Bills mounting in nickname dispute

GRAND FORKS (AP) - Legal bills in the University of North Dakota lawsuit against the NCAA are nearing $1 million.

As of the end of August, attorneys had billed just under $800,000, the UND Foundation said.

UND is suing over postseason use of its Fighting Sioux nickname. The NCAA says the name is hostile and abusive. UND says it is used with respect.

The lawsuit is being funded by private donations to a litigation fund managed by the UND Foundation. The money is going to Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem's office and a private Utah law firm.

The NCAA has not released the cost of its defense in the lawsuit.

Minot High football stadium unfit

MINOT (AP) - Minot High School is scheduling its football games at Minot State University's field because the high school field has been deemed unsafe.

Superintendent David Looysen said some of the seats in Duane Carlson Stadium were damaged so heavily by rains in June and July that they are not safe for spectators. So much of the seating would have to be roped off that there would not be adequate seating for football games, he said.

Officials are scheduling games at the MSU field while looking at options for replacing the stadium seating. Replacing the seating could cost more than $600,000, Looysen said.

Hiker from N.D. dies on 8-mile hike

MESA, Ariz. (AP) - A woman who became ill while on an 8-mile hike in 105-degree heat has died.

The 31-year-old woman's name will not be released until authorities notify her family members, who live in North Dakota.

The woman's boyfriend told Maricopa County sheriff's deputies the two began their hike just after 10 a.m. Saturday in Usery Mountain Park at the western end of the Goldfield Mountains in east Mesa.

She became ill along the way, but the couple were able to make it back to the parking lot, where they called 911 around 2 p.m. The woman was taken to Mountain Vista Hospital, where she was pronounced dead less than an hour later, Deputy Detective Aaron Douglas said.

The high in east Mesa on Saturday was 105 degrees.