CSi Weather…

.REST OF TODAY…Sunny. Highs in the mid 30s. Southeast winds 5 to 15 mph.

.TONIGHT…Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 20s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the south after midnight.

.TUESDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 40s. West winds 5 to

10 mph.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. Lows in the lower 30s.

Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph.

.WEDNESDAY…Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain, possibly

mixed with sleet in the morning, then slight chance of light rain

in the afternoon.

Highs in the lower 40s. West winds around 15 mph.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…Decreasing clouds. Lows in the mid 20s.

.THURSDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 30s.

.THURSDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows around 20.

.FRIDAY…Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 30s.

.FRIDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow.

Lows in the lower 20s.

.SATURDAY…Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 20s.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows around 15.

.SUNDAY…Partly sunny. Highs in the mid 20s.

 

Tuesday night and Wednesday…

There is a small amount of sleet on the eastern edge of the precipitation near the James River Valley, where surface temperatures drop to freezing with a warm layer aloft. Otherwise, slight chances of rain or snow are forecast for parts of western and central ND.

For western and central North Dakota, a cold front extending south

from the clipper low will sweep east across our area on Friday,

bringing gusty winds and a chance of rain or snow Friday and Friday

night.

Temperatures should still be above average with highs in the 30s and lower 40s Thursday and Friday.

Saturday and Sunday

A cool period, with highs in the 20s and 30s…and lows Saturday

night and Sunday night in the teens – with single digits above zero

in the Turtle Mountains.

 

Jamestown (CSi)  Jamestown Regional Airport boardings in November this year slipped under the one thousand mark to 851 down 19-percent from November of 2017 when there were 1051 boardings.  The boardings hadn’t been under one thousand per month since November of 2016 with 932 boardings.

Through November this year Jamestown boardings were 10, 901, compared to 11, 941 through November of 2017, down 8.7 percent.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  U.S. Marines Toys for Tots program Jamestown distribution event on Saturday saw 50 more young people from infant to 17 years old receive toys, this year, over last year, at 496

Jamestown Coordinator, Sheila Ova says, the numbers represent near 200 families, within a 50 mile radius of Jamestown.

The distribution was 100 more than in 2016.

 

Update…

VELVA, N.D. (AP-CSi)  — Authorities have released the name of a 24-year-old California man who died in a one-vehicle accident in McHenry County.
The Highway Patrol says the crash happened about 10 a.m. Sunday 4 miles south of Velva. Bryce Belden of San Bernadino, California,  was driving a 2007 Dodge Durango, pickup that went through an intersection and wound up crossing through a fence and entering a cattle pasture. The truck rolled over several times.The patrol says he was ejected from the vehicle, and died the scene.
Assisting at the scene was the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A state investigation found no criminal wrongdoing when a Burleigh County commissioner’s business was awarded a county construction contract.The Bismarck Tribune reports Bitco Construction, Commissioner Brian Bitner’s company, was paid $19,510 for landscaping work at the Burleigh Morton Detention Center.Burleigh County Auditor Kevin Glatt says he noticed the payment and became concerned because state law says public servants can’t authorize contracts in which they have a personal interest.Bitner says he abstained from the commission’s vote to approve the contract. But investigators say it raised transparency concerns. 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Al Carlson ruled North Dakota’s House for years, controlling the business of the chamber with a booming voice, a big stick and no fear of leaving bruises in his wake. With the Fargo lawmaker booted by voters, House Republicans’ new leader is nothing like him: Chet Pollert, a low-key and little-known representative from a tiny town in a sprawling rural district in east-central North Dakota.

“I’m not going to be raving and pounding my fists,” said Pollert, a 63-year-old Carrington businessman elected to the House in 1998. “I’m just not that way.”

One of Pollert’s challenges will be wrangling a House supermajority that involved in a long-simmering urban-rural tug-of-war and a growing faction of far-right lawmakers in the chamber’s ranks.

