CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) — Protesters celebrated a major victory in their push to reroute the Dakota Access oil pipeline away from a tribal water source but pledged to remain camped on federal land in North Dakota anyway, despite Monday’s government deadline to leave.

Hundreds of people at the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, encampment cheered and chanted “mni wichoni” — “water is life” in Lakota Sioux — after the Army Corps of Engineers refused Sunday to grant the company permission to extend the pipeline beneath a Missouri River reservoir.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters argue that extending the project beneath Lake Oahe would threaten the tribe’s water source and cultural sites. The segment is the last major sticking point for the four-state, $3.8 billion project.

“The whole world is watching,” said Miles Allard, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux. “I’m telling all our people to stand up and not to leave until this is over.”

Despite the deadline, authorities say they won’t forcibly remove the protesters.

The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, released a statement Sunday night slamming the Army Corps’ decision as politically motivated and alleging that President Obama’s administration was determined to delay the matter until he leaves office.

“The White House’s directive today to the Corps for further delay is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency,” the company said.

President-elect Donald Trump, a pipeline supporter, will take office in January, although it wasn’t immediately clear what steps his administration would be able to take to reverse the Army Corps’ latest decision or how quickly that could happen.

That uncertainty, Allard said, is part of the reason the protesters won’t leave.

“We don’t know what Trump is going to do,” Allard said.

Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said in a news release that her decision was based on the need to “explore alternate routes” for the pipeline’s crossing. Her full decision doesn’t rule out that it could cross under the reservoir or north of Bismarck.

“Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it’s clear that there’s more work to do,” Darcy said. “The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing.”

North Dakota’s leaders criticized the decision, with Gov. Jack Dalrymple calling it a “serious mistake” that “prolongs the dangerous situation” of having several hundred protesters who are camped out on federal land during cold, wintry weather. U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer said it’s a “very chilling signal” for the future of infrastructure in the United States.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Sunday that the Department of Justice will “continue to monitor the situation” and stands “ready to provide resources to help all those who can play a constructive role in easing tensions.”

“The safety of everyone in the area – law enforcement officers, residents and protesters alike – continues to be our foremost concern,” she added.

Carla Youngbear of the Meskwaki Potawatomi tribe made her third trip from central Kansas to be at the protest site.

“I have grandchildren, and I’m going to have great grandchildren,” she said. “They need water. Water is why I’m here.”

Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman Dave Archambault didn’t respond to messages left seeking comment.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, whose department has done much of the policing for the protests, said that “local law enforcement does not have an opinion” on the easement and that his department will continue to “enforce the law.”

U.S. Secretary for the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement that the Corps’ “thoughtful approach … ensures that there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at potential impacts.”

Earlier Sunday, an organizer with Veterans Stand for Standing Rock said tribal elders had asked the military veterans not to have confrontations with law enforcement officials, adding the group is there to help out those who’ve dug in against the project.

About 250 veterans gathered about a mile from the main camp for a meeting with organizer Wes Clark Jr., the son of former Democratic presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark. The group had said about 2,000 veterans were coming, but it wasn’t clear how many actually arrived.

“We have been asked by the elders not to do direct action,” Wes Clark Jr. said. He added that the National Guard and law enforcement have armored vehicles and are armed, warning: “If we come forward, they will attack us.”

Instead, he told the veterans, “If you see someone who needs help, help them out.”

Some veterans will take part in a prayer ceremony Monday, during which they’ll apologize for historical detrimental conduct by the military toward Native Americans and ask for forgiveness, Clark said. He also called the veterans’ presence “about right and wrong and peace and love.”

Authorities moved a blockade from the north end of the Backwater Bridge with the conditions that protesters stay south of it and come there only if there is a prearranged meeting. Authorities also asked protesters not to remove barriers on the bridge, which they have said was damaged in the late October conflict that led to several people being hurt, including a serious arm injury.

“That heavy presence is gone now and I really hope in this de-escalation they’ll see that, and in good faith . the leadership in those camps will start squashing the violent factions,” Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said in a statement, reiterating that any violation “will result in their arrest.”

Steven Perry, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran who’s a member of the Little Traverse Bay band of Odawa Indians in Michigan, spoke of one of the protesters’ main concerns: that the pipeline could pollute drinking water. “This is not just a native issue,” he said, “This is an issue for everyone.”

PRATT, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas farmer has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop a new wind farm from operating out of concern for the endangered whooping crane. Edwin Petrowsky of Pratt County filed the lawsuit last month seeking injunctions against NextEra Energy Resources, whose Ninnescah Wind Farm is opens next week.

Petrowsky contends the wind farm is in a major flyway for whooping cranes. There are about 330 wild cranes in that migrating flock.

