CSiWeather

….TONIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA…A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW IN THE VALLEY cITY AREA. NOT AS COLD.
LOWS AROUND 10. NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH.
.SATURDAY…CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA…ISOLATED FLURRIES IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S. NORTH WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.
.SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA..ISOLATED FLURRIES IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA.
LOWS AROUND 10. NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.
.SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. SLIGHT CHANCE OF
FLURRIES. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S. LOWS AROUND 10. NORTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.
.MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 20S. LOWS ZERO TO 5 ABOVE.
.TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S.
LOWS 5 TO 10 ABOVE.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 15.
.THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 30S.
LOWS AROUND 15.

 

Jamestown, ND (KCSi-T.V. News) — The Jamestown City Fire Department and Jamestown Police are investigating the cause of a dumpster fire, on Thursday evening (Mar 21, 2013) about 9-p.m., that occurred on in the alley behind Blockbuster Video on First Avenue, South.

City Fire Chief Jim Reuther says, it’s believed the fire was started by juveniles.

The fire was contained by the 24 fire fighters and four city fire units called to the scene, and were there for about 45 minutes.

 

Jamestown, ND (KCSi-T.V. News) — The Jamestown Fire Department is hosting a “Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment Presentation” on March 26th, 2013 at the main fire station at 7:00pm.

On Friday’s (Mar 22, 2013) Wayne Byers Show on CSi Cable 2, Chief Reuther suggested that interested candidates bring along a spouse or significant other to hear the presentation and be part of the decision making process.

He added that qualifications to be a city fire fighter initially includes be at least 21 years old, and a City Of Jamestown resident.

The fire department over the past few years has found it hard to recruit new volunteer firefighters.

　

He said Jamestown is not the only fire department that is experiencing the decrease in volunteer firefighters, noting fire departments in the western part of the state.

Chief Reuther pointed out that upcoming retirements at JFD will also necessitate the recruitment of additional fire fighters.

The likelihood exists that with the addition of a fire station in southwest Jamestown to accomodate Jamestown’s expansion, that more firefighters will be needed.

There are a number of reasons why I believe it’s been so difficult to recruit new firefighters.

It is a big commitment for the firefighter

Family commitments

Training has increased tremendously; this is mostly due to the fact of keeping the firefighter safe.

At this time, the city fire department roster is (4) firefighters short of the full roster of (38). He stressed that the city fire department need, in no way is hampering the fire fighting efforts of the JFD.

He said the goals are to hopefully sparks some interest within the community and recruit some new volunteer firefighters.

The following topics will be presented at the March 26th recruitment presentation:

What we do as a fire department

Type of calls we respond to

Types of training we do

What it takes to be a firefighter

Tours of the fire department

 

Update…

JAMESTOWN, N.D. (March 22, 2013) – The Farm Rescue Foundation and

Woodworth Fire Department will now be able to better serve the community, thanks to the support of local farmer, James Odenbach, and America’s Farmers Grow Communities.

The foundation will use the donation to provide assistance to farm families who have experienced a major injury or illness so they may have an opportunity to continue their livelihood.

The fire department will use the funds to purchase turnout gear and to equip a used truck it recently acquired.

Odenbach said, “I am happy to direct the Grow Communities donations to these two organizations. The Farm Rescue Foundation has helped me before when I was injured, and I am a volunteer for the fire department. I know they both are always in need of funding.”

Sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, the philanthropic arm of Monsanto Company, Grow Communities provides farmers in eligible counties the chance to win a $2,500 donation for a local nonprofit organization of their choice.

To further support counties declared natural disaster areas by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) due to the drought this year, winning farmers in these counties are able to direct double donations, a total of $5,000.

Stutsman County was declared a disaster area by the USDA, giving Odenbach the opportunity to choose two organizations to receive $2,500 donations.

 

　 MINOT, N.D. (AP) – The Souris River in northern North Dakota is expected to exceed flood stage in many rural areas this spring.
 
     National Weather Service hydrologist Allen Schlag says additional snowfall has increased the amount of water that will run off into the river. Dikes protect the city of Minot and Schlag says rural areas with no dikes are of the biggest concern.
 
     Colder weather in the region has led to ice forming on the Missouri River and passing through the Bismarck-Mandan area. The weather service says ice collecting south of the metro area has led to a river rise of about 3 feet, but there is no threat to property.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is increasing the outflow from the Lake Darling Dam, located northwest of Minot, N.D., to 600 cubic feet per second today, March 22.

The Corps expects to increase the outflow from the dam next week. The amount will be based on the outflows being released from dams in Canada. The Corps of Engineers urges everyone down river of the dam to use extreme caution near the river in the coming days and weeks, since the ice will become increasingly fragile due to the increased flows.

The Corps assumed control of Lake Darling Dam from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service March 19 when the International Souris River Board declared a 1 in 10 flood event for the river.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota lawmakers have passed legislation that would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the disputed premise that at that point a fetus can feel pain.
 
     North Dakota’s House voted 60-32 Friday.
 
     The measure is a challenge to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion up until viability, usually at 22 to 24 weeks.
 
     Republican Sen. Spencer Berry is a sponsor of the bill. The Fargo physician says research shows that a fetus can feel pain by 20 weeks of pregnancy.
 
     Several Republican lawmakers from the House and Senate have introduced bills this session that are aimed shuttering the state’s sole abortion clinic in Fargo and to boldly challenge the 40-year-old Supreme Court ruling.

　

 BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A North Dakota lawmaker who opposed a bill that would require doctors performing abortions to have hospital-admitting privileges says the bill will not protect the health of women.
 
     Kylie Oversen is a Democratic House member from Fargo. She spoke out against the measure Friday.
 
