CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…Increasing clouds. Lows in the lower 60s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

.INDEPENDENCE DAY…Sunny. Highs around 90. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening, in the Jamestown area, 20 percent chance in the Valley City area,  then mostly clear after midnight. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the northwest after midnight.

.WEDNESDAY…Sunny. Highs in the lower 90s. Northeast winds

around 5 mph shifting to the southeast in the afternoon.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…Mostly clear. A 20 percent chance of showers

in the evening. Lows in the mid 60s. Southeast winds around 5 mph

shifting to the southwest after midnight.

.THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT…Mostly clear. Highs in the upper

80s. Lows in the upper 50s to mid 60s.

.FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT…Mostly clear. Highs in the lower

80s. Lows around 60.

.SUNDAY…Sunny. Highs in the upper 80s.

.SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY…Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of

showers. Lows in the lower 60s. Highs in the upper 80s.

 



Isolated–scattered storms through the western third of North Dakota during the hour or two before sunset Monday evening. The warm atmosphere should limit hail size with the larger threat being gusty winds.


Storms on the 4th of July, with dew points into the lower 60s ahead of the strengthening surface trough.


Very late in the  day on the 4th of July, the storms move into the Devils Lake Basin and  James River valley, possibly strong to severe, to at least the eastern third of the forecast area.


 


 


Washington  (CSi) The Federal Aviation Administration  awarded grants to Ashley Municipal Airport and Barnes County Municipal Airport Authority, the North Dakota delegation announced Monday.


Senators John Hoeven, and Heidi Heitkamp, and Rep. Kevin Cramer, say the FAA awarded a $971,100 grant to Ashley Municipal Airport to rehabilitate the airport’s runway, taxiway and apron. A $79,229 grant to Barnes County Municipal Airport Authority will be used for installing a fence around the perimeter of the airport to help protect aircraft from wildlife.


The Federal Aviation Administration awarded grants totaling over $1.5 million to six airports in North Dakota.


 


 


Washington  (CSi)   – Senator John Hoeven has announced that 10 students are interning in his Washington, Bismarck, Fargo and Grand Forks offices. Senator Hoeven’s internship program provides college students, recent graduates and graduate students with the opportunity to work with the senator and his staff on legislative, communications and administrative projects.


From Jamestown:


Megan Larson – Senator Hoeven’s Grand Forks Office


            Megan, the daughter of Corey and Heidi Larson, is from Jamestown and will be attending UND in the fall, majoring in electrical engineering with a biomedical focus. She also plans to minor in Music and Business and will play on the UND Volleyball team.


Hoeven says, “Internships provide students a great practical study of the type of job or career they are interested in pursuing. While they gain this valuable experience, we are also grateful for the help they provide to our office.


More Information about Senator Hoeven’s Internship Program


Senator Hoeven offers internship opportunities in his Washington, D.C. and state offices. North Dakota students interested in applying for the program should submit an application online. The deadline for applications for fall internships, which run from September through December, is August 1. Questions can be directed to (202) 224-2551.


 


 


Jamestown  (CSi)  – North Dakota Farmers Union (NDFU) is hosting a series of farm bill listening sessions, July 17-19, to get farmer and rancher input on a new farm bill.


“Our current farm bill expires in September of next year,” said Mark Watne. “The clock is ticking. We want to make sure family farmers and ranchers have input into this critical piece of legislation that will affect their operation.”


Six listening sessions have been slated across the state. National Farmers Union staff and invited congressional staff will be present to hear producer concerns. Watne said NDFU will be forwarding producer comments to North Dakota congressional offices and National Farmers Union.


Meeting dates and locations are as follows:


July 17               10 a.m.         Roughrider Center, Watford City


3 p.m.         North Central Experiment Station, Minot


July 18               10 a.m.         Fireside Inn, Devils Lake


3 p.m.         Hillsboro Event Center, Hillsboro


July 19               10 a.m.         N.D. Heritage Center, Bismarck


3 p.m.         NDFU Conference Center, Jamestown


 


 


Jamestown  (CSi)  The benefit Barn Dance to support the construction of SAFE Shelter’s, Mary’s Place will be held on Saturday August 5, 2017 from 6-p.m., to 12-a.m.


