Hospitals begin to limp out of the latest COVID-19 surge .

Hospitalizations fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant in the U.S. have begun falling after peaking at record levels in some communities. But doctors are warning that the wave is leaving behind lots of postponed surgeries and an increasingly worn-out health care workforce in its wake. Across the U.S., the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 has tumbled more than 28% over the past three weeks to about 105,000 on average.

WRIGLEY-AG APPOINTMENT

Wrigley to fill out term of Attorney General Stenehjem

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Gov. Doug Burgum has appointed former U.S. attorney and lieutenant governor Drew Wrigley to serve the remainder of the term held by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, who died last month. Stenehjem announced in December he would not seek another term. Wrigley announced soon after that he will run for the office. He is the only declared candidate at present. Stenehjem, a former legislator and the state’s longest-serving attorney general, died Jan. 28 at age 68. Wrigley was U.S. attorney from 2001 to 2009, and again from 2019 to 2021. He was lieutenant governor from 2010 to 2016 under former GOP Gov. Jack Dalrymple.

SMUGGLING MARIJUANA

Documents show X-ray used in border marijuana seizure

PEMBINA, N.D. (AP) — Newly unsealed court documents are providing details about the seizure of nearly 2,800 pounds of marijuana at the Pembina Port of Entry last year. Documents in the case have been kept sealed by a federal judge because of concerns that they would compromise the investigation into the April 2021 discovery. According to a U.S. Homeland Security Investigations search warrant affidavit, 100 cardboard boxes containing large, vacuum-sealed plastic bags of marijuana were discovered after an X-ray machine found a “large anomaly” inside a trailer. The affidavit  also included emails that were allegedly used in part “for the purpose of organizing and planning the smuggling of controlled substances.”

REDISTRICTING LAWSUIT-TRIBES

Tribes sue North Dakota over new redistricting map

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Two American Indian tribes have sued North Dakota, alleging the state’s new legislative map dilutes tribal members’ voting strength. The federal lawsuit filed Monday by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and the Spirit Lake Tribe alleges violations of the Voting Rights Act. North Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature in November approved a new legislative map. But the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and the nearby Spirit Lake Tribe argue the move violates federal law by reducing the number of state House seats in their region. North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger says he hasn’t seen the lawsuit and would not comment on it.

ELECTION 2022-NORTH DAKOTA-SENATE

Rick Becker vying for fellow Republican Hoeven’s Senate seat

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — State Rep. Rick Becker, who founded an ultraconservative faction in the North Dakota Legislature and who has clashed with some fellow Republicans, including the governor, says he’s running for the U.S. Senate seat held by John Hoeven, who is also a member of his party. Becker, who was first elected to the state House in 2012, announced his candidacy in a video posted Sunday on social media. “While many claim to be conservative, my actions have always backed up my words,” Becker says in the video. Becker has been especially critical of Republican Gov. Doug Burgum. The  57-year-old Bismarck plastic surgeon and businessman formed a conservative faction called Bastiat Caucus during his first term in the Legislature.

FATAL CRASH

Man killed in three-car crash in northwestern North Dakota

CARPIO, N.D. (AP) — The Highway Patrol is investigating a three-car crash in northwestern North Dakota that left a man dead. The Bismarck Tribune reported Sunday that 79-year-old Evan Elvestad died at the scene of the crash Friday on U.S. Highway 52 about 11 miles south of Carpio. Authorities say Elvestad was northbound when his Nissan Pathfinder left its lane and hit a southbound Ford Escape.. Elvestad corrected but again left his lane and hit a southbound semitrailer hauling cattle. Elvestad’s Pathfinder came to a stop and caught fire. The Escape’s driver wasn’t hurt. The semitrailer driver, 73-year-old Herman Wall of Burdett, Alberta, suffered minor injuries.