General News

The president of the North Dakota Association of Builders expects 2018 will be a good year for the industry.

"I think things have slowed a bit," said Dan Lindquist of Fargo. "North Dakota, though, is pretty steady."

Lindquist is also with the Fargo-Moorhead Builders’ Association. He said there are some challenges. One is the price of materials, which Lindquist said has been exacerbated by the trade dispute with Canada over “soft lumber.”

If you are in the Fargo-Moorhead region you may get a chance to see something you may not see in any other city in the U-S… But as Prairie Public's Todd McDonald reports, you have to be looking at the sky…

The Underwater World gallery at the Heritage Center in Bismarck has a new resident.

A plesiosaur.

"The actual name of this animal would be 'styxosaurus,'" said Senior Paleontologist and curator Clint Boyd. "The broader group  they go in is 'plesiosaurus,' which is a little easier to say. So we went with that."

The pleisosaur is big.

"They're just over 50 feet long," Boyd said.

Think "Loch Ness monster" -- with a very long neck.

And that posed a bit of a space problem – the gallery doesn’t have 50 feet of open space.

The North Dakota Public Service Commission has a requirement for tree and shrub replacement when a utility builds infrastructure.

It’s 2 to 1 – for every tree or shrub dug out, the company has to plant two.

When Basin Electric Power Cooperative built a high voltage power line in Mercer, Dunn, McKenzie and Williams Counties, it removed about 17,500 trees and shurbs.

Commissioner Julie Fedorchak saids that means the company had to plant nearly 35,000 trees and shrubs. She says the company worked with landowners along the route.

To mark National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, North Dakota US Attorney Christopher Myers handed out a number of Victim assistance awards at a ceremony in Bismarck.

The theme of the ceremony was “Expand the Circle – Reach All Victims.”

"Far too often, the stuff that happens behind the scenes -- working with victims, helping them -- rarely gets recognized," Myers said. "It's probably one of the most important things we do on a daily basis."

The Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion Authority has delayed its request to the North Dakota State Water Commission for another $66.5 million for the diversion project.

The Authority will make the formal request in June, when the Water Commission meets in Fargo. Authority members told the Commission the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will have a decision on the “plan B” for the project, the product of a task force chaired by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton.

After seeing years of development in unmanned aerial systems, new developments are budding in “counter-UAS” technology. Reporter Todd McDonald has details...

A former Burleigh County deputy faces drug and theft charges – after methamphetamine and cell phones in evidence were stolen from the Metro Area Drug Task Force.

Kerry Komrosky was arrested Tuesday night.

Sheriff Pat Heinert side Komrosky was working patrol Saturday when he asked his supervisor for an extra hour of leave. That was granted. But he didn’t show up for more than three hours. Heinert said the supervisor then went to Komrosky’s house. He said the supervisor found evidence of a crime.