Wayne Byers Show Weekdays on CSi 2

CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…Clear. Lows in the lower 50s. Northeast winds around 5 mph shifting to the east after midnight.

.TUESDAY…Sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. Southeast winds around

10 mph.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Mostly clear. A 20 percent chance of rain

showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the upper 50s.

Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

.WEDNESDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 80s. South winds

10 to 15 mph.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 60s.

.THURSDAY…Partly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s.

.THURSDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of

showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s.

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

thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s.

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

and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s.

.SATURDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 80s.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s.

.SUNDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 80s.

 

 

Chances for storms and stronger/severe storms increase late in the week as a

stronger wave is depicted by the global models for late Thursday

into Friday.

Heavy rain may be a concern.

Temperatures will be right around or slightly above average with highs in the 80s to low 90s through the rest of the week and into the weekend.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  The Jamestown City Council met in another 2020 budget session Monday morning at City Hall.    All members were present.

City Administrator, Sarah Hellekson, continued the review of the proposed budget.

Explaining a power point presentation she said, challenges in drafting the 2020 city budget.  Highlights included building up the reserve fund, budgeting for unfilled positions, funding for capital  replacements, revenue options, a city sales tax increase to raise $1.3 million.  Utility rates would be raised by five percent, not included is the storm water utility.   The General Fund Mill Levy required for 2020, is 111.61 mills, with one mill generating  $46,263.

The 2020 General Property Tax levy is now proposed at $5,163,324.

Transfers into the General Fund are proposed at $450,000.

Also reviewed were City Fire Department insurance premiums, along with expenditures for the Police Department insurance premiums and city health insurance costs.

A new Finance & Assessment position is funded at $86,856.

A Civic Center janitor position is funded at $41, 537, some positions will become vacant due to retirements.

The City Beautification Fund is reduced to zero, the Jamestown Arts Center budget is now at $3,000.

The projected 2020 General Fund Budget income is at $8,775,094.  The 2019 General Fund carry over balance is at $877,612.

Mayor Heinrich proposed transferring $150,000 from the city sales tax fund to support the Civic Center, for $900,000 in funding….the proposed quarter of one percent city sales tax of the proposed one half percent increase.  He said the transfer would lessen the need to increase the mill levy, and also provide for dollars in the Reserve Fund.

He added that with the goal of having $2 million in the reserve fund, that figure would not available for 2020 spending, which would require over $2 million dollars for that purpose.   He feels the additional funding over $2 million won’t entirely be able to be met in the 2020 budget.

Funding for improvements to the Civic Center, roof repairs and boiler replacement and addressing safety issues will come for the separate Public Building Site Fund.

With employee salaries, the proposed budget will include a one percent increase in the cost of living , and .5 percent in the Step increase.

The Water Utility Fund remains at a five percent increase, along with the sanitary sewer utility increase of five percent.

A five percent increase is in the budget for the landfill fees.

The budget will be further discussed at the August 5th City Council Meeting, when the Preliminary budget will be adopted.

At that time the budget can be reduced but not increased to be submitted by August 9.

The final budget is needed ready for passage by October.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  The City of Jamestown announces, that due to the water main improvement project, that 8th Ave NW between 4th St & 5th St NW will be closed.
Traffic to Anne Carlson Center should use the 3rd St NW bridge.
This construction work will continue for two days.
Motorist’s should use extreme caution in this area.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) announced the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) approved the following four grants through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA):

 

 

  • Rolla Municipal Airport received $750,000 to construct a 5,850 square foot hangar and a 2,000 square foot hangar apron.

 

  • Mott Municipal Airport received $276,748 to rehabilitate runway pavement, taxiway, apron pavement, and an access road.

 

  • Cooperstown Municipal Airport received $150,000 to acquire 113 acres of land and necessary easements to enable the airport to control land use within the runway protection zones.

 

Totaling $1,963,290, these grants will be used for various improvement and maintenance projects at local airports in North Dakota.

 

In world and national news…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing growing accusations of racism for his incendiary tweets, President Donald Trump is seeking to deflect the criticism by labeling a leading black congressman as himself racist.

