CSi Weather:

.CHRISTMAS DAY…Sunny. Not as cold. Highs in the mid 30s.

Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.

.FRIDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. Lows around 10. Northwest

winds 5 to 10 mph.

.SATURDAY…Mostly cloudy. Highs in the mid 20s. Southeast winds

5 to 10 mph.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Cloudy. Lows around 10.

.SUNDAY…Cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow in the morning,

then partly sunny in the afternoon. Highs 15 to 20.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows around 5 below.

.MONDAY…Sunny. Highs 15 to 20.

.MONDAY NIGHT…Increasing clouds. Lows 5 to 10 above.

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

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

.WEDNESDAY…Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 20s.

CSi is celebrating with an array of Local Holiday programing. Tune in to see your favorite, The Dazzle Parade, Valley City’s Parade of Lights and the always enjoyable children of St. John’s Academy singing Christmas songs at the Christmas Pageant. Included in this presentation is the latest on the Covid 19 vaccine from Central Valley Health’s Robin Iszler.

Have a Merry Christmas from Cable Services. Producing and presenting quality local programing without commercial interruption. CSi – Your Hometown Local TV Source Since 1975.

 

Valley City  (CSi)   Trinity Lutheran Church in Valley City has cancelled Christmas Eve Carols and Candlelight at the courthouse due to cold weather.

Facebook Live Service will be at 5-p.m, instead of 6-p.m.

 

North Dakota health officials are reporting the coronavirus was a factor in nearly 20 more deaths. The state reported 17 additional deaths on Thursday. Everyone who died was between the ages of 60 and 100. The state’s overall death toll now stands at 1,260. Health officials also reported they had confirmed 226 more infections. The state has now seen 90,948 cases. The daily positivity rate now stands at 2.7% Four more people were hospitalized, bringing the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients to 122.

ND Covid Stats:

Thurs. Dec. 24,  2020

Barnes County

ONE NEW DEATH

Woman in her 90s

TOTAL DEATHS 26

New Positives:  2

Total Positives: 1218

Active: 31

Recovered: 1161

 

Stutsman County

Antigen tests (BinaxNOW, etc.) were added to the website beginning Dec. 9.

New Positives:  20

Total Positives:  3045

Active: 142

Recovered: 2833

More information pending NDDoH

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Just a note that there will not be a daily news release or updated website/dashboard on Christmas Day – Friday, December 25. Everything will be updated as usual on Saturday. If you wish to find the daily breakout for Friday (Thursday’s results), you can find them on Saturday in the public data download found at the bottom of the website. Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season. – Nicole Peske, NDDoH

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

 

BY THE NUMBERS

7,665 – Total Tests from Yesterday*

1,285,111 – Total tests completed since the pandemic began

226 – Positive Individuals from Yesterday*****

188 – PCR Tests | 38 antigen tests
90,948 – Total positive individuals since the pandemic began

2.71% – Daily Positivity Rate**

 

2,321 – Total Active Cases

-68 Individuals from Yesterday

276 – Individuals Recovered from Yesterday (262 with a recovery date of yesterday****)

87,367 – Total recovered since the pandemic began

122 – Currently Hospitalized

+4 – Individuals from yesterday

 

17 – New Deaths*** (1,260 total deaths since the pandemic began)

INDIVIDUALS WHO DIED WITH COVID-19

  • Woman in her 90s from Barnes County.
  • Woman in her 80s from Burleigh County.
  • Woman in her 60s from Burleigh County.
  • Man in his 90s from Burleigh County.
  • Woman in her 70s from Burleigh County.
  • Man in his 60s from Burleigh County.
  • Man in his 80s from Burleigh County.
  • Man in his 90s from Cass County.
  • Man in his 80s from Cass County.
  • Man in his 80s from Cass County.
  • Man in his 60s from Grand Forks County.
  • Man in his 80s from Grand Forks County.
  • Woman in her 80s from Grand Forks County.
  • Woman in her 60s from Morton County.
  • Man in his 80s from Morton County.
  • Woman in her 90s from Ramsey County.
  • Man in his 80s from Stark County.

