Oil

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The chairman of the U.S. Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee is touring the western North Dakota oil patch.

DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — Dickinson police say there is a new scam targeting people looking for housing in southwestern North Dakota.

Another sign of the growing pains in the areas near the North Dakota oilfields is the relatively low salaries for teachers in Williston.

DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — Rural airports in North Dakota that are seeing an increase in business because of the western oil boom are getting millions of dollars in state oil impact grants.

So-called "Outlaw" biker gangs are gaining a foothold in western North Dakota, law enforcement officials report.

A team investigating the recent deadly oil train derailment and explosion in Canada came to North Dakota this past week.

A pantry in the North Dakota oil patch was depleted to under a dozen cans of food before the shelves were restocked for the weekend.

Adding fuel to the current "pipeline" controversy, comes this speculation from Scientific American magazine: transporting of oil by rail is likely to increase in the near future.

A train carrying oil from the Bakkens to eastern Canada ran off the track in Quebec, igniting explosions and fires that destroyed a busy downtown district and killed five people.

The number of homeless people is soaring as job seekers flock to North Dakota to take advantage of the so-called oil boom, the director of an advocacy group says.