Latest North Dakota news, sports, business and entertainment:

Ward County FATAL Minot man dead in rollover MINOT, N.D. (AP) An early morning rollover on a Ward County road has killed a Minot man.

The name of the 29-year-old driver has not yet been released.

The Highway Patrol says he was driving a car that went into a ditch off a county road shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday. He was thrown from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.

Standing Rock PRIMARY Chairman, former chairman to face off Fort Yates, N.D. (AP) Unofficial results from the Standing Rock Sioux primary election show Chairman Ron His Horse Is ThUNDer and former chairman Charles Murphy advancing to the Sept. 30 general election.

The unofficial results show Murphy with 567 votes and His Horse Is Thunder with 223, followed closely by tribal secretary Avis Little Eagle with 221 votes. A total of nine candidates ran in the primary.

The tribal election commission was going over the results on Thursday.

The Standing Rock reservation straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border.

SPIRITWOOD PARK Gov seeks federal money for industrial park Bismarck, N.D. (AP) Gov. John Hoeven says he's pushing for a federal grant to help expand the Spiritwood Industrial Park near Jamestown.

Hoeven says Great River Energy is seeking $35 million in federal Energy Department matching money to install a new steam system. He says the company's partners would put up 90 percent of the estimated $377 million project.

The Spiritwood complex includes a power plant and a barley malting plant with plans for biofuel operations. Hoeven says the expansion would support about 85 production jobs at the Cargill malting plant and create 136 long-term jobs at the other facilities.

Devils Lake OUTLET Devils Lake outlet may take a few inches from lake DEVILS LAKE, N.D. (AP) A North Dakota Water Commission engineer says the Devils Lake outlet can be expected to remove only a few inches of water from the lake this year.

Assistant engineer Todd Sando says state officials are working to boost the outlet's pumping capacity. Now its pumps can handle 100 cubic feet per second. State officials want to install new pumps capable of moving 250 feet of water per second.

Sando says sulfate restrictions have limited the outlet to only 18 days' pumping at full capacity since it began operating on May 22. But the Health Department has lifted the restrictions, and the outlet can run nonstop until winter.

Devils Lake City Engineer Mike Grafsgaard says the limit on sulfate levels had been too restrictive. Until now it was 450 milligrams per liter of water. The new limit is 750 milligrams.

FARMERS-LIVING EXPENSES ND farmers' living expenses rise Fargo, N.D. (AP) A North Dakota State University program shows that farmers' living expenses last year rose 12 percent from the year before, to an average of $57,404.

NDSU Extension Service farm management specialist Andrew Swenson says farmers enjoyed strong profits in both 2008 and 2007, and used some of the money to catch up on such things as home repairs and personal vehicle purchases.

Swenson says it's only natural for farmers to spend more on such items when times are good.

The data comes from the Farm Business Management education program, which tracks 251 North Dakota farm families.

Information from: The Forum, http://www.in-forum.com NEW JUDGESHIPS New ND judgeships to be based in Minot, Jamestown BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) North Dakota's Supreme Court says two new district judgeships will be based in Minot and Jamestown.

The Legislature approved the positions earlier this year. It was up to the Supreme Court to decide where to put them.

In orders issued late Wednesday, the justices unanimously concluded that the judicial workload in Minot and Jamestown justified adding another judge in both cities. Jamestown now has one district judge, while Minot has four.

The new positions will be paid about $114,000 annually. Gov.

John Hoeven will appoint the two new judges before Jan. 31.

District judges handle trials. North Dakota has had 42 district judges for the past eight years.

UAS DIRECTOR University names unmanned center director Grand Forks, N.D. (AP) The University of North Dakota has tapped one of its graduates to be the new director of its center for unmanned aircraft systems.

UND says Jeffrey Kappenman will work with university, government and industry leaders.

Bruce Smith is the dean of UND's aerospace school. He says Kappenman learned how to fly in the UND program more than 30 years ago.

UND says Kappenman graduated from UND in aeronautical studies and recently retired as an Army colonel. School officials say he's an Army expert in unmanned aircraft and holds a master's degree in national security affairs from the U.S. Army War College.

GATES FOUNDATION-LIBRARIES Gates Foundation offers $6.5 million for libraries SEATTLE (AP) The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is announcing $6.5 million in grants to help public libraries in 11 states improve the quality of the free computer access they offer.

The money announced Thursday will pay for computer hardware updates at some of the 800 library branches in Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Libraries will need to find matching local dollars to qualify for the Gates Foundation grants. And library staff will be required to participate in a professional development conference offered by the Public Library Association.

Previous Gates Foundation computer grants were awarded in 2007 and 2008 to libraries in other states.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 07-16-09 1600CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list