Pollert considers himself just right of moderate and said he will attempt to forge consensus among House Republicans and GOP Gov. Doug Burgum, which have been frosty at times, including a contentious veto fight from last session that reached the state Supreme Court.

And many are still smarting from Burgum’s campaign promise to “control runaway spending” by what he called the “good old boy” party establishment. Burgum last week submitted a suggested budget that was 5 percent higher than what lawmakers passed last session.

“I have talked to the governor and I see us getting along,” Pollert said. “I’m hoping we can all get along — the House, the Senate and the governor. But I don’t think we should get along 100 percent of the time because you can’t get a good product that way. Give and take is healthy.”

Burgum, in a statement, said he looks forward to working with Pollert.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — National Guard soldiers from the Upper Midwest who served about a year of duty in Afghanistan are back home in time for Christmas. Eleven members of the North Dakota Army National Guard’s 191st Military Police Company returned home over the weekend. The soldiers are from 20 communities in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. About 15 members of the 191st returned home last month, just before Thanksgiving.ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Garth Brooks and Gov. Mark Dayton are making a concert announcement after the governor asked the country superstar to schedule another performance when tickets for his May 4th concert in Minneapolis sold out in less than an hour. At least 50,000 people were in line, on the phone or online Friday when the last ticket was sold for the concert at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Brooks took to Twitter Friday night to thank Dayton and to let fans know he was on board with a second show.In sports…Local and regional sports scores and recaps on line at CSiNewsNow.com 
NFL….
UNDATED (AP) — Dalvin Cook had a career-high 136 yards and two touchdowns on a season-high 19 carries to highlight the Vikings’ 41-17 thrashing of the Dolphins. Latavius Murray added 68 rushing yards and a score as Minnesota improved its fading playoff hopes. Anthony Barr and Danielle Hunter each had two of the nine sacks of Ryan Tannehill, totaling 71 lost yards for the 7-7 Dolphins.— The Eagles are still kicking after Nick Foles passed for 270 yards and Wendell Smallwood rushed for two touchdowns in Philadelphia’s 30-23 win at Los Angeles. Rookie Josh Adams also rushed for a score as the 7-7 Eagles kept their playoff hopes alive despite the absence of starting QB Carson Wentz due to a back injury. The Rams surrendered 17 straight points in the third quarter and fell to 11-3 with their first two-game losing streak under second-year coach Sean McVay.— The Bears have secured their first playoff berth in eight years and clinched the NFC North behind two touchdowns passes from Mitchell Trubisky in a 24-17 win over the Packers. Trubisky was 20 of 28 for 235 yards with a 120.4 rating as Chicago beat Green Bay for just the second time in their last 11 meetings. Khalil Mack had 2 ½ of the Bears’ five sacks as they improved to 10-4. Aaron Rodgers threw for 274 yards and his first interception since September as the Packers were eliminated from playoff contention.The Pittsburgh Steelers rediscovered their running game Sunday, but James Connor wasn’t the one racking up the yardage.Rookie Jaylen Samuels ran for a career-high 142 yards and made a critical third-down reception in the fourth quarter of the Steelers’ 17-10 victory over the New England Patriots. Samuels set up Ben Roethlisberger’s (RAHTH’-lihs-bur-gurz) two touchdown passes in the first half to help Pittsburgh end a three-game losing streak. His late reception led to a field goal that capped the scoring late in the game.Samuels got the majority of the carries while Connor missed his second straight game with a sprained left ankle.Roethlisberger threw for 235 yards and two interceptions as the Steelers moved to 8-5-1 and dropped the Pats to 9-5. Chris Boswell made it a one-touchdown game by nailing a 48-yard field goal with 2 ½ minutes left after missing a 32-yarder.Tom Brady finished 25 of 36 for 279 yards with a touchdown and an interception while losing to the Steelers for the first time since 2011.

New England was flagged 14 times for 106 yards and didn’t reach the end zone after Brady’s 63-yard play to Chris Hogan midway through the opening quarter.