 

COUNTIES WITH NEW POSITIVE CASES REPORTED TODAY

  • Barnes County – 2
  • Benson County – 3
  • Bottineau County – 3
  • Burleigh County – 31
  • Cass County – 37
  • Dickey County – 4
  • Divide County – 1
  • Dunn County – 1
  • Eddy County – 2
  • Foster County – 3
  • Grand Forks County – 9
  • Griggs County – 1
  • Hettinger County – 1
  • Kidder County – 1
  • LaMoure County – 2
  • Logan County – 2
  • McHenry County – 1
  • McKenzie County – 1
  • McLean County – 1
  • Mercer County – 7
  • Morton County – 8
  • Mountrail County – 2
  • Nelson County – 1
  • Pierce County – 5
  • Ramsey County – 12
  • Ransom County – 6
  • Richland County – 5
  • Rolette County – 20
  • Sioux County – 6
  • Stark County – 6
  • Steele County – 2
  • Stutsman County – 20
  • Towner County – 3
  • Walsh County – 8
  • Ward County – 8
  • Williams County – 1

 

* Note that this includes PCR tests and does not include individuals from out of state.

**Individuals who tested positive divided by the total number of people tested who have not previously tested positive (susceptible encounters). Antigen tests (positive or negative) are not included in the calculation.

*** Number of individuals who tested positive with a PCR or antigen test and died from any cause while infected with COVID-19. Please remember that deaths are reported as they’re reported to us by the facility or through the official death record (up to 10-day delay).

 

**** The actual date individuals are officially out of isolation and no longer contagious.

*****Daily positive numbers include people who tested with a PCR or antigen test. 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.

Valley City  CSi)  Valley City Dollars for Scholars is the recipient of a $1,000 donation from Bank of North Dakota (BND) that will be  distributed as a scholarship.

Their collaboration with the high school and local community to host College Application Month, a Financial Aid Night Presentation and Presentations to Valley City High School Seniors on the scholarship application process in 2020 allowed them to qualify for the donation. These events encouraged families to become more aware of the opportunities available in the state for planning and financing post-secondary education.

North Dakota Dollars for Scholars has 64 community chapters in the state. Bank of North Dakota provides a State Director and operational support for local chapters. Since the first North Dakota chapter was established in 1962, Dollars for Scholars chapters in North Dakota have raised over $40 million and helped more than 40,000 students.

This year, the local chapter plans to distribute over $6,500 to local high school students and recent graduates attending college. Events such as VCHS sporting event sponsorships increase the funds available for the students. Individuals and families may donate directly to the local chapter. You may do so by contacting the chapter treasurer Crystal Nehlich at 701-845-2712 or mailing a donation to PO Box 997, Valley City ND 58072.

Members of the Valley City Dollars for Scholars board are Natalie Meyer, Todd Anderson, Ken Reid, Crystal Nehlich, Dan Klein, Mark Oberlander, Al Schuldt, Tanya Leick, Tatiana Eggum, and Dave Carlsrud.

For more information on North Dakota Dollars for Scholars, visit northdakota.dollarsforscholars.org or call 888.592.8540.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says the state’s Ethics Commission has the power to write rules defining “lobby” and “lobbyist.” Stenehjem’s opinion Wednesday came after the commission asked him to clarify its authority to expand the definitions relating to gifts. The Bismarck Tribune says the commission has come across conflicting language in state law and the constitution. Voters approved the five-member commission two years ago, along with a lobbyist gift ban that takes effect Jan. 5. Stenehjem wrote that the definitions of “lobby” and “lobbyist” in state government ethics law limit the reach of the board’s gift rules and are inconsistent with the board’s constitutional directive and authority.

Bismarck  (CSi)  Gov. Doug Burgum Thursday issued the following statement regarding former state Sen. Lonnie Laffen of Grand Forks, who passed away Wednesday at age 62.

Laffen represented District 43 in the Senate from 2011 to 2018 and was co-founder and president of JLG Architects, a multi-state architecture firm headquartered in Grand Forks and recently selected to be the architect of record for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Medora. Laffen also had served on the Capitol Grounds Planning Commission chaired by Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford.

