– Wayne Byers Show – Evening – Dec 24

CSi Weather…

WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM WEDNESDAY TO 6 AM CST FRIDAY…

Dickey, Foster, Kidder, La Moure, Logan, McIntosh, Stutsman

Till 9-a.m. Friday

Barnes; Cass; Eastern Walsh County; Grand Forks; Griggs; Nelson; Pembina; Ransom; Richland; Sargent; Steele; Traill; Western Walsh County

* WHAT…Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 9 to 14 inches expected. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph Thursday could result in blizzard conditions.

* WHERE…Portions of south central and southeast North Dakota. *

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS…Travel will be very difficult to impossible. Widespread blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. Cold wind chills Thursday night as low as 20 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.

Forecast…

.WEDNESDAY…Snow. Snow accumulation around 4 inches. Highs 15 to 20. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…Snow. Patchy blowing and drifting snow after

midnight. Snow accumulation around 3 inches. Lows around 15.

Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

.THURSDAY…Snow. Areas of blowing and drifting snow. Windy.

Moderate snow accumulations. Highs 15 to 20. North winds 20 to

30 mph.

.THURSDAY NIGHT…Cloudy. Snow likely in the evening, then slight

chance of snow after midnight. Areas of blowing and drifting snow

through the night. Windy. Light snow accumulations. Lows zero to

5 above. North winds 25 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.

.FRIDAY…Partly sunny. Areas of blowing and drifting snow

through the day. Highs zero to 5 above.

.FRIDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows around 15 below.

.SATURDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs 10 to 15.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. Lows 5 to 10 above.

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

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of snow after

midnight. Lows 15 to 20.

.MONDAY…Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of snow in the

morning. Highs in the lower 20s.

.MONDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows zero to 5 above.

.NEW YEARS DAY…Partly sunny. Highs 5 to 10 above.

DENVER (AP) — The government may be partially shut down, but that won’t stop hundreds of volunteers dressed in Christmas hats and military uniforms Monday from taking calls from children around the world who want to know when Santa will be coming.

Last year, NORAD Tracks Santa drew 126,000 phone calls, 18 million website hits, 1.8 million followers on Facebook and 179,000 more on Twitter.

The military says the NORAD Tracks Santa won’t be affected by the government shutdown because it is run by volunteers Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado and is funded by the Department of Defense’s budget that was approved earlier this year.

Now in its 63rd year, the Santa tracker became a Christmas Eve tradition after a mistaken phone call to the Continental Air Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1955. CONAD, as it was known, had the serious job of monitoring a far-flung radar network for any sign of a nuclear attack on the United States.

When Col. Harry Shoup picked up the phone that day, he found himself talking not to a military general, but to a child who wanted to speak to Santa Claus. A Colorado Springs newspaper had run an ad inviting kids to call Santa but mistakenly listed the hotline number.

Shoup figured out what had happened and played along. The tradition has since mushroomed into an elaborate operation that attracts tens of thousands of calls every year.

For the 1,500 civilian and military volunteers who will answer the phones for kids calling 1-877-HI-NORAD, it infuses the holiday with childlike wonder.

“They’re all really sweet, small voices,” said Madison Hill, a volunteer who helped answer the phones in two previous years.

“I had a little girl tell me good night instead of goodbye,” she said. “It’s really sweet.”

The North American Aerospace Defense Command — a joint U.S.-Canadian operation based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that protects the skies over both countries — has taken over the Santa tracker since the tradition started. The military command center embraced and expanded the Santa-tracking mission and has been rewarded with a bounty of goodwill and good publicity.

It takes 160 phones to handle the calls that pour in. New volunteers get a playbook that briefs them on the questions kids might ask. Big screens on the walls show a Santa icon making blistering progress around the globe. U.S. and Canadian officers do live TV interviews from the phone rooms.

“It really gets you into the Christmas spirit,” said Hill, a student at Mississippi State University who got involved through Air Force family members stationed in Colorado Springs.

“There are Christmas carols in the background, everyone’s very friendly, happy to be there,” she said.

One year, she took a call from a boy who began reading a very long Christmas list. “I remember having to cut him off after the 10th present or so,” she said, explaining to him that she had to take calls from other children.

A girl told Hill she wanted to warn Santa not to bump into a bell hanging on her door. “I think she wanted Santa to be quiet and not wake her up,” Hill said.

Sometimes the volunteers have to handle the unexpected. In 2012, a child from Newtown, Connecticut, asked if Santa could bring extra toys for families who lost children in the mass shooting that year at Sandy Hook Elementary.

“If I can get ahold of him, I’ll try to get the message to him,” replied the volunteer, Sara Berghoff.

NORAD’s commander, Air Force Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, will also take a turn answering the phones Monday.

“This is my first NORAD Tracks Santa,” said O’Shaughnessy, who took command in May. “I’m really excited.”

O’Shaughnessy was even asked about the program during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in April to confirm him as NORAD chief.

“I assume this committee can count on your commitment to continue that venerable tradition,” Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton deadpanned.

