wbPM2CSi Weather..

.TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS AROUND 60. NORTH WINDS AROUND 5 MPH

SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST UP TO 5 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT.

.WEDNESDAY…SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 80S. SOUTH WINDS AROUND

5 MPH.

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. A 30 PERCENT  CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND

THUNDERSTORMS AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS IN THE LOWER 60S. SOUTHEAST

WINDS AROUND 5 MPH.

.THURSDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND

THUNDERSTORMS IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 80S. EAST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH

SHIFTING TO THE NORTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON.

.THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA, 50 PERCENT IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA. LOWS IN THE UPPER 50S.

.FRIDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS

AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 70S.

.FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE UPPER

40S. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S TO MID 70S.

 

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TUESDAY  AFTERNOON WITH MARGINAL INSTABILITY AND PRODUCE THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER.

FOR THURSDAY A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  The Jamestown Street Department reports that beginning Wednesday – August 17, 2016 , streets will be closed from the intersection of 5th Ave SW and 18th St SW through the intersection of 5th Ave SW and 20th St SW due to utility work.  Traffic/Detour signage will be posted as necessary.

Motorists and other traffic should use extreme caution when entering detoured areas. The public should consider alternate routes if possible.  The Road Closure is contingent upon changing weather conditions.

 

Bismarck  (KFYR TV)  A 28-year-old Jamestown woman was arrested Monday for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia after a collision that killed a motorcycle driver on East Main Avenue in Bismarck.

Police say after obtaining a search warrant for the vehicle, they found a case with paraphernalia in it. Police say they found a small baggy with meth and a glass smoking device in the sunglasses holder.

She is now in custody awaiting formal charges.

Police say it’s uncertain if she was under the influence of any substance during the crash.

Authorities haven’t released the name of the 33-year-old motorcyclist who was thrown from the bike and pronounced dead at a local hospital.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  The Jamestown City Fire Department was called to 452 2nd Street Southwest at about 11:07 a.m., Tuesday.

The fire fighters were dispatched to an active natural gas line that was cut during an excavation on the property.

The city fire fighters stood by the scene until a crew from MDU arrived on the scene to shut of the gas line.

Lt. Sheldon Mohr says all units of the JFD were initially called to the fire hall on standby, and one city fire unit and four firefighters responded to the scene.

Later Tuesday, just after 6:30-p.m. city fire fighters were called to 1510 11th Avenue, Northeast to a report of a washing machine that had smoke coming from it.

Lt. Sheldon Mohr said the cause was due to malfunction in the machine adding that there was no fire.

No damage to the home.

Five city fire units and 27 firefighter were on the scene about 20 minutes.

 

BARLOW, N.D. (AP) — No injuries have been reported in the collapse of two grain bins in the Foster County community of Barlow.

Resident Kyle Hewitt says  the two 35,000-bushel bins owned by Allied Grain Co. collapsed shortly before 10:30 p.m. Monday.

Hewitt says other equipment came  down with the bins.

No cause  of the collapse was immediately determined.

 

Valley City  (CSi)  The Valley City Commission met in Regular Session Tuesday evening at City Hall.  All members were present.

APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS INCLUDED:

A  Game of Chance Raffle Permit for Valley City USBC Youth Bowling.

A new electrical license for Top Tier LLC.

PUBLIC FORUM:  Madeline Luke reported on an Opioid panel discussion of state and national officials she attended.  She related numbers of individuals misusing the drugs, and that they come by it from in many cases, friends or family.  She said the legal disposal may be accomplished at drop off locations at law enforcement locations.  She pointed out the drugs should be locked up to avoid individuals taking the drug without a doctor’s prescription.

RESOLUTIONS

City Commissioners approved a Resolution creating new fees for the Public Works Hook-up fees to existing water and sewer lines.  City Administrator Schelkoph pointed out that the city has incurred a 20 percent markup in parts for the system.  The resolution passed with Commissioner Magnuson voting in opposition.

NEW BUSINESS

Approved the renewal of Gaming Site Authorization for the North Dakota Winter Show at the Valley City Eagles Club.

The City Commission then  approved blocking off frontage road in front of NAPA for their summer tool sale, August 29, 2016 from 9 am to 9 pm.

Commissioners  tied on a 2-2 vote on appointing City Administrator, David Schelkoph to the MRES Board of Directors. Pedersen and Magunuson voting in favor, Ross and Bishop, opposed.

Before the vote, Schelkoph told Commissioner Ross he would be in Sioux Falls, once a month, to serve on the board.

Ross suggested a job responsibility review of Schelkoph before adding more duties.

Commissioner Pedersen said the City Administrator is an ambassador of the city, and Schelkoph’s experience will be a great fit for the board position.

