CSi Weather…

TONIGHT…Clear. Lows in the upper 30s. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Gusts up to 25 mph in the evening.

.FRIDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 60s. West winds around

5 mph shifting to the southeast in the afternoon.

.FRIDAY NIGHT…Cloudy. A 30 percent chance of rain showers after

midnight. Lows in the mid 40s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

.SATURDAY…Cloudy. Chance of rain showers in the morning, then

rain showers likely in the afternoon. Highs around 60. East winds

5 to 10 mph. Chance of showers 60 percent in the Jamestown area 70 percent in the Valley City area.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of rain

showers in the evening. Lows in the mid 40s.

.SUNDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 40s.

.MONDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 70s.

.MONDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s.

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

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers

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

.WEDNESDAY…Mostly cloudy with chance of showers and slight

chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. Chance of

precipitation 40 percent.

Showers will start to develop over the southwest Friday afternoon, gradually spreading east and northward Friday night into Saturday. Greatest chances

remain over the southern half of the state closer to the low.

System pushes east of the area late Saturday, with mainly dry conditions expected Saturday night.

Bismarck  (CSi)  Governor Doug Burgum returned from his Wednesday meeting with President Trump at the White House to resume his COVID-19 News Briefings on Thursday at the State Capital in Bismarck.

North Dakota has topped 50,000 in the number of tests for the coronavirus and 1,700 for the number of people confirmed to have the disease.

NDDoH

Released Thurs May 14, 2020 11-a.m.

Positive COVID-19 Test Results
Results listed are from the previous day.

COUNTIES WITH NEW POSITIVE CASES REPORTED THURSDAY

  • Burleigh County – 1
  • Cass County – 57
  • Grand Forks County – 6
  • Mountrail County – 1
  • Richland County – 1
  • Williams County – 1


BY THE NUMBERS

50,311 – Total Tested (+1,366 individuals from yesterday)

48,599 – Total Negative (+1,301 individuals from yesterday)

1,712 – Total Positive (+67 individuals from yesterday)

Please note that a previously reported positive case from Cass County was discovered to be a duplicate and also a previously reported case from Morton County ended up being from out of state. This reduces our totals by two.

4.9% – Daily Positive Rate of Completed Tests

129 – Total Hospitalized (+2 individuals from yesterday)

38 – Currently Hospitalized (+1 individuals from yesterday)

1,007 – Total Recovered (+38 individuals from yesterday)

40 – Total Deaths (+0 individual from yesterday)

For descriptions of these categories, visit the NDDoH dashboard.

For the most updated and timely information and updates related to COVID-19, visit the NDDoH website at www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus, follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and visit the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.

Active cases currently are flat-lining in the statistics.

The highest number of positive cases are in Cass, followed by Grand Forks counties.

Burgum said challenges remain in testing of long-term care, facilities with staff tested, and then again a week later, in serial testing.

He updated the Red River COVID Task Force, saying more focused testing has started in Fargo and Moorhead, Minnesota.

The targeted testing goal is 1,000 tests a day, which may see the positives increase, or remain the same, including serial testing.

Homeless testing is at about 50 per day.  More contact tracers are being sought in Cass County.

Vulnerable populations testing will continue across the state, including congregate living settings, looking for possible COVID-19 “hot spots.”

He reviewed his White House round table with President Trump, Wednesday, including North Dakota Commerce Secretary Michell Kommer, and U.S. Senator, John Hoeven.  He said after the public meeting they discussed ag-related and other issues concerning North Dakota, including long-term care issues.

He said he has been tested for COVID-19 three times in the past week, including after visits at the White House and other DC locations and were negative each time.

He said face masks were used, except during the conversations, and in the cabinet room social distancing was observed.

In DC he thanked North Dakotans in observing taking protective measures to slow the virus spread.

Burgum said with school building accessibility in K-12, indoor facilities remain closed, and the state has more FAQ information on line at NDresponse, including specified uses starting June 1, 2020. School districts have more information on days for students to pick up personal items in school buildings, also uses, restrictions concerning playground accessibility.

With primary and local elections, he said young people turning 18 years old are encouraged to vote on June 9, 2020, for the first time.  He pointed out all 53 North Dakota counties will have mail in voting, only,adding 128,178  ballots have been sent, with about 23,000 ballots returned.

He explained the process including receiving applications, returning them by mail, and the receiving and returning the completed election ballot, either by mail, or at local drop box locations.

