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CSi Weather…
REST OF TODAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 60S. SOUTHWEST
WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.
.TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN
SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S. SOUTH WINDS AROUND 10 MPH
SHIFTING TO THE EAST AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.SATURDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE
MORNING. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S. EAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH
INCREASING TO NORTHWEST 15 TO 20 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.
.SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE MID 20S. NORTH WINDS
15 TO 20 MPH.
.SUNDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. COLDER. HIGHS AROUND 40. NORTH WINDS
15 TO 20 MPH.
.SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE LOWER
20S. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 30S.
.TUESDAY NIGHT…INCREASING CLOUDS. LOWS IN THE MID 20S.
.WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT
CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 40S. LOWS IN THE
UPPER 20S.
.THURSDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW IN THE
MORNING…THEN CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE
LOWER 40S. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 30 PERCENT.
The state Transportation Department said Highway 81 was reopened Friday morning after floodwaters receded.
Jamestown (CSi) The Spiritwood Energy Park Association (SEPA) Board of Directors has awarded the construction bid for the rail loop around the Spiritwood Energy Park Association property to Dakota, Missouri Valley & Western Railroad.
SEPA is a joint project of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. and Great River Energy.
The apparent low bidder came in with a base bid of $6.4 million.
The bid from Gratech was $8.2 million and RailWorks Track Systems at $6.9 million.
Work isanticipated to begin soon on the project that has a contract completion date of December 1, 2014.
Thee rail loop provides rail will provide connectivity to the Dakota Spirit AgEnergy ethanol plant, now under construction and is expected to begin testing late in 2014.
Jamestown (CSi) The University of Jamestown’s Character in Leadership program has organized a service project to benefit the Youth For Christ, Teen City, after school program.
On Thursday’s Wayne Byers Show on CSi 2, Sydney Johnson, Rachel Paris, and Emma Bellmore discussed the event.
Ms. Johnson said the event takes place on Monday April 14, 2014, from 4:45-p.m., to 7-p.m., at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Jamestown.
On the menu will be pancakes, sausage and eggs, with all proceeds raised from the free will offering going to the Teen City program.
She added that Youth For Christ is looking to expand the program, and the proceeds will go toward hiring additional staff.
Ms. Parish added that Character in Leadership is a minor course of study and the University of Jamestown, and this year projects involves supporting local organizations.
Next year international projects will be supported.
Ms. Bellmore added that University of Jamestown students in the Character in Leadership program begin their studies in their Freshman years, and continue through their four years at the University.
Bismarck (CSi) The N.D. Department of Human Services’ Children and Family Services Division and Prevent Child Abuse North Dakota have awarded grant funding to 21 North Dakota coalitions for projects to help educate parents, grandparents, community members, teachers, and others about the importance of creating a healthy, safe, and nurturing environment that can prevent child abuse and neglect.
Coalitions receiving funding include the Region 6 Parent Resource Center, in
Valley City.
North Dakota Department of Human Services, Director of Children and Family Services Division, Shari Doe says, “April is the time to recognize the important role that communities, both large and small, play in protecting the health, safety, and well-being of children.”
Each participating community coalition uses the funding to coordinate special educational events and projects this month including parenting classes and fairs, conferences, walks, in-school activities, and other family-oriented activities.
Some community activities include:
A full calendar of events is online at
If individuals suspect a child is being abused or neglected, they should call their county social services office. County information is online at
www.nd.gov/dhs/locations/countysocialserv/.
The 53 county social services offices serve as the department’s authorized agents for child protection services. If a child is in immediate danger, individuals should contact law enforcement.
The Child Abuse Prevention Month proclamation is online at
http://governor.nd.gov/media-center/proclamation/child-abuse-prevention-month-1.
Valley City (CSi) Valley City State University is the first of four North Dakota University System institutions approved to participate in the Midwestern State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement.
SARA is a nationwide initiative to make distance education courses more accessible to students across state lines and to make it easier for states to regulate and institutions to participate in interstate distance education.
VCSU President, Dr. Steven Shirley says, “Valley City State University is excited to be approved as part of the Midwestern State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement. VCSU has been a leader in delivering online educational opportunities to students regardless of their geographic location, and this new approval will allow us to continue making these opportunities available to current and future students.”
Now that Valley City State University has been approved as an M-SARA participant, it is able to operate in other participating SARA states without seeking independent authorization.
VCSU director of distance learning, Kerry Gregoryk, says “SARA participation eliminates some bureaucratic hurdles, but what’s more important is that now we can more fully serve students from participating states. We hope other states join quickly so more students can obtain the high-quality online education that VCSU provides.”
Valley City (CSi) The Valley City Area Chamber of Commerce is accepting
nominations for the various awards to be given out at the Annual Chamber & Development Banquet.
There are four award nominations, with forms available at the Chamber office.
The awards include: Hi-Line Award, Community Spirit Award, Community Image Award, and Business of the Year Award.
If you have any questions please feel free to call the Chamber at 845-1891.
On line visit
Bismarck (CSi) On a 2-1 vote the North Dakota Public Service Commission has approved the design of a natural gas rate increase for Montana-Dakota Utilities.
PSC Chairman Brian Kalk agreed with the AARP in opposing how the increase was structured.
In December of 2013 the PSC had approved a rate increase that allowed MDU to increase revenues by 4 percent, or $4.25 million, and how that would be collected from customers was decided on Wednesday.
Under the approved rate design, MDU residential customers will pay $17.51 per month in customer charges. That’s an average increase of $2.17 per month.
Officials say most customers won’t see their bills increase because they’ve been paying an interim rate hike since November 17, 2013.
However, customers may notice the difference in the breakdown of charges on their bills.