“Yes sir, especially since my son Sam would want to see that as well,” O’Shaughnessy replied.

North Dakota December 24, 2018 – Gasoline prices in North Dakota have fallen 9.6 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.27/g Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 493 stations in North Dakota. This compares with the national average that has fallen 5.9 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.31/g, according to GasBuddy.

Average gasoline prices on December 24 in North Dakota have ranged widely over the last five years:

$2.44/g in 2017, $2.16/g in 2016, $1.93/g in 2015, $2.42/g in 2014 and $3.07/g in 2013.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices yesterday were 17.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago and are 28.2 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has dropped 23.1 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 12.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Areas near North Dakota and their current gas price climate:

Sioux Falls- $2.07/g, down 9.1 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.16/g.

Fargo- $2.10/g, down 9.4 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.19/g.

South Dakota- $2.25/g, down 13.8 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.38/g.

“Gas prices broadly continue to move lower across much of the country as oil prices continue to melt away,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “31 states now are seeing at least one price under $2 per gallon while the most common price seen across the land has dropped to $1.99 per gallon, with over a quarter of stations in the U.S. under that psychologically important level. Americans are spending $225 million less every day on gasoline than they did some 75 days ago.”

For LIVE fuel price averages, visit http://FuelInsights.GasBuddy.com.

About GasBuddy

GasBuddy is the technology company changing the way more than 75 million consumers find, purchase, and save money on gasoline. Founded in 2000, the original GasBuddy website was a pioneer in crowd-sourced information, leveraging technology, big data, and a passionate community that now connects more than 70 million users with real-time, accurate fuel pricing information as well as reliable reviews of gas station amenities and services. The app and website have the most accurate and real-time fuel prices at over 140,000 unique stations in the United States, Canada, and Australia and is the most comprehensive money-saving companion while on the road. GasBuddy is available on all mobile platforms. For more information, visit www.gasbuddy.com.

Jamestown (CSi) The 2019 Polar Pig, Walk the Plank is set for February 2, at Stutsman Harley Davidson in Jamestown.

Funds raised support the JRMC Hospice program.

The day begins with the Silent/Live Auction from 10 – a.m., to 1-p.m.,

Registration and Chili Cook-off begins at 10:30-a.m.

Walk the Plank begins at noon.

Jamestown (CSi) Jamestown Area Ambulance Service will present basic information on first aid and safety on Monday January 17 from 1:30-p.m., to 3-p.m., their location at 502 1^st Avenue South in Jamestown.

Topics will include: Choking, Bleeding, Calling 9-1-1, Signs and Symptoms of Heart Attack and Stroke.

701-252-4693, of Email: bethd@freedomrc.org

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has pardoned 18 people and commuted sentences for two others during his two years in office.Data from the state’s Pardon Advisory Board shows the Republican governor has pardoned more people than his predecessor did during six years in office, The Bismarck Tribune reported .Burgum supports the First Step Act , a criminal justice reform bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday. It aims to reduce recidivism among federal prisoners.The board’s chairman, H. Patrick Weir, says the panel has extended the types of pardon applications it considers, in part because of the panel and Burgum’s recognition of the role of addiction in criminal activity.Burgum compares discrimination against people who have felonies to a scarlet letter “that just follows them around.”

Average gasoline prices on December 24 in North Dakota have ranged widely over the last five years:

$2.44/g in 2017, $2.16/g in 2016, $1.93/g in 2015, $2.42/g in 2014 and $3.07/g in 2013.

Areas near North Dakota and their current gas price climate:

Sioux Falls- $2.07/g, down 9.1 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.16/g.

Fargo- $2.10/g, down 9.4 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.19/g.

South Dakota- $2.25/g, down 13.8 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.38/g.

For LIVE fuel price averages, visit http://FuelInsights.GasBuddy.com.

About GasBuddy

In sports…

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s free ice fishing weekend is scheduled for Dec 29-30.

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department says resident anglers may fish that weekend without a license. All other ice fishing regulations apply.

Those interested in darkhouse spearfishing must register with the department before the free weekend. Registration is available on the department website, www.gf.nd.gov , or through any Game and Fish office. Northern pike and nongame species are legal for spearfishing.

AP top sports story of 2018…

(AP) The depths of Larry Nassar’s depravity began to emerge some 15 months before the calendar flipped to 2018 — when reports of his sexual abuse first appeared in newspaper stories that would eventually lead to a trial and, ultimately, to the doctor’s imprisonment.

But it was January 2018, the month when more than 150 female athletes testified at Nassar’s sentencing hearing for convictions on child-porn and sex-abuse charges, that marked a turning point in a crisis that has inflicted untold damage.

The testimony brought the true nature and number of Nassar’s crimes to the fore, triggering spasms of anger, soul-searching and attempts at reform, while also giving women in sports — and society in general — a more powerful voice when it comes to exposing abuse that had been swept out of the public’s conscience for decades.

Nassar’s crimes and the chaos they provoked — the massive turnover at Michigan State, the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, to say nothing of the trauma wrought on the victims themselves — was the Story of the Year in balloting by AP members and editors. The Nassar saga earned more than double the number of votes as the second- and third-place finishers: the Eagles first Super Bowl championship and the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a law that prohibited sports gambling outside of Nevada.

