Here is the latest North Dakota news from The Associated Press

LEAD, S.D. (AP) Officials are reporting a milestone in pumping water out of the former Homestake gold mine. The South Dakota Science and Technology Authority says crews now have access to the 4,850-level after reopening a second deep shaft.

WATERTOWN, S.D. (AP) A spokesman for the South Dakota National Guard says no state Guard soldiers were involved in the Fort Hood shooting rampage. Capt. Anthony Deiss (dice) says that does not make it any less tragic.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) A Nebraska woman has been given a six-month suspended jail sentence for helping her husband steal a fire truck in South Dakota. Rowena Schade and her husband, Matthew, of Creighton, Neb., drew national attention last spring when they vanished with their children after being questioned on domestic abuse allegations. Matthew Schade will be sentenced later this month.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) The attorney for James Strahl wants a judge to move Strahl's murder retrial out of Union County. Strahl was convicted two years ago of killing William O'Hare at a rural Beresford home in 1998. The state Supreme Court later upheld a judge's decision ordering a new trial after it was discovered that a prosecution witness against Strahl had lied in an unrelated criminal case.

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