Police Fight – Death Lawsuit

Family of man who died after traffic stop sues city, police

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The family of a Mandan man who died after a traffic stop two years ago has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and several police officers. The federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday on the second anniversary of John “Ernie” Prudente’s death. The suit seeks unspecified money damages. Police stopped Prudente on Feb. 8, 2020 but Prudente drove off. When police caught up with Prudente, he started fighting with the officers and was handcuffed. He became unresponsive and died at a hospital. An autopsy found Prudente died of “excited delirium” as a result of methamphetamine use and underlying conditions.

HYDROGEN PROJECT-TRIBES

North Dakota tribe to supply natural gas to hydrogen plant

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Natural gas that’s being burned off and wasted as a byproduct of oil production on an American Indian reservation in North Dakota will be used as a feedstock for a proposed plant to produce carbon-free hydrogen. Bakken Energy and Mitsubishi Power Americas announced the deal Wednesday with the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation to be the natural gas supplier for its Great Plains Hydrogen Hub in western North Dakota. The $2 billion project was announced in June to produce clean hydrogen. Gov. Doug Burgum has hailed the project a key part of the state’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2030.

NORTH BAKKEN EXPANSION

North Bakken Expansion project online in northwestern ND

TIOGA, N.D. (AP) — A new $250 million natural gas pipeline in northwest North Dakota has gone online. WBI Energy announced construction and testing were completed for its North Bakken Expansion project, transferring natural gas from core production areas near Tioga to the Northern Border Pipeline near Watford City. Officials say it will add an additional 250 million cubic feet per day of natural gas north of Lake Sakakawea, an area with limited ability to transport.  North Dakota Pipeline Authority Director Justin Kringstad says it will also reduce flaring.

VIRUS OUTBREAK

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.”