CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows around 40. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

.SATURDAY…Partly sunny.   A 20 percent chance of rain showers in the afternoon.

Highs in the lower 50s. Northwest winds around 10 mph.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain showers in the evening.    Lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds around 5 mph. Gusts up to 20 mph in the evening.

.SUNDAY…Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. North winds 5 to

10 mph.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 30s.

.MONDAY…Cloudy. Chance of rain possibly mixed with snow in the

morning, then chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs in the upper

40s. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.

.MONDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Chance of rain showers in the

evening, then chance of rain showers and snow showers after

midnight. Lows in the mid 30s. Chance of precipitation

30 percent.

.TUESDAY…Partly sunny. Highs around 50.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 30s.

.WEDNESDAY…Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 50s.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of rain showers

in the evening, then slight chance of rain showers and snow

showers after midnight. Lows in the mid 30s. Chance of

precipitation 20 percent.

.THURSDAY…Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain

showers. Highs in the lower 50s.

 

Friday night through Saturday morning a chance of showers. A slight

chance to chance of showers can be expected over southern ND

Saturday afternoon.

Sunday a continued chance for showers.

Sunday night through Monday night a mix of rain/snow

at night, then showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms during

the day.

Drier conditions then take control Tuesday through Thursday,

with highs in the 50s.

 

 

Jamestown  (uj.edu)  The University of Jamestown’s 2019 Graduation for 253 undergraduate and graduate students is set for Saturday, May 4, at Harold Newman Arena on campus.

Baccalaureate is at 10:30-a.m. The speaker will be Liz Hunt, Assistant Professor of Communications and the Director of the Character in Leadership Program.

Commencement at 2:30-p.m.  The commencement speaker is Elmer Schindel ’63 a member of the UJ Board of Trustees. The speakers representing the graduating students are:  Allie Hill, an undergraduate elementary education major, and Michael Long, a Doctor of Physical Therapy candidate.

The public is welcome to the commencement ceremony.

 

Valley City  (CSi)  Phase II of the Permanent Flood Protection project will continue in Valley City.

On Monday May 6, Main Street will be closed between Central Avenue and 5th Avenue Northwest. Local traffic will be allowed to businesses inside of the road closure, and  business signing will be provided.  The road closure is anticipated to last 4 to 5 weeks weather permitting. Main Street will reopened prior to Rally in the Valley.

Work will include finishing concrete work on Main Street. A detour to be provided during the closure. Truck deliveries are encouraged to seek alternative routes.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  The James River Humane Society in Jamestown has re-started the humane trapping of feral cats in town.

On Friday’s Wayne Byers Show on CSi Cable 2, James River Humane Society, board member Jay Nitchke said, The area around the University of Jamestown will be concentrated on first with 20 traps set.  The cats will be released to the shelter, where they will receive medical attention, including shots, plus spaying and neutering of the animals. The program will continue in other areas of Jamestown through the summer.

Jay added that anyone with a farm that would like to have a cat as a barn cat, may the James River Humane Society this week, at 701-252-0747.  Call that same number if anyone knows of other areas of Jamestown populated by feral cats.

She said while ridding areas of the feral cats, the service also cuts down on the cat population, by taking them “off the streets,” and limiting reproduction.

On another topic, Jay said Pizza Ranch in Jamestown will donate 25 percent of its proceeds on Monday May 13 to the James River Humane Society between, 5-p.m., and 8-p.m.

Those participating must provide an available flyer at the time of service.

This month Jay highlighted a ten year old Doberman available for adoption seeking companionship and a home after its owner had to enter a nursing home.

She also highlighted two young male border collie mixed breed dogs available for adoption.

She pointed out that the shelter has many cats available for adoption as well.

The shelter is in need of donations of kitten food.

Anyone wishing to make a charitable donations, for general operations, or to support the feral cat program, can send it to P.O Box 636, Jamestown, ND 58402.

Volunteers are always welcome to help out at the shelter, doing some chores, or socializing with the animals.   Donations of food, cleaning supplies and animal supplies can be brought to the shelter, or dropped off the collection box, located near the checkouts at Hugo’s in Jamestown.

The James River Humane Society is located off the I-94 Bloom Exit, open every day for 9:30-a.m., to 11:30-a.m., and 5:30-p.m., to 6:30-p.m., or by appointment.  On line visit: jamesriverhumanesocity.org

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  Jamestown City crews will begin flushing fire hydrants in the NE areas from west of 12th Ave NE & north of 3rd St NE beginning Monday, May 6, 2019 and will continue the flushing work throughout the summer season during normal working hours until completed.

Please be aware of the possibility of lowered water pressure when flushing of hydrants occurs in the various areas.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT AT 252-5131.

 

 

Update…

WATFORD CITY, N.D. (AP) — Authorities have identified a North Dakota man who died in a three-vehicle collision on an icy bridge in McKenzie County.The Highway Patrol says 48-year-old Delbert Diegel, of Wishek, was killed Monday when his Chevy Suburban was struck head-on by a pickup truck that lost control trying to avoid a pickup topper that was on the Highway 58 bridge over the Missouri River. The driver of a third vehicle tried to avoid that collision, but struck the pickup.Three passengers in the truck suffered minor injuries.