With Job Service, he said the unemployment processing mainframe was updated, that allowed claims to be processed faster and checks sent out faster.  He said so far the state has sent $236.3 million in benefits.

Bismarck (CSi) North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports during the month of April experienced their lowest monthly passenger count on record since the state began tracking passenger boarding numbers 40 years ago. Approximately 5,000 passengers or 5% of the normal expected passenger numbers flew out of North Dakota’s airports throughout the month of April which is directly attributed to the mitigation impacts COVID-19 has had on the traveling public.

Jamestown boardings in April this year were, 41, compared to 694 in April of 2019, a decrease of 94 percent.

Year to date in Jamestown boardings were at 2455, compared to 3338 through April of 2019 a drop of about 26-percent.

Airline passenger levels in North Dakota and throughout the rest of the country have begun to slowly rise during the month of May as communities throughout the country begin to re-open. Historically low passenger levels are expected to continue in the near future as long as mitigation efforts for COVID-19 are in place.

“The safety of all passengers and staff remains a top priority for our commercial service airports.” stated Kyle Wanner, Executive Director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission. “The airports and airlines have implemented additional sanitizing methods in an effort to take every precaution possible for the safety of the flying public. Airlines throughout the country have also started to require face-coverings to be worn on flights to help slow the spread of COVID-19. To avoid any surprises, please check the policy of your airline before leaving for the airport.”

Jamestown  (CSi)  The Jamestown Dakota Brands plant shut down on May 1, 2020, and the building remains for sale.

Finance Manager Sharon Schultz says, the plant and two other business properties are being divested by the ownership, and the Jamestown Dakota Brands, formerly Dakota Bake N Serve had been on the market for a few months, but no offers were made.

She says the equipment has been sold through an auction, and was dismantled, and the building is currently being emptied of its equipment, and will be distributed to the high bidders.   The silo at the site, on land leased from Jamestown Regional Airport has been taken down.

After all the equipment is moved out, the facility will be cleaned next week before being closed.

She adds that the building owned by the company is currently for sale.

The Jamestown location has five employees, still at the plant, in management.  They will and all the 17 Jamestown employees will be paid through June 12 this year.

The plant was operating one shift, with  four, ten hour shifts per week.

Dakota Bake N Serve began in 1967 at a small location, and after moving twice, moved the second time to its current location in 1971, producing “high quality frozen and refrigerated products including bread dough products, under the name of Rhodes from 1968-1984.

It sold products to:

Kerr Industries (1992)
H. J. Heinz (90-91)
J. L. Foods, Oregon Farms Division (84-89)
Dakota Bake-N-Serv. – Rhodes (68-84)

Jamestown  (Chamber)  Members of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Committee and the Young Professionals of Jamestown presented the Customer Service Award for May to Michael Lipetzky of Walmart for his outstanding customer service.  The chamber honors individuals who demonstrate a consistent commitment to delivering products or services that satisfy customers by exceeding their requirements or expectations.

His nomination said, “My nomination for Mike doesn’t come from a specific experience, but rather my nomination comes from the superior service I’m always provided with when I visit Walmart. Mike has worked at Walmart for several years now and every time I’ve needed assistance in the Electronics department, he always meets my needs with a smile and friendly banter. I’ve actually struck up a great friendship with him through our interactions. I’ve also witnessed how Mike works with others and the service doesn’t stop with me. He treats everyone equally and with the same respect as anyone else.”

Congratulations to Michael, who along with all the other monthly winners, will be recognized at the Chamber’s annual banquet in January 2021.  Customer Service Award nomination forms are available at the Chamber office and on their website at www.jamestownchamber.com or call 701-252-4830.

Valley Ctiy  (VCSU)  Joe Stickler, Ph.D., professor emeritus of science at Valley City State University, received the Trailblazer Award for Tourism Innovation on May 4, 2020, as part of the 2020 Governor’s Travel and Tourism Awards.

Stickler was cited for leading the development of Medicine Wheel Park in Valley City. Work on the park, which sits above a wooded hillside overlooking the main VCSU campus, began in 1992.

The 30-acre park features a medicine wheel — a large solar calendar derived from a Native American concept — along with a meridian calendar, a solar system model on a paved trail (the Path of the Planets, part of the North Country National Scenic trail), and a perennial garden (the Garden of the Sun). Five interpretive panels emphasize the park’s human connections to the Sheyenne Valley, the planet Earth, the solar system and the universe.

