CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 60s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

FRIDAY…Mostly cloudy in the morning then clearing. Highs in the lower 80s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

 

.FRIDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. Lows in the upper 60s.

Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

.SATURDAY…Mostly sunny. A 20 percent chance of showers and

thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 90s. Southeast

winds 10 to 15 mph.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of

showers and thunderstorms in the Jamestown area, 50 percent in the Valley City area.   Some thunderstorms may be severe in the evening.

 

.SUNDAY…Partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of showers and

thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 80s.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. Chance of showers and slight

chance of thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 60s. Chance of

precipitation 20 percent.

.MONDAY…Mostly sunny. A 20 percent chance of showers and

thunderstorms in the morning. Highs in the lower 80s.

 

.MONDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers

and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 60s.

.TUESDAY…Mostly sunny with a 20 percent chance of showers and

thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. A 20 percent chance of

showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 60s.

.WEDNESDAY…Partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of showers and

thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 80s.

 

Early Thursday morning nickel size hail was reported in the Litchville area, and some rain amount around one inch.

 

The remainder of Thursday and the evening will be storm free, but
scattered storms could approach the area toward Friday morning.

Multiple rounds of thunderstorms are forecast Friday through the
weekend. The greatest risk of severe weather will be Friday night, and Saturday evening.

It will be quite hot and humid Saturday afternoon, especially around the James River Valley.

Eventually cooler air aloft makes it way into the area late Saturday.

 

Jamestown (CSi) Legal sales and detonation of fireworks in the City of Jamestown is allowed the first day of July through the fifth day of July.

Hours

  • July 1: noon to 11pm
  • July 2: noon to 11pm
  • July 3: noon to 11pm
  • July 4: noon to 1am July 5

Police Chief Scott Edinger says no fireworks may be donated after 1-a.m., on July 5th.

You cannot detonate fireworks from 11:00 P.M. to 12:00 P.M. (noon) within the City of Jamestown.

Translation:  you can shoot off fireworks July 1-2-3 from noon to 11pm.  On the 4th, noon to 1am of the 5th.

The sale of fireworks shall be allowed only in areas zoned commercial or industrial.

No person shall offer any fireworks for sale unless such person is a resident of the city or living within the one-mile area under the city zoning control.

The Jamestown City Council may, by resolution, allow the sale or use of fireworks at any other time or date during the calendar year.

The public fireworks display will be held Thursday night July 3rd at the Stutsman County Fairgrounds, slated to start at 10-p.m.

 

Bismarck  (CSi) North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says, Field Days have been scheduled at a number of  North Dakota sites, to collect and redistribute flea beetles that eat leafy spurge.

Those  interested in acquiring the flea beetles to release on their own property can collect them from established populations at the field day sites.

Goehring says, “Leafy spurge continues to be one of North Dakota’s most difficult-to-control noxious weeds.  Using the flea beetles for biological control, as part of an integrated pest management plan, has proven to be an effective tool in combating leafy spurge infestations.”

Field days in Stutsman County are at 1508 4th Street Northwest in Jamestown. The date and time to be announced.

Other planned days will be Wednesday, June 26 in Billings & Stark Counties. Other counties include Grant, Benson, and Morton at dates and times TBD.

 

Written By: Patrick Springer / Forum News Service

Jamestown (Inforum) — Some employees at the North Dakota State Hospital in Jamestown complain that concerns over violent patient assaults against workers are not being heard, and they have now launched an online petition seeking the removal of two top administrators.

But at least one state official who oversees the hospital says the employee concerns aren’t widespread, and assaults and worker injuries have been declining in recent years.

The online petition, posted on change.org, argues that new leadership is needed at the state psychiatric hospital. The petition so far has gathered more than 350 signatures. It seeks the removal of Superintendent Rosalie Etherington and Clinical Director Melanie Flynn.

Eleven assaults have occurred at the state hospital this year, including two that resulted in aggravated assault charges being filed against patients.

An anonymous person claiming to be a state hospital employee sent an email to the office of Gov. Doug Burgum to express concerns about staff safety and complaints that those concerns are not being addressed by hospital administrators.  But the person who wrote the governor’s office said workers fear retaliation for speaking out.

