Wayne Byers Show – Evening – Jan 6

CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…Mostly clear. Lows 5 to 10 above. West winds around 15 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.

.TUESDAY…Sunny, colder. Highs around 15. Northwest winds around

15 mph.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy in the evening, then mostly cloudy

with slight chance of snow after midnight. Lows around 5 below.

North winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the east after midnight.

.WEDNESDAY…Cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow in the Jamestown area, 40 percent in the Valley City area. Highs 10 to 15. Southeast winds 10 to 20 mph increasing to 20 to 25 mph in the afternoon.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Lows

5 to 10 above.

.THURSDAY…Mostly cloudy. Highs around 20.

.THURSDAY NIGHT…Decreasing clouds. Lows around 5 below.

.FRIDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs 5 to 10 above.

.FRIDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows around 10 below.

.SATURDAY…Partly sunny. Highs 5 to 10 above.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow.

Lows around 5 below.

.SUNDAY…Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of snow in the

afternoon. Highs 5 to 10 above.

 

The chance of light snow begins Tuesday evening in the west,

spreading into central ND later Tuesday night and continuing through

Wednesday night. The highest snowfall amounts appear to be mainly

along and north of Highway 2, with 2 to 4 inches possible there

during a 36-hour period.

Regarding a chance of mixed precipitation type there is a good potential for a mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow for parts of western ND mainly Wednesday morning, before precipitation changes back over to light snow and ending thereWednesday evening.

This quick moving system will exit to the east on Thursday leaving

much colder temperatures in its wake Thursday night through the

weekend.

Friday morning will see low temperatures ranging from 10 to

15 below zero across the north to around 5 zero in the far

southwest. The coldest day is Friday with highs from just below zero

north to 15 above southwest…and lows Friday night from 15 below

zero in the Turtle Mountains to around 5 above in the far southwest.

More chances for light snow will be possible through the weekend.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  The Jamestown City Council met in Regular Session, Monday evening at City Hall.  All members were present.

PUBLIC HEARINGS: HEARING FROM THE AUDIENCE:

(Individuals may address the City Council about any item not contained on the agenda. A maximum of 15 minutes is allotted for the hearing. If the full 15 minutes are not needed, the City Council will continue with the agenda. The City Council will take no official action on items discussed at the hearing, with the exception of referral to staff or Committee.)

Tim Nill spoke. He asked about garbage pick up over the past week, when the schedule was changed due to the snow storm. He asked what to do with garbage when it doesn’t fit into the bin. City Administration Sarah Hellekson said she would inform the city sanitation department, and noted the bailer is also available.  Nill also said his recycling has not been picked up regularly.

She said anyone with questions about recycling to contract Recycle North Dakota and not the city.

A Public Hearing was held, concerning the performance of the City of Jamestown in carrying out its community development responsibilities related to the $33,334.00 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Project No. 4455-SL18-MS for River Rock Investments, 302 1st Ave North, and to obtain citizen views and to respond to proposals and questions.

Mayor Heinrich has said, that the funding comes from the CDBG program to improve building facades. The building formerly was K&D Auto, and is now be rehabbed into an insurance agency office for Nodak Mutual.

At the Public Hearing, no one spoke.

NO CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS Were Discussed Separately.

Consent Agenda items approved included, a Resolution to approve the 2021-2024 NDDOT Urban Roads and Urban Regional State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) list.  The top priority is paving the area between 3^rd Street and 6^th Street, near Hillcrest Municipal Golf Course, and the former Porter Brothers location, involving realigning 11^th Avenue and 12^th Avenue to form a contiguous paved traffic flow.

• Also approved was a Resolution to approving NDDOT elimination of bump outs on all side streets and at the intersection of 4th Avenue NW for an overall decrease of $292,900 in Main Street Road Diet project costs.

REGULAR AGENDA

RESOLUTIONS:

• Considered was approving the bill of sale between the City of Jamestown and Karen George for the personal property including livestock described as five ponies, one horse, and three goats, all acquired from the Frontier Village Association, Karen George being the current and previous caretaker for these animals.

