Latest North Dakota news, sports, business and entertainment:

PRESIDENTIAL THREAT ND man to plead guilty to threatening Obama Bismarck, N.D. (AP) A North Dakota man says he will plead guilty to threatening to kill President Obama.

Eric Allen Hirchert is charged in federal court with threats against the president. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

The plea agreement released Wednesday says Hirchert told his parents he was going to shoot Obama and posted a statement on his brother's Facebook page in October that he was going to kill the president and that it was no joke.

The 22-year-old Hirchert was charged following an arrest for allegedly assaulting his mother. Hirchert's mother told authorities that her son had been threatening to kill Obama for a couple of weeks and struck her in the face after she told him to stop.

WETLANDS FINE Judge denies appeal for ND man in wetlands case Fargo, N.D. (AP) A federal judge has denied an appeal from a northeastern North Dakota man who was fined $10,000 for draining wetlands on his property.

U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson on Monday upheld a 2008 ruling that foUND Alvin Peterson guilty of improperly draining wetlands under easement to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Peterson was ordered to pay the fine and serve five years' probation.

Peterson, a retired farmer from Lawton, has been at odds with the Fish and Wildlife Service over wetlands for more than 40 years.

The agency had an easement contract with his father for potholes to house wildlife. Peterson contested the contract and has said he wanted to put the land back to the way it was supposed to be.

Information from: Grand Forks Herald, http://www.grandforksherald.com TransCanada PIPELINE TransCanada to consider US pipeline 'onramp' BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) TransCanada executives say they will consider letting Montana and North Dakota crude oil onto a proposed pipeline to the Gulf Coast, after hearing from U.S. oil producers.

Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. aims to start construction this year on the 1,980-mile Keystone XL pipeline. It's part of a $12 billion investment to move crude from Canada's oil sands to refineries in the United States.

The company previously rebuffed calls to build an "onramp" for crude from Montana and North Dakota, but facing political pressure to reconsider, TransCanada Vice President Robert Jones said Wednesday that Keystone XL was "open for business" with U.S.

producers.

Jones made the pledge after meeting with oil company representatives assembled in Billings by Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven.

Fighting Sioux nickname Standing Rock members find support for UND vote Fort Yates, N.D. (AP) Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who support the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname have collected 850 signatures on a petition to bring the matter to a vote on the reservation.

Archie Fool Bear says the signatures will soon be turned over to the tribal council, along with a request for a vote within 90 to 120 days.

Under a lawsuit settlement with the NCAA, the state Board of Higher education and UND agreed to begin retiring the Fighting Sioux nickname on Nov. 30 if they could not obtain permission from the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux tribes to continue using it.

Spirit Lake tribal members have voted to support the nickname, but Standing Rock has not shown interest in changing its bylaws to allow a vote on the issue.

Information from: Grand Forks Herald, http://www.grandforksherald.com ND TOURISM Tourism numbers up in North Dakota BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) North Dakota Tourism officials say the state saw increases in five key areas last year.

In 2009, state park visitation was up 19 percent, business and leisure travel up 10 percent, hotel profitability up nearly 6 percent, airline boardings up more than 5 percent and lodging tax revenue up 4 percent.

Tourism Director Sara Otte (OT'-ee) Coleman says some of the increases can be attributed to more activity in western North Dakota's oil patch.

She says the state is a bright spot as the tourism industry struggles nationally.

OBIT-BOUTROUS ND man who started Radio Free Europe dies at 93 Mandan, N.D. (AP) A Bismarck man who gained national attention for fighting communism during the Cold War has died.

Floyd Boutrous passed away Tuesday at a Mandan Nursing Home. He was 93.

Boutrous helped develop Radio Free Europe in the 1950s. The group aired broadcasts behind the Iron Curtain and launched balloons filled with pamphlets over communist Europe in 1954 for people who were deprived of news.

Boutrous is survived by five sons, six grandchildren and three siblings.

A memorial service is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday at St.

George Episcopal Church in Bismarck.

Information from: Grand Forks Herald, http://www.grandforksherald.com (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 03-04-10 0201CST