 

“Lonnie left an indelible mark on North Dakota, from the 32 years he spent pouring his heart into building an award-winning architecture firm to his eight years of committed service in the Legislature, to his service in numerous community organizations,” Burgum said. “Lonnie understood how great design can lift a community and its people, from a beautiful school to a stunning sports arena. His legacy as a gifted architect endures in the dozens of iconic buildings JLG designed across our state and region and in the dedicated team members who carried out his vision – as he said, ‘fantastic projects and great people,’ and because of his magnetism, Lonnie enjoyed a lifetime of working with both. Our hearts and prayers go out to his beloved wife, Pam, their three children, family, friends, legislative colleagues, the NDSU architecture community and the entire JLG team.”

 

In world and national news..

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans have shot down a Democratic bid to pass President Donald Trump’s longshot, end-of-session demand for $2,000 direct payments to most Americans. The made-for-TV clash came as the Democratic-controlled chamber convened for a pro forma session Thursday scheduled in anticipation of a smooth Washington landing for the massive, year-end legislative package. That package folds together a $1.4 trillion governmentwide spending with the hard-fought COVID-19 package and dozens of unrelated but bipartisan bills. If Trump were to follow through on his implied veto threat, the government would likely experience a brief, partial shutdown of the government starting on Dec. 29.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California has become the first state to record 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases. A tally by Johns Hopkins University on Thursday showed the nation’s most populated state has recorded 2,010,157 infections since January. More than 23,000 people have died from the virus. The grim milestone comes as a COVID-19 crisis that health officials say stems from Thanksgiving gatherings strains California’s medical system. More than 18,000 people are hospitalized and many of the state’s intensive care units filled.

DOVER, England (AP) — Truckers and travelers who have been stuck for days in a huge gridlock at the English port of Dover finally got to leave for France. France has partially reopened its borders with Britain following international concern over a rapidly spreading new coronavirus variant, but the slow delivery of coronavirus tests have severely delayed crossings. Anyone entering France from Britain now requires a negative test to proceed. Thousands of truckers remain trapped and many spend Christmas waiting in their cabs. Britain has seen soaring infection rates in recent weeks, with London now having the highest rate of people testing positive in the country. The Office for National Statistics estimated Thursday that 2.1% of the people in the capital had COVID-19 in mid-December.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Britain and the European Union have struck a provisional free-trade agreement that should avert New Year’s chaos for cross-border commerce and bring a measure of certainty to businesses after years of Brexit turmoil. The breakthrough on Thursday came after months of tense and often testy negotiations that whittled differences down to three key issues: fair-competition rules, mechanisms for resolving future disputes and fishing rights. Now comes the race to approve and ratify the deal before the U.K. leaves the EU’s economic structures on Jan. 1. The British and European parliaments both must hold votes on the agreement. And key aspects of the future relationship between the 27-nation bloc and its former member remain unresolved.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Faris Fadel describes the recent decision by the Trump administration to pardon four military contractors convicted of killing 14 Iraqi civilians, including his brother, 13 years ago as unfair. His brother, Osama Abbas, had been on his way to work that fateful day when Blackwater contractors opened fire in a busy Baghdad square. Trump pardoned the four, who were convicted in 2014 for the killings. Fadel, now 4 years old, says: “This decision was wrong, it was unfair. How can you release those who have blood on their hands?” Fadel also blames the Iraqi government for not pushing for justice sooner.

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — It’s been more than two months since violent weather walloped southwest Louisiana, yet the state is still far from being fully recovered. Hurricane Laura roared ashore on Aug. 27 as a Category 4 storm just south of Lake Charles. On Oct. 9, recovering residents watched as Delta swept in just a few miles away as a Category 2 hurricane. What didn’t get scoured by Laura’s winds was swamped by Delta’s rains. Aid organizations say recovery efforts after Laura and Delta lag behind those that followed previous years’ storms in part because the nation’s attention has been focused on other issues, such as the coronavirus.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — A stream of marching bands joyously paraded through Bethlehem, but few people were there to greet them as the coronavirus pandemic and a strict lockdown dampened Christmas Eve celebrations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus. Similar subdued scenes have been repeated across the world. Festive family gatherings and packed prayers that typically mark the holiday have been scaled back or canceled altogether. In Australia, worshippers had to book tickets online to attend socially distanced church services. Pope Francis is set to celebrate Mass in the near-empty Vatican basilica early in the evening, hours before a nationwide curfew goes into effect.