CSi Weather…

..FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH 11 AM FRIDAY

INCLUDES THE JAMESTOWN AREA…

* TEMPERATURE…Lows in the 20s to around 30.

* IMPACTS…Sensitive vegetation will be severely damaged or
killed if protective measures are not taken.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A Freeze Warning means sub-freezing temperatures are expected.

 

…FROST ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 9 AM CDT FRIDAY…

INCLUDES THE VALLY CITY AREA.

* TEMPERATURES…Ranging from 32 to 36 degrees in most areas.
However, there may be pockets of colder temperatures.

* TIMING…Late Thursday night through early Friday  morning.

* IMPACTS…Sensitive outdoor plants may be killed if left
unprotected.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A Frost Advisory means that widespread frost is expected.
Sensitive outdoor plants may be killed if left uncovered.

Forecast…

.TONIGHT…Mostly clear. Areas of frost. Colder. Lows in the
lower 30s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
.FRIDAY…Sunny. Highs in the mid 40s. Northwest winds 10 to
15 mph.
.FRIDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. Lows in the upper 20s. West
winds around 5 mph shifting to the south around 5 mph after
midnight.
.SATURDAY…Mostly cloudy. Chance of rain possibly mixed with
snow in the morning, then chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs
in the upper 40s. South winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of
precipitation 40 percent.
.SATURDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of rain in
the evening. Lows in the mid 30s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph
shifting to the northwest after midnight.
.SUNDAY…Mostly cloudy. Highs in the upper 40s.
.SUNDAY NIGHT…Cloudy. A 30 percent chance of rain and snow
after midnight. Lows in the mid 30s.
.MONDAY…Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of rain possibly
mixed with snow in the morning. Highs in the lower 50s.
.MONDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows around 40.
.TUESDAY…Mostly cloudy. Highs in the upper 50s.
.TUESDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of rain in
the evening. Lows in the mid 40s.
.WEDNESDAY…Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain.
Highs in the upper 50s.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of
rain. Lows in the upper 30s.
.THURSDAY…Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of rain. Highs
in the mid 50s.

 

 

Valley City, N.D. – The State Board of Higher Education Thursday named Dr. Alan LaFave as the next president of Valley City State University in Valley City, North Dakota. LaFave currently serves as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

During the interview, he emphasized the importance of student retention and collaboration with all 11 institutions across North Dakota. “It’s important that we have a unified system and that we all work together to make an impact on student success. We all achieve more if we work together,” LaFave said.

During his in-person visit to campus earlier this month, he said that he talked to several students on campus who praised their experiences as students at VCSU. “We need to be innovative and creative in our vision for the future. As president, I want to focus on affordability of education and collaboration with other institutions because that is paramount to the success of the entire state of North Dakota,” said LaFave. “My leadership style is all about personal attention and placing an emphasis on the interactions between students and professors. I like to see students succeed.”

The search for the next VCSU president began in March 2018. Dr. Margaret Dahlberg has been serving as interim president since December 2017.

Don Morton, chair of the State Board of Higher Education says, “This was a difficult decision to make because we had excellent candidates brought forward by the presidential search committee.  I’m confident LaFave will provide the type of collaborative leadership that reflects the community of Valley City. I thank the search committee for their diligence in keeping community, students, staff and faculty central in their selection process.”

The presidential search committee was co-chaired by Wesley Wintch, VCSU’s vice president for business affairs, and Board member Greg Stemen, who led the effort to interview semifinalists and forward its recommendations for the position to the Board for final interviews.

Stemen, says, “The 12-person committee consisted of a cross-section of the VCSU community, representatives of administration, faculty, staff, foundation, students, enrollment services and community members of Valley City. There were countless hours invested into the entire search process. We started by evaluating an initial pool of 50 applicants and eventually narrowed that pool to two highly qualified finalists for the Board’s consideration. I am confident that the best leader was chosen to lead VCSU into the future,”.”

LaFave holds a doctor of musical arts degree. He has served at Northern State University since 1991 in various capacities including tenured faculty, music department chair, associate dean, dean of graduate and extended studies, dean of the school of fine art and most recently the provost.

LaFave will take over as the 14th president of VCSU in December 2018. The new president succeeds Dr. Tisa Mason who served as VCSU president from December 2014 to December 2017.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  Jamestown High School’s Homecoming Activities on Friday September 28,  includes the Pep Rally, Coronation of the King and Queen, and  the homecoming parade.

The Pep Rally will begin at 1:30-p.m., at the Jerry Meyer Arena, and includes the Coronation.

The parade will begin at 3:45-p.m.

The floats form at the Zonta Park gazebo, then west on First Street East to First Avenue South.

From the railroad tracks the parade heads south to the area of Papa Murphy’s where the parade ends.

The Homecoming football game between the Blue Jays and the Valley City Hi-Liners is at 7-p.m.