An official with the North Dakota Department of Human Services, which runs the state hospital, said he toured the campus on Tuesday, June 25, talked to employees, and nobody expressed worries about security or safety.

Tom Eide, director of field services for the department, including the state hospital, also said assaults and worker injuries at the hospital have been trending down in recent years.

Mike Nowatzki, Governor Burgum’s communications director, said in a statement. “The safety of patients and team members remains a top priority of this administration.”

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Board of Higher Education has struck a deal meant to improve some of the management functions at the North Dakota State College of Science, following a critical audit review of the Wahpeton school.The board’s audit committee had recommended “temporary system oversight” by the university system chancellor after the review accused the school of a conflict of interest regarding the hiring of a consultant for a career education center. The audit also criticized the school for failing to cooperate in the investigation.NDSCS President John Richman said the added oversight was unnecessary because the school has its own plan to address the report. The board approved a motion Thursday favoring the school’s blueprint while giving Chancellor Mark Hagerott the authority to monitor its progress and make changes. 
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A new report finds drug arrests and aggravated assault reports increased last year in North Dakota.State Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem on Thursday released North Dakota’s crime statistics for 2018.Stenehjem says overall, North Dakota’s crime rate is level and property crimes still account for half of all crimes.

But the report found that reports of aggravated assault grew 7% in 2018, to more than 1,300. Drug arrests also rose 7%, to 5,455 last year.

North Dakota reported 17 homicides in 2018, compared with 12 in 2017. Twelve of last year’s homicide victims died from domestic violence, including four infants and three children. Guns were used in nine of the homicides, including the three children.

The report is based on information provided by local law enforcement agencies across North Dakota.

 

PARSHALL, N.D. (AP) — A federal murder charge has been filed in a fatal stabbing on the Fort Berthold Reservation.Chantel Ducheneaux is accused of killing Taylor Benson with a kitchen knife at a mobile home in Parshall last Friday. A court affidavit filed by the FBI says the two women had been arguing before Benson was stabbed.The federal court in Bismarck has appointed public defender Jason Tupman to handle Ducheneaux’s case. He declined to comment on it.

 

In sports…

Valley City  (VCSU) The Valley City State University softball team continued to rack up honors on Thursday with the announcement of the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association college awards.  The awards are voted on by North Dakota sports media.

Valley City State’s softball team won the female awards in all three categories of the NDAPSSA college awards. The Vikings were named the North Dakota Female Team of the Year; pitcher Emily Smith was named the Female Athlete of the Year; and coach Michael Mook was named the Coach of the Year.

Read the full story at: https://www.inforum.com/sports/2731623-Otterdahl-Bison-football-NDAPSSA-College-Award-winners

The Vikings won a school-record 54 games this season and advanced to the NAIA World Series for just the third time in program history (1982, 2006).

The Vikings (54-5, 26-2 NSAA) won the North Star Athletic Association regular season and tournament championships. Valley City State was a No. 1 seed for the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round and won their bracket in Columbia, Mo., to advance to the 10-team NAIA World Series for the first time since 2006.

VCSU was ranked No. 6 in the final regular season NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll. The Vikings are ranked No. 10 in the postseason poll.

VCSU started the season 15-0 and later had a 20-game winning streak heading into the World Series. This year’s team broke more than a dozen individual and team records, including wins (54), runs scored (399), hits (574), RBIs (344), doubles (112) and triples (20).

Members of the Valley City State University softball team, include former Jamestown High School standout Kadie Anderson.

