Latest North Dakota news, sports, business and entertainment:

Fargo Flood TAX Fargo flood control tax draws voters FARGO, N.D. (AP) Election officials in Fargo say more than 1,600 residents voted early on a proposed half-cent sales tax increase for flood protection.

Early voting was available Tuesday through Thursday. Election coordinator DeAnn Buckhouse says more than 300 people also have submitted absentee ballots.

The special election is set for Tuesday. If the tax increase is approved, it will take effect next year.

FLOODING-GUARD Guard soldiers leaving after flood fight Jamestown, N.D. (AP) North Dakota National Guard soldiers who've been on flood-fighting duty since mid March have finally been allowed to go home.

The last 20 soldiers on duty in Jamestown were given permission to leave this week. Officials say the Guard spent 98 days on the ground during the flood fight.

The Guard commander, Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk (sprin-sin-AT'-ik), says that when the call went out for volunteers, "they were there." He says the number of soldiers on active duty rose to nearly 2,500 in 10 days.

Information from: KFYR-TV, http://kfyrtv.com ENERGY SECRETARY VISIT Energy secretary to visit ND Bismarck, N.D. (AP) U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu plans to visit North Dakota.

Sen. Byron Dorgan says Chu is to come to Bismarck on Wednesday.

The Democratic senator says Chu will make an announcement involving federal stimulus money for energy development.

Dorgan is chairman of a Senate panel that funds Energy Department investments.

SCHAFER-SANFORD Former gov says secrets hard to keep FARGO, N.D. (AP) Former Gov. Ed Schafer says politicians should know that in a high-tech world, secrets are hard to keep.

Schafer referred to the case of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who publicly admitted Wednesday to an affair with a woman in Argentina.

Schafer told Fargo's KFGO radio that he's never met Sanford but said it's a crazy situation. He said people "get into power positions and they think they're bulletproof." Information from: KFGO-AM, http://kfgo.com PARK ELK Senate committee passes Dorgan's elk plan BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) Sen. Byron Dorgan says a Senate committee has approved his legislation that would require Theodore Roosevelt National Park to use volunteer hunters to thin its elk herd.

The park is considering several options, including volunteer shooters. Dorgan's plan would allow the volunteers to keep the meat.

Other options the park is considering include relocating elk after checking them for disease, and rounding up elk and euthanizing them.

The plan has been more than five years in the making. It's aimed at finding the best way to reduce the elk herd in the park's south unit, which has grown to more than double the preferred size.

Park officials are studying comments that came in during a three-month public comment period, before making a decision.

Devils Lake OUTLET Permit requirement dropped for Devils Lake outlet DEVILS LAKE, N.D. (AP) North Dakota's Health Department says the Devils Lake outlet no longer needs a permit to move water into the Sheyenne River.

The state Water Commission requested the change, and engineer Todd Sando says it will allow the outlet to pump more water into the river. Now the flow is limited to 100 cubic feet per second, and it could rise to 250 cubic feet per second.

The water may also have a higher salt content than before.

Gov. John Hoeven says the change is needed to protect Devils Lake residents and the people downstream on the Sheyenne. He says if the flooding problem continues, the lake could get high enough to spill directly into the Sheyenne.

Canada opposes the outlet, fearing the transfer of harmful material through the Sheyenne and Red Rivers into its water system.

State officials say the fears are unfounded.

Information from: KZZY-FM, http://lrradioworks.com Moose CRASHES Woman killed in motorcycle-moose crash SHERWOOD, N.D. (AP) A collision between a motorcycle and a moose in northwest North Dakota killed a 53-year-old Mohall woman.

The Highway Patrol has not identified the victim of the Thursday night crash on state Highway 28 about five miles south of Sherwood.

Authorities say the woman was a passenger on the motorcycle. The driver a 56-year-old Mohall man was flown to a Minot hospital with injuries.

In northeastern North Dakota, authorities say a pickup collided with a moose on Interstate 29 north of Grand Forks Thursday night, injuring the driver. The Highway Patrol says a second vehicle hit the moose carcass on the highway, went in the ditch and hit the first vehicle.

A third vehicle then also hit the carcass. The drivers of the second and third vehicles did not suffer serious injuries.

Richland County FATALS Victims ID'd in Richland County crash ABERCROMBIE, N.D. (AP) The Highway Patrol has identified the Wahpeton couple killed in a fatal crash in southeastern North Dakota's Richland County.

Authorities say 49-year-old Steven Anderson and his 49-year-old wife, Kimberly, died when their minivan went off a county road, hit a tree and went into the Wild Rice River between Colfax and Abercrombie.

The crash was reported just before 7 a.m. Thursday and is believed to have happened Wednesday night or earlier Thursday morning.

Information from: KFGO-AM, http://kfgo.com SWINE Flu ND swine flu count up to 53 BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) State health officials say North Dakota now has 53 confirmed cases of swine flu in 13 counties.

The North Dakota Health Department says two of the victims have been hospitalized.

The cases involve 21 males and 32 females. Health officials say 25 of those people are between the ages of 10 and 19.

Seventeen of the confirmed cases are in Cass County, 11 in Ward County, seven in Burleigh County and six in Grand Forks County.

Nationwide, health officials say swine flu has infected as many as 1 million Americans.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 06-26-09 1101CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list