Latest ND News from AP – Sat PM Feb 19

SEMI CRASH

Man dead after semitrailer slams head-on into car

STANLEY, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota man is dead after a semitrailer smashed into his car. The North Dakota Highway Patrol said in a statement that the 26-year-old Stanley man had parked his Ford Taurus facing north in the southbound lanes of state Highway 8 about 20 miles south of Stanley just after midnight Saturday. The semitrailer crested a hill and hit the Taurus head-on. Both vehicles ended up in ditches. The Stanley man was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities have not released his name pending notification of next of kin.

TROOPER PLEA

Former highway patrol trooper to plead in sex assault case

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A former high-ranking North Dakota Highway Patrol trooper accused of sexual assault has agreed to a plea deal. Steven Johnson was charged in November with misdemeanor sexual assault after a woman accused of him of touching her inappropriately while she was sleeping during a December 2020 party. The Bismarck Tribune reported Friday that Johnson has agreed to enter an Alford plea to a disorderly conduct charge in a deal with prosecutors. Defendants who enter Alford pleas essentially accept punishment but don’t admit guilty. Courts treat them as guilty pleas, however. Prosecutors agreed to keep the offense off Johnson’s record if successfully completes probation.

WINTER WEATHER-UPPER MIDWEST

Blizzard conditions close portions of ND, Minnesota roadways

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Blizzard conditions closed portions an interstate and highways in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota Friday. The North Dakota Highway Patrol has closed Interstate 29 from Fargo to the Canadian border due to blowing snow and near-zero visibility. Motorists face fines if they travel on roads that have been closed. Highway 2 from Devils Lake to Grand Forks is also closed. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for all of eastern North Dakota and parts of northwestern Minnesota. Wind gusts of up to 65 mph were expected with isolated gusts of 70 mph. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has also closed parts of at least 11 highways in northwestern Minnesota.

LAND COMMISSIONER

Heringer selected North Dakota land board commissioner

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Bismarck attorney and investment manager Joseph Heringer has been selected to head of the agency that handles land rights for some of North Dakota’s largest industries. Heringer replaces Jodi Smith, who resigned in October. The land board commissioner leads the Department of Trust Lands. The state Board of University and School Lands oversees the Land Department. Gov. Doug Burgum heads the five-member, all Republican board. The Land Department leases rights for grazing and rights to produce oil, coal and gravel from state lands. It manages several state trust funds, including the common schools trust fund that benefits public schools.

TRIBAL ANCESTORS-DISINTERMENT

Affidavits help return ancestral tribal remains to Dakotas

AGENCY VILLAGE, S.D. (AP) — Descendants of Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribal leaders will sign the necessary paperwork Saturday to help bring home the remains of their ancestors. Relatives of Amos LaFramboise and Edward Upwright will gather with South Dakota tribal leaders to sign affidavits that will allow the remains of the two young boys to be removed from the Carlisle Indian School cemetery in Pennsylvania and moved to the Dakotas. LaFramboise’s father helped found the Lake Traverse Reservation government in South Dakota. Upwright is the son of Waanatan II, an early tribal chief. The school cemetery is on property owned by the U.S. military which in recent years has given tribes the opportunity with affidavits from living relatives to claim the remains of the 188 Native American children buried there.

REDISTRICTING LAWSUIT-TRIBES

2nd lawsuit targets North Dakota tribal subdistricts

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A second lawsuit has been filed opposing the North Dakota Legislature’s creation of state House subdistricts encompassing American Indian reservations, alleging that the consideration of race is unconstitutional. The federal lawsuit was filed Wednesday. Another lawsuit filed earlier this month by the Spirit Lake and Turtle Mountain tribes also opposes the subdistricts. Turtle Mountain argues the split House district “packs” tribal members into a single subdistrict on its reservation, while diluting their vote in the non-reservation subdistrict. Spirit Lake alleges the new redistricting map dilutes American Indian voters on and near its reservation.