The Bureau of Indian Affairs has activated "Operation Dakota Peacekeeper," which will put 20 more police officers on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation starting next week.

Operation Dakota Peacekeeper was planned by an incident response team that addresses natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina, wild fires, terrorism and rioting.

This operation is called Emergency Service Function 13 and is a five-point plan to address high crime and drugs on Standing Rock, ensure safety and protect life and property.

BIA director Pat Ragsdale said statistics show that crime on Standing Rock is six times the national average. Another reason for activating Operation Dakota Peacekeeper is a 2005 report that found violent sex crimes against women go unreported, uninvestigated and unprosecuted.

The addition of 20 officers will bring the number of law enforcement personnel to 36. Half will be on patrol and the other half will be in administration, supervision and corrections. The new officers will need local housing and hotels.

Ragsdale said he has alerted new law enforcement graduates for supplemental help.

- Teton Times

Krause's in Washburn

For years, passersby on Highway 83 at Washburn have looked to the west and read the words "Bill's Super Valu," on the storefront there.

Next month, that sign will change to read: Krause's Super Valu.

Joel Joersz, co-owner of Bill's along with his brother, Todd, confirmed Monday a deal with Dalles Krause Jr. and Kari Olson was done and the brother-sister team will take over June 9.

Krause and Olson are owners of Krause''s Super Valu in Hazen and expanded last year with the purchase of the Super Valu store in Garrison.

The Joersz brothers have owned the Washburn store since 1997.

Clinic closes early

The Hebron Clinic closed Friday, a month earlier than planned, because of staffing problems and resignations.

Jim Opdahl, interim administrator of Jacobson Memorial Hospital at Elgin, which operates the clinic, said staff issues made it impossible to remain open.

Some staff will remain at the clinic through June 13 to accommodate clinic patients who want to pick up their medical records. After that time, the records will be available through the Elgin hospital.

At the same time, the Hebron clinic board of directors is telling the public it is working to find a new provider for the clinic.

In a notice to the community, the directors said they can't at this time disclose which facility is interested in taking over the clinic.

"We want you to know that there is interest and they will tour our clinic this week," the board's notice says.

The notice says it will keep the public informed of progress and will be open and up front with information.

Anyone who has questions about the clinic's future can contact Jim Heinert at 878-4399, or Muriel Stiller at 878-4372.

- Hebron Herald

Done deal

The last payment amounted to 1 percent of a pretty big number.

When Dale Johnson handed the Napoleon School Board a check for $4,600, it represented payment in full on a $450,000 renovation project and addition to the school's gym and athletic facilities.

Johnson, who represents the renovation committee, said no taxpayer dollars were used for the project.

A couple of things still need doing, however.

The company that installed the new bleachers says it will come back and adjust the spacing between them, which is only 24 inches, when 26 inches were in the specifications.

Also, an anonymous donor, who already put $40,000 toward the project, has agreed to contribute another $10,000. The money will be used to repair lockers in the new addition and anything leftover could go toward security cameras, both in the new locker and wrestling area and school wide.

- Napoleon Homestead

Gas attack

If it hurts at the pump, imagine buying 25,000 gallons of gasoline every year.

That's the amount purchased by the McLean County Sheriff's Department and budget makers are feeling the pain.

The county estimates it will spend $112,000 on fuel next year, compared to $86,000 for this year.

County sheriff Don Charging said to make matters worse, the cost of ammunition doubled last year.

What it all boils down to is the effect on the contracts the county has to provide law enforcement to county communities.

Les Korgel, county auditor and treasurer, said the contracts range from the lowest of $1,000 a year for a town the size of Butte for six hours of coverage a week to $107,000 for Garrison, which gets two investigative officers and five regular duty officers.

Korgel said it's tough to compete for employees, when the county can pay $35,000 for an officer on shift work, compared to the oil industry, where workers can make $100,000 without performing shift work.

Korgel said the county needs to figure out a way to equalize costs by 2010, so amounts charged to cities are fair and equitable. Right now, the county absorbs the majority of the contract costs.

Charging said the high price of fuel is having another effect: people are vacationing closer to home, using local recreation areas, which in turn, requires more visibility from law enforcement.

- Leader-News