Shrinking lake, shrinking access

By Jeff Beach | Deputy Editor

By Jeff Beach

Low water levels on Lake Sakakawea mean boat ramps that have been submerged for nearly 20 years will likely be needed to access the reservoir next year. 

A lack of snowfall in the Rocky Mountains led to decreased runoff into the Missouri River basin in the spring and low water levels on Lake Sakakawea all summer, with drought conditions persisting in North Dakota and Montana. 

As the lake level has gone down, some ramps and marinas can’t be used. Closed ramps mean more traffic and longer wait times at the boat ramps that remain open. 

Bob Frohlich, fisheries development supervisor with North Dakota Game and Fish, said the department is preparing to use low-water ramps that were added to the lake in the years leading up to its all-time low level in 2007.

By Michael Achterling

Applications are open for a new wave of $50.5 million in Rural Health Transformation Program grants through the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services.

New grants are available across an array of topic areas including childcare for rural healthcare workers, technology support and equipment and technology upgrades for rural ambulance services.

By Shalina Chatlani

In 49 states, the number of people enrolled in Obamacare plans has declined since Congress made coverage more expensive by allowing federal subsidies to expire at the end of last year.

The lone exception was New Mexico, the only state that has used its own money to fully replace the expired aid, according to a new analysis by KFF, a health policy research group.

In North Dakota, enrollment dropped 8%, the analysis shows.

A team led by the North Dakota Geological Survey is excavating a mammoth skeleton that’s been hidden under a garage in the northwest part of the state.

The mammoth was first discovered in the 1980s, but paleontology crews have spent weeks this summer working to recover it. Monitor reporter Michael Achterling talks to host Craig Blumenshine about the rare find, which is the most complete mammoth discovered in the state.

A Closer Look with the Monitor is a partnership with Prairie Public's Main Street.

By Jane Norman

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro moved Friday to dismiss charges against a former Olympian canoeist alleged to have damaged part of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Pirro had charged David Hearn, of Bethesda, Maryland, with destruction of property of more than $1,000 for allegedly vandalizing the newly refinished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 19. President Donald Trump, who has overseen the multi-million-dollar renovation of the Reflecting Pool, blamed vandals for damage to it.

But in a 20-page motion to dismiss filed by the U.S. attorney’s office, Pirro said her office wouldn’t have sought charges if the Interior Department, which manages the Lincoln Memorial, had initially shared more information about repair work on the Reflecting Pool.

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