wbPM2CSi Weather…

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE
 EVENING IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA.  LOWS 5 TO 10 ABOVE. WEST WINDS 5 TO
10 MPH.
.THURSDAY…CLOUDY. HIGHS 15 TO 20. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH.
.THURSDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 10. WEST WINDS 10 TO
15 MPH.
.NEW YEARS DAY…SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 20S. WEST WINDS AROUND
15 MPH.
.FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY…CLEAR. LOWS AROUND 15. HIGHS IN THE
UPPER 20S.
.SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY…CLEAR. LOWS 5 TO 10 ABOVE. HIGHS IN
THE MID 20S.
.SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS AROUND 10.
.MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 20S.
LOWS AROUND 10.

 

Valley City (CSi) The Valley City Fire Department was called about 10-a.m. Wednesday to a construction site fire, at Second Street, Northwest, where a 20 unit condo is being built.

Bob Bergen, ownd the building and says a cutting tool started a fire in an elevator shaft in the basement when a spark hit oil residue.

He says the fire was contained to a small area, and no smoke or fire damage to the structure.

Bergen says work will continue, on the project, the original turkey processing plant for Land O’ Lakes, starting after World War II.

A fire also burned the structure in August of 1983.

 

Bismarck (CSi) Parents with children birth to age 12 can now enroll in Nurturing Parenting Programs that will be held in nine North Dakota communities beginning in January. Nurturing Parenting Programs are family-based parent education classes that help parents strengthen their parenting and nurturing skills through interactive dialogue and engagement with other parents.

The Nurturing Parenting Programs will be offered in Belcourt, Bismarck, Devils Lake, Fargo, Harvey, Jamestown, Minot, Valley City, and Williston.

Certified facilitators guide families through a 16-week program, which features different training modules each week to address a different parenting issue. Some topics include understanding a child’s growth and development, establishing nurturing family routines, building self-worth, managing and communicating feelings, developing family rules, managing anger and stress, understanding healthy ways to discipline, and more.

The classes are conducted in a group setting with separate parent and child sessions and a family time activity. Participants complete a weekly self-assessment that helps measure their family’s progress and success with the program. A nutritious meal is also provided each week and transportation assistance is available with prior approval.

The North Dakota Department of Human Services contracts with the North Dakota State University Extension Service to offer the Nurturing Parenting Programs. The programs are offered at no cost to families.

To register or for more information on the programs being offered in cities throughout North Dakota, call 701-845-6652, toll free 855-NURTND (855-687-8163), or visit www.ndnurturing.org.

Additional parenting information is also available through the North Dakota Parent Education Network at www.ag.ndsu.edu/pen and Prevent Child Abuse North Dakota at www.pcand.org.

　

CASSELTON, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp met with local emergency responders in Casselton to mark the two-year anniversary of a fiery train derailment that forced many residents from their homes.
 
     The accident happened when a train carrying soybeans derailed and caused a train carrying crude oil to derail one mile west of Casselton. There were no injuries, but it caused massive explosions and left a cloud over the city.
 
     Heitkamp toured the Casselton Volunteer Ambulance Service Wednesday morning. She presented the president of the organization, Ken Habinger, with an American flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol in recognition of Habinger’s commitment to the safety of his community.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A BNSF Railway spokeswoman says the company is temporarily furloughing some employees in response to a reduction in customers’ freight transportation needs.
 
     Railroad spokeswoman Amy McBeth says customers’ volumes in the near term have come down somewhat from prior estimates. She says BNSF is having to adjust its workforce demand numbers down to match volume and the work required to move that volume.
 
     McBeth says BNSF is temporarily furloughing some of its employees at different locations across its network. She says she doesn’t have specifics on numbers or breakdowns by region, but It isn’t concentrated in any one area.
 
     McBeth says the company expects to call the furloughed employees back as soon as business needs require.

 

 BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Bismarck police are investigating the theft of a tip jar from a fast food restaurant.
 
     Pita Pit Assistant Manager Jesse Decoteau was working by himself Monday night, and noticed that the tip jar with $400 in it was missing when he returned from a back room.
 
     Decoteau checked surveillance camera footage and saw it had captured two males grabbing the tip jar and fleeing the building.
 
Tip jar thefts are rare. Decoteau says the theft at the Pita Pit means employees might not get a Christmas party this year.

 

 FARGO, N.D. (AP) – The North Dakota Supreme Court is deciding whether a 20-year delay for the trial of a man accused of driving drunk violated his right to a speedy trial.
 
