Latest North Dakota news, sports, business and entertainment:

Bobcat Bobcat limiting work during June, July Bismarck, N.D. (AP) Bobcat says its plants in Bismarck and Gwinner will be idle for part of June and July due to a sluggish worldwide economy.

The maker of skid-steer loaders and light construction equipment says its Bismarck plant will be closed next Wednesday through Friday and again July 6 through July 10.

At the Gwinner plant, production workers will be off the job from June 10 through June 12, from June 24 through June 26 and June 29.

The announcement comes a little more than a month after Bobcat said it would cut nearly 250 jobs at the two North Dakota plants.

It has said it expects the construction market to improve next year.

Information from: Paul Jurgens, KFGO-AM, http://kfgo.com WIND POWER COSTS ND regulators seek rule change on wind power costs (CORRECTS 'Dakota' in 2nd graf; Will be led.) BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) North Dakota regulators want a change in federal rules about the sharing of costs for wind power projects.

Commissioner Tony Clark says the current Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules may cause big increases in the bills for some North Dakota customers even if they did not use the wind power.

When independent wind power developers build a project, they try to hook onto existing power lines to distribute the electricity.

The utility and the wind developer split the cost equally.

Clark says that arrangement is unfair when the developer wants to sell all the wind power outside the state.

He says Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. and Otter Tail Power Co.

are fighting the rule.

PICKUP FATAL 2-pickup crash kills driver Steele, N.D. (AP) The Highway Patrol says two pickups crashed on Interstate 94 just east of Steele, killing one driver and injuring the other.

Authorities said 54-year-old William Privratsky of Steele was dead at the scene of the Tuesday night crash.

The patrol said Privratsky's pickup was traveling west in the eastbound lane of the interstate shortly after 10 p.m., and collided head-on with another pickup that was passing a semi.

Privratsky's pickup ended up on its roof in the median. The other driver, 52-year-old Vincent Ulstad of Fargo, was taken to a Fargo hospital to be treated.

UTILITY TERRITORY PACT ND PSC endorses Jamestown electric pact BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) Two electric utilities have agreed to divide up service territory on the outskirts of the city of Jamestown.

Otter Tail Power Co. and Northern Plains Electric Cooperative negotiated the agreement. North Dakota's Public Service Commission approved the deal today.

Commission President Kevin Cramer says the accord will help the two companies avoid expensive fights over territory.

Otter Tail is based in Fergus Falls, Minn. It serves about 57,000 North Dakota customers, including the cities of Jamestown, Devils Lake and Wahpeton.

Northern Plains has offices in Cando and Carrington. Its territory stretches from the Canadian border to south of Jamestown.

It serves Rolla, Cando, Rugby, New Rockford and Carrington.

US-AUTO DEALERS GM, Chrysler defend slashing dealerships Washington (AP) Top executives from General Motors and Chrysler are defending their decision to slash dealerships around the country despite many hardships.

They say the moves are unavoidable as they fight to overcome bankruptcy and survive.

GM president Fritz Henderson and Chrysler President James Press tell the Senate Commerce Committee in prepared testimony that there are too many dealers and the networks date from the 1940s and 1950s when their companies were giants.

Henderson says that reinventing GM is "quite painful" for the company, customers and especially for our dealers.

Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller is complaining that the car companies are leaving local dealers and their customers out in the cold. That, Rockefeller said, is just plain wrong.

Senator Byron Dorgan met with the GM and Chrysler executives yesterday. He says it's reasonable for lawmakers to ask whether they're making the right decisions for dealers in rural areas.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 06-03-09 1637CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list