wbPM2CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 25 TO 30. NORTH WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH.

.VETERANS DAY…SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 40S. EAST WINDS AROUND

5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTH IN THE AFTERNOON.

.FRIDAY NIGHT…CLEAR. LOWS 30 TO 35.

.SATURDAY…SUNNY. HIGHS 55 TO 60.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…CLEAR. LOWS 35 TO 40.

.SUNDAY…SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 50S.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS IN THE MID 30S.

.MONDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 50S.

.MONDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 35 TO 40.

.TUESDAY…SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 50S.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE MID 30S.

.WEDNESDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 50 TO 55.

 

Bismarck (CSi)  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Weather Service (NWS) awarded the North Dakota State Hospital with an Institution Award for recording daily weather observations for 125 consecutive years. Staff members have recorded precipitation, temperature and other observations daily, without fail, since the hospital became part of the voluntary Cooperative Weather Observation Program in 1891 – two years after North Dakota gained statehood.

 

Historic weather data is used to study an area’s climate. Daily weather observations also help shape forecasts. The data is used by meteorologists, universities, agricultural specialists, insurance companies and other organizations, and is available online through NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information at www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/search.

 

Heating Plant Supervisor Duane Duff has been a part of the observation team for the past 30 years. He says, “This is an award for the hospital, not an individual, because it is due entirely to the diligent efforts of each former and current Heating Plant team member that these readings have been taken every day for 125 years.”

 

Duff adds that each day at the scheduled time, a team member goes outside and measures precipitation totals using NOAA-certified equipment.  If it snows, this involves melting the snow from a gauge to determine moisture content. A digital thermometer captures and records temperatures throughout the day, including highs and lows.

 

Staff members report their observations to NOAA using an automated system. Years ago, hospital staff members mailed a log sheet each month to the NWS.

 

Duff says that he has gained an interest in meteorology after monitoring weather conditions over the years.

 

The State Hospital’s Plant Services Director Todd Wilen and Duff participated in an award ceremony at the NOAA NWS Office in Bismarck in mid-October. It included a congratulatory phone call from Chris Strager, Director of the NWS Central Region Headquarters in Kansas City, MO.

 

North Dakota State Climatologist F. Adnan Akyüz, PhD., also congratulated them. Even with all the instrumentation and models, he said the information still needs to be verified by human observers.

 

The State Hospital is one of the oldest continuous weather observation stations in North Dakota. Stations that began collecting data earlier include Garrison (1876), Williston (1878), and Napoleon (1889).

 

JAMESTOWN, N.D. (AP) — Authorities have captured a man who escaped from custody at the North Dakota State Hospital in Jamestown.

The Larimore man was being held at the mental health facility and escaped custody from a Grand Forks County sheriff’s deputy about 4:15 a.m. Thursday.

The man was handcuffed and chained, but authorities say the terrain in the area made it difficult to find him. He was located about two hours later in a slough within a mile of the hospital.

 

Jamestown (CSi)  Veterans Day activities have been set at the All Vets Club in Jamestown, on November 11th.

On a recent  Wayne Byers Show on CSi Cable 2, Stutsman County Veterans Service Officer, David Bratton said, a free breakfast will be held, from 7:30 a.m. to 10-a.m., along with a free soup buffet at 11-a.m., and family bingo is at 11:30-a.m.

Activities include door prizes, musical entertainment, by the Jamestown Drum and Bugle Corps at 5-p.m., followed at 6-p.m.,  by a POW-MIA Remembrance Ceremony, and Celebration Banquet.

The evening meal will be free to WWII vets.

A raffle, is sponsored by the American Legion.

Following the Banquets, Steve and Nancy Kuykendall will entertain, and drawings and door prizes will be held.

The VFW Auxiliary will hold a Bake Sale during the day, and all organizations are invited to set up membership tables.

 

 

Valley City  (CSi)  The annual Sheyenne Valley Friends of Animals, Annual Meeting,  will be held Tuesday, November 15th at The Vault Coffee Shop in downtown Valley City.

The Guest Speaker will be Tara Argall, a Communication Specialist with both non-verbal humans and animals.  She can communicate with animals to see what they need, want, and wish to communicate back to us. The event is open to the public.

SVFA Spokeswoman Pam Erickson said members will be voting to fill two open positions on the board the annual meeting.

Erickson said the SVFA’s vet care fund is getting low and any financial assistance will be appreciated. SVFA is a 501c3 charity which means your donations are tax deductible. All the money raised by SVFA stays right here in the community.

Those who want to donate can do so through PayPal on their website, www.svfanimals.org or by send at  PO Box 432, Valley City, ND 58072.

It’s Fall Raffle time  and tickets are $1 each or 12 tickets for $10.

 

Jamestown (CSi)  The Jamestown Arts Center’s 2016 Wine and Cheese Tasting “Judgement of Jamestown,” will be on Saturday November 19, 2016, from 7-9-p.m., at the Arts Center.

This year the celebration notes the 40th anniversary of the “Judgement of Paris.”

A wine tasting competition held in Paris that pitted California wines against the highly regarded French wines, with surprising results.

Those participating the Arts Center event can decide for themselves if the foreign or domestic wines win over their palette.

