Latest North Dakota news, sports, business and entertainment:

coal DRYING PLANT Permit issued for coal drying plant Bismarck, N.D. (AP) State health officials have issued an air quality permit for a company building a coal-drying plant in southwestern North Dakota.

The state Health Department's air quality division says it issued the permit yesterday to GTL Energy for its plant near South Heart.

The agency says GTL Energy has all required permits needed to complete construction.

An environmental group in January filed a complaint with North Dakota's Public Service Commission in January in an attempt to stop construction of the plant.

DRUG SENTENCE Man sentenced on felony drug, gun charges Fargo, N.D. (AP) A Dilworth, Minn., man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on federal drug and firearm charges.

U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley says 33-year-old Alfredo Portales was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Fargo.

Wrigley says Portales pleaded guilty in April to purchasing heroin in Chicago and transporting it to the Fargo-Moorhead area.

Authorities say Portales possessed heroin and a handgun when he was arrested by Moorhead police in January.

Wrigley says it was illegal for Portales to possess a gun because he has several prior felony convictions.

SOLICITATION CHARGE Woman sentenced in solicitation case Minot, N.D. (AP) A woman accused of trying to get a 15-year-old boy to kill another woman has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Tanya Doll of Minot earlier pleaded not guilty to a charge of criminal solicitation to murder. She pleaded guilty on Monday to a lesser charge of criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault, under a plea deal.

Police say the 40-year-old Doll admitted she solicited the teenage boy to beat and rob a 26-year-old woman she described as her ex-girlfriend.

Authorities say the boy broke into the woman's home Jan. 31. He was charged with burglary, aggravated assault and terrorizing.

Information from: KXMC-TV, http://kxmc.com BOOKS-JAILED JOURNALIST Journalist Roxana Saberi, jailed 4 months in Iran, has book deal NEW YORK (AP) A journalist jailed for four months in Iran on charges of espionage has a book deal.

Iranian-American Roxana Saberi is working on a memoir that HarperCollins will publish in March 2010. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Saberi's book will tell of her arrest in January, her initial sentence to eight years in prison and her release in May after being granted a two-year suspended sentence. The book also will look at Iranian society and culture.

In a case that outraged human rights activists, Saberi was convicted of spying for the United States in a closed-door trial that her Iranian-born father said lasted only 15 minutes. She was freed May 11 and reunited with her parents, who had gone from Fargo to Iran to seek her release.

Raised in Fargo and a former Miss North Dakota, Saberi spent six years in Iran as a freelance journalist for the BBC and other news organizations.

TRAIN FATAL Man killed in ND train-vehicle collision MINOT, N.D. (AP) The North Dakota Highway Patrol has identified a 53-year-old Rio Grande City, Texas, man who was killed after his service truck was struck by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train.

The victim was identified as Jesus Garcia.

The collision occurred early Sunday afternoon near Berthold.

Troopers say the service truck was southbound on a gravel road and was en route to a rural pipeline base site. The patrol says the truck began to cross the railroad tracks despite signals a train was approaching. The eastbound train struck the vehicle's right side.

CROP REPORT Rain delays fieldwork in parts of ND FARGO, N.D. (AP) Rain delayed fieldwork in parts of North Dakota last week but provided moisture to areas that had started to dry out.

The Agriculture Department says in its latest crop report that an average of five days were suitable for fieldwork in the state last week.

All late season crops were 95 percent planted, but continued to develop behind the average. The report rates topsoil moisture 90 percent adequate or surplus.

The rains last week aided pasture and hay land. Pasture and range conditions were rated 66 percent good to excellent.

NORTH DAKOTA FLOODING Red River rises again in North Dakota FARGO, N.D. (AP) Two months after eastern North Dakota homeowners worked around the clock on sandbag lines to hold back floodwaters, the Red River is again spilling over its banks. But this time it's threatening mostly just parks and Golf courses, not homes.

Heavy rains in the past week have pushed the river within two feet of major flood stage at Fargo. The flooding has forced the city to shut down some roads and one bridge north of town.

Richard Thomas, who lives in a subdivision south of Fargo, said the water is halfway up his backyard. But it's not at the point where he's worried.

National Weather Service hydrologist Mike Lukes said the river was expected to crest at 27.5 feet on Monday. Flood stage is 18 feet.

LAWN MOWER DUI Man arrested in Devils Lake on lawnmower DEVILS LAKE, N.D. (AP) Devils Lake police say an Idaho man they pulled over on a riding lawnmower faces charges of driving under the influence and felony theft.

Thirty-one-year-old James Price was stopped about 3 a.m. Sunday because he was driving on a city street with no lights.

The lawnmower allegedly had been stolen from a local business.

Police aren't sure why Price is in Devils Lake but say he might be on a fishing trip.

Information from: KZZY-FM, http://lrradioworks.com MALL-DEER Deer romps through Grand Forks mall GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) Officials at the Grand Cities Mall in Grand Forks say a deer that smashed through a window and romped through the building tried to get into a pet store.

Mall manager Mary Noel says the deer butted his head on the window of the pet store Sunday morning but didn't get in.

The deer eventually exited the mall through a door, and made a clean getaway.

Noel says no one was hurt. Damage to the mall is described as minor.

Information from: KNOX-AM, http://knoxradio.com RINK-carbon monoxide Hazen rink tests high for carbon monoxide HAZEN, N.D. (AP) Hazen winter sports director Joe Amundson says a Hockey rink in the city will add ventilation and get a carbon monoxide detector.

The action comes after people got sick at a hockey camp in Hazen where carbon monoxide levels tested unusually high. It's been linked to fumes from an ice resurfacing machine.

Amundson says the rink was evacuated for a time until the building tested safe.

Information from: The Dickinson Press, http://www.thedickinsonpress.com (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 06-23-09 0202CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list