The crash closed the highway for about 3½ hours.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota plans to invest $33 million in the unmanned aircraft systems industry in an attempt to establish the state as a premier location for drone research, testing and commercialization.Gov. Doug Burgum is expected to sign a bill authorizing the investment in a ceremony Monday with state leaders. The majority of the money will go toward building out infrastructure to support operations to fly drones beyond the sight of the pilot.About $2 million will be used to support an unmanned aircraft test site in Grand Forks that’s been authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones without chase planes to observe the flight. Another $3 million will upgrade infrastructure at Grand Sky, the country’s first unmanned aircraft business park located on the Grand Forks Air Force Base. 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal appeals court panel on Friday rejected the state of Missouri’s challenge to a massive upstream Missouri River water project in North Dakota, potentially ending a second legal battle over the project that has been in the works for more than three decades.

The $244 million Northwest Area Water Supply project aims to bring river water to 82,000 people in northwestern North Dakota, giving them a reliable source of quality water. Missouri worries the project will diminish the river water it needs for drinking, farming and shipping. The state sued in 2009.

The underlying dispute centers on how much water NAWS will actually use. Missouri maintains it will deplete the river by 3.5 billion gallons each year, causing “manifold injuries to Missouri’s sovereign and proprietary interests.” North Dakota counters that the number is misleading because the river system has the capacity for more than 23 trillion gallons of water.

The legal battle didn’t address the water disagreement. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer in Washington, D.C., ruled in 2017 that Missouri had no authority to sue the federal government over the matter. The state appealed, but a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld Collyer’s ruling.

“In the end, we are unpersuaded by Missouri’s argument” that there are exceptions in case law under which its claim fits.

Missouri could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state attorney general’s office didn’t immediately comment.

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem praised the ruling, calling it “a significant and long-sought victory for the citizens of North Dakota.”

Congress first authorized the NAWS project in 1986. It ran into a snag in 2002 when the Canadian province of Manitoba sued over concerns about the possible transfer of harmful bacteria or other agents from the Missouri River Basin to the Hudson Bay Basin. The international dispute was resolved about a year ago when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Manitoba government reached an agreement giving Canada a say in water treatment and monitoring.

 

In world and national news…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring jumped in April as U.S. employers added 263,000 jobs, a strong gain that suggests businesses have shrugged off any concerns the economy may slow this year.

The Labor Department says the unemployment rate fell to a new five-decade low of 3.6%, though that drop partly reflected an increase in the number of Americans who stopped looking for work. Average hourly pay rose 3.2% from the previous year, a healthy gain though unchanged from the previous month.

April’s figures show that solid economic growth is still encouraging robust hiring, nearly a decade into the economy’s recovery from the Great Recession. The expansion is set to become the longest in history in July. Businesses say they are struggling to find workers, but have taken a range of steps to fill jobs, including training more entry-level workers, loosening educational requirements and raising pay.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Judiciary Committee is threatening to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress if he does not comply with a new Monday deadline for special counsel Robert Mueller’s full, unredacted report and some underlying materials.

The new offer from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler comes after the Justice Department missed the committee’s earlier deadline for the information. Nadler narrowed his offer in a new letter to Barr on Friday, saying the committee would limit its request for underlying materials to those directly cited in the report.

Nadler said the committee “will move to contempt proceedings and seek further legal recourse” if the department doesn’t comply.

 

 

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal court has ruled that Ohio’s congressional map is unconstitutional and has ordered a new one be drawn for the 2020 elections.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati ruled unanimously Friday that district boundaries were manipulated for partisan gain by Republican mapmakers and violate voters’ rights to democratically select their representatives. The ruling blocks Ohio from holding another election under the current map.

The ruling is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Voters’ rights and Democratic groups who sued Ohio Republican officials said redistricting completed after the 2010 Census yielded a statewide map that has produced an unbending 12-4 Republican advantage in Ohio’s delegation. Republicans said the map was drawn with bipartisan support.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the “Russian Hoax” was one of the topics he discussed with Russian’s Vladimir Putin (POO’-tihn) during a “Very productive talk!”

Trump tweeted Friday: “As I have always said, long before the Witch Hunt started, getting along with Russia, China, and everyone is a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said earlier that Trump and Putin “very, very briefly” discussed special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report during the call, “essentially in the context of that it’s over and there was no collusion, which I’m pretty sure both leaders were very well aware of long before this call took place.”

Mueller did not find a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but outlined extensive contact and Russian efforts to help Trump win.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Mueller report made it clear: While the candidates were focused on campaigning in 2016, the Russians were busy laying traps for a cyberattack that changed the landscape of American politics.

The aftershocks continued well into Donald Trump’s presidency and are rippling into the 2020 presidential contest. Whether the candidates and political parties will be able to avoid a repeat is an open question.

Traditionally, cybersecurity has been a lower priority for candidates, especially at the early stages of a campaign. They need to raise money, hire a staff, pay office rents, lobby for endorsements and travel repeatedly to the early voting states.