The year 2018 was also notable for a string of stirring comebacks and surprises: Maryland-Baltimore County pulled the first 16 vs. 1 upset in an NCAA Tournament that was also highlighted by Loyola-Chicago’s run to the Final Four, spurred on by a 98-year-old superfan, Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt . Tiger Woods returned to form, nearly winning the PGA before capturing the season-ending Tour Championship . The expansion Las Vegas Knights made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final before falling to the Washington Capitals.

There was a steady trickle of news about the still-emerging evidence and response to the doping scandal in Russia that has sullied the last three Olympics, with potential for more.

But the steadiest flow of cringe-inducing headlines came out of the Nassar scandal — not only detailing his depravity, but also the slow, often-ham-handed way in which some of the most powerful people in sports dealt with the aftermath.

Those who failed paid dearly, and it’s no exaggeration to say the entire Olympic movement inside the United States could be reconfigured because of it.

USOC chairman Larry Probst, CEO Scott Blackmun and sport performance director Alan Ashley all left or were forced out under a cloud. In his going-away speech, Probst said despite the USOC’s success under his watch, “it is our collective failure to keep you safe that that will forever cause me deep and profound regret.” Brought on to repair USA Gymnastics, president Kerry Perry got forced out after a series of embarrassing and out-of-touch missteps. Her predecessor, Steve Penny, was arrested on charges he ordered files pertaining to Nassar removed from the team’s training center at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas.

Blackmun’s successor, Sarah Hirshland, eventually called for decertification of USA Gymnastics — an unwieldy process that could be hastened by Congress, which held a number of hearings and called for changes in the law that governs the entire, dysfunctional U.S. Olympic charter.

Ironically, one of the biggest drivers of change turned out to be the world’s best gymnast. A Nassar victim herself, Olympic and world champion Simone Biles was unabashed in calling it like she saw it when change wasn’t coming quickly enough — or didn’t make any sense. Though hers may have been the best-known voice, it wasn’t the only one.

Survivors are cautiously optimistic.

“There is a broader cultural impact in terms of survivors speaking up,” said Rachel Denhollander, whose story of abuse at the hands of Nassar triggered the entire meltdown. “Prosecutors are saying they’re seeing a significant increase. A lot of them are tying them back to the sentencing hearing with Larry.”

Though he worked with high-profile gymnasts in a volunteer capacity, Nassar did most of his damage at his full-time job at Michigan State.

The school has settled lawsuits totaling $500 million . Its university president, athletic director, gymnastics coach, vice president of legal affairs, a dean and a school doctor have all left under the cloud of how the university failed, time and again, when presented with evidence that Nassar was a serial abuser. Some of those who have left are awaiting trials for enabling Nassar in some way.

Hundreds of gymnasts’ lawsuits against the USOC and USA Gymnastics are still pending. More Congressional hearings will be scheduled. More failures are certain to be detailed, and possibly some positive solutions — few and far between as the recriminations have piled up — can be found, as well.

The one sure thing is that even though 2018 is coming to an end, the pain, lessons and impact felt from the Nassar saga will resonate in 2019 and beyond.

“I think we have opened this door and revealed a lot of bad truths about our sport and sports in general,” said one of Nassar’s many victims, Olympic champion Jordyn Wieber. “Not only in sports in general, but a big child-abuse problem. People are opening their eyes a little bit more.”

___

AP Sports Writer Will Graves contributed to this report.

In world and national news…

UNDATED (AP) — President Donald Trump’s attack on the Federal Reserve spooked financial markets on Christmas Eve, raising fears about an uncertain future should the White House try to undermine or remove the head of the U.S. central bank. And news that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called CEOs of six major banks Sunday in an apparent attempt to stabilize jittery markets had the opposite effect. Major US stock indexes fell another 2 percent.WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with his Homeland Security secretary and other officials on Monday to discuss border security issues. The meeting comes amid a partial government shutdown over his U.S.-Mexico border wall that entered Christmas without a clear resolution in sight. Though both sides have traded offers over the dollars, they remain far apart on the wall.UNDATED (AP) — President Donald Trump lashed out at the Federal Reserve after administration officials spent the weekend trying to assure the public and financial markets that Jerome Powell’s job as Fed chairman was safe. On Wall Street, stocks had already been down but intensified their fall after Trump’s tweet. The Dow industrials finished the holiday-shortened trading day down more than 650 points.

TANJUNG LESUNG, Indonesia (AP) — The tsunami that roared ashore in Indonesia, killing more than 370 people and injuring over 1,000, was particularly cruel. It hit on a busy holiday weekend when many people were enjoying the warm night breeze on the beach under a full moon. And unlike most big waves, which typically follow an earthquake’s violent shaking, this was a stealth attack. There were no major ground convulsions, no sirens, no text messages.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s attorney general says an upcoming election campaign will have no effect on when he decides whether to file corruption charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s investigation will loom over the election campaign.