COMPILED by LAUREN DONOVAN

Bismarck Tribune

An industry as old as the era of the Cold War will possibly be revitalized.

With uranium mining potentially starting up again in North Dakota's western counties, some state officials want to meet with the public to talk about uranium mining rules.

State geologist Ed Murphy said he's organizing a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Belfield Memorial Hall.

Murphy said the time to put rules in place is before uranium activity gets under way.

Belfield is central to where uranium naturally occurs and old mines were scattered from throughout the southwestern counties, down into South Dakota, where a federally funded clean up is under way.

Murphy said uranium mining now is different from back in the '50s, when uraniferous coal seams were stripped open and the coal was primarily burned in open pits, leaving uranium-concentrated ash.

Now, such mining involves drilling wells, sinking oxygenated water into the wells, pumping water to the surface and using a specialized pellet to capture the uranium. The pellets are shipped to processing sites for uranium extraction.

Uranium occurs in lignite, sandstone and mudstone at depths of 100 to 400 feet.

Murphy said 60 pages of rules and regulations patterned after South Dakota are being reviewed now by the North Dakota Attorney General's office.

People who attend the Belfield meeting will learn about where uranium exists in the state, how it used to be mined and what the proposed new rules will require.

Interest in uranium is on the uptick and prices have climbed from $10 to $90 a pound.

- Billings County Pioneer

Football bargain

Logan Hehn, a student at Elgin High School, said he feels caught in the middle.

Hehn wrote a public letter for the Grant County News(paper), sharing how he feels about the situation between school boards in Grant County and nearby Flasher.

To recap, Flasher decided to send a bus into the Carson school district to pick up 16 kids who open enroll over to Flasher.

Carson, along with Elgin-New Leipzig, said it would dissolve a football cooperative with Flasher if it sent the bus.

The Flasher School Board paused, met again and stuck to its decision. The bus started picking up kids Monday, rather than meeting them out at the school district boundary.

Hehn said he remains loyal to his high school, but he can't help but agree with Flasher for putting education ahead of sports.

"I personally find it petty that the first thing thrown to the fate of the winds and considered most important was the football co-op," Hehn said. "I also feel hurt that my football team was the bargaining chip."

He said he and possibly other students are confused and don't have any say in the matter. Instead, they're "at the mercy of a bunch of people who are adults in the case."

Hehn says he knows the adult decision-makers and believes that they're good people.

"I just hope they don't let us down," he concludes.

- Grant County News

Taking it outside

A bar in Center has one more chance to clean up its act or face getting closed down.

Oliver County Sheriff Dave Hilliard told the Center City Council that the bar, Der Imbiss, is highest on the town's trouble spots.

He handed the council of list of complaints from November and December, many of them about fights started in Der Imbiss, but were sent on outside or taken over to another bar.

Hilliard said it was up to the council to decide whether to warn bar owners that their license is in jeopardy.

City Attorney John Mahoney advised the council that since it issues bar licenses, it has authority to revoke them, too.

Hilliard said some of the fights have required medical intervention and that owners of the Lone Wolf bar next door have called authorities because fights started at Der Imbiss have migrated one door down.

Mayor Richard Zarr looked at the complaint list and said, "This is ridiculous."

He also wanted to know, and the sheriff confirmed, that some people are served to the point of alcohol abuse by bar employees.

Councilman Chris Christianson asked if the owners of Der Imbiss could be invited to the February city meeting to discuss the situation.

- The Center Republican