Tickets at the Arts Center, or Cork and Barrel at $35.

Proceeds benefit Arts Center programs, including, Arts After School, Art for Life, Artist in Residencies, and more.

Must be 21 or older to attend.

 

Jamestown (CSi)  The Jamestown Community Theater’s upcoming production is Love Thy Neighbor, a comedy by Gary Ray Stapp.

There will be three dinner shows on: Thursday December 1, 2016, Friday December 2nd, and Saturday December 3rd, at 6-p.m., each evening at the Jamestown Arts Center.

Sponsored by Lifetime Vision Source in Jamestown.

Advance tickets required by calling the Arts Center at 701-251-2496.

More information at www.jamestownarts.com

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it’s trying to defuse tensions between Dakota Access pipeline protesters and law enforcement in North Dakota, but the pipeline’s developer isn’t cooperating.

The Corps asked Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners Wednesday to stop work in the area where protests against the $3.8 billion pipeline have resulted in more than 400 arrests.

The Corps’ similar plea last week was rebuffed. ETP this week said crews were mobilizing equipment in preparation for tunneling under Lake Oahe.

The 1,200-mile pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois is complete except for under that Missouri River reservoir, which has been delayed while the Corps reviews its permitting.

Company spokeswoman Vicki Granado said in an email that work won’t be done until the company gets permission to be on Corps property.

 

Bismarck (CSi)  Gov. Jack Dalrymple is encouraging North Dakotans to observe Veterans Day, Friday, November 11, by honoring the service and sacrifice of veterans, those currently serving at home and abroad, and their families through ceremonies and patriotic activities, and by displaying the American and North Dakota flags.

 

“On Veterans Day and every day, we recognize the generations of heroes who rose to the challenge when their country called and performed extraordinary acts in the name of freedom and democracy,” said Dalrymple. “We honor those who left their homes and their families to serve a greater cause, and by doing so, changed the course of history for us all. For that, we will always be grateful, and because of that, we will always be free.”

 

Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley will honor North Dakota’s veterans and service members by attending a Veterans Day ceremony on November 11, beginning at 10 a.m. in the Russell Reid Auditorium of the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck.

 

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — The Minot City Council has abandoned a plan to erect a bullet-proof glass wall between the public and workers in City Hall.

Council members expressed concerns about the message such a wall would send.

Councilman Stephan Podrygula said there’s enough of a barrier between people and government and that he doesn’t favor “putting our people behind a cage.”

City Hall staff say many of the problems stem the public thinking the building’s entrance leads to the police department, despite a notice on the door indicating the police entrance is around the corner.

Podrygula’s motion to send the matter back to the council’s finance and improvements Committee failed 5 to 7. A motion to fund the glass screen also failed 4 to 8.

 

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Scientists in southwestern Idaho are experimenting to find out if bacteria can stop an invasive weed that is taking over the West.

Cheatgrass gets its name by sending out early roots and cheating other plants of water in the spring.

Then it dries out in the summer, becoming a powerful catalyst for wildfires that kill neighboring plants and destroy habitat needed by sage grouse and other wildlife.

The results are huge, cheatgrass-filled landscapes that cycle through frequent wildfires.

But scientists have discovered some bacteria can stop cheatgrass root growth, and controlled rangeland experiments started earlier this year are testing their effectiveness.

Some results are expected within a year but more will be known in five years.

 

In world and national news…

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a sometimes ugly campaign, there are only positive words from President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump about their meeting  Thursday in the Oval Office for the start of the transition process. Obama called the 90-minute meeting “excellent,” while Trump said he looks forward to receiving advice from his predecessor. Obama told him he wants to help Trump succeed — “because if you succeed the country succeeds.” The two men have been harshly critical of each other for years, but this was their first meeting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As their husbands met in the Oval Office, first lady Michelle Obama and incoming first lady Melania Trump have spoken about the challenges of raising children in the White House. Mrs. Trump’s 10-year-old son Barron will become a teenager during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says that’s “a rather unique childhood.” Earnest said Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Trump spoke about the experience of being a good parent under those circumstances.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Authorities at San Diego State University say two suspects who assaulted and robbed a Muslim student on campus targeted her because of her faith and made comments about the election of Donald Trump. University police say they are investigating the attack as a hate crime. They say the attack took place Wednesday in a parking structure while the woman was wearing traditional Muslim clothing, including a hijab. The woman was not hurt.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — An expert is testifying that there was no DNA from a former white police officer found under the fingernails of a black South Carolina motorist who was fatally shot while fleeing a traffic stop. Samuel Stewart of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division testified Thursday during the murder trial of fired North Charleston patrolman Michael Slager, who was videotaped shooting Walter Scott. The defense contends the two men had struggled over Slager’s stun gun. But Stewart testified that DNA from the dead man’s fingernails contained none of Slager’s DNA.

FORT LEE, N.J. (AP) — A New York Mets pitcher who is featured in a new anti-domestic violence ad campaign has pleaded not guilty to a disorderly persons charge stemming from a domestic violence case. Jeurys (JUHR’-yihs) Familia appeared Thursday in municipal court in Fort Lee, New Jersey, with his lawyer and a Spanish interpreter. Major League Baseball says it’s investigating.