CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…Partly cloudy. Colder. Lows 15 to 20. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

.THURSDAY…Partly sunny. A 30 percent chance of snow in the afternoon in the Jamestown area.

Highs in the mid 30s. West winds 5 to 10 mph.

.THURSDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow in the Jamestown area, 60 percent in the Valley City area. New snow accumulation, 1-3 inches in the Jamestown area, 1 inch in the Valley City area.

Lows around 15. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

.FRIDAY…Mostly cloudy. A 50 percent chance of snow in the

afternoon in the Valley City area, 60 percent in the Jamestown area. Highs in the mid 20s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

.FRIDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Snow likely in the evening, then

slight chance of snow after midnight.  Light snow accumulations.  Lows 5 to 10 above. Chance of snow 60 percent in the Jamestown area, 80 percent in the Valley City area.

.SATURDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs 15 to 20.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Mostly clear. Lows 5 to 10 above.

.SUNDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 20s.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows around 15.

.MONDAY…Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 30s.

.MONDAY NIGHT…Mostly cloudy. Lows around 15.

.TUESDAY…Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 20s.

 

 

Snowfall chances and precipitation chances Thursday

night through Friday night across North Dakota, quickly followed by

another system Fri-Fri night but more over South Dakota.

Accumulating snow.

 

Reinforcing shots of colder air arrive late this week into the

weekend with daytime highs by Saturday currently forecast in the

teens & 20s and overnight lows in the single digits. Some

moderation in these temperatures is expected next week though

temperatures will remain unseasonably cool.

An active pattern still appears possible for much of next week.

 

 

Valley City  (CSi)  Valley City Police reports that  on March 20, the department was contacted by Jamestown Police to assist  in locating a suspect in several crimes within the Jamestown jurisdiction.

The news release from Valley City Police Chief Phil Hatcher said, Valley City Police was able to locate the suspect and arrest him on unrelated charges.

The result of the arrest and subsequent interviews yielded closure to the Markeplace Foods case in Valley City, with the arrest of 33 year old James Wayne Denison, Jr., of Valley City on March 27.

Denison, Jr., has been initially charged with two felony counts of Criminal Conspiracy.

He’s being held in the Barnes County Jail

Initially, on August 20, 2017 Valley City Police was called to Marketplace Foods in Valley City, to a report of an overnight burglary.

The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation was called to assist with that case.

Chief Hatcher thanks the North Dakota BCI, and Jamestown Police for their assistance, and cooperation in the case.

 

 

Oakes  (RRV&W- AP) Red River Valley & Western Railroad reports no additional property damage and no injuries when a 110 car unit train partially derailed in Southwest Oakes, Tuesday about 7-p.m.

Seven corn cars tipped, spilling the corn, and four cars derailed.

RRV&W Track and Structures Manager Cal Gruebele points out, the spring thaw may have led to some soft parts of the track that could have allowed the wheels to fall between the track rails.

The spilled corn was being swept up on Wednesday, and the derailed cars taken care of by Thursday, this week. It may be several days until service returns to the track site.

 

 

Jamestown (CSi)  The 2018 Relay for Life Color Fun Run will be held on Saturday May 5th, starting at 10-a.m., from McElroy Park.

Chelsey Francis says, on-site registration and t-shirt pick up is at 9-a.m.

Registration is $30, pre-register by April 1st, with the t-shirt guaranteed…. $35 on site registration, no t-shirt guarantee.

Children (under age 5) : no shirt  FREE

Please make ALL checks payable to:

Stutsman County Relay for Life

Please mail registration forms and payment to:

Chelsey Francis

208 2nd Ave SW

Jamestown, ND 58401

OR stop by Wells Fargo Bank to drop off forms and payment

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Taxable sales and purchases in North Dakota increased slightly in 2017 led by rebounding oil activity in the western part of the state.

North Dakota’s taxable sales and purchases are a key indicator of economic activity in the state. Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger (RAW’-shun-bur-gur) says North Dakota’s taxable sales and purchases increased 3 percent in 2017 to $17.9 billion.

North Dakota taxable sales and purchases set a record of $28.2 billion in 2014.

Rauschenberger says only five of the 15 major industry sectors had growth from 2016 to 2017. Mining and oil extraction had the biggest increase, at more than 52 percent.

