CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

.THURSDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

.THURSDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the mid 60s. South

winds around 5 mph.

.FRIDAY…Mostly sunny with a 20 percent chance of showers and

thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

.FRIDAY NIGHT…Mostly clear.  Lows in the mid 60s.

.SATURDAY…Mostly sunny. A 20 percent chance of showers and

thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 80s.

.SATURDAY NIGHT…Mostly clear. A 20 percent chance of showers

and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the mid 60s.

.SUNDAY…Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s.

.SUNDAY NIGHT…Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers

and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 60s.

.MONDAY…Sunny. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms

in the morning. Highs in the lower 80s.

.MONDAY NIGHT…Mostly clear with a 20 percent chance of rain

showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 50s.

.TUESDAY…Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s.

 

 

Thursday and Friday night both have widespread chances for thunderstorms across all of western and central North Dakota.

Still a large amount of uncertainty in storm severity and location. A cold front moving south through the region for the start of next week, with forecast high temperatures in the low 80s for the beginning of the work week.

 

Greg Hager of Valley City will perform at the City Park Bandshell on Wednesday, July 31 starting at 7:15 pm.

Prior to the performance, Midwest Dairy will be providing free ice cream starting at 6 pm.

 

 

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  The Jamestown Parks and Recreation Department would like to announce that the Healthy Connections Program’s last day will be Friday, August 2.  Nickeus, Meidinger, and Leapaldt parks will be open from 9:00 am – 4:30 pm. There will be picnics at the parks for lunch. For more information, please contact 252-3982.

 

Jamestown   (CSi)  The James River Senior Center will hold fundraisers  for the home delivered meals program.

There will be a Soup & Salad Fundraiser on September 6th, and a Taco in a Bag fundraiser on August 8th, and during the Jamestown Senior Resource Fair at the Buffalo Mall on August 8th.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  The Friends 4 ND Vets announces that the 13th Annual Rally, including the Annual 141 Honor Ride and Reunion is August 16 & 17 at the Jamestown Civic Center.

On Friday August 16

Steak Fry, Silent Auction/Raffle.  Doors open at 5-p.m., for the Social Hour.  Steak Fry at 6-p.m., with the chance to win $2,500 in cash prizes.  Tickets $20. Entertainment,  $10 at the door.

Entertainment by Joe Schmidt & Tennessee Friends, at 7-p.m.

On Saturday August 17

Annual 141 Honor Ride and Reunion, Silent Auction and Door Prizes.   Register for the Honor Ride from 9-a.m., to 10:30-a.m.  $10 per person.   The Honor Ride leaves the Civic Center at 11-a.m.  Return for the meal at 6-p.m., for participants and family of the Fallen.

School of Rock will entertain.   A cash bar all evening.  Must be 21 or older to enter the designated alcohol premises.

This is a public event, and all families are welcome.   Transportation will be available for non-riders.

Tickets available  from Ride Captains, Bottles & Jugs, and the Civic Center.

Sponsored by North Dakota Patriot Guard.

More information available at www.NDPG.org and on their Facebook page.

 

Jamestown  (NDFU)   – When the Wildfire take to the gridiron in Mott, N.D., this fall, their field will have a much-needed facelift, thanks to a contribution by Farmers Union Insurance (FUI) and Mott area FUI agent Brad Greff.

A new score clock, relocation of the crow’s nest that includes easier access, new lighting and a four-lane track are slated improvements. Greff, the voice of Wildfire football, said the improvements will be a godsend. “The score clock blinks off now. It’s old and it’s been out there a long time.”

Mott, the county seat of Hettinger County in southwestern North Dakota, is a hard-working farming community of about 700 people.

Mott-Regent School District superintendent, Willie Thibault says,  “We can’t express enough how appreciative our school district is for this sponsorship We haven’t had a track in 10 to 20 years. This will help us get over the hump. It’s just huge for the community.”

Over the next 10 years, the natural bowl-shaped field will be called the Farmers Union Sports Complex. Thibault said a future goal is to have bathrooms with running water as part of the complex.

