CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows 15 to 20. Temperatures rising into
the lower 30s after midnight. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph.

.SATURDAY…Increasing clouds. Not as cold. Highs in the lower 40s. West winds 5 to 10 mph.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 20s. Southwest
winds 5 to 10 mph.

.SUNDAY…Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 30s. Southwest winds
5 to 10 mph.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 20s.

.MONDAY…Cloudy. Highs in the upper 20s.

.MONDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows around 15.

.TUESDAY…Mostly cloudy. Highs in the lower 20s.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Cloudy. Lows 10 to 15.

.CHRISTMAS DAY…Cloudy. Highs around 20.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows 5 to 10 above.

.THURSDAY…Mostly cloudy. Highs around 20.

 

The 2019 Winter Solstice occurs Saturday evening, December 21, marking the first day of astronomical winter and the shortest day of the year.

Next week there are indications of a weak disturbance moving through the region Christmas Day through Thursday.

A little light precipitation during this timeframe.

 

Update….

Jamestown (CSi)  Jamestown Public Works has announced that Due to City utility repairs, 1st Avenue will be closed to through traffic from 1st St. South to 4th St. North. Traffic will be diverted to 2nd St. East and 2nd St. West

This section of 1st Ave will continue to be closed until work is completed next week.  Please watch for signage & use alternate routes.

Motorist’s should use extreme caution in this area.

 

PLEASE NOTE:

The above schedule is contingent upon weather conditions.

 

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

Valley City  (CSi)  The Barnes County Sheriff’s Office is notifying the public that a registered sex offender is living in Valley City, ND

Justin Gibson, is living at 3523 Webster Subdivision, Valley City, ND.

Any harassment of this or any sex offender is prohibited and will be prosecuted under North Dakota law.

For further information on sex offenders go to the ND Attorney General’s website at www.sexoffender.nd.gov

 

Valley City (CSi) The Barnes County Sheriff’s Office is notifying the public of a convicted sex offender living in Dazey, ND.

Michael Allan Nelson is living at 10448 15th Street Southeast, Dazey, ND.

Any harassment of this or any sex offender is prohibited and will be prosecuted under North Dakota law.

For further information on sex offenders go to the ND Attorney General’s website at www.sexoffender.nd.gov

Update:

Lidgerwood, ND . (NDHP)— Four students were hospitalized   Thursday afternoon, December 19, when the school bus they were riding was struck by a train at a Richland County railroad crossing.

North Dakota Highway Patrol, Captain Bryan Niewind reports, the crash happened about 3:40 p.m., shortly after school ended.

The bus carrying 18 students in grades K-12, was headed north through a railroad crossing on the northeast outskirts of Lidgerwood.

A slow-moving eastbound Dakota Valley & Western Railroad train, with ten loaded grain rail cars,  hit the bus on its rear driver-side axle, causing it to rotate counterclockwise and roll onto its passenger side.

The Highway Patrol has identified the locomotive engineer as 51 year old Michael Mallett of Oakes, who was not injured.

The conductor, 51 year old Terry Roney, of Oakes, who was not injured.

The school bus driver, 69 year old Michael Skroch, or Lidgerwood, was not injured.

Students injured included an eight year old female, who was transported by ambulance, a 15 year old female who was transported by Sanford Lifeflight, to a Fargo hospital, 10 year old male, who was transported by his parents to a hospital, and a 14 year old female, transported by ambulance.  The students ranged in age from six years old to 15 years old.

The names of the juveniles are not be released by the Highway Patrol.

Assisting at the scene were: the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, Lidgerwood Fire Department & Ambulance, Hankinson Fire Department & Ambulance, Wyndmere Ambulance, Richland Emergency Service, and Sanford LifeFlight.

 

Jamestown  (NDFU)  – The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent announcement of the 2020 Renewable Volume Obligations under the nation’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is one more empty promise to farmers, said North Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne.

He says, “This administration continues to say it supports farmers and renewable fuel production, but their promises are empty.  Lowering biofuel production is bad for farm income, it’s bad for the environment, and it’s bad for rural communities that have lost jobs due to RFS waivers they’ve granted to oil companies over the past three years.”

Since 2016, the administration has granted more than 85 waivers to oil refineries, exempting them from meeting required levels of biofuel production under the RFS. That law is intended to increase ethanol and biodiesel production annually and has been an important market for corn producers in North Dakota.

Watne urged EPA last month to change its calculation approach and incorporate the exempted gallons from waivers into volume requirements based on a three-year average. The former would have increased the amount of production by 1.35 billion gallons per year, compared to the announced 770 million gallons.

Watne adds, “We need to build agricultural markets, not hurt them.  The administration needs to do more than pay lip service to farmers. Their actions continue to speak louder than words.”