Commissioner Bishop asked if the board position is paid.

Following the vote, the appointment will be re-visited at a later date.

Commissioners considered adding a 2.19 percent surcharge onto credit card payments.  Public Works  Accountant Gary Jacobson said it would be a month before the surcharge takes effect.

Commissioner Ross moved to deny the surcharge which was unanimously approved.

Approved  appointing VCSU’s new Athletic Director, Nate Stewart, to the Visitor’s Committee to replace Jack Denholm.

Received an application for Property Tax Incentive for New or Expanding Businesses for Valley Bluffs, LLC and set public hearing date for September 6, 2016.  Commissioners approved receiving the application and setting the Public Hearing.

The Commission approved participation and maintenance agreement with the NDDOT for Project No. NHU-2-094(083)929 and NHU-2-094(084)930, Main Street from 3rd St SW – 5th Ave SE, for milling bituminous pavement, hot mix asphalt, ADA ramp construction and incidentals.

Commissioners also approved participation and maintenance agreement with the NDDOT for Project No. NHU-2-094(130)931, Main Street – 9th Avenue SE to City Limits, for hot mix asphalt, curb and gutter, sidewalk and incidentals.

Considered appointing an appraiser for Phase III Permanent Flood Protection buyouts. City Administrator Schelkoph no bids have been received.  He said another submission will be sent out.  The item was tabled.

The City Commission officially recognized the continued employment of Police Chief Thompson.

City Administrator Schelkoph said in October of 2015, the city received Thompson’s resignation effective January 15, 2016.  He decided to stay on voluntarily while searching for another chief, and in the mist of the city revisiting the police department’s combining with the Sheriff’s Office, which was not affected.

Schelkoph said Thompson has requested to stay on as chief.  Thompson told the commission that he resigned due to a hostile working conditions, and an arbitrator agreed with the group, filing the complaint, and then former Mayor Werkhoven resigned.

The commission discussed the withdrawal of the resignation letter, which City Attorney Myhre said was not formally accepted by the City Commission.

Myhre’s legal opinion is that Chief Thompson has, and continues to be the police chief.

The motion was to recognized Thompson’s continued employment as chief.

The Commissioners voted unanimously to approve Thompson’s continued employment as police chief.

CITY ADMINISTRATORS REPORT  Nothing was stated by David Schelkoph.

CITY UPDATE & COMMISSION REPORTS

It was noted that absentee ballots are available at City Hall, for the September 15, 2016, Mayoral Election.  Ballots can be mailed, if requested.

Chief Thompson reminds residents not to allow strangers in your home, some, wanting to use the restroom, are looking for access to drugs.

KLJ reported a public input and discussion meeting will be held on Tuesday August 23, 2016, from 6-p.m., to 8-p.m., at City Hall on the proposed storm sewer project.

The meeting  was shown live on CSi 68 followed by replays.

 

Valley City  (CSi)For its second consecutive year, the Al Larvick Conservation Fund (ALCF), along with its community partners are bringing events back to three North Dakota cities. The State Historical Society of North Dakota, Barnes County Historical Society, and Cass County Historical Society will once again host, “Exploring Home Movies of North Dakota”.

ALCF Executive Director, Kirsten Larvick says, “The fund is changing the format a bit this year by offering an earlier separate time for a informal open house before the screenings take place. For screenings, we’ll show selections from the ALCF 2015 North Dakota Grantee, Al Larvick family film, and partner archive collections. We hope this variety of material will inspire a live dialogue between presenters and audiences.”

Home movie celebrations will be held in Bismarck on August 29th, at the North Dakota Heritage Center; Valley City, August 30th at the Barnes County Historical Society Museum; West Fargo, August 31st, at the Bonanzaville Cass County Historical Society. All event times are from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. for the open house, and from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. for the screenings.

Beginning at 6:00 p.m., visitors are welcome to stop by to view examples of various consumer film and video formats, and take a hand-out on caring and maintaining analog and digital home movie assets. Representatives will be on stand-by to answer any questions about their home movies, and assist with filling out the Al Larvick North Dakota Grant, which will open for submissions on August 29th, 2016.

The 7:00 p.m. screenings will include newly transferred films from decades past, which reflect various areas and communities of North Dakota. Presenters and speakers include Shane Molander, Deputy State Archivist, State Historical Society of North Dakota; Kirsten Larvick; Shari Huettl of The Memory Preserve (Bismarck event); Tamera Kapaun of TK Design (West Fargo event). 2015 ALCF grantees, Stephanie Kom and Carol Renner are invited to speak about their material as well.

The State Historical Society of North Dakota collects, digitizes and preserves home movies if they are believed to be of historic value. ALCF is inspired by Al Larvick, a man devoted to documenting everyday life activities. The fund’s mission is to preserve historical and cultural heritage through conversation, education, and public accessibility of American home and amateur recordings created prior to 1990.

