-year-old said he’s encountering an increasing number of bicycle commuters along his mile or so one-way daily trek.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
The attorney for a Fargo plastic surgeon suspended by the state medical board for allegedly drinking on the job says his client did consume alcohol that day.
The March incident also wasn’t the first time William Yvorchuk’s behavior raised questions.
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05/05/2008 12:00 AM
The carnival rides at county fairs are getting harder to find.
The secretary of the North Dakota Association of Fairs, Neil Fleming of Cavalier, says a dwindling rural population, the high cost of fuel and insurance are among the reasons.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
As Vivian Grotte watched as a young maple tree was planted next to her house Thursday, she asked whether she’ll need to secure the 4-foot-tall sapling with stakes to keep it from blowing down — or away.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
North Dakota’s growth is coming from diversity, the director of the state Data Center says.
New census estimates show the state’s Hispanic population increased by about 4,200 people from 2000 to 2007. The state’s American Indian population, about 6 percent of the state’s total, gained about 3,000 people during that period.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
Jamestown High School will be presenting its annual Awards Concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Jamestown High School Theater.
The concert will feature the JHS Concert Choir singing “Shut De Do”, Je le vois diray”, “John the Revelator,” “Astonishing” from Little Women, and “Phantom of the Opera.” Various contest ensembles will also be featured including a freshman ensemble singing “When I am Silent,” a women’s ensemble singing “I Thank You God,” and a duet by Rossini called “La Pesca.”
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
Army 1st Lt. Monica M. Olson has graduated from the U.S. Army Air Assault School at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, and earned the honor of wearing the Air Assault Badge.
The two-week school is a fast-paced, 61-hour course of formal instruction that focuses on hands-on, performance-oriented training. The physically and mentally demanding training includes, a nine-station obstacle course, a two-mile run in Army boots, and phases in combat assault operations, sling-load rigging and inspection of prepared lift loads, and tower and helicopter rappelling fast rope operations.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
A man who prosecutors say imported drugs from Mexico into the Red River Valley and ordered the murder of an East Grand Forks, Minn., drug dealer has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Jorge Arandas, known as the ringleader of a drug conspiracy that federal authorities called Operation Speed Racer, had pleaded guilty to 13 federal counts. He faced the possibility of a life sentence.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
Two 19-year-old Canadians charged with bringing an estimated $5 million worth of the drug Ecstasy into the United States must remain in custody until their trial in U.S. District Court, a judge has ruled.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
Three people were sentenced on felony charges in Southeast District Court in Jamestown.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
Farm bill negotiators rejected an attempt to prevent meatpackers from owning cattle more than two weeks before slaughter Thursday, a disappointment for ranchers in the Midwest and northern plains who have been pushing for the ban for many years.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
It used to take about 24 hours of travel time and four stops to travel from Jamestown to Paris, France. Today the trip got a little shorter. For Brigitte Bonnet-Laborderie, an Air France loadmaster and the others from her company traveling with her, it was a welcome change.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
While public hearings are meant to air both the positives and negatives about a project, the Public Service Commission heard nothing but good about the Ashtabula Wind Farm during a hearing held Friday at Valley City.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
Two traditional elements, usually called the Brothers of the Brush and the Sisters of the Swish, exist in most cities’ anniversary celebrations.
Meant to re-enact the time of a city’s founding, the Brothers of the Brush features facial hair and the Sisters of the Swish refers to period dress. The most visible of these right now are the hairy faces of men in the community who are working on growing beards, mustaches, sideburns or other variations on the facial hair theme.
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Quite the sightJohn M. Steiner / The Sun
Two Just For Kix dancers are surprised to see a group of moms dressed in "old women" costumes Friday during a spring show at Jamestown High School. more...
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
Students from Fargo Shanley and New Salem high schools are being honored in the federal Presidential Scholars program.
Devany Schulz of Davenport, who attends Shanley, and Bryce Tellmann of New Salem are among 139 outstanding high school seniors chosen by a presidential scholarship commission and announced by federal Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.
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05/03/2008 12:00 AM
Violent storms rolling across the nation’s midsection unleashed tornadoes, high winds and hail in four states and killed seven people in Arkansas on Friday, including a teenager who died when a tree fell into her bedroom as she slept.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
Despite a last-minute change in schedule, officials from the Jamestown Regional Airport Authority will be on hand to celebrate the return of non-stop flights between Jamestown and Minneapolis today, said Johnny Klingenberg, president of the authority.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
The first ballot has already been cast in the June 10 primary election in Stutsman County, said Noel Johnson, chief operating officer of the county and election administrator. Absentee voting started May 1 and by 10 a.m. one person had already been to the courthouse, filled out an application and cast a ballot.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
Congress sent President Bush a bill Thursday forbidding employers and insurance companies from using genetic tests showing people are at risk of developing cancer, heart disease or other ailments to reject their job applications, promotions or health care coverage, or in setting premiums.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
Some states are seeking more of a say in where and how federal officials restrict pesticide use in areas with endangered species.
The states of North Dakota and Washington have developed plans to collaborate with the federal Environmental Protection Agency on those restrictions, rather than letting EPA simply give orders.
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Honoring an American soldierBruce Crummy / The Forum
Jane Priebe of Wahpeton, N.D., holds a large flag as the parade down Dakota Avenue for Korean War veteran Pfc. Joseph Kenneth Meyer Jr., whose remains were recently found, makes its way through downtown Wahpeton Thursday. The Patriot Guard Riders along with city, county and state law enforcement contingents escorted the hearse to Vertin-Munson Funeral Home there. Story page A11.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
Drivers have long known that slowing down on the highway means getting more miles to the gallon. Now airlines are trying it, too — adding a few minutes to flights to save millions on fuel.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
U.S. missiles destroyed the house of the man identified by the U.S. military as the top al-Qaida commander in Somalia, killing him and 10 others Thursday in a pre-dawn attack that analysts warned could torpedo peace talks.
The killing of Aden Hashi Ayro comes amid escalating fighting and a spiraling humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa nation.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
The sisters of Pfc. Joseph Meyer Jr. wept as his flag-draped casket was carried off a commercial jet Thursday, bringing him home more than 58 years after he left the state as a 17-year-old Army recruit.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
Turf battles have hampered attempts to improve a statewide law enforcement communications system, the director of North Dakota State Radio says.
A system that would allow law enforcement agencies to better communicate with each other became a priority after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
About 3,100 Minot residents will share in a $7 million lawsuit settlement with Canadian Pacific Railway stemming from a derailment and chemical spill more than six years ago.
The majority of the people will get about $1,300, according to Gordon Rudd, a plaintiffs’ attorney in Minneapolis.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
The North Dakota Department of Transportation will begin lifting load restrictions on roadways across North Dakota as early as next week pending test results beginning Monday. Restrictions will be lifted when roadbeds have stabilized enough to carry normal traffic.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
It’s been 4 1/2 years since former Home Depot Chief Executive Bob Nardelli’s bold prediction that the home improvement retailer could sustain “un-limited growth” without significantly affecting sales at established stores.
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05/02/2008 12:00 AM
North Dakota’s paddlefish season is open between the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers in northwestern North Dakota.
Catch-and-keep days run from Wednesday through Sundays through the May season, or until the 1,000-fish limit is reached. Mondays and Tuesdays are catch and release days.
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A Mitchell couple has denied allegations in a federal civil suit accusing them of subjecting four Filipino immigrants to conditions of slavery, forced labor and trafficking in persons.