Farmers Union Insurance, Chief Sales, Marketing & Brand Officer, Kevin Ressler adds, “We’re glad to support Brad’s community involvement and achieve something the whole town can take pride in and enjoy. We’re all about strong rural communities.”

FUI is also the premier sponsor of the North Dakota High School Activities Association and the BEK Broadcasting Network which televises high school athletic competitions throughout North Dakota.

 

Jamestown  (CSi)  The August 10, Concerts at the 1883 Stutsman County Court will feature the music of  The New York Kammermusiker, at  1 p.m.

The music will include Norwegian and other Scandinavian music.

There will be a special presentation of music and theater celebrating North Dakota, featuring music dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt.

The performance will be followed by a masterclass/meet and greet.

The performance is free.

 

(Fessenden NDHP)  The North Dakota Highway Patrol reports that around 8:30-a.m., Wednesday, the North Dakota Highway Patrol and Wells County Sheriff’s Office, responded to a helicopter crash 4.5 miles south of Fessenden along Highway 52.

The 2007 Robinson R44 helicopter was spraying waterways by Highway 52 and attempted to go under the powerlines on the east side of the roadway. The blades caught the bottom power line causing the helicopter to crash in a field about 200 yards from the roadway.

The pilot, 49 year old Michael Hamouz of Willowbrook, IL, suffered minor injuries and was taken by ambulance as a precaution.

 

Update with victim’s ID

Bismarck  (NDHP)  The North Dakota Highway Patrol reports a 38 year old man from Billings, Montana was killed, when his pickup rolled and crashed, Tuesday around 1-a.m., on Highway 1804, 16 miles east of Williston.

Kyle Young, was driving his 2008 Dodge pickup was traveling east on Hwy 1804 at an unknown speed. The Dodge failed to negotiate a left-hand curve in the roadway. The Dodge ran off the roadway, struck a cable barrier, and entered the south ditch. The Dodge overturned and came to rest in the ditch facing east. Young was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt.

This crash remains under investigation by the NDHP.

Assisting at the scene were….  Williams County Sheriff’s Office, Ray Rural Fire, Epping Rural Fire.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A year after an American Indian woman’s body was found in a submerged truck, authorities still aren’t providing details on the cause of death.

The FBI’s refusal to release information in the case of Olivia Lone Bear has been frustrating for her family, and tribal and state officials, the Bismarck Tribune reported.

Thirty-two-year-old Lone Bear disappeared from the Fort Berthold Reservation in 2017. The Newtown mother of five was found July 31, 2018 in the pickup truck pulled from Lake Sakakawea.

Matt Lone Bear, her brother, is working on a missing persons protocol for tribes, which his family began drafting a year ago. He has expressed frustration about law enforcement’s late water searches and failure to release information.

FBI spokesman Kevin Smith declined to discuss the cause of Lone Bear’s death because the case is still being investigated.

“Because this case is ongoing, any comment about it could cause a chilling effect on future developments,” Smith said. “In addition, any details made public now could significantly inhibit the family’s pursuit of justice for Olivia,” Smith said.

North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission Executive says the Lone Bear case “has floundered,” which he says is common when the federal government investigates crimes in Indian Country.

Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Mark Fox said he hopes to soon get “some answers to some degree.” But he wonders whether Lone Bear’s case would be treated differently if it occurred off the reservation.

“I think in Indian Country, that’s generally the thought that people have, that for whatever reason adjudication and justice and investigations don’t always seem to follow the same path in timeliness and effectiveness as they sometimes do off the reservation,” Fox said.

Smith conceded federal cases conducted by the FBI “are exhaustive in nature and do take a long time to complete.”

 

In sports…

Jamestown  (CSi)  On Wednesday evening,  Jamestown Speedway will host “Monster Truck Night of Thrills Spectacular.”

The two hour, scaled down event is similar to the  Monster Jam, with different talent on hand.

The monster trucks will still be crushing cars, vans, and everything in sight.

Also that evening there will be Monster Truck rides for  kids, and the Tuff Truck and quad racing.

For stock cars, the event will also feature Australian Pursuit and Jack Rabbit Dash for the stock cars.

