wbPM4CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…PERIODS OF RAIN SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS.
LOWS IN THE MID 50S. SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH.   GUSTS UP TO
30 MPH IN THE EVENING. CHANCE OF RAIN 90 PERCENT.
.THURSDAY…CLOUDY. RAIN SHOWERS LIKELY AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING…THEN CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS IN THE
AFTERNOON. BREEZY. HIGHS IN THE MID 60S. NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO
15 MPH INCREASING TO 20 TO 25 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION 60 PERCENT IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA, A 70 PERCENT CHANCE IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA.
.THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN
SHOWERS IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA, A 50 PERCENT CHANCE IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA. COLDER. LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S. NORTH WINDS 15 TO 20 MPH.
.FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S. NORTH WINDS
AROUND 15 MPH.
.FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE MID 30S.
.SATURDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S.
.SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S.
.SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE
OF RAIN SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE MID 50S. LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S.
.MONDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS.
HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S.
.MONDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN
SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S.
.TUESDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS AROUND 60.

 

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. SEVERE
 WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
 
THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
 
 THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS  THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
 
 AREAS OF FROST ARE POSSIBLE DURING THE OVERNIGHT AND INTO THE
 EARLY MORNING HOURS.
 

 

Valley City  (CSi)  Because of the rain, Wednesday’s VCSU Earth Day Festival will be moved inside the Rhoades Science Center, beginning at 5 p.m.

The festival, is free and open to the public.

A picnic supper will be served to the first 200 attendees compliments of Sodexo.

VCSU Earth Day Festival Schedule
Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Ongoing Events
VCSU 125th Anniversary Exhibit in Allen Memorial Library, appearance by the VCSU Viking Mascot

5:00 p.m.
• Kids activities table opens
• Selfie photo booth opens

5:30 p.m.
• Food service begins
• Music (Tyler Manske; Brad Mills and Rocky Seefried) begins

6:00 p.m.
• Over-18 digital scavenger hunt begins
• Planetarium show: “The Night Sky”

6:15 p.m.
• Kids games begin

6:30 p.m.
• Tours of LEED-certified Rhoades Science Center

6:45 p.m.
• Planetarium show: “Target Earth”

7:00 p.m.
• Tree planting
• Music finale: VCSU Jazz Ensemble

www.vcsu/earthday  for more information.

 

 HEIMDAL, N.D. (AP) – The Heimdal (HYM’-dahl) resident who alerted authorities to a BNSF Railway oil train derailment and fire in Wells County says he did so in his underwear and with shaving cream on his face.
 
     Sixty-eight-year-old Curt Benson says he heard the explosion outside town about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, and felt it rattle his house. He says with the large number of oil trains that come through the community, he figured that was the cause. He quickly drove to the scene to get a firsthand look, then called 911.
 
     Benson says it took emergency crews about a half hour to respond to the rural area. He says rainfall likely stopped the fire from spreading to nearby grassland in the meantime.
 
     No one was hurt but Heimdal residents were evacuated as a precaution.

 

 FARGO, N.D. (AP) – An autopsy shows that a University of North Dakota student who was found unresponsive in a home near campus last month died from an overdose of powdered fentanyl.
 
     Twenty-two-year-old Alex Davis, of West Saint Paul, Minnesota, is believed to be the third person in the Grand Forks area who has died this year from ingesting the powerful synthetic drug.
 
     UND Police Sgt. Danny Weigel says several agencies are working together to warn people about the dangers of powdered fentanyl. He says Altru Hospital in Grand Forks released an educational video Tuesday that has been well-received on social media.
 
     A half-dozen people are already facing federal charges in the case. Authorities say the drugs were obtained from Brandon Hubbard, of Portland, Oregon, who has pleaded not guilty to several charges.

 FARGO, N.D. (AP) – The North Dakota Supreme Court says it’s OK for police to bring drug-sniffing dogs into privately owned condominiums without a warrant.
 
     The opinion posted last week rejected an appeal by Andrew Williams, a West Fargo man who was arrested for possession of marijuana after police brought the dog into a common hallway he shared with another resident in the condo.
 
     Defense attorney Scott Brand argued that the hallway in the condo should be considered curtilage, or part of the home, and that gave Williams an expectation of privacy.
 
     The court said in a 5-0 ruling that the common areas of a multi-family dwelling are not protected by the Constitution, and the search was legal.
 
     Justices ruled last year that police can bring drug-sniffing dogs into apartment buildings without a warrant.

 

 POWERS LAKE, N.D. (AP) – A state Department of Health official says about 63,000 gallons of saltwater have leaked from a pipeline in northwest North Dakota and that some of that has reached a lake in the area.
 
