CSi Weather…

TONIGHT…Increasing clouds. Lows in the upper 30s. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph.

.SATURDAY…Mostly cloudy. Highs in the lower 50s. Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph.

.SUNDAY…Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. West winds 5 to 15 mph.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. Lows in the mid 30s.

.MONDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s.

.MONDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 30s.

.TUESDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 60s.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. Lows in the upper 30s.

.WEDNESDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 60s.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.

.THURSDAY…Partly sunny. A 20 percent chance of rain in the

afternoon. Highs in the lower 60s.

 

Valley City (CSi) There is one additional confirmed case of COVID-19 reported in Barnes County. The individual is a male in his 30’s who is isolating and recovering at home. This newly confirmed case brings the county total to three.

Follow City-County Health District on Facebook for Barnes County updates or call 701-845-8518.  NDDoH on line

Jamestown (CSi) A COVID-19 Joint Briefing with Jamestown/Stutsman County representative was held Friday, at 2:30-p.m.

Presenters are from: Central Valley Health District, JRMC, Job Service, and Community Action.

Central Valley Health District Administrator, Robin Iszler said, to continue to practice social distancing.   She added that CVHD is available for week clients, and continue to perform fit testing of N-95 face masks.  They also assist in positive case investigations.

She said to continue to support local businesses, with walk ups to take out orders.

JRMC’s CEO Mike Delfs said the hospital’s guidelines are in line with the CDC’s.

He said as of Friday afternoon JRMC has performed 75 COVIC-19 tests, with zero positives.

He said hospital staff may be in full protective garb, if a person comes into the Emergency Department with respiratory system symptoms.  Otherwise those coming in for other tests, may see the staff in other garb.

He said with the CDC guidelines, individuals are screened before entering with questions, about symptoms and have their temperature taken.

He said the hospital continues to take regular appointments, practicing the use of protective equipment.  He urges people to come to the Emergency Department if they are sick and need to be seen, and call ahead.

He pointed out that UJ’s Larson Center, and Newman Center, are available in the event a surge of positives need to be hospitalized, if JRMC beds are all occupied.  At this point he says that does not look likely, but possible.

He said social distancing has helped flatten the curve of positive cases.

Jamestown Job Service reports from  March 16, and April 11 the Jamestown office received 651 claims, which have since declined.  Applications for regular unemployment and claims related to the COVID-pandemic are being received.

She explained that payments to claimants under COVID-19 should be going out soon.

She talked about the Job Service web site to file claims, Jobsnd.com

Community Action, Region six, Director, Kathy Williams said the food pantry is available, on Monday’s and Wednesday’s by appointment.  Otherwise, the office is closed, with limited staff.

All applications are received by phone or E-mail and checked regularly.

The meeting airs live with replays on CSi TV 10 -The Replay Channel & CSi 67.   To view the briefing online, view it here at CSiNewsNOW.com or go to the CSi LiveStream at Facebook.

Burgum said the 46 new positives is the largest one day number, in the report.

Those positives including individuals in their 20’s and 30’s and one in the range of 10-19 years old, in addition to those older.

He added that targeted testing with more rapid response, is helping with sooner treatment and quarantining of the positives.

With reopening, Burgum said that will be driven by data, and not the calendar.  He said on Wednesday April 30 is the extended date, to keep various businesses and schools closed.

He said the state continues to track the positives, that many amend that extension date.

Walkups and takeouts at restaurants and phone and E-Mail orders are available.

He reiterated that ag, energy and healthcare are exempted from the being closed mandate.

With nursing homes he reported breakouts of positive cases, at some nursing homes, which are being active in addressing those.

He said a new Executive Order cuts red tape through the state Department of Human Services concerning those enrolled in Medicare, and Medicaid programs.

He repeated information from the state health department that, due to the increase in positive cases in North Dakota,  NDDoH will be following suit with other states and, instead of providing individual test results (gender/age/county/exposure), will be adding additional helpful information on our website soon. The daily BY THE NUMBERS and DEATHS will still be sent daily at 11am along with any updates to the website.

A  multi-agency task force announced a new temporary shelter
program in North Dakota for vulnerable individuals who are homeless and who cannot safely stay at existing homeless and domestic violence shelters because they have tested positive for COVID-19, are showing symptoms and awaiting test results, or need to be in quarantine because of recent travel to the state from hotspot areas.

With unemployment, on Thursday 1329 regular claims were filed, 470 pandemic related jobless claims were filed.  Since March 16, 2020, 53,773 claims were filed.

With behavior health North Dakota has received a $2-million federal grant to support services for  those with mental health and substance abuse issues.

