Wayne Byers Show – Morning – Oct 9

CSi Weather…

.REST OF TODAY…Sunny. Highs in the lower 70s. Northwest winds 15 to20 mph.

.TONIGHT…Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 30s. North winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the northeast after midnight.

.SATURDAY…Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s. Southeast winds 5 to

15 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Warmer. Lows in the mid 50s.

Southeast winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 35 mph.

.SUNDAY…Mostly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of rain showers in the afternoon in the Jamestown area, 60 percent in the Valley City area. Highs in the lower 70s. South winds 15 to 20 mph

shifting to the west in the afternoon. Gusts up to 35 mph.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy with slight chance of rain showers

in the evening, then partly cloudy after midnight. Lows in the

mid 40s.

.COLUMBUS DAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 50s.

.MONDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows around 40.

.TUESDAY…Sunny. Highs around 60.

.TUESDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 40s.

.WEDNESDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs around 60.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 30s.

.THURSDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s.

 

Sunday afternoon a cold front is favored to have already passed through the western half of the state.

In the James River Valley, showers and thunderstorms could light up along the cold front Sunday afternoon.

Fire Danger Map for North Dakota

 

Update… Road Diet work…

On Friday morning the cones and traffic direction indicators had been removed on First Avenue.  More information on plans from the city when

updated….

(CSi)  Governor Doug Burgum held his weekly news briefing Thursday morning at the state capital in Bismarck to provide an update on the COVID-19 pandemic in North Dakota.

 

He was joined by North Dakota Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, Senate Minority Leader Joan Heckaman, District 29 House Majority Leader Chet Pollert of Carrington,and House Minority Leader Josh Boschee.

Burgum outlined changes in county Risk Levels.

Those included Stutsman going from yellow-moderate, returning to green-low risk, as has Richland County.

Moving from Blue-New Normal to Green-Low Risk is LaMoure County.  Meanwhile Dickey County was moved from Green-Low Risk to Yellow-Moderate Risk.

He has said the risk levels are not mandates, but rather guidelines, and go into effect on Friday October 9, 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burgum moved on by saying that  the test positivity rates in the region, shows North Dakota has the second lowest positivity rate, in the state, but leads the nation in the nation in positive rates in the nation.  He said the state is performing more testings.

NDDoH

COVID-19 Stats

Thurs. Oct. 8, 2020

Posted 9:30  am

Barnes

New Positives  2

Total Positives 262

Active Cases 25

Recovered 236

 

Stutsman

New Positives  9

Total Positives  572

Active Cases 59

Recovered 509

COVID-19 Test Results
The results listed are from the previous day. Additional data can be found on the NDDoH website.

BY THE NUMBERS

6,898 – Total Tests from Yesterday*

686,464 – Total tests completed since the pandemic began

531 – Positive Individuals from Yesterday*****

25,384 – Total positive individuals since the pandemic began

8.09% – Daily Positivity Rate**

 

3,832 Total Active Cases

+126 Individuals from yesterday

395 – Individuals Recovered from Yesterday (194 with a recovery date of yesterday****)

21,242 – Total recovered since the pandemic began

125 – Curren­tly Hospitalized

+9 – Individuals from yesterday

6 – New Deaths*** (310 total deaths since the pandemic began)

INDIVIDUALS WHO DIED WITH COVID-19

• Woman in her 80s from Burleigh County with underlying health conditions.
• Female age 10-19 from Mountrail County with underlying health conditions.
• Woman in her 80s from Stark County with underlying health conditions.
• Man in his 80s from Ward County with underlying health conditions.
• Woman in her 90s from Ward County with underlying health conditions.
• Man in his 50s from Ward County with underlying health conditions.

COUNTIES WITH NEW POSITIVE CASES REPORTED TODAY

• Adams County – 1
• Barnes County – 2
• Benson County – 3
• Bottineau County – 6
• Bowman County – 3
• Burleigh County – 90
• Cass County – 137
• Cavalier County – 1
• Dickey County – 1
• Divide County – 3
• Dunn County – 3
• Eddy County – 1
• Emmons County – 2
• Golden Valley County – 10
• Grand Forks County – 32
• Hettinger County – 1
• Kidder County – 1
• LaMoure County – 3
• Logan County – 8
• McHenry County – 1
• McIntosh County – 1
• McKenzie County – 12
• McLean County – 3
• Mercer County – 7
• Morton County – 20
• Mountrail County – 9
• Nelson County – 1
• Oliver County – 4
• Pembina County – 3
• Ramsey County – 11
• Ransom County – 1
• Renville Count – 6
• Richland County – 4
• Rolette County – 4
• Sargent County – 3
• Sioux County – 1
• Stark County – 49
• Stutsman County – 9
• Traill County – 2
• Walsh County – 4
• Ward County – 34
• Wells County – 2
• Williams County – 32

 

* Note that this does not include individuals from out of state and has been updated to reflect the most recent information discovered after cases were investigated.