The Homecoming Dance is 9-p.m., to 12-Midnight.

The Jamestown High School Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Friday September 28, at the Homecoming Pep Rally, and they will be introduced during half time of the Homecoming football game that evening.

A luncheon to which the inductees have been invited, will be  at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

Hall of Fame inductees include:

Paul Anderson (1980)

Doug Beaudoin (’72)

Phil Boerger (’07)

Bryan Erstad (’99)

Sean Fredericks (’93)

Jenny Gackle (’99)

Dave Greenwood (’70)

Clay Kendall (’74)

Lauren Sukut (’02)

Judy Hager (’81)

Ted Wahl (’84)

Dan White (’04)

Wrestling Coach Ron Zehran (’79-’00).

 

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A man on trial in the death of a North Dakota woman whose baby was cut from her womb denied any role in her death, testifying Thursday that when he walked into his apartment and heard a baby cry, he thought his girlfriend had given birth.William Hoehn, 33, disputed testimony from his now ex-girlfriend, Brooke Crews, that he took any part in the August 2017 slaying of Savanna Greywind, 22. Crews pleaded guilty to murder earlier this year and is serving life in prison.Hoehn is charged with conspiracy to commit murder. He has admitted he helped to cover up the crime but denied knowing anything about Crews’ plans to kill Greywind.Crews testified this week that she didn’t “explicitly” tell Hoehn what she planned to do, but said when he walked in on a bloody scene in the couple’s apartment bathroom, he got a rope and twisted it around Greywind’s neck to make sure she was dead. The judge said this testimony could be taken as evidence that Hoehn had agreed to participate in the crime.When Hoehn was asked by his attorney, Daniel Borgen, whether he had any agreement with Crews to kill Greywind and take her baby, Hoehn said: “Absolutely not. No, no, no.”Crews also testified that she had faked a pregnancy in order to keep from losing Hoehn, and that when he figured out she was lying, she felt pressured to get a baby. Hoehn disputed that, saying he believed Crews was pregnant until the day of Greywind’s death.Hoehn looked frequently at the jury as he described arriving home that day and hearing a baby.”It wasn’t a wail, it wasn’t like a cry or nothing,” he said. “It was a distinct baby sound. I remember feeling elated and I thought, ‘Oh my god, she had the baby when I was at work.’ “Hoehn said after he walked into the bathroom, he asked Crews, “Were you even pregnant?” He said she grabbed her stomach and said, “I think so.”

Prosecutors attacked Hoehn’s credibility, citing his conflicting stories to police after his arrest and suggesting that his previous run-ins with the law made him adept at dealing with investigators.

“I wouldn’t say I’m savvy about it. I’ve had a little experience, yes,” said Hoehn. He also testified that Crews sometimes to referred to him as “baby beater” because he had pleaded guilty in 2011 to a child abuse conviction for fracturing his young son’s skull.

When Cass County prosecutor Leah Viste suggested that Hoehn and Crews would do anything for each other, Hoehn said they had boundaries.

Greywind’s death prompted North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp to introduce Savanna’s Act , which aims to improve tribal access to federal crime information databases and create standardized protocols for responding to cases of missing and slain Native American women . A similar bill has been introduced in the House.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — An American Indian tribe that has led opposition to the Dakota Access oil pipeline for more than two years has formally pledged its support for protests against three other pipeline projects.

The Standing Rock Sioux Council approved resolutions this month supporting efforts by other tribes to oppose the Enbridge Line 3 project in Minnesota, the Keystone XL pipeline in Montana and South Dakota, and the Bayou Bridge pipeline in Louisiana. The resolutions do not come with any promise of money or other aid but are a payback of sorts for other tribes’ support of Standing Rock’s struggle against Dakota Access.

“These are only to stand in solidarity with their fights,” tribal spokeswoman Danielle Finn said.

Standing Rock led protests in 2016 and 2017 against Dakota Access, which is now moving oil from North Dakota to Illinois but is still the subject of a federal lawsuit spearheaded by the tribe. Thousands of people traveled to protest camps just outside of the reservation that straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border to support the tribe.

Standing Rock is formally backing the efforts of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes in Montana and the Cheyenne River Sioux in South Dakota to oppose TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL oil pipeline; the effort of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe to thwart Enbridge Energy’s plans to replace its aging Line 3 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota; and the effort of the United Houma Nation to oppose the Bayou Bridge Pipeline in southern Louisiana. That project is being developed by Dakota Access builder Energy Transfer Partners.

Tribes fear the pipeline projects will harm the environment, while developers maintain they are safe.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota regulators have approved rate increases for Montana Dakota Utilities and Otter Tail Power, but it doesn’t mean customers’ bills will go up.That’s because the natural gas rate increase approved for MDU and the electric rate increase approved for Otter Tail are smaller than interim rate increases the Public Service Commission allowed to be put in place last year under state law.That means customers will still pay a higher rate than they did before the rate increase requests were made, but they’ll actually be getting refunds and seeing decreases in their bills over what they’ve been paying in recent months.The PSC says the rate increases are needed to enable the utilities to maintain needed infrastructure.