Of the state’s biggest cities, only the oil-patch towns of Williston and Dickinson had an increase of taxable sales and purchases last year.

 

Bismarck  (CSi)   – Gov. Doug Burgum and members of his administration met Wednesday with statewide elected officials, agency leaders and team members from across state government to provide updates on the administration’s five strategic initiatives and invite greater collaboration across agencies.

About 60 people from cabinet and non-cabinet agencies assembled in the Capitol’s Brynhild Haugland Room for the unique meeting aimed at enhancing communication and collaboration with the different agencies and branches of government on the five strategic initiatives: Reinventing Government, Main Street Initiative, Transforming Education, Tribal Partnerships and Behavioral Health, including recovery from the disease of addiction.

Burgum says, “All of us in state government take seriously our collective responsibility to serve the citizens of North Dakota, and this is an invitation to assemble as a team and discover how we can better align on our common goals.  Budget challenges, demographics, digital transformation, cybersecurity challenges and very tight national, state and local labor markets are all powerful forces that will require us to re-envision our current siloed agency approach to delivering services.”

 

Mayville  (CSi)   – The State Board of Higher Education Wednesday named Dr. Brian Van Horn as the next president of Mayville State University in Mayville, North Dakota. Van Horn currently serves as associate provost at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.

During the interview, he said that he appreciated North Dakota’s investment in Mayville State University. “Here we make an impact for life on students and I appreciate North Dakota’s commitment to affordability.”

The night prior to his interview, he said that he walked around campus visiting with students and every student he spoke with expressed love for the university experience at Mayville.

Van Horn added, “In my time on campus, I have been impressed with the friendliness of the people and the student-centered focus of the institution. It is clear to me that Mayville is a special place and I am honored to be selected as the person to lead this institution. I am excited to begin working on behalf of the students here as well as all of the people on our campus and in our community.”

The search for the next MaSU president began mid-November 2017 after Dr. Gary Hagen announced his upcoming retirement this summer.

Don Morton, chair of the State Board of Higher Education said, “The Board  underwent careful deliberations and it was a difficult decision to make. “We had three strong candidates, all good leaders who understand the value of higher education in making North Dakota strong. We are excited about the possibilities for Van Horn. I want to thank the presidential Search Committee for all of the time and effort that went into the search to find the best fit for the Mayville State University community. The committee always kept in mind what was best for Mayville and with that, what was best for the students.”

 

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A Fargo eighth-grader will represent North Dakota in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in late May.

Tobi Shorunke from Ben Franklin Middle School outlasted dozens of other spellers to win the state bee on Monday in Bismarck.

Shorunke correctly spelled “millibars” to win the bee in the 14th round.

 

In sports..

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  (NAIA)  — For the second-straight poll, Georgia Gwinnett captures the No. 1 position in the second regular-season installment of the 2018 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the national office. With a 29-2 record, the Grizzlies posted 14 first-place votes and 524 total points.

UJ Jimmies move up from number 20 to number 16.

VCSU softball receives votes.

2018 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll No. 2 (March 20, 2018)

posted on line at CSiNewsNow.com

(VCSUVikings.com)  The Valley City State University softball team has announced changes to its weekend series with rival University of Jamestown.

The Vikings and Jimmies will play three games Friday inside the Presentation College Dome in Aberdeen, S.D. Game times are set for 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. All three will be conference games. VCSU will be the home team.

VCSU was originally scheduled to host a four-game series with the Jimmies this weekend, but cold temps and snow have forced the movement to the Presentation Dome. The fourth game of the series will not be made up.

Friday’s triple-header will be a showdown of the top two teams in the North Star Athletic Association. Jamestown leads the conference with a 7-1 record in the NSAA and a 24-4 overall record. VCSU is second in the conference standings at 6-2 in the NSAA and 23-7 overall.

Valley City  (VCSUVikings.com)- Valley City State University senior Lenzel Koskela and freshman Kyle Odegard were both named NSAA Track & Field Athletes of the Week after strong performances Saturday at the Yellow Jacket Spring Open.

Odegard earned the Field Athlete of the Week award after winning the javelin, and Koskela was named Track Athlete of the Week after running a career-best time in the 400 meters.

