Compiled by LAUREN DONOVAN

Bismarck Tribune

It appears Wishek bar owner Michael S. Jacobson may have had a little too much of his own inventory when he popped a customer in his bar, Blondie's Lounge, back in November.

Since then, he's been charged with simple assault.

According to documents in South Central District Court, Jacobson was exchanging words with several customers and bar employees, and lit into Michael VanGorkum when VanGorkum confronted him about his behavior.

Jacobson got in a couple of punches to VanGorkum's right side before he was restrained by other customers.

Jacobson has a court appearance Monday in Ashley.

- The Wishek Star

Slowing life down

Beulah police debuted their newest tool to monitor and hopefully reduce speeding in town.

The department spent $3,000 for one of those mobile speed monitors, the kind that tells drivers how fast they're going as they approach the flashing monitor.

Police Chief Ken Voegele said the monitor tracks data, but not license numbers or other identifying information.

In fact, it's not used to catch speeders, so much as it is to help diagnose whether and where speeding is a problem in town.

Now, when someone calls to complain about traffic moving too fast through the neighborhood, officers can set up the monitor and find out when and how often speeding occurs, saving an officer time sitting there and trying to assess the situation for a day or more.

For example, the monitor tracked traffic for two days on Chaffee Row.

Of 530 vehicles, 194 were going at or under the 25 mph speed limit. The other 336 were at or over the limit, and if they were over, more than half were over 31 mph, clear up to 55 mph.

Voegele said the monitor also can help planning for city street improvement projects by tracking how much traffic goes through at any given location.

He said the monitor does cause people to think about their speed, and that's a plus.

"It's just a good reminder to people because of our fast-paced days," he said.

- Beulah Beacon