wbPM4CSi Weather…

TONIGHT…CLEAR. LOWS 15 TO 20. WEST WINDS 15 TO 20 MPH.

.THURSDAY…SUNNY. HIGHS AROUND 30. SOUTHWEST WINDS AROUND

15 MPH.

.THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 15 TO 20. SOUTH WINDS 10 TO

15 MPH.

.FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTHWEST WINDS

AROUND 10 MPH.

.FRIDAY NIGHT…INCREASING CLOUDS. LOWS AROUND 10. NORTHWEST

WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.

.SATURDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE

AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 20S.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW. LOWS

15 TO 20.

.CHRISTMAS DAY…CLOUDY. CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MORNING…THEN

SNOW LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON. AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW

THROUGH THE DAY. BREEZY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 20S. CHANCE OF SNOW

70 PERCENT.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…SNOW IN THE EVENING…THEN SNOW LIKELY AFTER

MIDNIGHT. AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW THROUGH THE NIGHT.

SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE EVENING. WINDY. LOWS AROUND 10.

.MONDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW. AREAS

OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. WINDY. HIGHS AROUND 10.

.MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 5 BELOW.

HIGHS 10 TO 15.

.TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 5 TO 10 ABOVE.

HIGHS 15 TO 20.

 

CONFIDENCE CONTINUES TO INCREASE THAT A WINTER STORM COULD IMPACT

THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND UPPER MIDWEST CHRISTMAS DAY SUNDAY

THROUGH MONDAY. ALTHOUGH CONFIDENCE IS INCREASING…MUCH

UNCERTAINTY REMAINS REGARDING SPECIFIC DETAILS FOR ANY SINGLE

LOCATION ACROSS THE REGION. THOSE WITH CHRISTMAS TRAVEL PLANS

SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS POSSIBLE STORM. FORECAST

DETAILS WILL BECOME MORE CLEAR OVER THE COMING DAYS.

 

Jamestown (CSi)  The James River Valley Library System’s new  $210,00 bookmobile is in the process of being custom built, with expected delivery in January of 2017.

JRVLS Development Director, Bill Kennedy says the bookmobile was scheduled for delivery in October this year, however, the body construction had to be reworked, with errors noted.

The $210,000 bookmobile is expected be  operational in early 2017.

 

PERHAM, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say one person died and several others, including emergency responders, were hospitalized after suffering symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning at a residence near Vergas, in northwestern Minnesota.

Otter Tail County authorities say three Perham Emergency Medical Services employees were among eight people hospitalized after they were overcome Monday night. A woman had called 911 after arriving home to find that her 67-year-old husband was not breathing.

A release from Perham Health says four people were held there for observation and released Tuesday. Four other patients, including the emergency workers, were airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center, which has special equipment to treat people who suffer carbon monoxide poisoning.

The release says the EMS workers were expected to be released Tuesday. The condition of the fourth patient is unknown.

 

Bismarck   (CSi) North Dakota Game and Fish Department law enforcement officers are searching for information related to the likely illegal possession and taking of a mule deer buck and an antlerless whitetail pictured recently on social media at a location that appears to be in or near the pipeline protest camp in southern Morton County.

Anyone with information should contact the Game and Fish enforcement office in Bismarck at 701-328-6604.

 

Mandan (CSi) Two pipeline protesters were convicted Tuesday of misdemeanors in the first Dakota Access-related jury trial in Morton County.

The Bismarck Tribune reports, the case, which laid bare some of the disorder around the pipeline cases, also featured the first attempt to pick a jury in a county flooded with news and personal ties to the controversy.

The trial pertained to two men — 30 year old Benjamin Schapiro, of Ohio, and 62 year old Steven Voliva, of Washington — who were arrested Sept. 27 and accused of blocking a highway to allow a caravan of protesters to proceed. A jury convicted the men of obstructing a highway and disorderly conduct, and fined them $1,285.

