• BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Strong winds are causing problems for motorists, electrical crews and even buildings in the Dakotas.
• The National Weather Service has posted high wind advisories and warnings for a second day, with gusts of more than 60 mph in some areas.
• Scattered power outages have occurred in the two states. The Dickinson Press reports a building under construction in the southwestern North Dakota town of New England collapsed. Tumbleweeds in Dickinson piled up as high as some buildings. Hess Corp. shut down some oil rig activity in the region.
• In South Dakota, KCCR radio reports wind gusts broke off the top of a 40-foot electrical pole in Fort Pierre, leading to some power outages. Aberdeen trucker Don Neifer told the American News he decided to get off the road Wednesday afternoon.
•

• BUCYRUS, N.D. (AP) -- More than two dozen people were evacuated as a wildfire swept through the southwestern North Dakota town of Bucyrus (byoo-SY'-ruhs).
• No major injuries were reported in the Wednesday fire, but authorities say there is little left of the town. A shelter was set up in the nearby town of Hettinger for people left homeless.
• Authorities also had a plan in place to evacuate Hettinger but firefighters from numerous agencies in North Dakota and South Dakota got the fire under control late Wednesday despite winds gusting more than 60 mph. The cause of the blaze was not immediately determined.
• The fire prompted state transportation officials to temporarily shut down a portion of U.S. Highway 12 Wednesday night.
•

• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson says a Sioux Falls man with several aliases has pleaded guilty to federal charges of passport fraud and misuse of a Social Security number.
• Johnson says 56-year-old Mark Steven Shepard faces up to 10 years in prison on the fraud conviction and up to five years in prison on the Social Security card of

(Continued on page 15)