In the latest rhetorical shot at non-white lawmakers, Trump said Sunday that his weekend comments referring to Rep. Elijah Cummings’ majority-black Baltimore district as a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” where “no human being would want to live” were not racist. Instead, Trump argued, “if racist Elijah Cummings would focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district, and Baltimore itself, perhaps progress could be made in fixing the mess.”

His comments capped a weekend of attacks on Cummings, the son of former sharecroppers who rose to become the powerful chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

 

 

GILROY, Calif. (AP) — The mayor of the California city where a gunman killed three at an annual food festival says the community will mourn the tragedy but will get through it.

Gilroy Mayor Roland Velasco told a press conference Monday that gun violence is an epidemic in the United States and it’s “beyond sad” that a charitable event such as the Gilroy Garlic Festival was targeted.

The gunman opened fire Sunday as the festival was in its closing hours, sending the crowd scattering.

Three police officers immediately engaged and killed the gunman, who was armed with an assault-type rifle.

The mayor commended the officers’ “remarkable bravery” in running toward the shooter and says they undoubtedly saved many lives by putting their own lives in danger.

 

 

ROME (AP) — An Italian judge says one of the two American teenagers jailed in Rome for the slaying of a police officer has stated he stabbed the plainclothes officer because he feared he was being strangled.

Judge Chiara Gallo wrote in an order upholding the jailing of the two California residents that Finnegan Lee Elder told authorities he knifed Carabinieri officer Mario Cerciello Rega after he felt pressure on his neck.

But the judge said in her Saturday order that the 19-year-old did not have any marks on his neck indicating strangulation. The Associated Press obtained the order on Monday.

Gallo said the young man’s friend and travel companion, 18-year-old Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, told investigators that Elder informed him back at their hotel he had used a knife and then washed it.

The officer was stabbed 11 times and died shortly after on Friday.

The judge concluded the two Americans had a “total absence of self-control” and were highly dangerous.

 

 

MOSCOW (AP) — A doctor says that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has been taken to the hospital with a severe allergy attack, has been discharged after his condition improved.

Anastasiya Vasilyeva, who saw Navalny on Monday, told reporters she found it worrying that Navalny has been discharged before test results were available. She earlier said that she suspected that Navalny may have been poisoned.

Navalny was rushed to the hospital Sunday from a detention facility where he was serving a 30-day sentence for calling an unsanctioned protest. He was arrested several days before a major opposition rally on Saturday that ended with nearly 1,400 people detained.

 

 

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s largest business group is warning that neither the U.K. nor the European Union is prepared for the country to leave the 28-nation bloc without a deal.

The Confederation of British Industry released a report outlining 200 recommendations for both sides to accelerate Brexit preparations. It concludes that “the EU lags behind the U.K. in seeking to prevent the worst effects of a no-deal scenario.”

The group’s head of EU negotiations, Nicole Sykes, says “it’s like putting sandbags down for a flood. Your kitchen’s still going to be underwater but MAYBE we can save the bedrooms upstairs.”

The CBI says Monday the British government should resume Brexit meetings with business leaders and set aside more time to pass laws related to a no-deal exit.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed a bill ensuring that a victims’ compensation fund related to the Sept. 11 attacks never runs out of money.

Appearing in the Rose Garden on Monday with first responders from the 2001 terrorist attacks, Trump approved a bill extending the fund through 2092, essentially making it permanent.

The $7.4 billion fund had been rapidly depleting, and administrators recently cut benefit payments by up to 70%.

The bill passed Congress on a bipartisan basis but only after delays by some Republicans that exposed the legislative branch to withering criticism from activists, including comedian Jon Stewart.

More than 40,000 people have applied to the fund, which covers illnesses potentially related to being at the World Trade Center site, the Pentagon or Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after the attacks.

 

(AP)  Doctors say they worry about the growing influence insurers have over patient care.

Some are finding that they need more approvals from insurance companies before their patients can get routine things like medical scans or some prescriptions. That can postpone care for a few days or even weeks.

No independent research tracks how frequently insurance issues affect care nationally, but doctors say they’ve seen a marked increase in difficulties the last few years.

Insurers say they are reviewing more cases, and they follow guidelines set by medical societies when they make coverage decisions. They say they need to make sure patients receive the right care and guard against problems that can drive up costs.