 

WEST FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A Halloween decoration hanging in the window of a North Dakota home is so scary that it prompted calls from concerned neighbors and at least one plea for police assistance.

The sign reading “Help Me,” which appears to be written in blood, is part of Becky Muhs’ display for her favorite holiday at her West Fargo home.

WDAY-TV reports that Muhs and her husband began getting messages from neighbors over the weekend asking if they were OK, and one neighbor even dialed 911, leading to a visit from a police officer.

Muhs says the incident ended in a laugh and that the officer didn’t ask her to take the sign down.

 

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Winter wheat seeding in North Dakota has surpassed the halfway point.The federal Agriculture Department in its weekly crop report says 54 percent of the crop is in the ground, on pace with the average. Winter wheat is seeded in the fall, goes dormant over the winter and is harvested the following summer.Meanwhile, the late-season harvest continues to progress. Four percent of the corn crop, 14 percent of sugar beets, 21 percent of soybeans and 33 percent of potatoes are harvested. The sunflower harvest is just getting underway.Slightly more than half of topsoil and subsoil moisture supplies are rated adequate to surplus.Stockwater supplies are rated 63 percent adequate to surplus, and pastures are rated 34 percent in good to excellent condition. Both percentages are up slightly over the week.

 

In world and national news…

Update…

WASHINGTON  (AP)  Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says the Democrats’ treatment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is the “most despicable thing” he has seen in politics.

Graham said Thursday that Democrats sat on allegations against Kavanaugh and then sprung them on the nominee at the last minute in a desperate attempt to prevent his confirmation.

The South Carolina senator says Democrats want to “destroy” Kavanaugh’s life and hold the seat open in the hope of winning the White House in 2020.

Graham says a vote against Kavanaugh would “legitimize the most despicable thing I have ever seen in politics.” He also called the Democrats’ tactics “the most unethical sham.”

Graham supported Republicans’ ultimately successful efforts to block action on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nomination of Judge Merrick Garland.

Earlier…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is calling certain allegations against him a “joke” and a “farce.” Kavanaugh made the statements while testifying Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee following allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her in high school. Allegations by other women followed those by Ford. Kavanaugh was referring specifically to allegations by Julie Swetnick, who said she witnessed him drink excessively and inappropriately touch women.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when both were teenagers has finished her testimony before a Senate panel.

California psychology professor Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford finished her testimony Thursday afternoon, about four hours after the hearing began. Ford alleges that one night in the summer of 1982, a drunken Kavanaugh forced her down on a bed, groped her and tried to take off her clothes. She said she was ultimately able to escape.

Ford showed no hesitancy in affirming the crucial question about the alleged attack, telling senators her certainty that Kavanaugh was responsible was “100 percent.”

Lawmakers are expected to next hear from Kavanaugh, who has denied the allegations.

 

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing European nations of “appeasing” Iran by trying to renew trade despite Iran’s nuclear activity.

Netanyahu invoked historical European maneuvering in the Middle East while excoriating European leaders for sticking to the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord. It allows for a lifting of sanctions in exchange for curbing Iran’s nuclear activities.

After announcing what he said is new proof of Iranian secret nuclear activity, Netanyahu asked, “Have these European leaders learned nothing from history? Will they ever wake up?”

U. S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 deal but European powers argue it will persuade Iran to be more cooperative and transparent about its nuclear activities

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has postponed his highly anticipated meeting with embattled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein until next week to avoid interfering with the Senate hearing on sexual assault allegations against his Supreme Court nominee.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the president spoke with Rosenstein “a few minutes ago” and they now plan to meet next week.

She said, “They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing.”

Rosenstein’s job is in question following reports he discussed possibly secretly recording the president and using the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

Trump says he has denied the reports.

Trump also said Wednesday he’d “certainly prefer not” to fire Rosenstein, the Justice Department’s No. 2 official who is overseeing the special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling.

 

 

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch police have arrested seven men who are suspected of plotting a large-scale extremist attack in the Netherlands that prosecutors say they think has been foiled.

The national prosecutor’s office said in a statement Thursday that the men were arrested by heavily armed police in the towns of Arnhem and Weert.

The statement says the arrests capped a months-long investigation that was launched by intelligence suggesting the alleged ring leader, a 34-year-old man of Iraqi heritage, wanted to carry out a major extremist attack on a large event and cause multiple casualties.

Prosecutors say the suspects wanted to attack an event site using bomb vests and assault rifles, and planned to detonate a car bomb at another location.

They say an investigation of potential targets is continuing.