Watne says ethanol drives the demand for corn, and corn sales typically lead commodity price increases.

Update…

(AP)   The Bismarck Park Board has voted to create a formal process for renaming city parks after some residents pushed to have a park stripped of its name because of the “historical trauma” they say is associated with its namesake, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. Rather than immediately change the name of Custer Park, the board voted Thursday to develop guidelines for renaming parks. A draft of those guidelines will be considered in February. A member of the Three Affiliated Tribes told the board that to some Custer is a reminder of violence and genocide. Custer served during the Civil War and fought against Native Americans on the Great Plains in the 1860s and 1870s.

Bismarck  (Gov. Burgum’s Office)   – Gov. Doug Burgum Friday announced the resignation of North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department (NDPRD) Director Melissa Baker, thanking her for her leadership in promoting outdoor recreation and improving the accessibility of North Dakota’s state parks.

“North Dakota is blessed with outstanding natural resources, and Melissa’s visionary leadership and strategic planning has helped improve the citizen experience when visiting any one of our 15 state parks and recreation areas,” Burgum said. “On behalf of Lt. Gov. Sanford and our entire administration, we’re tremendously grateful for Melissa’s service and wish her all the best in her next role.”

Burgum appointed Baker as NDPRD director effective April 24, 2017. Prior to joining the governor’s cabinet, she served as chief of operations in the Montana State Parks system. She previously worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as regional team supervisor of operations and visitor services at Northern Highland American Legion State Forest. She also was a professor of forest recreation in the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and taught parks recreation and tourism at the University of Maine.

Baker’s last day as NDPRD director will be Jan. 17, 2020. She will assume her new role as director of Virginia State Parks in late January, an opportunity that will allow her and her husband to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

“I will always be grateful to have worked with the outstanding staff at NDPRD and as part of Team North Dakota,” Baker said. “I have great confidence in the future of the Parks and Recreation Department as they continue to provide exceptional visitor experiences and support to local communities.”

During her time as director, Baker led the launch of a new reservation system for the parks system, allowing for online booking of the state’s lodging and campsites. As part of Burgum’s Main Street Initiative, Baker also worked with her team to identify strategic partnerships and build relationships in communities adjacent to state parks to better integrate outdoor recreation into local economic development.

(AP)  A South Dakota board deciding whether to grant water permits for the Keystone XL pipeline will extend its hearing into the new year. The process has stretched into extra days after opponents repeatedly voiced concerns about the pipeline. The state’s Water Management Board met for four days this week, but the chairman of the board said more meetings are needed to allow everyone to testify. The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources has recommended the board grant the permits, but environmental groups and many Native American tribes are

In world and national news..

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will deliver the State of the Union to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 4. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to the president on Friday formally inviting him to deliver the address at the U.S. Capitol. The invitation was extended just two days after House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump. A date for the Senate impeachment trial has not yet been set.

 

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A police chief in North Carolina says a deadly shooting at a city building was an act of “workplace violence.” Winston-Salem Police Chief Catrina Thompson says the gunman at a city building was killed during a gunfight with police officers who responded to the scene. She says the gunman was a 60-year-old city employee who shot and killed another employee whom he had targeted. Another city employee and a police officer were also wounded.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Law enforcement officials say they have dealt a crippling blow to the violent MS-13 street gang on Long Island. A nearly two-year investigation resulted in charges against nearly 100 members of the gang and thwarted seven murder plots. The takedown included a special grand jury indicting 45 gang members and 19 associates on counts of drug trafficking, weapons possession and murder conspiracy. MS-13 has been blamed for dozens of murders on Long Island since 2016. The gang is believed to have been founded in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s by immigrants fleeing a civil war in El Salvador.

 

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican office responsible for investigating clergy sex abuse cases says it is overwhelmed. A record 1,000 cases have been reported in 2019, many of them from countries not heard from before. The tribunal has long been a secretive branch of the Vatican. Now, it is opening up, and invited one of the AP’s video journalists into its inner chambers. It’s the first time television news cameras have been given access. Its a measure of the church’s need to reach out and rebuild trust with rank-and-file Catholics who have grown disillusioned with decades of clergy abuse and cover-up.

 

PARIS (AP) — Notre Dame Cathedral kept holding services during two world wars as a beacon of hope amid bloodshed and fear. It took a fire in peacetime to finally stop Notre Dame from celebrating Christmas Mass for the first time in more than two centuries. As the lights stay dim in the once-invincible 855-year-old Paris landmark, officials are trying hard to focus on the immediate task of keeping Notre Dame alive in exile. It has decamped its rector, famed statue, liturgy and Christmas celebrations to a new temporary home pending the restoration works, just under a mile away, at another Gothic church in Paris.