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Gov. Doug Burgum requested federal help last month in dealing with flooding that damaged homes, public infrastructure, hundreds of roads and thousands of acres of farmland in western, south central and eastern North Dakota.
Burgum says the flood damage was expected to exceed $8.5 million.
The declaration triggers financial recovery assistance and covers damage from flooding from March 21 to April 29.
Burgum declared a statewide flood emergency on March 27, activating the National Guard and some state agencies to help with flood-fighting efforts.
WIND FARM
North Dakota regulators deny wind farm permit
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Public Service Commission has denied a permit for a proposed 200-megawatt wind farm in Burke County.
The commission rejected the permit Wednesday for Burke Wind, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources. The action came after criticism from state and federal agencies that feared harm to wildlife.
The state Game and Fish Department says in a letter to the PSC that the company “could not have picked a worse spot in the state” to build the project “with regards to potential negative impacts to prairie and wildlife species.”
The Burke County Wind Energy Center was proposed to consist of up to 76 wind turbines and associated facilities.
BUILDER DRONES
Drone at work: Utility using machines to build power lines
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A Minnesota utility that serves customers in eight states is using drones for the first time to help build a transmission line.
A machine owned and operated by North Dakota-based SkySkopes is stringing lines on a 5-mile Xcel Energy line meant to improve reliability in the Fargo area. The drone installs the lines by pulling a specialized rope through pulleys that is then attached to wires that will transmit electricity.
Xcel officials say drones will save time and money while increasing safety and reducing the environmental impact from heavy equipment.
The drone installed lines on six towers Wednesday, a process that took less than half an hour despite windy conditions.
Xcel provides energy to customers in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.
FARM FATAL-NORTH DAKOTA
71-year-old man caught in grain bin dies in SE North Dakota
BRAMPTON, N.D. (AP) — Authorities in southeastern North Dakota say a 71-year-old man has died after getting caught in a grain bin.
Sargent County Sheriff Travis Paeper says another farmer who was driving by noticed a running auger with no one around Wednesday. The farmer checked the bin and saw signs that the man was loading corn and had become trapped.
Emergency responders and neighbors were able to remove the man from the bin, but he died at the scene.
KFGO Radio reports the accident happened near Brampton. The name of the victim was not released.
RESERVATION-REMAINS FOUND
FBI: Remains found on Spirit Lake Reservation identified
FORT TOTTEN, N.D. (AP) — The FBI says authorities have identified human remains discovered on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in east-central North Dakota.
A preliminary autopsy report confirms the remains are those of 39-year-old Joseph Bruce. Bruce originally was from Belcourt and was most recently living in the Grand Forks area.
His remains were found over the weekend on the southern shores of Devils Lake.
The search continued on the reservation Wednesday for additional remains, with help from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter.
The FBI says it is working with the Devils Lake Police Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the ongoing investigation.
EMERGENCY LANDING
American Eagle jet diverts to Fargo to land
(Information from: KFGO-AM, http://www.kfgo.com)
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A regional passenger jet made an emergency landing at Fargo’s airport after developing a mechanical issue.
Officials say the American Eagle plane flying from the Dallas-Fort Worth airport to Bismarck diverted to Fargo Wednesday morning. Hector International Airport Executive Director Shawn Dobberstein tells KFGO the plane carrying about 60 passengers had some type of mechanical problem. The jet landed safely.
One of the passengers, Tyler Morgan, of Abilene, Texas, says he was told there was a problem with the tires or landing gear on the plane’s left side. Mesa Airlines operates the jet under the American Eagle banner.
In identifying Webber on Twitter early Thursday, Shelby County Commissioner and mayoral candidate Tami Sawyer said “Every life lost should matter…every single one. How many times will this be ok? It cannot continue to be.”
Memphis police officers were called in to help with crowd control as word of the shooting spread on social media. As more protesters showed up, more Memphis officers and Shelby County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene. The situation then escalated, and officers donned protective riot gear as people threw rocks and bricks. Police cars and a nearby fire station were damaged, Rallings said.
The TBI is called in to investigate police-involved shootings by district attorneys in Shelby and other counties in the state. TBI investigators then give their report to the district attorney, who will decide whether to pursue charges against officers involved.
The police director implored residents to wait until the TBI finishes its investigation before spreading possible misinformation about the shooting. “I need everyone to stay calm,” Rallings said.
While police support the right of people to demonstrate, Rallings said “we will not allow any acts of violence.”
