CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the Jamestown area, 20 percent in the Valley City area. Lows in the mid 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

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

thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. Southeast winds around

5 mph.

.FRIDAY NIGHT…Mostly clear, partly cloudy in the Valley City area. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening in the Valley City area.

Lows in the mid 60s. South winds around 5 mph.

.SATURDAY…Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

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

.SUNDAY…Sunny. Highs in the upper 80s.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. A 40 percent chance of showers

and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s.

.MONDAY…Mostly sunny. A 30 percent chance of showers and

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

.MONDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and

thunderstorms in the evening. Lows around 60.

.TUESDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 50s.

.WEDNESDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs around 80.

There is a chance of thunderstorms Thursdaynight across
western and central North Dakota. Some storms may be strong to
severe.

Periodic chances for thunderstorms are forecast Friday through
Wednesday.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  The City of Jamestown announces that due to the 2019 Water Main replacement construction work upstream, the Ice House Dam gates will be opened on Friday, August 2, 2019. It is anticipated they will remain open until the construction work is completed.

 

Bismarck  (NDDOT)  Beginning the week of August 5, 2019, work will begin on US 281 in Ellendale, ND subcutting the roadway within the city limits. Asphalt paving work will begin shortly after all subcutting work is completed. The paving portion of the project begins north of Ellendale, ND at 96th St. S.E. to the South Dakota State Line.

During construction:

  • There will be daytime lane closures controlled by a flagger and pilot car operation
  • Speeds will be reduced
  • Please watch for workers and equipment in this area

Work is expected to be completed in October.

The NDDOT would like to remind motorists to slow down and use caution throughout the work zone. For more information about construction projects and road conditions throughout North Dakota, call 511 from any type of phone or visit the Travel Information Map on the NDDOT website at  http://www.dot.nd.gov/travel-info-v2/

 

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Two new abortion laws in North Dakota aren’t being enforced because of legal challenges.

The state’s sole abortion clinic in Fargo sued in June over a measure requiring physicians to tell women that they may reverse a so-called medication abortion if they have second thoughts.

That law was to go into effect on Thursday but the state has agreed to not enforce it until a federal judge rules.

The other makes it a crime for a doctor performing a second-trimester abortion to use instruments such as clamps, scissors and forceps to remove the fetus from the womb.

The law becomes effective if a federal court allows its enforcement.

Tammi Kromenaker, director of the Red River Valley Women’s Clinic, says “basically, nothing has changed” at the Fargo facility.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A major producer in North Dakota’s oil patch has announced it is cutting more than 250 jobs companywide.

Denver-based Whiting Petroleum announced the cuts Wednesday as part of restructuring effort that will save the company about $50 million annually.

The Bismarck Tribune reports it’s unclear how many of those lost positions are in North Dakota. Whiting operates primarily in North Dakota and northeast Colorado.

The job losses represent one-third of Whiting’s workforce. The company says 94 of the jobs were executive or corporate positions.

State data show the company has more than 1,500 active oil and gas wells in North Dakota.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota is considering whether to study lightning strikes at saltwater disposal sites after lightning hit state facilities at least four times since June, triggering fires and spills of oil and brine.

People familiar with the facilities said tanks made of fiberglass can be particularly vulnerable to fires when lightning strikes, the Bismarck Tribune reported.

Last week, North Dakota’s Oil and Gas Research Council decided to seek requests for a proposal in an effort to commission a study. The council, which consists of state officials and representatives from the energy industry, pinpoints oil- and gas-related research projects to pursue. The projects are funded by up to $10 million in oil taxes each biennium.

The state’s Industrial Commission, chaired by Gov. Doug Burgum, will need to grant approval before the council can proceed.

Karlene Fine, executive of the Industrial Commission, said the authorization could happen at a meeting Aug. 28.

Ron Day, a member of the research council who works for Marathon Petroleum, said lightning-related fires at disposal sites present a safety concern in the oil fields and added he supports additional studies.

“It’s really just to try to understand, is there a connection to fiberglass tanks, is there a way to lightning-proof or reduce the threat of lightning to those facilities?” he said.

The Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota is drafting up a plan for an initial study to present to the Industrial Commission, which includes a cost estimate for the state and time frame.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A group seeking to overturn a new law to stop new restrictions on the state has missed the deadline to get the proposal on the ballot.

Secretary of State Al Jaeger says the group headed by Dickinson electrician Riley Kuntz missed the midnight Wednesday deadline to turn in nearly 13,500 qualified signatures needed to get the proposal to a statewide vote next year.

The law that requires the state auditor to get the Legislature’s approval for conducting performance audits. State Auditor Joshua Gallion says he will ignore the new law based on an opinion by the state attorney general’s office.

One of the lead backers of the legislation has called the new law a mistake. Rep. Keith Kempenich says he will introduce legislation next session to overturn it.

 

In sports…

Jamestown  (CSi) Jack Brown Stadium in Jamestown will host the North Dakota Amateur Baseball Association’s Class A and AA state tournaments, on Sunday, August 4.