A limited number of tickets are available for early purchase online at monstertruckthunder.com. If bought online, tickets will cost $10 per child and $18 per adult. Tickets at the gate will cost $15 per child and $20 for adults.

Gates open at 5 PM.

 

In world and national news…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is cutting its key interest rate for the first time in a decade to try to counter threats ranging from uncertainties caused by President Donald Trump’s trade wars to chronically low inflation and a dim global outlook.

The central bank cut its benchmark rate — which affects many loans for households and businesses — by a quarter-point to a range of 2% to 2.25%. It’s the first rate cut since December 2008 during the depths of the Great Recession, when the Fed slashed its rate to a record low near zero and kept it there until 2015.

The economy is far healthier now despite risks to what’s become the longest expansion on record.

The Fed repeats a pledge to “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion,” wording that markets have seen as a signal for possible future rate cuts.

Global markets are in a holding pattern ahead of a decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is poised to cut its key interest rate.

The Fed on Wednesday is expected to cut that rate to counter what it sees as threats to the U.S. economy ranging from uncertainties caused by President Donald Trump’s trade conflicts to persistently subpar inflation to a darkened global outlook.

It will be the Fed’s first rate cut since December 2008 in the depths of the Great Recession.

Most analysts expect the Fed to announce a quarter-point cut in its benchmark short-term rate. That rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, is now in a range of 2.25% to 2.5% after nine quarter-point rates increases from December 2015 to December 2018.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The drug industry lobby says the Trump administration’s plan to let Americans import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada is “far too dangerous.”

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America says there’s “no way to guarantee the safety of drugs” coming from outside the United States. It says in an emailed statement drugs coming through Canada could have originated anywhere and may not have been reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration.

It also says law enforcement has repeatedly warned that importation schemes could worsen the U.S. opioid crisis.

President Donald Trump’s administration said Wednesday it will create a pathway allowing Americans to import the lower-priced drugs legally and safely.

The move reverses years of opposition from federal health authorities amid public outcry over high prices for life-sustaining medications. The drug industry has successfully blocked past efforts in Washington to allow importation.

 

 

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says a roadside bomb explosion hit a passenger bus in western Farha province, killing at least 18 people including women and children.

Mohibullah Mohib, spokesman for the provincial police chief in Farah, says six people were wounded in the bombing Wednesday morning in Bala Buluk district.

Mohib insisted the casualty numbers in the initial report could rise. He added ambulances have taken victims to hospitals in both Herat and Farah provinces.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban insurgents are active in the region and use roadside bombs to target government officials as well as Afghan security forces, though civilians become victims of the planted bombs.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has set a tentative trial date next year for the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said Wednesday that June 2020 is the earliest Epstein will stand trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

Epstein’s defense attorneys asked the judge for additional time to review what they described as 1 million pages of discovery in the complex case. They asked for a trial date after Labor Day 2020.

Prosecutors said there is a public interest in resolving the case earlier than that.

Epstein has pleaded not guilty to charges he abused dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida.

He is being held without bail in a Manhattan jail.

 

 

 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Germany’s foreign minister is ruling out his country’s participation in a proposed U.S.-led mission to protect maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf area.

The U.S. recently asked allies to contribute to a mission to secure maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping corridor, in the wake of increased Iranian aggression in the area.

Germany had already expressed skepticism, saying that priority must be given to de-escalation of tensions and diplomatic efforts.

But the dpa news agency reported on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has now ruled out participation altogether.

Dpa quoted him as telling reporters in Warsaw that “the German government will not participate in the maritime mission proposed and planned by the USA.”

 

 

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Cabinet has unanimously approved a proposal to build over 700 housing units for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in addition to 6,000 Israeli settlement housing units.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door meeting, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government advanced the proposal late Tuesday. It appeared timed to coincide with a visit by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and chief Mideast envoy Jared Kushner, who is expected in the region this week.

The permits would be for construction in Area C, the roughly 60% of the West Bank where Israel exercises full control, and where most settlements are located. Netanyahu’s government has approved the construction of tens of thousands of settler homes, but permits for Palestinian construction are extremely rare.