• Considered was approving the bill of sale between the City of Jamestown and Karen George for the personal property including livestock described as five ponies, one horse, and three goats, all acquired from the Frontier Village Association, Karen George being the current and previous caretaker for these animals.
• City Administrator Hellekson said the city is not in the business of caring for animals.
• Jamestown Tourism Director Searle Swedlund said the animals were purchased by the Frontier Village Association and are in the possession of Ms George.
• The City Council voted to approve the Bill of Sale.

APPOINTMENTS:

• Appointed Dwaine Heinrich to serve as a City Council representative on the Law Enforcement Center Governing Board for a four year term to December 2023.
• Appointed Trent Sletto to serve as a member on the Jamestown Regional Airport Authority for a five year term to December 2024.
• Appointed Jim Weight to serve as members on the Board of Adjustments for three year terms to January 2023. No other application was received for the second vacancy, and it will be re-advertised.
• Appointed Amy Aesoph to serve as a member on the Civil Service Commission for a five year term to January 2025.
• MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBER’S REPORT:
• Council member Phillips said the next Jamestown Census Committee meeting will be on January 14 at 2-p.m., at City Hall. She said Mayor Heinrich, and Valley City Mayor Dave Carlsrud will challenge each other in which city can mobilize the most census takers. The loser will wearing a cap of the other city.

 

• Council Member Steele reminded residents to clear fire hydrants of snow in their neighborhoods.
• Council Member Brubakken thanked members of the Jamestown High School Student Council on the recent food drive collection. He also complemented the city street department on the timeliness of the recent snow storm removal.

 

• Mayor Heinrich said there will be a debriefing with the City of Jamestown and staff including the Street Department following the recent snow storm and the snow removal process. (See story below)

 

• He also pointed out the need for the city owned parking lots to have vehicles parked along the railroad fence, to expedite snow removal. The city would sent out public notices ahead of a snow storm.

 

• City Administrator Hellekson said petition forms are available at City Hall, for those interested in running in the June 2020 city elections. There are two City Park Board seats up for election and three City Council seats up for election. She suggests the petitions be used drawn up by the city, so as to contain the proper wording and will have paper work attachments.  Information will be provided concerning the proper number of signatures needed to be on the election ballot.
• The deadline to file the petitions is April 6^th at 4-p.m. at City Hall.

 

OTHER BUSINESS:

The City Council approved the draft Resolution affirming the urgency and necessity of the State’s participation in replacing the State of North Dakota ladder truck for the City.

On a recent Wayne Byers Show on CSi Cable 2, Mayor Heinrich says, while to state has funded a a ladder truck to the city of Jamestown for 91 years, the city was informed last month that the state no longer will provide funding for the truck, which the city was unaware of.  The ladder truck has since been returned to the state, and parked at the state hospital grounds.

He said he’s discussed the issue with State Senators, Terry Wanzek and John Grabinger to address the situation in the state legislature, or with state officials.

The meeting was shown live on CSi Cable 67, followed by replays.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  In the wake of the blizzard two weekends ago that dumped over 20 inches of wind blown snow on Jamestown, Mayor Dwaine Heinrich says city officials, including Street Foreman, Rick Lipetzky  will meet in a debriefing session to look at what went right, and what needs improvements in snow removal.

On Monday’s Wayne Byers Show on CSi Cable 2, the mayor said, one snow removal option in the future, includes having vehicles parked in the two city lots, downtown, to park in advance of a forecasted heavy snow storm, along the railroad fence, to allow for efficient snow removal in those lots.

He also asks contractors removing snow from parking lots…not… to place snow in city streets, as city snow removal equipment is not able to encounter and remove those large amounts of snow while clearing already large amounts of snowfall.

He said other options will be discussed concerning where vehicles in the city can be parked off-street in advance of a forecasted large snow storm event to allow for efficient snow removal.

Overall, Mayor Heinrich said the city street crews removed snow from city streets in a timely manor given the unusually large amount of snow that had fallen on city streets.

Jamestown Public Works says that during the winter months, citizens are reminded to remove snow in and around any utility meters located on the property so utility personnel are able to access and record the meter readings.

Examples are related to water, gas, and electric utilities that need to be read by City meter readers and other utility company personnel. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Jamestown  (NDFU)   – The future is already here at the ninth annual Precision Ag Summit scheduled for Jan. 20-21, 2020, at the North Dakota Farmers Union Conference Center in Jamestown.