Go to Boondocks Barn, at 7560 46th Street Southeast in Jamestown.  Optional free transportation to and from Boondocks provided by the Choralaires bus leaving the Buffalo Mall parking lot.


The first bus leaves at 5:30-p.m., and returns every 90- minutes.


The live band will be Old Friends.


Tickets at $50 per person are available at:  Newman Signs, Bank Forward, or from SAFE Shelter board members.


Those supporting and organizing the event include:  Boondocks Venue, Old Friends Band, Cork & Barrel, Bank Forward, Donna Schmitz, Two rivers Printing, Jamestown Choralaires Bus, Newman Signs.


Another way to support Mary’s Place is to Dine and Donate at Perkins Restaurant in Jamestown on July 19, 2017.


From 3-p.m., to 6-p.m., Perkins’s Restaurant will donate 15% of their food sales, to support Mary’s Place.


 


BELFIELD, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota agency has asked the developers of a proposed refinery in the eastern part of the state to provide more data to support its claims about emissions levels.


Meridian Energy Group Inc. officials say the Davis Refinery near Belfield would be the “cleanest refinery on the planet.”


In a letter to the company, the state Department of Health says there’s no data showing the company’s emissions levels estimates for a number of pollutants have been achieved at an existing refinery. The department is reviewing the company’s air quality permit.


The  company has filed for a permit that would require the proposed facility emit less than 100 tons annually of pollutants, such as sulfur and nitrous oxide, and less than 25 tons annually of hazardous air pollutants, including benzene and cyanide.


 


 


SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — An appeals court has upheld the sentence of a man convicted for an extended assault of a woman on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.


Denny Johnson Sr. was sentenced to 30 years in prison after a jury convicted him of aggravated sexual abuse, assault with a dangerous weapon, simple assault and domestic assault by a habitual offender.


Authorities say Johnson, of Kenel, sexually assaulted and restrained his victim over the course of several weeks in December 2013 and January 2014.


The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Johnson’s argument that some evidence should have been excluded and he should not have received an enhanced sentence based on his victim’s vulnerability and his obstruction of justice.


The Standing Rock Reservation straddles the North Dakota and South Dakota border.


 


In sports…


 




BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Game and Fish Department says the spring pheasant population index is down 14 percent from last year.


Upland game management biologist R.J. Gross says record snowfall and extremely cold temperatures at the start of the winter made conditions tough on all wildlife. He also says last year’s pheasant production was below average.


Gross says the spring count doesn’t always dictate the hunting season in the fall. He says many pheasant broods are starting to show up in primary regions holding pheasants.


 




In world and national news…




BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump is describing his war with the media as a contest between journalists and the needs of his constituents. One of his latest tweets is drawing swift criticism from the press. Trump tweeted a video that shows him pummeling a man in a business suit – his face obscured by the CNN logo – outside a wrestling ring. The video appears to be a doctored version of Trump’s 2007 appearance at a World Wrestling Entertainment event.


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is pushing for passage of a Republican Senate health care bill. The administration also is floating a repeal-only option if Republicans can’t reach agreement. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell largely dismissed the suggestion of a “repeal-only measure. Trump’s top legislative aide, Marc Short, says the president has been making calls and insists lawmakers are “getting close” to passing a bill that repeals and replaces former President Barack Obama’s health care law.


MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi forces say their recent territorial gains against the Islamic State group in Mosul’s Old City have largely been propelled by airstrikes, despite a spike in allegations of civilian casualties and warnings from human rights groups of the dangers of using large munitions in the dense, highly-populated area. As strikes pummeled the Old City Sunday, sending plumes of thick smoke into the air, hundreds of civilians fled.


DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Syrian Central Bank has announced that a new 2,000 Syrian Lira bank note ($3.9) will go into circulation. The notes are the first time the face of President Bashar Assad appears on the Syrian currency since he took office 17 years ago.


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Federal authorities in Alabama say they recovered two handguns and an assault rifle in a vehicle during the arrest of a rapper whose concert in Little Rock was the site of a shooting that left 28 people injured. The U.S. Marshals Service says Ricky Hampton of Memphis, Tennessee, also known as Finese2Tymes, was arrested early Sunday on charges unrelated to the nightclub shooting in Little Rock. He was arrested at a club in Birmingham where he was performing.