A statement from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland expressing pride in the city’s first responders says six of the injured officers had to be treated at a hospital.
“I’m impressed by their professionalism and incredible restraint as they endured concrete rocks being thrown at them and people spitting at them,” the mayor tweeted.
At least two journalists were injured, multiple police cars were damaged, a fire station’s windows were shattered and a concrete wall outside a business was torn down, he said.
Passion Anderson, a 34-year-old student, drove her 13-year-old son to the scene early Thursday, after protesters had gone and the scene had calmed down. She grew up in Memphis, but left to Ohio before moving in November to the Frayser neighborhood, a mostly low- to middle-income area north of downtown.
Anderson said she worries about her son’s safety every day.
“I just want him to see this, know what’s going on, to be conscious,” she said from the driver’s seat of her car, with her son in the passenger seat. “I fear for him all the time.”
Benchmark Brent crude spiked at one point by as much 4% in trading following the suspected attack, to over $62 a barrel, highlighting how crucial the area remains to global energy supplies. A third of all oil traded by sea passes through the strait, which is the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Cmdr. Joshua Frey, a 5th Fleet spokesman, said the U.S. Navy was assisting the two vessels that he described as being hit in a “reported attack.” He did not say how the ships were attacked or who was suspected of being behind the assault. The American destroyer USS Bainbridge was sent to assist, he said.
The MT Front Altair, a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker, immediately caught fire after the suspected attack.
The firm that operates the Front Altair told The Associated Press that an explosion was the cause of the fire onboard. Its crew of 23 is safe after being evacuated by the nearby Hyundai Dubai vessel, it said.
BSM Ship Management said the Kokuka Courageous sustained hull damage and 21 sailors had been evacuated, with one suffering minor injuries.
Iranian state television said 44 sailors from the two tankers have been transferred to an Iranian port in the southern province of Hormozgan.
The Front Altair came from Ruwais in the UAE, a loading point for the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., according to the data firm Refinitiv. It carried naphtha, a flammable hydrocarbon. The Kokuka Courageous, came from Mesaieed, Qatar, and Jubail, Saudi Arabia, carrying methanol, a chemical compound used in a variety of products, Refinitiv said.
The fact that both vessels remained afloat suggested mines may have damaged them, said Jakob P. Larsen, head of maritime security for BIMCO, the largest international association representing ship owners.
“Judging from the damage, it doesn’t look like a torpedo, it looks like something smaller, whether that is a vessel-borne improvised explosive device or even a limpet mine,” he told the AP.
He added: “The shipping industry views this as an escalation of the situation, and we are just about as close to a conflict without there being an actual armed conflict, so the tensions are very high.”
The timing of Thursday’s suspected attack was especially sensitive as Abe’s high-stakes diplomacy mission was underway in Iran. Japan’s Trade Ministry said the two vessels had “Japan-related cargo,” without elaborating.
On Wednesday, after talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Abe warned that any “accidental conflict” that could be sparked amid the heightened U.S.-Iran tensions must be avoided.
His message came just hours after Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels attacked a Saudi airport, striking its arrivals hall before dawn and wounding 26 people Wednesday. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting for over four years against the Houthis, whom United Nations experts and the West say receive arms from Iran. Tehran denies that.
A statement published by Khamenei’s website after Abe’s meeting Thursday with the supreme leader suggested a tense exchange between the two.
“We have no doubt about your good will and seriousness, but … I don’t regard (President Donald) Trump as deserving any exchange of messages,” Khamenei reportedly told Abe.
Khamenei also said Iran remained opposed to building atomic weapons, but offered a challenge to Trump.
“You should know that if we planned to produce nuclear weapons, America could not do anything,” said Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state in Iran’s Shiite theocracy.
Tensions have escalated in the Mideast as Iran appears poised to break the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, an accord that the Trump administration pulled out of last year.
Iran’s nuclear deal saw Tehran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions.
In withdrawing from the deal last year, Trump pointed to the accord not limiting Iran’s ballistic missile program and not addressing what American officials describe as Tehran’s malign influence across the wider Middle East. Those who struck the deal at the time described it as a building block toward further negotiations with Iran, whose Islamic government has had a tense relationship with America since the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and subsequent hostage crisis.
Already, Iran says it quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium. Meanwhile, U.S. sanctions have cut off opportunities for Iran to trade its excess uranium and heavy water abroad, putting Tehran on course to violate terms of the nuclear deal regardless.
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