**Individuals who tested positive divided by the total number of people tested who have not previously tested positive (susceptible encounters).

*** Number of individuals who tested positive and died from any cause while infected with COVID-19. There is a lag in the time deaths are reported to the NDDoH.
**** The actual date individuals are officially out of isolation and no longer contagious.

******Totals may be adjusted as individuals are found to live out of state, in another county, or as other information is found during investigation.

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.

 

Senator Rich Wardner said, North Dakota has distributed from the federal government, dollars to support North Dakota Businesses, along with support for unenployment funds.

Senate Minority Leader Joan Heckaman talked about essential compensation for front line workers.

House Minority Leader Josh Boschee, said the state legislature has addressed how to best distribute CARES ACT funding, and said he’s hopeful that the federal government will allocate additional funding.

District 29 House Majority Leader Chet Pollert of Carrington, added legislative action concerning distributing $1.25 million in CARES  ACT funding, including holding conversations with the governor’s office, with open dialogues.  He, along with other speakers urged North Dakotans to follow protocols in staying safe, to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

With hospitalizations due to the virus, Burgum outlined the monitoring of those individuals, and ensuring health care worker staff bed capacity which will be added to the State Health Department’s web site, dashboard.

Dr. Michael LeBeau of Sanford Health in Bismarck noted healthcare frontline workers continuing to be prepared with dealing with the pandemic and caring for patients.

He also urges all North Dakotan to wear masks, and pointed out that North Dakota has recorded it’s first COVID 19 death of a female in her teens.

LeBeau says he understands concerns about the amount of hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients, yet believes medical facilities around the state are ready to adapt to meet the challenge. Sanford Health Bismarck President Michael LeBeau’s comments followed the North Dakota Department of Health’s daily update showing new highs for active cases of COVID-19, newly confirmed cases and coronavirus-related hospitalizations. LeBeau says that although hospitals around the state are competitors, they are working together on additional space and there are no plans to build temporary facilities. He says there may be longer wait times or patients will have to be transferred to another hospital.

Valley City (VCPS)  Valley City Public Schools Superintendent Josh Johnson said,” We will continue to follow the guidance from the Governor’s Office and NDDoH for counties in “Yellow”; however, we will continue to plan for a possible change to “Green.”  Valley City Public Schools COVID-19 statistics are following closely with the improvements in Barnes County. In the past week, we have had ZERO new cases and the number of close contacts will be the lowest for the 2020-2021 school year. The new guidelines enacted one week ago requiring masks in our classrooms are allowing more of our students to be learning in-person in our schools and we thank you for supporting this change and again, allowing our students to be in-person (5 days per week) at Valley City Public Schools.”

 

Jamestown  (Chamber Release)   Members of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors and the Young Professionals of Jamestown held a ribbon cutting ceremony for, Chamber member, University of Jamestown to celebrate their new building on campus, UJ Place in Jamestown. UJ Place features a mixture of student housing and commercial spaces.

Businesses qualify for a ribbon-cutting ceremony if they open, move, remodel, are under new ownership or change their name.  For more information, contact Emily Bivens by emailing: director@jamestownchamber.com or call the chamber at 701-252-4830.

(Chamber)  Members of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Committee and the Young Professionals of Jamestown presented the Customer Service Award for October to Anna Stansbery of Southwood Veterinary Clinic for her 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.

Her nominations said, “On Saturday, June 13th I went to my dad’s house in Edgeley to visit. When I got to his house the feed shed had been left open and his three horses had been in there eating. When a horse eats too much grain, it can overload and can get colic and laminitis. Dad’s horses mean the world to him. He uses two of them as a team to pull the grandkids, and many other kids in Edgeley, in his buggy. When I discovered my dad’s horses, I called Southwood Emergency after-hours number. Anna Stansbery answered and said she was up getting ready for work and asked if she could call me back. When she called back, she said that if I could bring them in right away, she’d find a way to fit them into her schedule, so she could get them started on mineral oil and charcoal right away to stop the feed absorption. She explained that the timing of this was critical. Anna could have easily declined to take on the additional work and turned us away. She did this despite the fact that I am far from the most valuable customer at the clinic. The horses would have suffered permanent injury if she hadn’t taken the time to treat them that day. She treated me like the most valuable customer. As of now, dad’s horses are healthy and happy and he’ll be able to give the grandkids rides for years to come. Thank you, Anna.”

Congratulations to Anna, 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.

 

Bismarck, N.D.  ( CSi)     In conjunction with National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and the theme ‘Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.’ Governor Burgum issued a proclamation to bring awareness to protecting our state and citizens from increasing cyber threats due to COVID-19. North Dakota Information Technology (NDIT) also announced a new statewide cybersecurity outreach “DefeND” campaign during the Governor’s press conference.

