By JULIE PACE and MATT APUZZO

Associated Press

W A S H I N G T O N —Osama bin Laden, the glow-ering mastermind behindthe Sept. 11, 2001, terrorattacks that murderedthousands of Americans,was killed in an operationled by the United States,President Barack Obamasaid Sunday.

A small team of Ameri-cans killed bin Laden in afirefight Sunday at a com-pound in Pakistan, the pres-ident said in a dramatic late-night statement at the WhiteHouse.

A jubilant crowd gatheredoutside the White House asword spread of bin Laden’sdeath after a global manhuntthat lasted nearly a decade.

“Justice has been done,”the president said.

Former President GeorgeW. Bush, who was in officeon the day of the attacks,issued a written statementhailing bin Laden’s death as amomentous achievement.“The fight against terror goeson, but tonight America hassent an unmistakable mes-sage: No matter how long it

takes, justice will be done,”he said.

Few details were immedi-ately available of the opera-tion that resulted in binLaden’s death, although thepresident said none of the

Americans involved washarmed.

The development camejust months before the 10thanniversary of the Sept. 11attacks on the World TradeCenters and Pentagon,

orchestrated by bin Laden’sal-Qaida organization, thatkilled more than 3,000 peo-ple.

The attacks set off a chainof events that led the UnitedS t a t e s i n t o w a r s i nAfghanistan, and then Iraq,and America’s entire intelli-gence apparatus was over-hauled to counter the threatof more terror attacks athome.

Al-Qaida was also blamedfor the 1998 bombings of twoU.S. embassies in Africa thatkilled 231 people and the2000 attack on the USS Colethat killed 17 Americansailors in Yemen, as well ascountless other plots, somesuccessful and some foiled.

A senior administrationofficial says Obama gave thefinal order for U.S. officials togo after bin Laden on Friday.

The official added that asmall team found their quar-ry hiding in a large home inan affluent suburb of Islam-abad. The raid occurred inthe early morning hoursSunday.

Obama spoke with Bushand former President BillClinton Sunday night toinform them of the develop-ments.

57/34Details, 6B

MONDAY,MAY 2, 2011

www.bismarcktribune.com75 cents Serving the region since 1873 ■ 250-8210 to subscribe

Sixth straightTwins swept by Royals to extend losing streak

Mortal KombatGame remains as

brain-dead as ever

Sports, 1D

Life, 1C

TuesdayAmid ‘war onobesity,’ skepticswarn of stigma

Classified . . . . . . . . 3CCrossword . . . . 4C, 8CDakota . . . . . . . . . . 1B

Deaths . . . . . . . . . . 5AMorning Briefing. . . 3AMovies . . . . . . . . . . 5B

General info. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-472-2273Circulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8210Classified. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258-6900

Rain-swollen riverU.S. Supreme Courtrefuses to halt plan toblast open Ill. levee — 2A

N.D. historyKids challenged toknow their state inhistory bee — 1B

All wet

By BRIAN GEHRING and LAUREN DONOVAN

Bismarck Tribune

Emergency crews were workingSunday to get a grip on the extent ofdamage from Saturday’s blizzard thatknocked out power to an estimated30,000 customers in northwesternNorth Dakota and eastern Montana.

The storm also is blamed for an oilwell fire near Watford City.

D a l e H a u g e n ,manager of Moun-trail-Williams Elec-tric Cooperative, said40 workers from itsown system, along

with about 200 workers already con-tracted to work in the oil patch, weremobilizing Sunday as the damagewas being assessed.

“All of our own crews were out thismorning in all portions of our servicearea,” Haugen said. He said the focuswill be to get the main transmissionlines up then work outward fromthere to get others on line. The stormtook down all five main electricaltransmission lines serving the region.

Williston received 5.9 inches ofnew snow and had winds gusting upto 63 mph, according the National

TOM STROMME/Tribune Spring fieldwork had started by April 21 of last year in southwest North Dakota, where farmers were taking advantage of above-normal temperatures and dry conditions to begin the growing season. This photo was taken in Grant County.

By JENNY MICHAELBismarck Tribune

Last year, 23,449 acres of Mor-ton County farmland sat emptybecause spring conditions weretoo wet to get a crop planted. InJackie Buckley’s 20 years as thecounty extension agent, she can’tremember dealing with prevent-ed planting before 2010.

Prevented planting is a cropinsurance coverage that paysfarmers for a percentage of theaverage yield on fields on whichconditions have kept them fromgetting a crop planted before fed-

eral deadlines.Already, this spring appears

likely to be as difficult to get a cropin as the last two years in whichwet springs have followed snowywinters. Farmers are hopeful theywill be able to get something inthe ground, though it is possiblethat they will have to switch whichcrops they plant to account for a

shorter growing season and feder-al crop insurance deadlines.

According to the April 24 cropand weather report from NationalAgricultural Statistics Service, theestimated average start date forfieldwork in North Dakota will beMay 6 — compared to May 2 in2009 and April 18 in 2010. Snow-fall has been far above average

across the state, soil temperaturesare below normal, and May isforecast to bring above-averageprecipitation and below-normaltemperatures. The storms overthe weekend could create moredelays for some parts of the state.

“It’s been a wet cantankerousspring, to say the least,” said TerryWeckerly, a Hurdsfield farmer andpresident of the North DakotaGrain Growers Association.

“On the bright side, we’re goingto have lots of hay and the pas-tures are going to be great,” Buck-ley said.

Farmers itching to get into fields INSIDEInterstatereopens afterblizzard, 7A

“It’s been a wet cantankerous spring, to saythe least.”

Terry Weckerly, president of the North Dakota Grain Growers Association

Continued on 7A Continued on 7A

Crewswork torestorepower

BIN LADEN DEAD

Continued on 7A

Associated PressLEFT: This undated photo shows al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.ABOVE: A crowd outside the White House in Washington, D.C., cheers Sunday uponhearing the news that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is dead.

President:‘Justice hasbeen done’