 

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Barack Obama’s administration is expected to push through long-delayed safety measures for the nation’s sprawling network of oil pipelines in its final days in power.

The proposal calls for more stringent inspections in rural areas and immediate repairs when pipe defects are found.

But the timing has raised concerns that incoming president Donald Trump or a Republican-controlled Congress could scuttle them.

Petroleum industry representatives say the move could cost companies billions of dollars and divert resources from high-risk areas.

The measures are aimed at preventing accidents such as a 176,000-gallon spill that fouled a North Dakota creek earlier this month.

Thousands more spills over the past decade dumped almost 38 million gallons of oil and other hazardous liquids nationwide. Those accidents caused a combined $2.5 billion in damages.

 

WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota employment experts predict demands for oil field workers will only become more intense in 2017.

Cindy Sanford at the Job Service North Dakota office in Williston says the largest uptick is for hydraulic fracturing crews, which average between 45 and 65 people per crew.

Sanford says recruiters from two large oil field services companies, Schlumberger and Oil States, stopped by the Job Service office this week.

The  state’s core oil-producing counties, including Williams, McKenzie, Divide and Mountrail, have about 1,300 job openings across all sectors.

 

LAKE ANDES, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota activist says she is “totally shocked” that she got a vote for president from the Electoral College this week.

Sixty-eight-year-old Faith Spotted Eagle of Lake Andes received one vote Monday from an elector in Washington state.

Spotted Eagle tells The Daily Republic her getting the vote is a reflection of “the time that we live in.” She thinks she happens “to be a door to concerns that are relevant to everybody, not just Native people.”

An enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, Spotted Eagle is an opponent of major oil pipeline projects, including the Dakota Access pipeline that has been the subject of protests.

Spotted Eagle says she hopes her fellow South Dakotans will recognize the importance of protecting water sources like the Missouri River.

 

In world and national news…

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump is calling Monday’s truck attack on a Christmas market in Germany “an attack on humanity” that he says has “got to be stopped.” Trump spoke to reporters in Florida ahead of a meeting with his incoming national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. When he was asked about his call to temporarily ban Muslim immigration into the United States, Trump said, “I’ve been proven to be right.”

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities were apparently aware of the man who’s now suspected of carrying out Monday’s deadly truck attack in Berlin. In fact, prosecutors say, they had him under surveillance for several months, after a tip that he might be trying to get automatic weapons for use in an attack. But they found no evidence of that, so they stopped following him. Anis Amri, who is from Tunisia, wanted to get asylum in Germany — but that request was denied in July. A security official says German security agencies exchanged information about him as recently as last month.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Two days after a U.N. resolution was approved urging immediate deployment of monitors to eastern Aleppo in Syria, it’s not clear whether any U.N. observers are actually on the ground there. A spokesman says some U.N. staff have been present at a Syrian government checkpoint outside eastern Aleppo but he couldn’t say for sure if any observers were on hand in the eastern part of the city where civilians were loading into buses after evacuations resumed. He says more than 25,000 people have been evacuated from besieged neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city in the past six days.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican state lawmakers are still trying to decide whether to repeal a law that was enacted nine months ago. Among other things, it dictated which bathrooms are to be used by transgender people. Lawmakers returned for a special session today to get rid of the law, which has been denounced by gay rights groups and has damaged the state’s economy. But some Republicans first wanted to see the city of Charlotte completely do away with a non-discrimination ordinance that prompted the state law. The Charlotte City Council finished taking that action this morning.

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) — A poll finds that the most annoying word or phrase used in casual conversation in America is “whatever.” The Marist College poll suggests that the word irritates 38 percent of Americans. The pollsters offered up four other options for the most annoying word or phrase. They were, “No offense, but,” ”Ya know, right,” ”I can’t even” and “huge.” ”No offense, but” is second with 20 percent. And it seems that age matters. Among Americans under 30, “I can’t even” takes top honors.