North Dakota Amateur Baseball Association

Class A and AA State Tournaments

At Jack Brown Stadium

Aug. 4

Tolna A vs. Park River A- 1 p.m.

Park River A vs. Tarno- 3 p.m.

Aug. 7

Tarno vs. Tolna A- 6 p.m.

Hounds vs. Valley City- 8 p.m.

Aug. 9

Merchants A vs. Beulah/Hazen- 6 p.m.

Enderlin vs. Tolna AA- 8 p.m.

Aug. 10

Beulah/Hazen vs. Fairview- 9 a.m.

Merchant A vs. Fairview- 11 a.m.

Park River AA vs. Enderlin- 1 p.m.

Tolna AA vs. Park River- 3 p.m.

Cass County vs. Hounds- 5 p.m.

Cass County vs. Valley City- 7 p.m.

Aug. 11

Class A championship-12 noon.

Class AA championship- 2 p.m.

 

MIAMI (AP) — Newly acquired Twins reliever Sam Dyson blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning, then Harold Ramirez hit a leadoff homer in the 12th that sent the Miami Marlins over the Twins 5-4 Thursday.

The AL Central-leading Twins have been revamping their bullpen after watching a whopping lead over Cleveland dwindle in the last month. Minnesota got reliever Sergio Romo in a trade with Miami over the weekend and acquired Dyson from San Francisco in a deadline-beating deal Wednesday.

Romo pitched a perfect eighth and turned a 4-1 lead over in the ninth to Dyson, who had a 2.47 ERA in 49 games for the Giants this season. Dyson faced four batters and didn’t retire any of them, allowing two walks and two hits before being pulled.

The Marlins tied it with three runs, and Ramirez homered in the 12th, connecting off Cody Stashak (0-1) to avert a three-game sweep. Ramirez also doubled home a run in the second.

The walk-off win was the Marlins’ third this season, and all have come since July 18.

 

In world and national news…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the U.S. will apply a new tariff of 10% on about $300 billion worth of products from China on Sept. 1.

Trump tweeted Thursday amid slow-moving talks with China that negotiations will continue. But he blamed China for not following through on stopping the sale of fentanyl to the United States or purchasing farm goods in large quantities.

The U.S. has already applied tariffs of 25% on $250 billion worth of goods from China. China retaliated with tariffs on $110 billion in American goods, including agricultural products, in a direct shot at Trump supporters in the U.S. farm belt.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan budget and debt deal has passed the Senate and is heading to the White House for President Donald Trump’s signature.

Thursday’s vote addresses a worrisome set of Washington deadlines as Trump’s allies and adversaries set aside ideology in exchange for relative fiscal peace and stability.

The measure would permit the government to resume borrowing to pay all its bills and would set an overall $1.37 trillion limit on agency budgets approved by Congress annually. It also would remove the prospect of a government shutdown in October and automatic spending cuts.

But a tea party senator, Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, says the legislation really is a spectacular failure because it will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the country’s spiraling debt.

 

 

GORONGOSA NATIONAL PARK, Mozambique (AP) — Mozambique’s president and the leader of the Renamo opposition have signed a peace accord to end years of hostilities that followed a 15-year civil war.

Thousands of the former rebel group’s remaining fighters are disarming just weeks before a visit by Pope Francis and a national election that will test the now-political rivals’ new resolve.

President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade shook hands and embraced after Thursday’s signing.

Fighting had flared several times in the nearly 25 years since the end of the conflict in which some 1 million people died. Renamo later became an opposition party but had never fully disarmed until now.

Pope Francis has said he is visiting next month to promote reconciliation in the southern African country. Mozambique’s presidential election follows in October.

 

 

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The wife of the man who died of Ebola in Congo’s city of Goma this week has tested positive for the virus, hours after their 1-year-old daughter was confirmed to have the disease.

The Ebola coordinator for North Kivu province, Dr. Aruna Abedi, confirmed the latest case to The Associated Press.

The two new cases on Thursday are the first direct transmission of Ebola inside Goma, a city of more than 2 million people on the Rwandan border.

Congo’s presidency has said the entire family is at high risk and that it is likely other family members will be confirmed to have Ebola.

 

 

BEIRUT (AP) — Opposition-based Syrian first responders known as White Helmets say government forces and their allies have targeted 15 of the group’s rescue centers and killed seven volunteers during a months-long offensive against the rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria.

Raed Al-Saleh, the head of the White Helmets, says nowhere is safe inside the rebel-held area, home to 3 million people. Al-Saleh spoke Thursday via a social media broadcast from inside Idlib.

Al-Saleh said residents are experiencing “all types of death.”

The White Helmets are the main group providing rescue services in the enclave. The government labels them terrorists.

Since the Syrian government’s offensive on Idlib, backed by Russian airpower, began in late April, hundreds of people have been killed and key infrastructure has been targeted, including health centers and water treatment plants.