Bismarck Tribune - Sept. 12, 2013

Page 1

Gone huntin’

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

72/47 Details, 6B

N.D. 2013 hunting season taking off Life, 1C

Topping the Tetons Bismarck State sweeps Williston Sports, 1D www.bismarcktribune.com

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Tribes opposing Basin project in battlefield By LAUREN DONOVAN Bismarck Tribune All of North Dakota’s Native American tribes say they are opposed to a Basin Electric Power Cooperative transmission line the co-op plans to build through the heart of the historic Killdeer Mountain battlefield. The five tribes sent notice of their opposition to the Public Service Commission, which is holding the last of three public hearings on the project today in Williston.

The tribes’ unanimous vote of resolution was signed by Three Affiliated Tribes chairman Tex Hall and Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate chairman Robert Shepherd, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the United Tribes of North Dakota. The two are chairman and secretary respectively of United Tribes. Basin is planning to build a new 200-mile transmission line to carry some 500 megawatts of electricity from its lignite-fired Antelope Valley Station near Beulah into the oil

patch west of Killdeer, through Watford City, Williston and over to Tioga. About eight miles of the line would pass through an area designated for study under the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Program. The North Dakota State University-led study could lead to the battlefield being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. News of the study came just days before the first PSC hearing in Killdeer last week, and Basin quick-

Part of abortion suit is out By JAMES MacPHERSON Associated Press A federal judge has dismissed part of a lawsuit challenging a new North Dakota law that blocks abortions based on unwanted gender or a genetic defect, such as Down syndrome. The state’s sole abortion clinic in Fargo, backed by the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, filed the lawsuit in June. That suit also challenges another new measure that bans abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected; it was temporarily blocked in July. The measures are among four Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed into law this year with overwhelming support by the state’s Republican-led Legislature. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland granted the Red R i v e r Wo m e n’s C l i n i c request to drop the gender and genetic defects part of the lawsuit on Monday. The clinic has said the ban doesn’t affect it because it doesn’t perform abortions for that reason. Hovland dismissed that portion of the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning the clinic can revive a legal challenge later. Janet Crepps, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement that “it is not clear that the measure will have a d i re c t i m p a c t o n a n y women seeking abortion services at the Red River Women’s Clinic at this time.” The Bismarck-based fed-

eral judge temporarily blocked the state’s law that bans abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected — as early as six weeks into pregnancy — calling it “clearly invalid and unconstitutional.” Abortion rights advocates call the heartbeat law the most restrictive in the country and an attempt to shutter Red River Women’s Clinic. Supporters of the measure have said it’s a challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling that legalized abortion up until a fetus is considered viable, usually at 22 to 24 weeks. The clinic is not challenging another new North Dakota law that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, based on the disputed premise that a fetus can feel pain by then. Clinic officials have said the law does not apply because it doesn’t perform abortions after 16 weeks. Another new law requires a doctor who performs abortions to be a physician with hospital admitting privileges. A lawsuit challenging that measure has been combined with another one challenging a 2011 North Dakota law outlawing one of two drugs used in nonsurgical abortions. East Central Judge Wickham Corwin ruled in July that the 2011 law violates the state and U.S. constitutions. Corwin also signed a preliminary injunction in July blocking admitting-privileges law after opponents argued it would shut down the Fargo clinic.

Demolition of Medora’s oldest buildings halted MEDORA (AP) — Two of the oldest buildings in the western North Dakota town of Medora will remain standing after a proposal to remove them didn’t proceed at at a special Planning and Zoning Board meeting. The plan discussed Tuesday was to tear down Badlands Pizza Parlor and Dakota Cyclery and replace them with a modern-look-

ing building. The biggest issue for most of the speakers at the m e e t i n g , a t t e n d e d by roughly 30 people, was the fate of the bike shop, which specializes in setting up cyclists for trips along the popular Maah Daah Hey Trail in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. “People think it’s one of Continued on 9A

ly moved to pull a planned substation out of the battlefield area. Basin spokesman Curt Pearson said the tribes’ opposition to the project is a significant comment. He said Basin is considering a number of options, including moving the line off the field of battle, but, “We haven’t heard anyone say this is not needed. I don’t think that’s in question.” The oil patch has a huge appetite for electricity and Basin forecasts the region’s peak demand will grow from 800 megawatts now

to more than 2,000 megawatts in the next decade. The co-op said the first of three new gas-fired, 45megatwatt power plants went on line in the oil patch last week. It could be two months before the PSC approves a route permit for the transmission. Its approval will likely be contingent on federal approval of an Environmental Impact Statement, which is expected in March 2014. The environmental OK is required because Basin plans to use federal financing Continued on 9A

Tax relief

MIKE McCLEARY/Tribune

With the new property tax funding formula created during the last legislative session, homeowners and businesses like these in north Bismarck can expect lower property taxes from a proposal by the Bismarck School District.

Property taxes are likely to dip By HANNAH JOHNSON Bismarck Tribune The Bismarck School Board plans to reduce the amount of mills levied through property tax by about 26 percent. In 2 0 1 3 , t h e d i s t r i c t l e v i e d 138.39 mills. The proposed amount of mills for 2014 is 101.6 mills. This amount is actually lower that earlier projections, said Ed Gerhardt, the business manager for the Bismarck schools. Lowering property tax was a major goal of the Legislature this year. For public schools, the Legislature changed the funding formula, with the state paying for more of their budgets. As a part of this new funding formula, the Legislature bought down 50 mills of property tax for school districts. Those savings were intended to be passed on to taxpayers. The reason the Bismarck school district’s mills decrease isn’t around that 50 mark is because of new schools already approved by voters. In September 2012, voters author-

Ed Gerhardt, business manager for the Bismarck School District, is working on a way to provide property tax relief for residents.

ized three new schools — Lincoln and Liberty elementary schools and Legacy High School — to be built, increasing the mill levy in the process. Not including the estimated 14.3 mills levied to pay for the new schools, the total decrease would be about 51 mills. The board opened up a public com-

ment time during its Monday meeting for discussion on the district’s budget and property tax. No one came forward. Assuming a 9 percent increase on the value of a house valued at $150,000 in 2013, the property tax decrease for 2014 would be $186.62, or about 20 percent. Continued on 9A

Diplomats move on two fronts on Syria By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Key international players were moving on two diplomatic fronts Wednesday to try to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control, and a fresh effort

appeared to be underway to get the government and opposition to peace talks. The five veto-wielding members of the Security Council, who have been deeply divided over Syria, met late Wednesday to discuss what to include in a new resolution requiring

12 years ago

Big purchase

Friday

Nation pauses on Sept. 11 to pay tribute to terror victims — 2A

Taiwan agrees to buy $484.5M in wheat over 2 years — 1B

Taiwanese artist paints huge movie posters for theater

t h a t S y r i a’s c h e m i c a l weapons stockpile be secured and dismantled. They later left Russia’s U.N. mission without commenting. At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were head-

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ing to Geneva with teams of experts for broader-ranging talks today about the nuts and bolts of putting Syria’s chemical weapons under international control and destroying them, diplomats said. The U.N.-Arab League Continued on 9A


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