North Dakota Farmers Union, Praxis Strategy Group, The North Dakota State University Extension Service, Dakota Precision Ag Center, GK Technology and others are coordinating the event. Precision agriculture industry experts, producers, practitioners and technology developers will discuss data management and analytics, profitability of precision agriculture, precision planting and agricultural automation.

Producers and others will have an opportunity to learn about the latest trends in precision agriculture during the summit. A panel of longtime practitioners of precision agriculture including John Nowatzki, agricultural machine systems specialist in the agricultural and biosystems engineering department at North Dakota State University, Lanny Faleide, Founder and President of Satshot, and Kelly Sharpe, Agronomist at GK Technology will discuss the current state of precision agriculture and the challenges that remain in realizing its full potential.

Keynote speaker Terry Griffin, Associate Professor and Cropping Systems Economist at Kansas State University, will discuss the “The Return on Investment for Selected Precision Agriculture Technologies and Practices.” Griffin is a renowned expert on farmer’s utilization of precision ag technologies.
The next generation of precision farming will be featured in presentations by Brian Carroll, Director of Emerging Prairie’s Grand Farm and Alex Meltnichouck, Digital Farming & Precision Ag Evangelist, from the Olds College Smart Farm in Calgary, Alberta.

The future of farm connectivity will be discussed by Seth Arndorfer, CEO of DCN (Dakota Carrier Network) who was recently appointed to the FCC’s Precision Ag Task Force.

The afternoon schedule on the first day includes sessions on various topics, such as preparing the next generation of agriculturalists, precision farm management, crop data management and postharvest precision technologies, including Bushel, which provides a digital infrastructure to connect and enhance the grain industry.

For more information and to register go to www.precisionagriculturesummit.com or contact Delore Zimmerman at delore@praxissg.com. Early bird registration is just $50 until December 31st. Students are free. Regular registration is $75 starting on January 1st.

ABOUT Precision Agriculture Summit:
North Dakota Farmers Union and Praxis Strategy Group are pleased to host the 9th annual precision agriculture summit. Precision agriculture consists of the “art” of exploring options and implementing agronomic practices that are required by a plant species to attain its yield potential in accordance with the spatial and temporal conditions of the field where it is grown. The summit offers hands on and technical demonstrations of precision agriculture technologies and applications and explanations of applications, procedure and tools designed to lower producer cost and create a more efficient environment for farm production. This event is open to the public and we strongly encourage agriculture producers, researchers, agronomists, manufacturers, business leaders, economic developers, and students who are interested in hearing from experts, exchanging ideas, and learning more about precision agriculture technology, methods, and practices to attend.

 

(AP)  Officials say high winds caused a power outage that led to a produced water and oil spill in Dunn County. The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality was notified Monday of the spill at a salt water disposal facility operated by Hunt Oil Co. The spill happened Sunday about 8 miles northwest of Halliday. Equipment failure caused by the power outage led to tanks overflowing. Initial estimates indicated about 27,720 gallons of produced water and 15,540 gallons of crude oil overflowed the tanks. Most of the spill was contained on site, but winds blew some of the material onto pastureland.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The driving force behind a North Dakota company that won a $400 million contract to build part of the border wall is described as a “go-getter” and a “gung-ho, smart guy” by people who know him. Tommy Fisher runs Fisher Sand & Gravel, a company his father founded in 1952. Fisher’s strategy for winning the contract included a bevy of appearances on conservative media often seen by the president. It paid off with a contract that Fisher says is the second-biggest in the country’s history. But the contract is now being audited over concern it may not meet requirements.

In sports…

Jamestown  (uj.edu)   The second annual Hockey Day North Dakota is coming back to University of Jamestown January 17-19, 2020 for a weekend of outdoor hockey played by all levels from around the state.

This event will pack the campus with hockey players, families, and fans alike in celebration of sport and community. University of Jamestown will kick off the 2020 event by taking on rival Minot State University on Friday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. The D2 Hockey team will then take on University of North Dakota’s Club team on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

UJ President, Dr. Polly Peterson says,“We are delighted that Hockey Day North Dakota is returning to our campus for this exceptional weekend. Last year’s inaugural event was beautifully and professionally executed, and the committee has worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for sports fans statewide to enjoy a one-of-a-kind hockey experience.”