The outcome keeps the Steelers a half-game ahead of Baltimore for first place in the AFC North. It also allowed the Houston Texans to move ahead of the Patriots for the second seed in the AFC.

Also in the NFL:

 

— San Francisco had dropped 10 straight to Seattle before Robbie Gould kicked a 36-yard field goal with 3:06 left in overtime to give the 49ers a 26-23 victory over the Seahawks. Nick Mullens threw for 275 yards and a touchdown to help the 4-10 49ers win consecutive games for the first time this season. Russell Wilson threw for 237 yards with two TD passes to Doug Baldwin and Chris Carson ran for 119 yards and a score for Seattle. But the 8-6 Seahawks ended a four-game winning streak and failed to clinch an NFC playoff berth.

— Rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson ran for 95 yards and threw for 131 to carry the Baltimore Ravens to a 20-12 victory over the Buccaneers. Jackson directed two drives that lasted more than seven minutes, carried 18 times and completed 14 of 23 passes, one of them for a touchdown. The 8-6 Ravens have won four of five since Jackson took over for the injured Joe Flacco, who served as the backup Sunday despite being healthy.

— The Titans also sit at 8-6 after Derrick Henry had his second straight big game with a career-high 33 carries for 170 yards rushing and two touchdowns in a 17-0 shutout of the Giants. Henry scored on 1-yard runs in the first and third quarters, one week after rushing for a team-record 238 yards. The Tennessee defense limited New York to 260 yards, had three sacks, a third-quarter interception in the red zone and a forced fumble that set up Henry’s second TD.

— The Cowboys failed to clinch the NFC East as Marlon Mack rushed for a career-high 139 yards and two touchdowns in the Colts’ 23-0 shutout of Dallas. Andrew Luck was 16 of 27 for 192 yards and T.Y. Hilton caught five passes for 85 yards as the Colts dropped the Cowboys to 8-6. The 8-6 Colts stayed in the AFC playoff hunt with their seventh win in eight games and their first shutout in four years.

— Josh Johnson won his first NFL start in seven years when Dustin hopkins hit a 36-yard field goal on the final play of Washington’s 16-13 victory at Jacksonville. Johnson completed 16 of 25 passes for 151 yards and the score while serving as the Redskins’ fourth starting quarterback in five games. The Redskins allowed just 192 total yards and evened their record at 7-7, keeping them on the fringe of an NFC playoff berth.

 

— Josh Allen threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Robert Foster early in the fourth quarter to rally Buffalo to a 14-13 win over Detroit. Allen also scored on a 3-yard run and finished 13 of 26 for 204 yards passing and no turnovers for the 5-9 Bills. The Lions dropped to 5-9 and clinched their first losing season in three years despite rookie Kenny Golladay finishing with a career-best 146 yards receiving.

— The Bengals’ five-game losing streak is over after Joe Mixon rushing for 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 30-16 thumping of the Raiders. Cincinnati QB Jeff Driskel had a 7-yard touchdown to Tyler Boyd for Cincinnati’s first score, but he finished just 14 of 33 for 130 yards with an interception. Boyd reached 1,000 yards for the season before leaving with an injury.

— Julio Jones caught six passes for 82 yards and one acrobatic TD in the Falcons’ 40-15 thrashing of the Cardinals. The 5-9 Falcons forced three turnovers and sacked Arizona’s Josh Rosen seven times, a single-game season high for both teams. Deion Jones returned an interception for an early score and Atlanta snapped a five-game losing streak while dropping the Cardinals to 3-11.

 

COLLEGE FOOTBALL-NEWS

Heupel, Kelly, Saban are finalists for AP coach of year

UNDATED (AP) — UCF’s Josh Heupel, Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly and Alabama’s Nick Saban are the finalists for The Associated Press national college football coach of the year after leading their teams to unbeaten regular seasons.

The winner will be announced Monday.

Heupel guided No. 7 Central Florida to a second consecutive unbeaten season at 12-0 and a No. 11 ranking. Kelly led the third-ranked Fighting Irish to its first College Football Playoff appearance and a 12-0 mark. Saban has No. 1 Alabama 13-0 and in the CFP playoff for the fifth consecutive season.

