Latest North Dakota news, sports, business and entertainment:

Dickinson SHOOTING Man sentenced for hindering police DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) A man has pleaded guilty to hindering police who wanted to question witnesses about a homicide in Dickinson.

Fifty-seven-year-old Thomas Doppler Sr. was sentenced to three months of unsupervised probation and $125 in court fees on the misdemeanor charge.

Twenty-two-year-old Michael Reisenauer is accused of killing 19-year-old Kyle Goodbird in a Dickinson residence in July.

Authorities say they tried to interview two witnesses who were in Doppler's home but he would not let them in. Officers entered the house by force and arrested Doppler.

Information from: The Dickinson Press, http://www.thedickinsonpress.com FISHER-TAX FRAUD Dickinson man asks for probation in tax fraud case Fargo, N.D. (AP) Lawyers for a former Dickinson executive who pleaded guilty to nine felony counts of tax fraud are asking a judge to consider a sentence of home confinement and probation.

Micheal Fisher, a former vice president and director of Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. Inc., is accused of spending company money on a new home, vacations, legal work, medical expenses and other bills.

Prosecutors say the case involved about $630,000 in unpaid taxes.

A judge says federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison term between 37 and 46 months. Fisher's lawyers are asking for a minimum sentence of one year home confinement and three years probation, and a maximum term of two years in prison.

Fisher has agreed to pay back the government about $308,000. The corporation has agreed to pay the remainder of the tax bill.

STENEHJEM-ORDER Marketing company in trouble in ND Bismarck, N.D. (AP) Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has ordered a Kentucky-based company and its operators to stop doing business in North Dakota.

Stenehjem issued the cease-and-desist order against Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing of Lexington, Ky. He says the company has violated North Dakota transient merchant, consumer fraud, and home solicitation sales laws.

Stenehjem says Fortune Hi-Tech continued its business activities in North Dakota even after being told it could not do so without a required transient merchant license.

A company spokesman did not immediately return a telephone call Friday seeking comment.

RACISM LAWSUIT Pipeline worker brings racism lawsuit Grand Forks, N.D. (AP) A black man who helped build the TransCanada Keystone oil pipeline that passes through eastern North Dakota is suing his former employer in federal court, alleging that he faced racial discrimination at a job site at Mekinock.

Cook County, Ill., resident Charles Adams says he was subjected to racist remarks and jokes and had a noose thrown at him when he worked for Henkels & McCoy Inc. in the summer of 2008 in northeastern North Dakota.

The Pennsylvania-based corporation denies the allegations and is asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

Adams is seeking more than $75,000 in damages. A five-day jury trial is scheduled to start March 22, 2011, in Grand Forks or Fargo.

The Keystone pipeline runs 218 miles through North Dakota on its way from Alberta, Canada, to Illinois and Oklahoma. It is to carry about 435,000 barrels of heavy crude oil daily.

Information from: Grand Forks Herald, http://www.grandforksherald.com DAMAGED DAM Dam near Kathryn to be repaired KATHRYN, N.D. (AP) The Red River Joint Water Resource Board has approved spending up to $500,000 to help repair Clausen Springs Dam.

The 55 residents of Kathryn were evacuated for a few days last April after Sheyenne River flooding began eroding the dam's spillway six miles west of the town.

A permanent fix for the dam is pegged at about $3 million. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department plans to provide $1 million.

Another $1.3 million might come from the State Water Commission.

Information from: Grand Forks Herald, http://www.grandforksherald.com TRANSIT GRANTS Dakotas tribes getting transit grants BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) Tribes in the Dakotas are sharing in $32 million being distributed nationwide by the Transportation Department's Federal Transit Administration.

About half of the money is federal stimulus dollars. The $32 million will fund 100 transit projects in 22 states.

In the Dakotas, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe is getting about $318,000, the Oglala Sioux $250,000, the Standing Rock Sioux $234,000 and the Yankton Sioux about $117,000.

CLIMATE CONFERENCE-CARLSON ND Farmers Union head in Copenhagen Jamestown, N.D. (AP) North Dakota Farmers Union President Robert Carlson is in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the United Nations climate conference.

Carlson is representing the International Federation of Ag Producers. He is scheduled to give three presentations, starting Friday.

The nations attending the U.N. conference in the Danish capital are trying to craft an international agreement for controlling emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases believed responsible for Global Warming.

Carlson says many nations see the need to recognize Agriculture's role in negating the effects of climate change.

The conference runs through next Friday.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 12-12-09 0202CST | save this article / add to your favorites list