BISMARCK — North Dakota’s oil patch, which has helped the state boast a near billion-dollar budget surplus and a booming economy, has been voted the state’s top news story of 2010 by print and broadcast members of The Associated Press.

North Dakota is on pace to pump a record 110 million barrels of oil in 2010, up from 79.7 last year and more than double the amount produced less than three years ago.

More than 95 percent of the rigs drilling in North Dakota are aiming at the rich Bakken shale and Three Forks-Sanish oil reservoirs in western North Dakota. Fueled by the state’s oil boom, North Dakota’s population jumped almost 5 percent during the last decade, and just under the peak population from 80 years ago.

Ranked second on the state’s Top 10 list was the election success for Republicans, with former Gov. John Hoeven winning his U.S. Senate race with 76 percent of the vote and Fargo state Rep. Rick Berg defeating 18-year Democratic incumbent Earl Pomeroy for North Dakota’s only U.S. House seat. The victories gave Republicans their first presence in North Dakota’s congressional delegation since 1986.

The University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname was No. 3, with a state Supreme Court ruling and a Board of Higher Education decision retire for good the nickname after a four-year legal battle with the NCAA, which considers it hostile and abusive.

Red River flooding was voted the fourth top story of the year. Residents in the Fargo area engaged in a massive sandbagging effort to stop major flooding from the Red River for the second straight year, then voted to approve a sales tax to help pay for a diversion project.

The fifth-ranked story was drainage options for the swollen Devils Lake, which has risen almost 30 feet since the early 1990s and has swamped more than 200 square miles of land. Federal authorities agreed to allow higher sulfate levels in the Sheyenne River between Devils Lake and the Baldhill Dam to help with more rapid pumping of floodwaters from Devils Lake. A water outlet on the lake’s east end and increasing the pumping capacity of an existing outlet is proposed.

Rounding out the top 10 news stories of the year:

6. — John Hoeven becomes the first governor in North Dakota history to leave office early without being forced out or carried out. Republicans have a banner year at the polls; five GOP statewide officeholders win re-election easily, and Republicans strengthen their legislative majorities in both the House and Senate.

7. — A report by the state auditor’s office singled out five instances in which North Dakota State University failed to follow “principles of proper stewardship” in spending public money. That came on the heels of another audit that accused NDSU of failing to properly report spending on a new president’s house that was authorized for $900,000 and cost at least $1.6 million; a downtown campus building that went $3.5 million over its original $20 million price tag; and a $640,000 renovation of the president’s office.

8. — An Oklahoma City handyman is found guilty on four counts for beating a Fargo dentist to death with a hammer. Prosecutors say Michael Nakvinda was hired by Philip Gattuso’s father-in-law to kill Gattuso. Gene Kirkpatrick, the man who allegedly paid Nakvinda $3,000 in expenses for the hit, faces a murder conspiracy charge and a March 2011 trial.

9. — The Bank of North Dakota reports a $58.1 million profit, setting a profit record for the sixth straight year. The bank, however, faces the loss of its student lending business because of a federal takeover of student lending. The state Mill and Elevator posts a record profit of $13.2 million, a year after the Grand Forks mill suffered its largest loss ever.

10.— North Dakota lawmakers consider options to shore up the state’s pension funds for public school teachers and government workers, which were weakened by a stock-market swoon two years ago. The director of the state’s Retirement and Investment Office commits suicide and is replaced by a former Bear Stearns executive.

Tags: north dakota, news, oil, energy

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