     She says less than 1 percent of women undergoing an abortion procedure experience a complication. She adds that death from an abortion is 10 times lower than child birth.
 
     Says Oversen, “It is more dangerous to simply be pregnant than to undergo an abortion procedure.”
 
     The bill passed 58-34 Friday.

 

 BISMARCK, N.D. (AP Mar 22, 2013) – A North Dakota lawmaker says she struggled when deciding how to cast her votes on the spate of recent anti-abortion legislation that’s been debated.
 
     District 24 State Rep. Naomi Muscha said Friday that though she campaigned on a pro-life platform, she couldn’t approve the anti-abortion measures. Three of the four measures passed the House, including a so-called personhood resolution that says a fertilized egg has the same right to life as a person. Voters will decide in 2014 whether to add the wording to the state constitution.
 
     Muscha says she weighed the pros and cons and “they were not easy decisions to make.” She says her votes might cost her a re-election bid in the conservative state.
 
     But she adds that she voted her convictions and “can live with” herself.

 

  FARGO, N.D. (AP) – Attorneys for a man accused of abusing and killing two children on the Spirit Lake Reservation two years ago have asked a federal judge to suppress statements he made to FBI agents when he was arrested last summer.
 
     Nineteen-year-old Valentino Bagola, of St. Michael, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of 9-year-old Destiny Shaw and her 6-year-old brother, Travis Dubois Jr. Their mother found their bodies on May 21, 2011, beneath a mattress at the home she had once shared with the siblings’ father.
 
     Prosecutors say Bagola told FBI agents he sexually assaulted the girl and stabbed the boy. Defense attorney Christopher Lancaster says FBI agents obtained statements from Bagola inappropriately. The FBI disputes that.
 
Bagola awaits a September trial.

 

FARGO, N.D. (AP) – Two companies fined a combined total of more than half a million dollars by the state of North Dakota for improperly dumping sewage in the oil patch have been sentenced in federal court.
 
     A judge on Friday ordered Fairview, Mont.-based Hurley Enterprises and Stanley-based MonDak Water and Septic Service to each pay $50,000, as part of a plea agreement.
 
     The state had previously fined Hurley $500,000 and MonDak $200,000. The companies also agreed on a plan to improve sewage disposal practices.
 
     Timothy Purdon, U.S. attorney for North Dakota, tells The Associated Press that federal prosecutors are committed to protecting the water, air and wildlife in oil country.
 
     Thomas Kelly, an attorney who specializes in environmental cases and is representing both companies, called the agreement “straightforward” and had no further comment.

 An oil company that staked out an area near the site of Theodore Roosevelt’s historic Badlands ranch in western North Dakota has withdrawn an application to the state to develop the land for up to four oil wells.
 
     State Mineral Resources spokeswoman Alison Ritter says XTO Energy late Thursday notified officials of the decision to pull the application, which had drawn criticism from officials at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Superintendent Valerie Naylor called the possible wells the worst threat to the park in its history.
 
     Roosevelt raised cattle at the Elkhorn ranch site in the mid-1880s before becoming the nation’s president. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places last year.
 
     Mineral Resources officials had been scheduled to discuss the XTO Energy plan at a hearing next week.
 
    

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The North Dakota Wheat Commission is promoting the annual “Bake and Take Day” on Saturday.
 
     The national initiative celebrated on the fourth Saturday of March is aimed at getting people and service groups to share a baked food with someone else, such as a shut-in.
 
     The Wheat Commission has been promoting Bake and Take Day for more than 40 years. The group says that last year in North Dakota, thousands of baked goods were prepared and delivered by 4-H clubs, church groups, school groups, service organizations and individuals.

 

In world and national news…

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) – President Barack Obama says he’ll “keep on plugging away” in hopes of getting the Israelis and Palestinians to reach a peace agreement. Obama says the window of opportunity for such a deal still exists, but he says it’s getting more and more difficult with each passing day. The president says mistrust between the two sides is building instead of ebbing. Obama spoke during a news conference in Amman, Jordan, with King Abdullah.
 
     AMMAN, Jordan (AP) – After Bashar Assad is gone from power in Syria, will that country become an enclave for extremism? President Barack Obama says he’s very concerned about that possibility. He said during Friday’s news conference in Jordan that something has been broken in Syria and won’t be fixed immediately after Assad’s regime is gone. Obama said Assad has ruled over the tragic deaths of innocents, and that extremists survive in that kind of chaos. Obama said he’s confident Assad will go, it’s just a question of when.

 
     BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) – A Georgia woman says a teenager trying to rob her at gunpoint asked, “Do you want me to kill your baby?” before he fatally shot her 13-month-old son in the head Thursday. Sherry West says she pleaded with the gunman that she had no money to give him. She’d been walking with her baby in his stroller near their home in coastal Brunswick. The mother was shot in the leg and says another bullet grazed her ear. Police are combing school records and canvassing neighborhoods as they search for the gunman and a young accomplice. Despite West’s account of the shooting, a Brunswick police spokesman says there is “no clear motive.”
 
     BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The North Dakota Legislature has passed a bill that would essentially ban abortion by defining human life as beginning at conception. The bill is one of a series North Dakota lawmakers have passed this year, chipping away at abortion rights. The state’s Republican governor has not yet indicated whether he will sign it.
 
     MIAMI (AP) – Major League Baseball is suing a South Florida clinic that has now been shut down. It’s accusing the clinic and its operators of plotting to provide performance-enhancing drugs to players in violation of their contracts. The suit could provide a way for baseball officials to more thoroughly investigate the clinic by deposing witnesses and obtaining documents.