“Over a thousand students, VCSU employees, community members, and Friends of the Medicine Wheel created this park, said Stickler. ‘The Wheel’ is an extraordinary student project that went beyond the classroom walls. And it was my joy to work with all to create this park.”

Stickler retired at the end of spring semester 2013 after 30-plus years of teaching science at Valley City State. An engaging and intellectually demanding instructor, Stickler received the VCSU Teacher of the Year award four times—in 1991, 2004, 2008 and 2013.

More information about Stickler’s Trailblazer Award can be found online at www.ndtourism.com/articles/2020-governors-travel-and-tourism-award-winners. Additional information about Medicine Wheel Park can be found at medicinewheel.vcsu.edu.

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — An arrest has been made in a homicide in Minot, according to police. Officers were called to a shooting on the city’s southwest side shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday. Officers found the victim and administered aid. He was transported to Trinity Hospital where he died a short time later. Police say they’ve arrested a 22-year-old man who had a confrontation with the victim before the shooting. Authorities say the victim and suspect knew each other. The suspect was taken to the Ward County Jail and is being held on a possible murder charge. The victim has not been identified.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota wants to use more than $33 million in federal coronavirus aid to plug “orphaned” oil wells in the state. State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms says 549 wells have been identified as abandoned in North Dakota’s oil-producing region, including about 10% that companies have walked away from in recent weeks due to low oil prices and sparse demand brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. State and industry officials the idea is both a jobs program for energy workers and an attempt to curb a growing problem in western North Dakota’s oil patch.

In world and national news…

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Federal Reserve says just half of Americans who suffered a job loss or reduced income because of the coronavirus feel they’re doing all right financially. Overall, 72% said they were either “doing OK” or “living comfortably,” down only slightly from a combined 75% who felt that way in fall 2019. But among those who lost a job or suffered cuts in hours, 51% said they were at least OK financially.

 

OAK PARK, Ill. (AP) — Worries about having enough to eat are adding to the anxiety of millions of people across the United States. That’s according to a survey that finds 37% of unemployed Americans ran out of food in the past month. And 46% said they worried about running out. Those findings come from the second wave of the COVID Impact Survey, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for the Data Foundation. The survey also found that 2 in 10 working adults said that in the past 30 days, they ran out of food before they could earn enough money to buy more.

 

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump says the coronavirus pandemic highlights the importance of U.S. manufacturing and moving supply chains out of China, a rival he blames for not doing enough to slow the virus. Trump made the comments in a Fox Business Network interview. He’s traveling to Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Thursday to highlight a U.S. medical equipment distributor and talk about the restocking the national medical stockpile. Trump is also trying to convince the American public that it’s time for states to begin to reopen, even as the virus continues to spread.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City is broadening the guidelines for who should get tested for the coronavirus. The new guidelines include anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 and anyone who works at a nursing home or shelter. The new testing guidelines come as the city opens more testing sites with the goal of administering 20,000 tests a day by May 25. De Blasio also said Thursday the $3 trillion coronavirus aid package proposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is exactly what New York and other states and cities need to revive their economies. He said New York City needs a “massive infusion” of federal support.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says that House Democrats’ $3 trillion economic relief bill is a “totally unserious effort.” The criticism by the Kentucky Republican underscores Washington’s deep election-year gulch over what Congress’ next response to the crisis should be. Pelosi unveiled the bill on Tuesday. It would be Congress’ fifth and largest package for nursing the dormant economy through the emergency and bolstering the nation’s medical response to the deadly coronavirus. Eventually the Republican-led Senate and the Democratic-controlled House are expected to negotiate over a fresh relief bill. The House plans to approve the measure Friday in what will be a largely party-line vote.

BELMAR, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s governor issued long-awaited guidance Thursday to Jersey Shore towns on how to safely reopen their beaches as the summer season beckons amid the coronavirus outbreak. Democrat Phil Murphy directed towns to set occupancy limits that can vary by town; require six feet of separation among beachgoers except family or household members or couples; and suggested towns limit the amount of daily beach badges sold. Bathrooms and showers should remain open and be cleaned frequently. Amusement rides, arcades and fireworks are still off-limits, at least for now. Two popular beaches, Point Pleasant Beach and Seaside Heights, plan to reopen on Friday.