Dr. Peterson says, “We invite fans from all over the state to come and enjoy all that Jamestown and Hockey Day North Dakota, which is staged on our quaint and picturesque Allen Field, in the middle of our beautiful campus, have to offer!” The complete schedule of games includes:

 

Friday, Jan. 17

• 7 p.m.: University of Jamestown vs Minot State University

 

Saturday, Jan. 18

• 9 a.m.: Jamestown/VC Peewee A vs. Mandan Peewee A
• 11 a.m.: Jamestown Blue Jay Girls vs. Devils Lake Firebird Girls
• 1:15 p.m.: Jamestown Blue Jay Boys vs. Fargo Sheyenne Boys
• 3:30 p.m.: Bismarck High Boys vs. Fargo South/Shanley Boys
• 6:30 p.m.: University of Jamestown D2 vs University of North Dakota Club

 

Sunday, Jan. 19

• 9 a.m.: Fargo Angels Squirt White vs. Dickinson Squirt Orange
• 10:45 a.m.: Fargo Angels Bantam B vs. Rugby Bantam
• 12:30 p.m.: Fargo Angels Bantam A Red vs. Dickinson Bantam
• 2:15 p.m.: Fargo Freeze Maroon Peewee B vs. Wahpeton Peewee B
• 4 p.m.: Valley City Squirts vs. West Fargo Squirt Orange

 

In world and national news…

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader wept while praying over the casket of a top general killed in a U.S. airstrike. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered the prayers in Tehran for Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani as throngs of Iranians attended the funeral and wailed in response. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other top officials stood beside Khamenei during the prayers. Soleimani was killed Friday in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq and his successor has vowed to avenge his death. Tehran also has abandoned the remaining limits of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called for “restraint and de-escalation.”

 

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The U.S. Embassy in Israel has issued a warning to Americans to stay on the alert “in the event of mortar or rocket fire.” The embassy’s website said it posted the security alert Monday “out of an abundance of caution.” Tensions in the Middle East have been at a boiling point since the U.S. killed a top Iranian last week in Iraq. Israel is a key U.S. ally and a longtime foe of Iran, and has kept a low profile since. A former Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader suggested the Israeli city of Haifa and others could be targeted should the U.S. bomb targets in Iran.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former White House national security adviser John Bolton says he is “prepared to testify” if he is subpoenaed by the Senate in its impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Bolton’s surprise statement Monday bolsters congressional Democrats, who are pushing for the Senate to call new witnesses in the trial. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has publicly expressed resistance to calling new witnesses. Democrats want testimony from Bolton and others who didn’t appear before the House in its impeachment inquiry. It’s unclear whether Bolton’s testimony would hurt or help Trump. The two clashed while Bolton was in the White House. No date for the Senate trial has been set.

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles prosecutors have filed new sex crimes charges against Harvey Weinstein. That comes as his trial on separate rape and sexual assault charges in New York is poised to get underway. Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said Monday that the Hollywood mogul has been charged with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in separate incidents in 2013. Weinstein faces up to 28 years in state prison if he is convicted of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint. Lawyers for Weinstein had no immediate response to the charges.

 

(AP)  Borden is filing for bankruptcy protection, the second major US dairy to do so in as many months. American refrigerators are increasingly stocked with dairy substitutes like soy and almond milk, hammering traditional milk producers like Borden, which was founded in 1857. Dean Foods, the nation’s largest milk producer, filed for bankruptcy protection in November. Both dairies are based in Dallas. Borden Dairy Co. _ whose smiling mascot Elsie the cow first appeared on milk cartons in the 1930s _ says it will continue operations during its financial restructuring.

 

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security is agreeing to share citizenship information with the U.S. Census Bureau. The agreement was made in response to President Donald Trump’s order to collect data on who is a citizen through administrative records following the Supreme Court’s rejection of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census form. The Department of Homeland Security two weeks ago announced the agreement in a report. The agency will share administrative records to help the Census Bureau determine the number of citizens and non-citizens in the U.S., as well as the number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Information to be shared includes personally-identifiable data.