(Other finalists: Shauna Kemp, Jamestown wrestling; Darren Mueller, North Dakota State softball)

 

In world and national news…

MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — The young family from El Salvador appeared in the Mexican border city of Matamoros over the weekend with fear already on their faces.Another migrant says the family asked about trying to swim across to the U.S., but she tried to discourage them over the danger. Xiomara Mejia says that “I noticed they were really nervous, scared. They had panic on their faces.”Mejia said Wednesday the family left, saying they would be back. “I didn’t think they were going to decide to cross the river.”But they did try the swim, and the father and young daughter were swept away and drowned. Their bodies were found face down in the Rio Grande, a heartbreaking scene captured in a news photo showing the girl tucked inside her father’s shirt. 
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is suggesting the census be delayed indefinitely as he blasts a Supreme Court decision putting a hold on his administration’s effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.Trump tweeted Thursday that it “Seems totally ridiculous that our government, and indeed Country, cannot ask a basic question of Citizenship in a very expensive, detailed and important Census.”And he says he has asked government lawyers if they can delay the Constitutionally-mandated Census, “no matter how long” until the Supreme Court is given additional information “from which it can make a final and decisive decision.”Federal law states the census must begin April 1.The high court on Thursday maintained a hold on the administration’s efforts to add the citizenship question. Opponents say there’s no time to revisit the issue before next week’s start to the printing of census forms.SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Donald Trump’s next tweet might come with a warning label.

Starting Thursday, tweets that Twitter deems in the public interest, but which violate the service’s rules, will be obscured by a warning explaining the violation. Users will have to tap through the warning to see the underlying message.

The new Twitter policy will apply to other political leaders and candidates as well. Twitter effectively exempts such public figures from many of its normal rules, considering their messages significant enough to warrant special treatment.

The company outlined its reasoning in 2018 after some Twitter users questioned why presidential tweets that threatened war or spread hatred didn’t get Trump banned from the service.

Twitter says the policy applies to major political figures with more than 100,000 followers.

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Paul Manafort’s lawyer says he intends to seek the dismissal of state mortgage fraud charges, citing New York’s strong double jeopardy protections.Manafort is the former chairman of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. He pleaded not guilty Thursday at a Manhattan arraignment.Defense lawyer Todd Blanche said it’s his view that “the laws of New York do not allow the people to do what they did in this case.”Manafort is serving a 7½-year prison sentence for misleading the U.S. government about foreign lobbying, encouraging witnesses to lie and tax fraud.In May, state lawmakers passed a bill meant to ensure that state prosecutors could pursue charges against anyone granted a presidential pardon for similar federal crimes.Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo supported the legislation but has yet to sign it. 

 

PARIS (AP) — Iran’s U.N. ambassador says if his country exceeds limits on low-enriched uranium set by the 2015 nuclear deal, that can be quickly reversed as soon as Tehran sees recovery in its oil and banking sectors.Majid Takht Ravanchi told reporters at a briefing Thursday that he didn’t have “any exact information” on whether the 300-kilogram limit has been breached.He said he hopes that at Friday’s meeting in Vienna of the five parties remaining in the nuclear deal “tangible results can be achieved so that we can reverse our decision.”Ravanchi said Iran isn’t planning to get out of the 2015 agreement, which the United States left last year.But he said Iran is “not happy with the Europeans” supporting the agreement — Britain, France and Germany — because it has taken so much time to put in operation a program to allow Iran to trade. The three countries said Wednesday they are finalizing a “special purpose vehicle” called INSTEX to facilitate trade while avoiding U.S. sanctions.The Trump administration has called for dialogue with Iran, but Ravanchi said the U.S. “maximum pressure policy is not designed to prepare for dialogue.””They want to act like the older brother telling the younger brother how to behave,” he said. “The right atmosphere” is needed, and right now “it’s an atmosphere of animosity.”

Ravanchi stressed that “sanctions and dialogue are mutually exclusive.”

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Two women have confirmed that the writer E. Jean Carroll told them in the 1990s that she’d been sexually assaulted by Donald Trump in the dressing room of a New York City department store.The women, both journalists, spoke publicly for the first time to The New York Times in a podcast released Thursday.Carol Martin and Lisa Birnbach said they had opposite reactions when Carroll told them of her alleged encounter with Trump.Birnbach said she talked on the phone with Carroll right after the alleged attack and urged her to report it to police.Martin spoke to Carroll within a few days. She said she advised Carroll not to tell anyone.Trump has denied Carroll’s account, saying she’s “not my type.”