Latest North Dakota news, sports, business and entertainment:

SCHOOL CLOSING Tiny ND school to close at end of academic year EUREKA, N.D. (AP) The days are numbered for the little red school house in north-central North Dakota.

After years of discussion, the board that oversees Eureka School has decided to close the tiny school north of Minot.

Eureka School has just five students enrolled in grades three through six this year and no children in the lower grades.

Principal Janice Gietzen said some children who live in the six-square-mile Eureka district have been open-enrolled at schools outside of Eureka.

The school board decided last month that it would not be feasible to keep the school open after this academic year.

Gietzen said the district will be dissolved and land will go to surrounding school districts. The board is discussing what to do with the little red school house.

Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.minotdailynews.com DENTIST SLAYING Hearing set for man suspected of plotting murder Fargo, N.D. (AP) A man accused of hiring his handyman to kill a Fargo dentist is scheduled to be in an Oklahoma City courtroom Nov. 25 for a hearing to determine whether he should be sent to North Dakota to face charges.

Gov. John Hoeven signed papers last week supporting the extradition of 63-year-old Gene Carl Kirkpatrick of Jones, Okla.

Kirkpatrick is accused of hiring Michael Allen Nakvinda to kill Philip Gattuso, who was Kirkpatrick's son-in-law.

Kirkpatrick faces up to life in prison for conspiracy to commit murder. He also is charged with conspiracy to commit burglary.

Prosecutors allege Kirkpatrick paid Nakvinda $3,000 to kill Gattuso, who was found beaten to death with a hammer Oct. 26.

Nakvinda was arrested at his home in Oklahoma City on Oct. 31.

He is being held in Fargo on a murder charge.

Information from: The Forum, http://www.in-forum.com FLOOD CONTROL Red River diversion worries some in small towns FARGO, N.D. (AP) Plans to divert the Red River to save the cities of Fargo and Moorhead, Minn., from flooding are being questioned by downstream residents who want more study.

People in western Minnesota who live near the river worry that the larger cities are rushing into a diversion project without considering the impact downstream.

The mayor of Perley, Minn., Ann Manley, believes the diversion would kill her community. She said it would just push the water around and Perley is in line to get it.

Engineer Jeff Volk said it's too early to panic. Volk said preliminary studies show the added flow to downstream communities from a diversion project would be measured in inches, not feet.

City and county leaders are under pressure to submit a flood control plan to the Army Corps of Engineers by the end of the year or risk delaying the project.

MEMORIAL RUN Dickinson run/walk held in memory of students DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) Dickinson State University athletes are remembering three teammates who drowned after their vehicle went into a livestock pond earlier this month.

About 70 people and four dogs took part Saturday in a 5K run/walk in memory of softball players Kyrstin Gemar, Afton Williamson and Ashley Neufeld.

Jamie Swetalla of Bakersfield, Calif., is a member of Dickinson State's cross-country team and one of the event's organizers. She said all the Dickinson State teams want to do "a little bit of something" in memory of the three women.

The women's bodies were found Nov. 3 in their submerged sport utility vehicle north of Dickinson. A preliminary autopsy report showed they drowned. Gemar was from San Diego, Williamson was from Lake Elsinore, Calif., and Neufeld was from Brandon, Manitoba.

Organizers said Saturday's event raised more than $1,000. Some will go to an account set up to help the women's families.

Information from: The Dickinson Press, http://www.thedickinsonpress.com PALIN'S SPEECH Palin's way of talkin' dissected, you betcha MADISON, Wis. (AP) When sarah palin burst onto the national political stage, there was a lot of talk about her distinctive way of talkin', you betcha.

She moved to Alaska when she was too young to speak, and grew up in the small town of Wasilla so why did she sound like someone from the movie "Fargo"? Three University of Wisconsin-Madison linguists have determined in a research article to be published in the Journal of English Linguistics next month that her speech was heavily influenced by the people who settled the Wasilla area in the 1930s from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

It also says that Palin's speech stood out to many because she used more informal words, like "darn" and "heck," than most politicians.

Valley City FATAL Higway Patrol IDs Ohio man killed on I-94 VALLEY CITY, N.D. (AP) The Highway Patrol has identified the man who died in a crash on Interstate 94 in eastern North Dakota last week as 40-year-old Brian Beck of Gahanna, Ohio.

Beck was driving a sport utility vehicle that rear-ended a farm truck just west of Valley City. The truck driver was not hurt.

The crash happened shortly after 3 p.m., Friday.

COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES County leaders want state to take social services Grand Forks, N.D. (AP) County officials think the state should be in charge of delivering social services and they are asking legislators to study the idea.

The North Dakota County Commission Association is seeking a two-year study starting in 2011.

Its resolution says counties would contribute up to 15 mills of property taxes each. The state would take responsibility for such programs as Medicaid and food stamps.

Ramsey County Commissioner Joe Belford says some rural counties are nearly broke and cannot afford to pay for social services.

The county commissioners' proposal is similar to the child support enforcement program, which has switched from county to state administration.

Terry Traynor is an assistant policy director for the North Dakota Association of Counties. He said some fear that turning social services over to the state would mean a loss of services in some counties.

The association is doing its own study of the idea.

Information from: Grand Forks Herald, http://www.grandforksherald.com STRIP STUDY Public hearing set on Mandan road study MANDAN, N.D. (AP) Officials plan a public meeting Thursday on a study of how to improve a nearly 2 1/2-mile Mandan road known as "The Strip" that has heavy traffic and also dozens of business turnoffs.

Project manager Bob Shannon says planners want to hear about problems and get improvement ideas from the public. He says each business along the Strip also will be contacted for input.

Shannon says the study will address the poor access for anyone not in a motor vehicle and for the disabled. There are no sidewalks, and Shannon says it is difficult to reach businesses from a nearby trail system.

Traffic counts for the study will start this week and drainage issues will be studied. Architects, landscape experts and others plan to meet in late January to discuss ideas for traffic, drainage and development.

A draft report should be ready next summer, with final adoption set for late in the year. The cost of improving the road is not yet known.

Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com wheat PRICES Outlook for wheat prices bearish BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) The federal Agriculture Department is projecting an average marketing year price for wheat of between $4.65 and $5.05 per bushel.

Market prices have dropped this fall because of an expected large wheat crop, increased competition overseas and a slackening in worldwide demand due in large part to the global recession.

John Sanow, an analyst with the Omaha, Neb.-based market information company DTN, says the wheat market "is looking more bearish every day." Jim Peterson, marketing director for the North Dakota Wheat Commission, says he doesn't expect a big price rally as the marketing year goes on. But he says prices might rise some later as wheat supplies in the pipeline decrease and mills begin looking for more grain.

Peterson says steep price discounts for spring wheat with low protein also have eased somewhat, and farmers with higher-protein grain are seeing premiums.

Peterson says $5 wheat isn't bad from a historical perspective anyway, though farmers' production expenses have escalated.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-15-09 1558CST | save this article / add to your favorites list