In other college football news:

— FIU running back Shawndarrius Phillips will not accompany the team to the Bahamas Bowl this week, following his arrest on a domestic violence charge. Phillips was arrested Dec. 12, nearly six months after the alleged incident took place.

 

NBA…

Pacers win 7th in row

UNDATED (AP) — The Indiana Pacers grabbed share of first place in the NBA’s Central Division by winning their seventh in a row.

Victor Oladipo (oh-lah-DEE’-poh) contributed 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Pacers downed the Knicks, 110-99. Myles Turner added 24 points and six boards for Indiana, which went on a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter to take an 88-81 lead.

The Pacers became the fourth NBA team to win 20 games this season as they moved within percentage points of Milwaukee for first place in the Central and second in the Eastern Conference.

In other NBA games:

— Jamal Murray delivered 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ 95-86 win over the Raptors. Nikola Jokic (YOH’-kihch) had 26 points for Denver, which trailed 70-57 before going on a 23-2 run to win for the 10th time in 12 games.

— The Wizards surprised the Lakers as John Wall’s 40 points and 14 assists led Washington past Los Angeles, 128-110. LeBron James was held to a season-low 13 points just a night after he and Lonzo Ball became the sixth teammates in NBA history to record triple-doubles in the same game.

— Ben Simmons recorded his third triple-double of the season by producing 22 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists for the 76ers in a 128-105 romp over the Cavaliers. Joel Embiid (joh-EHL’ ehm-BEED’) finished with 24 points and Jimmy Butler added 19 in his first action since missing two games with a strained groin.

— The Kings ended the Mavericks’ 11-game home winning streak as Buddy Hield (heeld) and De’Aaron Fox each scored 28 points to lead Sacramento’s 120-113 victory at Dallas. Mavs rookie Luka Doncic had 28 points and nine assists, but no other Dallas player scored more than 15.

— The Heat were 102-96 winners at New Orleans as Josh Richardson scored 22 points and Dwyane (dwayn) Wade added 19. Hassan Whiteside had 17 points and 12 rebounds in his matchup with Anthony Davis, who finished with 27 points, 12 boards, three blocks and three steals,

— The Nets stretched their season-high winning streak to five games by getting 32 points from D’Angelo Russell in a 144-127 win against the Hawks. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 18 points and Joe Harris had 16 for Brooklyn, which hadn’t won a fifth straight game since April 2, 2015.

 

NHL…

Jets knock off Bolts in OT

UNDATED (AP) — Mark Scheifele (SHY’-flee) has been a major force in the Winnipeg Jets’ season-high, five-game winning streak.

The Jets forward came through again by scoring 4:18 into overtime to finish a 5-4 win over the Lightning. Scheifele extended his point streak to five games with five goals and eight assists.

Nikolaj Ehlers (NIH’-koh-ly EE’-lurz) added a pair of goals and Connor Hellebuyck (HEH’-leh-buhk) stopped 42 shots as the Jets took over first place in the Central Division by one point over Nashville.

The Lightning ended an eight-game winning streak and saw their lead in the Atlantic Division cut to seven points over Buffalo.

Elsewhere on NHL ice:

— Jeff Skinner’s second goal of the game was the go-ahead tally with 3:13 left in the Sabres’ 4-2 victory at Boston. Skinner’s team-leading 24th goal came off a feed behind the net from Boston native Jack Eichel (EYE’-kul), who had two goals and two assists.

— Johnny Gaudreau and Alan Quine each scored twice in the Flames’ eighth win in nine games, a 7-2 rout of the Blues. Defenseman Mark Giordano scored for the third straight game and David Rittich stopped 26 shots as Calgary expanded its lead in the Pacific Division to five points over Anaheim.

— Alex Tuch scored 2:11 into overtime to give the Golden Knights a 4-3 win over the Rangers. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots in his 423rd career victory, tying Tony Esposito for ninth on the NHL’s all-time list.

