AROUND NORTH DAKOTA: Fargo crash kills teen ... Convict gets 10 more years ... Man to plead guilty to assaults ... more

Vehicle of teens crashes; 1 killed

FARGO — A 17-year-old passenger has died from injuries suffered in a one-vehicle crash in Fargo.

Fargo police Sgt. Mike Erbes said four teens were in the vehicle that slid off the road and crashed into a tree just after 1 a.m. Saturday.

Erbes said a 16-year-old girl who was driving the vehicle, and two of her three male passengers were taken to a Fargo hospital, where one of the passengers died.

The teens’ names have not been released.

Convict gets 10 more years

MANDAN — A Mandan man serving a 13-year sentence for assaulting his female neighbor has been given another 10 years in prison.

Robert Gray was given the additional years Friday for an unrelated 2006 incident. Gray had pleaded guilty to terrorizing and escape in South Central District Court.

Authorities said he chased his supervisor with a screwdriver, then plunged it into his own neck, and two days later, escaped from a Bismarck hospital.

The new sentence will be served consecutive to his July sentence for aggravated assault, terrorizing and felonious restraint. Authorities have said Gray assaulted his neighbor, broke one of her teeth and choked her, then bound her with duct tape.

Man to plead guilty to officer assaults

MINOT — A man said he will plead guilty in federal court to assault charges stemming from separate incidents at a Belcourt jail.

Richard Bruce Jr. is charged with two counts of assaulting and resisting federal officers. Authorities said he elbowed one officer in the ribs and spit in another officer’s face. Prosecutors said both incidents happened July 2 at the Turtle Mountain Correctional Facility.

MDU sees level winter heat costs

BISMARCK — Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. said its customers should be able to heat their homes this winter for about the same price as last year.

The utility is projecting no change in the average residential home heating bills over five months, from November through March.

MDU said natural gas prices are stable because of more production and decreased demand. The company said that has led to high levels of natural gas storage.

Montana-Dakota Utilities is a unit of MDU Resources Group Inc., based in Bismarck. The utility serves about 239,000 natural gas customers in the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming.

Culling of extra elk set soon at park

MEDORA — Some parts of Theodore Roosevelt National Park will be closed three days a week through late January to protect visitors from elk hunters.

Elk reduction efforts will begin this coming week in the park’s south unit. Hiking trails and backcountry areas will be off-limits Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays until Jan. 20. Superintendent Valerie Naylor said the restrictions will keep visitors safe and reduce interference with hunting teams.

The elk culling is the result of a lengthy dispute between state officials and the National Park Service about how to deal with the bloated elk herd at the park, which covers about 70,000 acres.

The ideal elk population at the park is 100 to 400, but park officials said it has swelled to about 950.

Townships look for state help

MINOT — Cash-strapped North Dakota townships are looking to legislators for more money as they see state coffers swell and their own bank accounts dwindle.

Some township officials have cut back on road work this year. Even those that haven’t cut back are watching their spending more closely. Orlien Township chairman Glen Hauf of Makoti said the state needs to step in.

State Township Officers Association head Ken Yantes of Brocket said an interim legislative committee has delayed any decisions on funding until getting results of a statewide study by the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute.

City ends contract with GPS business

FARGO — Fargo has discontinued its contract with Epic Solutions, an arrangement that led to the March firing of the city’s public works director.

City administrator Pat Zavoral said Epic provided about $214,000 in GPS hardware and software, but another firm will be hired to put the tracking system to work. He said most of Epic’s software won’t work for the city.

Al Weigel was fired in late March for violating city policy by steering city business to Epic Solutions of Fargo without getting quotes from competing firms. Epic’s president and vice president are partners with Weigel in Quad Investments, a company that leases space to Epic. Weigel has denied any wrongdoing.

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