Cybercrime is on the rise globally, particularly given the massive shift to telework and e-learning during COVID-19. “In an increasingly connected world, it is important that we empower individuals and organizations to better protect their part of cyberspace at home, work or school, any time on any device,” said Kevin Ford, NDIT Chief Information Security Officer.

This new campaign and website https://defend.nd.gov/ provide information to help North Dakotans understand common threats like phishing and how to defend themselves from cyber-attacks. The overarching message of this year’s theme, ‘If you Connect it, Protect it,’ dives into the importance of keeping connected devices secure from cyber threats. More than ever, connected devices are an integral part of how people communicate and access services essential to their wellbeing. Cybersecurity Awareness Month aims to offer guidance on simple security measures that can limit the susceptibility of threats for online interactions.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A longtime effort to bring intermodal rail service to North Dakota is finally coming to fruition. Gov. Doug Burgum says BNSF Railway’s plan to provide an intermodal unit train at a facility in Minot is a “game changer.” Burgum says it will reduce shipping costs for farm products by as much as 25%. Intermodal service allows producers and processors to directly load containers on rail in Minot to ship to international destinations. State officials have pursued intermodal rail service for more than two decades.

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. (AP) — U.S. Sen. John Hoeven says a new federal law enforcement training center for Native American officers in northeastern North Dakota should be starting classes in the next month. The U.S. Indian Police Academy Advanced Training Center is located at Camp Grafton, the North Dakota National Guard facility near Devils Lake. It includes classroom space, dorms, and a cafeteria that will be used by Bureau of Indian Affairs trainees. The center will receive recruits from tribes throughout the Great Plains. Most tribes currently send their officers to the federal site in Artesia, New Mexico. The Navajo Nation has its own police academy.

In sports…

 

 

In world and national news…

ABBEVILLE, La. (AP) — Major Hurricane Delta is spinning across the Gulf of Mexico toward an expected landfall in coming hours along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The dangerous storm is targeting the same stretch of southwest Louisiana battered by Hurricane Laura just six weeks ago. Businesses have boarded up and people rushed to prepare before hunkering down or leaving for safety elsewhere. Devastation is still widely evident from Laura, a late August hurricane blamed for more than 30 deaths. As Hurricane Delta churns north toward an expected landfall Friday evening, a hurricane warning is in place from High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, Louisiana.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The tensions between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump are getting even worse. Now she is questioning his fitness to serve. And she’s announced legislation that would create a commission to allow Congress to intervene under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution and to remove the president from executive duties. Pelosi says Trump needs to disclose more about his health after his COVID-19 diagnosis. The president quickly answered back on Twitter, saying that “Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation.” Congress isn’t in legislative session, and so any serious consideration of the measure, let alone votes in the House or Senate, is unlikely.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is eager to get back on the campaign trail. He insists he is ready to resume campaign rallies and feels “perfect” one week after his diagnosis with the coronavirus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans. His doctor says the president has ”completed his course of therapy” for the disease. Trump has not been seen in public — other than in White House-produced videos — since his Monday return from the military hospital where he received experimental treatments for the virus. His physician, Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley, says Trump will be able to safely “return to public engagements” on Saturday.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The final debates between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden have been thrown into uncertainty. The campaigns are offering dueling proposals for remaining faceoffs that have been upended by the president’s coronavirus infection. The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates says the final debate, scheduled for Oct. 22, is still slated to go on in person as planned. But it says Trump’s campaign hasn’t yet said whether he’ll participate. And next Thursday’s town hall-style debate seems to be gone. The commission wanted it conducted virtually because of his coronavirus, but Trump objected, saying it must be face-to-face.

 

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Hours after police foiled an alleged plot to kidnap her, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer argued in a speech Thursday that President Donald Trump’s words had been a “rallying cry” for extremists. Whitmer, a Democrat, said the Republican president has spent the last seven months of the coronavirus pandemic “denying science, ignoring his own health experts, stoking distrust, fomenting anger and giving comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.” She singled out Trump’s debate comments, when he didn’t condemn white supremacist groups and told one far-right extremist group to “stand back and stand by.” Trump criticized Whitmer’s remarks, saying she should thank him because federal authorities foiled the plot.

ROME (AP) — The United Nations’ World Food Program has won the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity around the globe. The announcement was made Friday in Oslo by the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. From air-dropping food in South Sudan to creating an emergency delivery service to keep aid flowing despite coronavirus travel restrictions, the Rome-based organization has long specialized in getting assistance to some of the world’s most dangerous and precarious places. It provided assistance to almost 100 million people in 88 countries last year. The organization’s head said the entire team deserved the award.