ALCF’s North Dakota sponsor is The MediaPreserve. For more information about ALCF, visit allarvickfund.org. All Events are free and open to the public. To RSVP, please visit allarvickfund.eventbrite.com

 

 

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — Minot police are investigating a rash of motorcycle thefts.

Authorities have received nine reports of stolen bikes since the beginning of July.

Police say the thefts have happened both at night and during the daytime. They believe the thieves are taking the motorcycles from the immediate area and then moving them with a trailer or other means.

 

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Three weeks after proposing an ordinance to fine railroad companies up to $261 per car carrying crude oil or coal through downtown Spokane, the City Council has voted to withdraw the measure.

Supporters cited the certainty of a successful legal challenge to the proposal.

The Spokesman-Review reports that the Spokane City Council voted 5-2 on Monday to withdraw the measure from the November ballot.

City Council President Ben Stuckart, who led the charge with a presentation on July 25 depicting a dozen fiery oil train derailments, says he now believes the fine would expose the citizens to too much legal liability.

The votes to keep the issue on the ballot came from Councilman Breean Beggs, who crafted the ordinance’s language, and Councilwoman Lori Kinnear.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s chief archaeologist says a report of possible human remains being found at a pipeline construction site is unfounded.

Paul Picha (PEEK’-ah) says authorities were notified on Friday by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and others that human remains might have been unearthed near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in southern North Dakota.

Opponents of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline being built from North Dakota to Illinois are protesting the project in the area and several arrests have been made for interfering with the work.

Picha says he and others inspected the site and found no evidence of “human remains, a burial, or other cultural remains.”

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s Democratic candidate for governor wants some help paying for vehicle repairs.

Marvin Nelson’s campaign is asking for $1,300 in donations to cover the cost of a new starter and other work to his 10-year-old Cadillac SUV. His website shows he raised $110.

Nelson is a state representative from Rolla and an agricultural consultant. He says he has put almost 50,000 miles on his vehicle campaigning in North Dakota.

Nelson is facing Libertarian Party candidate Marty Riske and millionaire Fargo businessman Doug Burgum, the GOP’s candidate for governor.

Burgum is expected to be a heavy favorite in November in a state that has not had a Democratic governor since 1992.

Burgum says he’s been campaigning in a 42-year-old bus with a leaky roof that has lost its muffler twice.

 

HARWOOD, N.D. (AP) — The director of what will be the first national veterans cemetery in North Dakota traveled to the state to visit with veterans and local officials.

The federal Department of Veterans Affairs is planning the cemetery on about 5 acres of land in Cass County. John Knapp will serve as director. He’s also the director of Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota.

North Dakota U.S. Sen. John Hoeven brought Knapp to Harwood on Monday to provide more information to local groups.

The cemetery is to serve more than 24,000 veterans, their spouses and family members within a 75-mile radius of Fargo.

North Dakota has a state veterans cemetery, near Mandan.

 

In world and national news…

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana officials have increased the death toll to 10 from the unprecedented flooding in the southern part of the state. Devin George, state registrar for vital records, says the latest deaths are drownings. The floods began during torrential rains Friday and many homes and businesses are still underwater. The governor says at least 40,000 homes have water damage.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Hillary Clinton is pledging to tighten gun control — even as she again rejects Donald Trump’s claim that she would abolish the Second Amendment. Clinton told supporters at a voter registration event today in Philadelphia that she will “take on the gun lobby to save lives here in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania.” Clinton says she would push for comprehensive background checks, close loopholes in gun laws and bar people on terrorist watch lists from buying guns.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Chris Christie is trying to tamp down Republican concerns about Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He said that if there ever comes a point when he’d worry about Trump’s chances of beating Hillary Clinton, it wouldn’t be until after the first debate in September. Christie says he thinks the debate will be widely watched and could answer voters’ questions about the candidates. The New Jersey governor is a key supporter of Trump.

CHICAGO (AP) — The agency responsible for investigating complaints against Chicago police is looking into last year’s arrest of a Muslim woman. Officers mistakenly identified here as a potential terrorist as she walked from a subway station. A spokeswoman for the Independent Police Review Authority says the woman submitted a complaint a short time later. She then filed a civil rights lawsuit last week alleging officers singled her out simply because she wore a religious headscarf and veil. The suit says officers pulled off the garb and later strip-searched her.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 10-day-old wildfire in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles is finally fully surrounded. The U.S. Forest Service says the 12.6-square-mile blaze is 100 percent contained. The fire burned between mountain communities near Lake Arrowhead and the high desert city of Hesperia to the north. At its height the fire posed a threat to as many as 5,300 residences but ultimately no homes were lost.