He pointed out the Safe Kids program has information on being safe around the home, with children, including keep toxic substance, out of reach, like laundry pods, and to be sure items around the home are secured to prevent injuries.

He concluded by saying the State Mill & Elevator has provided 40,000 pounds of flour, to be distributed to food banks around the state including the state’s Indian Nations.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Health officials in northeastern North Dakota say they’re worried about having the ability to adequately respond to a cluster of coronavirus cases among workers at a wind turbine facility. Officials are still waiting to hear the results of 424 tests that were conducted Thursday outside the LM Wind Power facility in Grand Forks. Dr. Steven Weiser is president of Altru Health System. He said about 2,500 people may have come in close contact with infected workers. He says it’s a “very serious event” that has “the ability to overcome our health care workers and our health care system.”

BISMARCK, N.D. – The Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) continues to be open for business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has allowed North Dakota WIC to make changes in how services are offered, such as:

  • Authorization to offer WIC services remotely, including the ability to do WIC appointments and applications over the phone.
  • Substitutions for some hard-to-find WIC-approved food items like milk, eggs or bread for other WIC eligible foods found at the store.

“WIC staff are working hard to ensure that mothers and young children have access to healthy foods, breastfeeding support, and accurate information during this public health emergency,” said Colleen Pearce, director of the North Dakota WIC Program.

WIC is a popular public health program that helps families eat well, learn about nutrition and stay healthy, by providing nutrition and breastfeeding education and counseling, free, healthy foods and referrals to health and other services.

WIC is open to working and non-working families, including those who are recently unemployed. Participants in programs like Medicaid, TANF or SNAP are automatically income eligible. Families may qualify for WIC by meeting the income guidelines for the household (for example, a family of four, can earn up to $47,638 a year, or $3,970 per month and qualify). Individuals who are pregnant, have a new baby or children under age 5 might also be eligible for WIC.

Visit the North Dakota WIC website at www.health.nd.gov/prevention/wic for more information and to find qualification criteria.

 

(AP)  The North Dakota Supreme Court has announced all civil and criminal jury trials are postponed until July 1. The high court’s announcement Friday comes as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the state. Health officials reported 46 new cases of the cornonavirus on Friday, bringing the statewide total to 439. Ninety-seven of the cases have been reported since Wednesday. There have been nine deaths due to the coronavirus in the state but none were reported Friday. Health officials said there were 16 coronavirus patients who were hospitalized on Friday.

Valley City  (CSi)  With Governor Burgum announcing that North Dakota is extending business closures thru April 30th and will be planning for a possible Smart Start beginning after the 30th of April, Valley City Public Schools Superintendent Josh Johnson says VCPS  has decided that the Schools will continue to close schools thru Friday, May 1st.

He said “We are hoping to be able to provide more information and updates for our students, parents/guardians, staff, and community with more information regarding the last three weeks of the school year between Thursday, April 30 – Friday, May 1. We hope that this update will include the following information; school closures, activities, graduation, and summer programs.”

Modified District Calendar

The statement said, “Please see the attached “modified” 2019-2020 district calendar, which includes our distance learning days off during the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures. These days will only be used in the event that school closures continue beyond Friday, May 1st. If, schools re-open after May 1st, we will resort back to following the original 2019-2020 calendar. Please know that between April 16th – May 1st, we will have distance learning days off on Friday, April 24th and Friday, May 1st.

The Sheyenne Valley Area Career and Technology Center will continue to follow the original calendar and students taking classes thru the SVACTC will need to follow this schedule rather than our approved “modified” calendar.

Thank you for your continued flexibility and resourcefulness during this unprecedented pandemic. If you have any questions please communicate with me via email and/or phone.

Josh Johnson

Superintendent

Valley City Public Schools

(701) 845-0483

COVID-19-Modified-Calendar

In other news…

Jamestown  (JPD)  Jamestown Police is warning the public about a convicted high risk sex offender living in Jamestown.

Monte Lyle Hojian, is a 50 year old white male, living at 414 4th Street NE, Number 3, Jamestown, ND

He’s Five feet nine inches tall, weighing 190 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair.

He presently has no vehicle.

He has been assigned a high risk assessment by the North Dakota risk level committee of the North Dakota risk level committee of the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office.

Offense: Gross sexual imposition while working in a motel, luring a six year old boy in the hotel sauna, and fondling the boy.

Conviction Date:  June 1997, in Burleigh County District Court.

Disposition:  10 years

Offense: Indecent Exposure in public, resulting in a parole violation.

Conviction Date: March 1995 in Burleigh County, ND District Court.

Disposition: 30 days in jail, 10 days suspended.