     William Gale was found guilty by a Grand Forks jury in July on a 1995 DUI charge. He was ordered to pay a $500 fine.
 
     Grand Forks city prosecutor Kristi Pettit Venhuizen argued to justices earlier this month that Gale made a concerted effort to avoid prosecution and there was ample evidence to pursue the case.
 
     Defense attorney Scott Brand says Gale moved to Colorado shortly after the DUI arrest and believed that his previous lawyer was going to handle court proceedings.
 
     Brand says the government was negligent in failing to locate Gale and then deciding to prosecute him 20 years later.

 The North Dakota Department of Transportation and the North Dakota Highway Patrol are asking landowners not push snow into rights-of way, which includes the roadway, ditch bottom and back slope on state highways.

This practice can exaggerate the drifting problems experienced on state highways and create obstructions for motorists.

State law prohibits a person causing an obstruction on any public highway or right-of-way.

 

Bismarck  (CSi)  The North Dakota Department of Transportation and the North Dakota Highway Patrol are asking landowners not push snow into rights-of way, which includes the roadway, ditch bottom and back slope on state highways.

This practice can exaggerate the drifting problems experienced on state highways and create obstructions for motorists.

State law prohibits a person causing an obstruction on any public highway or right-of-way.

 

MINOT, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota’s poker champion is being crowned in Minot this week.

The 12th annual North Dakota Texas Hold ’em Championship is being held at the Vegas Motel starting Wednesday night. The event is modeled after the annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

North Dakota tournament co-founder Wendy Rupert expects up to 1,500 players for this year’s event. The tournament has grown from fewer than 400 participants in its inaugural year in 2004.

Preston Dean of Minot is the reigning champ. He beat out more than 1,300 people from around the country for the 2014 crown.

This year’s champion will be crowned Saturday. The tournament’s top prize is $50,000.

 

In sports…

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – Lambeau Field is looking for shovelers to clear snow ahead of Sunday night’s regular season finale between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings.
 
     A snowstorm dumped more than 13 inches of snow on Green Bay earlier this week. Lambeau is inviting up to 650 “spirited, hearty” shovelers to help get the stadium ready for the game.
 
     Shovelers must be at least 15 years old and will receive $10 an hour, to be paid immediately after their work is completed. The Packers will provide the shovels.
 
     Those interested should report to the Mills Fleet Farm Gate on Lambeau’s west side, starting at 8 a.m. Thursday and continuing through the day as needed.
 
     Both teams are 10-5 heading into the game, which will determine the champion of the NFC North.

 

In world and national news…

 NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Bill Cosby has been arraigned on a sexual assault charge in a courtroom outside Philadelphia. He’s being allowed to remain free on bail until his trial. On his way in and out of the building, he shook his head as reporters shouted questions at him. The charge stems from a 2004 encounter at Cosby’s home outside Philadelphia with a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand. Cosby has said the contact was consensual, but prosecutors say the woman was incapacitated by drugs and wine given to her by Cosby.
 
     ALTON, Ill. (AP) – Business owners in the historic riverfront city of Alton, Illinois, are scrambling to keep out rising water from the Mississippi River. Most of the damage by Wednesday afternoon was confined to high water in some downtown basements. The river is expected to crest at 38 feet tomorrow, 17 feet above flood stage.
 
     GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) – It could be a while before 18-year-old Ethan Couch is sent back to Texas by authorities in Mexico. His lawyers Wednesday won a three-day delay in his deportation — based on a constitutional appeal that could lead to a legal process lasting weeks or months. He’d been on probation for a deadly drunken-driving accident when he and his mother disappeared from Texas last month. They were found this week in Mexico.
 
     WAKEFIELD, N.H. (AP) – Police say an unlicensed driver who was trying to pass a car on a snowy road in New Hampshire died after colliding head-on with a car carrying four Secret Service agents. The agents were on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s protective detail. The crash happened yesterday evening near the state border with Maine. A Secret Service spokeswoman says the agents sustained serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. Two passengers in the other car were also taken to hospitals.
 
     HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – Donald Trump is calling former President Bill Clinton “one of the great abusers of the world.” During a rally Wednesday in South Carolina, Trump continued his criticism of Hillary Clinton’s husband. The Democratic front-runner has accused Trump of sexism, and Trump has responded by revisiting allegations of extramarital affairs by the former president as well as his sexual relationship with a White House intern. Trump says that nobody respects women more than he does.