The Hutchinson News reports that Petrowsky contends the company has failed to obtain an “incidental taking permit” that would allow the incidental killing of some birds.

NextEra spokesman Steve Stengel says the company has worked with state and federal authorities, and that the siting of the turbines took the birds’ migratory patterns into account.

WELLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — Four people have died in a two-vehicle accident in southern Kansas.

The Wichita Eagle reports the accident occurred Saturday night on U.S. 81 north of Wellington.

Sumner County sheriff’s Sgt. Lee Patterson says one of the vehicles crossed into the oncoming lane, colliding with the second vehicle. Two people in each car died.

The victims’ identities haven’t been released.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The central Kansas town of Frederick has dwindled over the decades to just 10 people. Its only real expense is a $55-a-month electric bill for a half-dozen or so street lights that illuminate the unpaved streets.

Some residents want to dissolve their city, but that hasn’t been easy.

For a community with nine registered voters, the tally at the ballot box last month was 13-7 in favor of keeping Frederick a third-class city.

Workers at the polling place 5 miles to the west handed out the wrong ballots to some voters who live outside of it. Local and state officials were at a loss for what to do and are letting the results stand.

Frederick is just off a state highway about 75 miles northwest of Wichita.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A horse drawn carriage was involved in an accident on the Country Club Plaza, injuring three people and a horse.

The Kansas City Star reports that the accident occurred Saturday night and witnesses said the horse appeared spooked as it ran loose into oncoming traffic before crashing the carriage into a wall.

The fate of the horse and the extent of injuries to the driver and two passengers are unknown. None of the injuries appeared life-threatening.

Kansas City Carriages, operator of the Plaza carriages and owner of the horse injured in the wreck, did not return calls Sunday seeking comment. The carriages are not controlled by the owners of the Plaza but are regulated by the city.

Police also released no new details about the injured.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. regulators are calling out AT&T and Verizon for exempting their own video apps from data caps on customers’ cellphones.

The Federal Communications Commission sent letters to the country’s biggest wireless carriers Thursday saying the way they handle the practice, known as “zero rating,” can hurt competition and consumers. The agency had warned AT&T in November and said Friday that AT&T’s response did not ease its concerns.

Other services — say Hulu or Netflix — can pay Verizon and AT&T so that consumers could also use those apps without eating up cellphone data. The FCC says that could harm the market for streaming services as it makes it more expensive for internet companies to compete with video services that are owned by the carriers.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man who spent eight years behind bars for murder has been acquitted in a retrial.

Michael Amick, now 40, was initially convicted of second-degree murder and second-degree arson in the 2008 death of his wife’s grandmother in southeast Missouri. The Missouri Supreme Court ordered a retrial last year.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a jury on Thursday found Amick not guilty.

The conviction was overturned when the Supreme Court ruled that the trial judge violated state law when he called back an alternate juror, who had already been discharged, to take over for another juror who developed health problems after five hours of deliberations.

Leona Maxine Vaughan was 67 when she was shot and burned in Oregon County, near the Arkansas border.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The former general manager of a suburban St. Louis car dealership is accused of defrauding the company, causing nearly $2 million in losses.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in St. Louis on Friday announced the indictment of 42-year-old William Cafarella, now living in Davie, Florida.

Cafarella was general manager of West County Honda in Ellisville, Missouri. He received monthly bonuses equal to 10 percent of profits.

Federal prosecutors say that from September 2011 through June 2013, Cafarella misrepresented the profitability of the dealership by lying about the sale of 308 cars, causing manufacturer’s warranties to begin on each vehicle.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says the scheme netted Cafarella nearly $400,000 and cost the dealership $1.8 million.

The indictment also accuses Cafarella of taking more than $50,000 in bribes and kickbacks.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Police are investigating the thefts of three Salvation Army fundraising Christmas kettles in the St. Louis area.

Authorities say the thefts occurred in a period of just more than a week, all at Schnucks stores. The crimes happened either between bell ringer shifts or when the ringers were on break.

Two of the crimes happened Nov. 22, one in Affton and one in Ladue. The most recent kettle theft was in south St. Louis on Wednesday.

No one knows how much money was taken but donations into the kettle can sometimes reach as much as $1,000 per day.

LINDSBORG, Kan. (AP) — Bethany College plans to offer free tuition to first-time freshmen who graduate from McPherson or Saline county high schools.

The school in Lindsborg announced Thursday that the offer will begin in the fall 2017 semester and last five years. The scholarships are valued at more than $110,000.

Bethany College President William Jones said in a statement that the college wanted to invest in its community. He says the program will allow young people in the two counties a chance to attend college close to home and perhaps stay in the area after they graduate.

Students who receive a “Bethany Good Life Scholarship” will be required to live on the Lindsborg campus.

Bethany College has an enrollment of just more than 700.