Offense: Gross Sexual Imposition, approaching a four year old boy playing in his backyard and offering the boy candy to perform oral sex on the boy, which he preceded to do.

Conviction Date: January 1988, in Burleigh County, ND District Court.

Disposition: 10 years,  six years suspended, for five years, five years supervised probation.

Offense: Corrupt/Solicitation of a minor. He offered candy to a seven year old boy for sexual favors, but the boy ran and told his father.

Conviction Date: January 1988 in Burleigh County, ND District Court .

Disposition: Six months.

Offense: Gross Sexual Imposition.  On successive days Hojian molested a six year old, and seven year old boy in a department store bathroom.

Conviction Date:  October, 1985, in Burleigh County, ND Juvenile Court.

Disposition: 18 months, State Youth Authority.

Hojian is not wanted by police at this time, and has served the sentence imposed the court.

This notification is meant for public safety and not to increase fear in the community, nor should this information be used to threaten, assault, or intimidate the offender.

Any attempts to harass, intimidate or threaten these offenders, their families, landlords, or employers will be turned over for prosecution.

Printed handouts of the demographics of Monte Lyle Hojian are available at the Jamestown Police Department.

More information on registered sex offenders is available at the North Dakota Attorney General’s web site: www.sexoffender.nd.gov

In world and national news…

(AP)  U.S. regulators have approved a new drug for an aggressive type of breast cancer that’s spread in the body, including into the brain, where it’s especially tough to treat. Tukysa is a twice-daily pill developed by Seattle Genetics for people with a certain type of advanced cancer. The Food and Drug Administration approved it Friday. In company testing, 45% of patients getting Tukysa plus two standard cancer drugs survived at least two years. That was nearly twice the percentage among those who got a placebo and the two standard medicines. Tukysa has a list price of $18,500 per month without insurance.

 

(AP)  The head of the World Heath Organization says he’s concerned by a recent jump in COVID-19 cases across Africa. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says in the last week there has been a 51% increase in cases and a 60% jump in deaths. He says the real numbers are likely higher because of a lack of testing. Tedros says 1 million test kits will be rolled out across the continent next week. WHO is talking with some world leaders about speeding vaccine production and figuring out how to equitably distribute the shots among the world’s population.

 

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The despair wrought on nursing homes by the coronavirus was laid bare Friday in a state survey identifying numerous New York facilities where multiple patients have died. Nineteen of the state’s nursing homes have each had at least 20 deaths linked to the pandemic. One Brooklyn home was listed as having 55 deaths. The list was far from complete. Its release came after days of news media reports about homes so stricken by the virus, bodies had to be stacked inside storage rooms. Connecticut released a similar list Thursday, reporting that eight nursing homes had at least 10 residents die.

 

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A major U.S. meat producer says four of its poultry workers in Georgia have died after becoming infected by the coronavirus. Tyson Foods spokesman Gary Mickelson confirmed Friday the deaths of four infected employees in the rural southwest Georgia city of Camilla. He said three of them worked in the company’s chicken processing plant there, while the fourth person was employed outside the plant at one of Tyson’s nearby support operations. Tyson’s senior vice president for human resources, Hector Gonzalez, said in a statement the company is requiring workers to wear face masks, installing dividers at work stations and giving employees more space in break rooms. Tyson has not said how many employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

 

(AP)  A growing number of protests are being staged across the U.S. to oppose stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic. In places like Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia, small-government groups, supporters of President Donald Trump, anti-vaccine advocates and others have united behind a deep suspicion of efforts to shut down daily life to slow the spread of the coronavirus. As their frustration grows, they’ve started to openly defy the social distancing rules to put pressure on governors to ease them. Some of the protests have been small events, promoted via recently created Facebook groups. Others are backed by groups with ties to Trump.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — China is pushing back against President Donald Trump and some of his officials on the question of how the new coronavirus began to infect humans. Specifically, China’s foreign ministry spokesman is taking issue with the theory that the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak began. That suspicion is considered groundless by public health authorities and scientists who say the world is dealing with a natural bat virus passed on to humans at a Wuhan market. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. is pressing China to let outside experts into the lab to investigate.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising Friday as investors latch onto strands of hope about progress in the fight against the coronavirus. The S&P 500 was up close to 2% in afternoon trading, following even bigger jumps in Europe and Asia. Markets rose despite scary data about the economic and human toll of the virus. The stock market tries to set prices now for where business conditions will be in the future, and some investors are focusing more on the possibility of a reopening economy than on the current dismal data Treasury yields, though, remain extremely low in a sign of continued caution about the economy.