Judge orders evaluation for man

FARGO (AP) - A judge has ordered a psychiatric evaluation for a man accused of charging the cockpit of a United Airlines flight and forcing an emergency landing in Fargo.

A federal complaint charges 25-year-old Andrew James Smith of Los Molinos, California, with interfering with the duties of a flight crew member. Authorities say he ran toward the cockpit on a Thanksgiving Day flight from Washington, D.C. to Sacramento.

Smith is being held in the Cass County Jail. U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Klein delayed further proceedings in the case until the evaluation is finished.

Minot and Grand Forks seek airline

MINOT (AP) - City officials are considering working with Grand Forks to recruit more air service.

The Minot City Council's Airport Committee has ordered the city staff to investigate a cooperative arrangement.

Grand Forks has a $300,000 federal grant for recruiting an airline. Minot received a $500,000 federal grant for the same purpose in October. Both cities, served by Northwest Airlines, want to recruit a westbound carrier.

Minot airport manager Patrick Dame said there could be questions about whether a consultant hired jointly would work just as hard for one community as for the other. He also said Grand Forks is running out of time in its three-year period for using or forfeiting its grant, while Minot is just starting its three-year period.

Minot Alderman Larry Frey said cooperation is worth considering. City Manager David Waind said the staff should study the idea.

"It's valid that we should study it a little bit. If there's an opportunity there, we will bring it back to the next meeting," Waind said.

Cold weather blows over N.D.

Northern North Dakota is in the deep freeze.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill advisory for the region through mid-afternoon.

Forecasters say temperatures in the single digits and strong winds will combine to make it feel like 15-below to 30-below zero.

The cold weather comes on the heels of snow and near-blizzard conditions earlier this week in some parts of the state. Stores that sell and repair snow removal equipment say they've been doing brisk business.

Associated Press

Consultant says pipeline a risk

An environmental expert hired by the developers of a proposed oil pipeline said the chance that a pipeline leak could threaten Fargo's water supply is almost zero.

Heidi Tillquist, a risk assessment specialist for ENSR, a consulting and engineering firm, said there was a chance of oil reaching Fargo about once in every 1,400 years.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission finished a two-day hearing Wednesday about the risk that the planned Keystone pipeline poses to Lake Ashtabula and the Sheyenne River, which the state's largest city uses as a backup municipal water supply.

Tillquist said she reviewed information from consultants hired by the city of Fargo to explore the pipeline's proposed route, which approaches Lake Ashtabula and the Sheyenne in some locations in southeastern North Dakota. It would cross under the river near Fort Ransom.

Oil would need to get through the Bald Hill Dam, which forms the lake north of Valley City, and travel about 230 miles along the Sheyenne before it reached an intake Fargo uses to draw water from the river.

Associated Press