     Division of Water Quality Director Karl Rockeman says it’s unclear how much of the saltwater has entered Smishek Lake through a tributary. The lake is about five miles northwest of Powers Lake.
 
     Saltwater, or brine, is an unwanted byproduct of oil production and is considered an environmental hazard by the state. It is many times saltier than sea water and can easily kill vegetation exposed to it.
 
     Rockeman says he considers the 1,500-gallon leak “significant” because of its size and because it has impacted the lake.
 
     He says the lake does not supply any area drinking water.

 

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) – Phone calls made to 911 dispatchers during the initial days of the Red River Valley Flood of 1997 are now available to the public for research.
 
     The Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections at the University of North Dakota announced Tuesday it was releasing the phone calls from April 18 and 19 of 1997.
 
     The flood wiped out much of the downtowns of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, Minn.
 
     Curt Hanson of Special Collections says the phone calls present a “fascinating contrast” of those days. He says some of the calls are mundane and orderly while others reveal the stress and fear that people in the city faced as they attempted to evacuate.
 
     The phone calls will be unveiled Wednesday afternoon the university’s Chester Fritz Library.

 

MINOT, N.D. (AP) – The Ward County Commission has decided to form a committee to help develop a plan for battling chronic flooding at Rice Lake.
 
     The commission last month had decided to pursue a consultant to help find funding, but Emergency Manager Amanda Schooling this week said it might be premature to seek outside help.
 
     Schooling said the chance of getting grants is slim without having a plan of action in place
 
     State lawmakers approved $2 million in aid for Rice Lake. Recreational Service District board chairman Jarid Lundeen says the new committee can develop a strategy to use that money.
 
     The lake level has risen five straight years, causing more than $3 million in losses. Dozens of the 205 lakefront lots have been inundated or are in danger of being swamped.

 

 DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) – The Stark County Commission has rejected a permit for a proposed 87-turbine wind farm between Richardton and Gladstone.
 
     NextEra Energy wants to build the $250 million project to produce up to 150 megawatts of power. But Stark County Commissioner Ken Zander says the majority of people living in the area oppose the project.
 
  State regulators still plan a public hearing on the proposal May 18 at Dickinson State University.

 

 BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Officials from the African nations of Benin and Togo are in North Dakota this week to further their relationship with the North Dakota National Guard.
 
     The Guard in February 2014 announced the partnership under a federal program that fosters security cooperation between the U.S. and other nations. The North Dakota Guard has had a relationship with the African nation of Ghana for more than a decade under the State Partnership Program.
 
     Guard commander Maj. Gen. Dave Sprynczynatyk (sprihn-suh-NAT’-ihk) says military leaders and dignitaries from Benin and Togo will be touring notable sites in North Dakota this week and participating in a leadership conference.

 

In world and national news…

WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says intelligence officials have a lot to investigate, concerning the weekend shooting outside a Texas cartoon contest featuring images of the Prophet Muhammad. Spokesman Josh Earnest says analysts want to find out whether the claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group is accurate, and at what level the group may have known about the plan. He says officials want to find out if the two men who opened fire outside the event, before being fatally shot by authorities, had been in contact with the group.
 
     WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General Loretta Lynch is said to be “actively considering” a request from Baltimore’s mayor. The mayor Wednesday called for a federal probe into whether Baltimore’s police department uses a pattern of excessive force, and whether it discriminates. The Justice Department is already investigating whether the civil rights of Freddie Gray were violated. He died after being injured in police custody.
 
     PARIS (AP) – Before he crashed a plane into a French mountain, the co-pilot of a Germanwings plane apparently rehearsed it. That’s according to investigators, who say Andreas Lubitz repeatedly set the altitude level at 100 feet on the same aircraft, hours before the March 24th crash. The plane didn’t actually descend sharply, since Lubitz kept readjusting the settings. On the return flight from Spain to Germany, he also set a 100-foot altitude, sending the plane crashing into the Alps.
 
     WASHINGTON (AP) – The Pentagon says U.S. Navy warships are no longer accompanying American and British-flagged commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Warships began accompanying the commercial ships last Thursday, two days after Iranian naval vessels detained a cargo ship and its crew. A Pentagon spokesman says there have been no other incidents.
 
     NEW YORK (AP) – The NFL says it will consider what steps to take next, now that investigators have concluded that employees of the New England Patriots probably deflated footballs that were used in the AFC Championship game. They also concluded that the team’s quarterback, Tom Brady, probably knew something about it. Footballs with less pressure can be easier to grip and catch. Brady has said many times that he never asked for balls to be deflated outside of what the league allows.