— The Sharks spotted the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead before Melker Karlsson, Evander Kane, Kevin Labanc, Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture each had a goal and an assist in San Jose’s fourth straight win, 7-3 at Chicago. Chicago goalie Corey Crawford left the game with 1:30 left in the first period after the back of his head struck the right post during a goalmouth pileup.

— Warren Foegele (FOH’-gul) scored his first goal since October and Petr Mrazek (muh-RA’-zehk) notched his first shutout of the seaon by handling 23 shots in the Hurricanes’ 3-0 decision over the Coyotes.

Power-play goals by Brock Boeser (BEH’-sur), Alexander Edler and Elias Pettersson sent the Canucks past the Oilers, 4-2. Boeser also had two assists and Jacob Markstrom needed to make just 20 saves in Vancouver’s fifth win in six games.

 

T25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL S

Ward leads Spartans

UNDATED (AP) — Ninth-ranked Michigan State rode the hot shooting of Nick Ward to a 104-83 rout of Green Bay.

Ward shot 9-for-9 while scoring 22 of his 28 points in the first half. He also nailed his first two attempts of the second half and finished 12-for-13 to help the Spartans move to 9-2.

Cassius had 16 points and a game-high 12 assists for the Spartans, who actually trailed 24-20 before going on a 27-4 spurt.

Also in top-25 men’s basketball:

Corey Davis Jr. hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 29 seconds left and had 17 points in No. 24 Houston’s 68-64 comeback victory over Saint Louis.

 

GOLF…

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Davis Love III and his son Dru played so well Sunday that they set two scoring records, rallied from a three-shot deficit to win the PNC Father-Son Challenge and then wondered if they would get to play again.

Team Love shot 27 on the front nine at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club to get in the mix, took the lead with a birdie at No. 11 and finished off their record round with four more birdies an eagle for a 16-under 56, breaking by one the 18-hole record in a scramble format.

They won by three shots at 26-under 118, another record in the scramble format.

 

MLB NEWS

Mets get a backstop

NEW YORK (AP) — A person familiar with the negotiations says the New York Mets have agreed to a two-year, $19.5 million deal with free agent catcher and two-time All-Star Wilson Ramos, pending a physical.

Ramos batted .306 with 15 home runs and an .845 OPS last season. He made the All-Star team but missed the game with a hamstring injury.

The deal likely signals an end to the Mets’ pursuit of Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto..

 

In world and national news…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House insists it will do “whatever is necessary” to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall to stop what it calls a “crisis of illegal immigration.” The White House is demanding that Congress provide $5 billion to build the wall even though President Donald Trump promised in his 2016 campaign that Mexico would pay for it. There’s resistance from both major political parties on Capitol Hill, and the continued fight over the wall could lead to a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday.UNDATED (AP) — Hours before a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl became ill and died in U.S. custody, her father signed a form that stated his daughter was in good health. That raises questions as to whether the father knew what he was signing. The form was written in English and was read to him in Spanish by Border Patrol agents. But the father’s native language is a Mayan tongue. Agents along the U.S.-Mexico border are increasingly encountering migrants who speak neither English nor Spanish.JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The U.S. military says it has carried out six airstrikes in the Gandarshe area of Somalia which killed a total of 62 al-Shabab extremist rebels. In a statement issued Monday, the U.S. military’s Africa Command said it carried out four strikes on Dec. 15 in which 34 people were killed and two more on Dec. 16 which killed 28.RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia says it rejects U.S. Senate resolution last week that put the blame for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi squarely on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The statement from the kingdom is an unusually strong rebuke of the Senate. Saudi Arabia says the resolution “contained blatant interferences” in the kingdom’s internal affairs and undermines its regional and international role.NEW YORK (AP) — There’s been a big jump in the number of high school students who use nicotine-tinged electronic cigarettes. An annual survey of teen smoking finds that twice as many high school students are vaping this year, compared to last year.