North Star Athletic Association Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week
Kyle Odegard – Valley City State (N.D.) – Freshman – Lisbon, N.D. – Odegard placed first in men’s javelin throw in his first collegiate meet at Black Hills State (S.D.) Yellow Jacket Spring Open for Valley City State (N.D.).  He threw a measurement of 54.66 meters (179 feet, 4 inches), the farthest throw at VCSU since 1989 and ranks him second in school history.  Odegard’s mark was just 0.34 meters off for the national qualifying measurement.  He currently ranks first in the North Star conference by around seven feet.

North Star Athletic Association Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week
Lenzel Koskela – Valley City State (N.D.) – Senior – Plymouth, Minn. – Koskela ran a career-best time in the 400-meter dash for Valley City State (N.D.) at NCAA Division II Black Hills State (S.D.) Yellow Jacket Spring Open.  He placed third in the race with a time of 49.88 seconds, the fastest time at VCSU since 1989 and ranks him fourth in school history.  Koskela ranks first in the North Star conference by more than one second.

Valley City State University senior Megan Johnson has been named an NSAA Track & Field Athlete of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday. Johnson earned the Field Athlete of the Week honor after winning the long jump and triple jump in VCSU’s outdoor opener, and qualifying for nationals in the triple jump.

Kirsten Paetow of Dakota State (S.D.) was chosen to Track Athlete of the Week.

North Star Athletic Association Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week
Megan Johnson – Valley City State (N.D.) – Senior – Enderlin, N.D. – Johnson qualified for NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Nationals in triple jump for Valley City State (N.D.).  She claimed both triple and long jumps at NCAA Division II Black Hills State (S.D.) Yellow Jacket Spring Open.  She bested a field of mainly NCAA Division II competitors in both events.  Johnson’s 11.45 meters (37 feet, 6.75 inches) in the triple jump meets NAIA ‘B’ Standard and is the second-best mark in school history.  She also leaped a measurement of 5.40 meters (17 feet, 8.75 inches) in the long jump.

 

In world and national news…

WASHINGTON (AP) — An attorney for an adult film star claiming a sexual encounter with President Donald Trump is seeking to depose the president and his attorney.

Michael Avenatti filed the motion in federal court in California. In the documents, dated Wednesday, he seeks to depose Trump and Trump attorney Michael Cohen about a $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election.

Avenatti wants to question each for “no more than two hours.” In the filing, he says the depositions are needed to establish if Trump knew about the payment and if he consented to it.

Cohen has said he paid the $130,000 out of his own pocket, while asserting Trump never had sex with the porn actress.

A hearing is set for April 30.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Astronomers have found a distant galaxy where there is no dark matter, the invisible stuff that makes up more than a quarter of the universe.

Scientists only know dark matter exists because they can observe how it pulls and pushes things they can see, like stars. It’s supposed to be everywhere.

But Yale University astronomer Pieter van Dokkum and colleagues spied an old galaxy with relatively few stars where what you see truly is what you get. They say the stars in the galaxy are traveling at a speed that suggests no influence from dark matter.

The study is in Wednesday’s journal Nature.

Scientists have no good explanation for how this could be, but outsiders said the researchers calculations appear to be sound.

 

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s government is cutting off WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s communications outside the nation’s London embassy.

Officials announced Wednesday they were taking the measure in response to Assange’s recent activity on social media.

As part of an agreement between Assange and the Ecuadorean government, he is not permitted to send any messages that could interfere with the South American nation’s relations with other countries.

Assange has been living in Ecuador’s embassy for more than five years.

Ecuador gave Assange asylum after he sought refuge in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden for investigation of sex-related claims. Sweden dropped the case, but Assange remains subject to arrest in Britain for jumping bail.

 

Update…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems unsettled about how and whether to address the issue of drawing electoral districts for partisan advantage. Their decision could affect how elections are conducted around the country.

The justices seemed to be struggling Wednesday with an appeal by Republican voters in Maryland who object to a congressional district that Democrats drew to elect a candidate of their own.

The Maryland case is a companion to one from Wisconsin in which Democrats complain about a Republican-drawn map of legislative districts. That case was argued in October and remains undecided.

Justice Stephen Breyer suggested that the court could add in yet a third case involving North Carolina’s congressional district and set another round of arguments to deal with all three states.