MDU wanted to double the fixed charge to residential customers from about $9 to $18 and eliminate a separate distribution delivery charge. The AARP testified against such a large flat-rate increase, urging the PSC instead to land roughly in the middle at a fixed charge of $13.60.
Commission Chairman Kalk said he agreed with that approach.
Commissioner Julie Fedorchak said MDU customers who have natural gas service for a single use, such as a grill or to heat a shop, are most likely to notice the higher fixed charge.
MDU serves 99,000 natural gas customers in 76 communities in North Dakota, including Jamestown, Valley City, Bismarck, Devils Lake, Dickinson, Minot, and Williston. About 87 percent of those are residential customers.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) – Grand Forks police say they do not believe that an incident in which a man took a van with a 5-year-old girl inside was a random act.
Authorities describe the man as a “prior domestic partner of the victim.” The man is considered a person of interest in the case. He hasn’t been identified.
Police were notified mid-day Wednesday that the van had been taken from a grocery store parking lot. Authorities found the vehicle a short time later, and the girl was found nearby physically unharmed.
The incident prompted a 40-minute lockdown at three nearby schools.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Police say a woman tried to assault a member of U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s staff at her Bismarck office Thursday afternoon.
Heitkamp was not in the office during the incident.
Authorities say a member of Heitkamp’s staff met with the 62-year-old woman around 1:20 p.m. in the office at the William L. Guy Federal Building. Staff members told police they are familiar with the woman.
Sgt. Mark Buschena of the Bismarck Police says sometime during the discussion the woman “grabbed the staff member by the shoulders and tried to swing at her.”
Authorities came to the office and restrained the woman. Orr says nobody was hurt.
Orr says the woman was released and it hasn’t been determined whether she will be charged with a crime.
DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) – Students at a Dickinson Catholic high school that was shut down after the principal allegedly set it on fire will return to the school for the next academic year.
Students at Trinity High School are expected to be back in their classrooms in late August. They’ve been attending classes at temporary locations across the city.
Monsignor Patrick Schumacher said Thursday that about 60 percent of the school will be usable when they return.
Schumacher said the administrative portion of the building will likely be razed. Police say that’s where the fire was allegedly started by Thomas Sander, the former principal of the high school.
Sander faces charges of arson and endangerment by fire or explosion. Both are felonies that carry a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.
WEST FARGO, N.D. (AP) – Titan Machinery says it is closing eight construction stores across the country.
The company based in West Fargo, N.D., on Thursday cited a slow recovery in construction sector among the reasons for the move, which will leave 128 people unemployed.
The stores being closed are located in Clear Lake and Oskaloosa, Iowa; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Rosemount, Minn.; and Helena, Bozeman, and Big Sky, Mont. All locations will cease operations by the end of April.
The company sells and rents agriculture and construction equipment. CEO David Meyer says the decision will help the company improve its pre-tax profits.
The company says affected employees will receive benefits and severance package and the option to apply for jobs at nearby stores. Titan Machinery will continue to operate 96 stores in the U.S.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The state Historical Society is still negotiating the purchase price of the boyhood home of famous band leader Lawrence Welk.
The group voted 6-5 in January to buy the Strasburg homestead from Welk’s nieces. But a final sale price was not negotiated.
The purchase agreement also was contingent on negotiated repairs being made to the property, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Legislature last year included $100,000 in the Historical Society’s budget for the purchase but lawmakers stipulated that repairs must first be made.
Historical Society Director Merl Paaverud (PAH’-vuhr-ood) says he expects details of the purchase to be worked out sometime this spring.
Tours of the homestead led by volunteers are slated to begin on Memorial Day.
WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) – Williston’s City Commission has passed a 1 percent tax on lodging and restaurants that could be used to pay for a convention center or downtown parking garage. City commissioners say the tax should generate $1.2 million a year. Williston in March opened a $76 million state-of-the-art recreation center that was funded by a 1 percent sales tax hike.
SEATTLE (AP) – U.S. Development Group is seeking permits to build an oil terminal on the Pacific Northwest coast that could handle about 45,000 barrels of crude oil a day. The project at the Port of Grays Harbor is one of several in Washington State that together would bring millions of barrels of oil by train from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – An annual survey has concluded that North Dakota’s bighorn sheep population is stable.
The Game and Fish Department says the March survey revealed a minimum of 293 bighorns in western North Dakota, virtually unchanged from the previous count of 297 last summer.
Biologists counted 85 rams, 159 ewes and 49 lambs. Not included in the count are 24 sheep introduced from Alberta, Canada, in February, and about 30 bighorns in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Big game biologist Brett Wiedmann says the count in the northern badlands was the highest on record, but the southern badlands population declined 15 percent.
Game and Fish has allocated five bighorn sheep hunting licenses for 2014, one more than last year.
In sports…
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Justin Holl scored a short-handed goal with 0.6 seconds left to give Minnesota a 2-1 victory over North Dakota on Thursday night in the NCAA hockey semifinals.
Minnesota (28-6-6) will face Union College in the title game Saturday night. Union beat Boston College 5-4 in the first semifinal at Wells Fargo Center.
Holl scored his first goal of the season, beating Zane Gothberg to the glove side with a shot just inside the post.
Sam Warning opened the scoring for Minnesota with 9:09 left, and Connor Gaarder tied it for North Dakota 32 seconds later. Adam Wilcox made 36 saves for Minnesota, and Gothberg stopped 26 shots.
Minnesota advanced to its 11th championship game and first since 2003, the year it won the last of its five titles. The game will be at 6:30pm Saturday April 12, 2014 on ESPN, CSi 14
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Police in riot gear quelled a raucous celebration by University of Minnesota hockey fans following the Gophers last-second Froze Four semifinal win.
Hundreds of students and other hockey fans took to the streets in Dinkytown near campus to celebrate the victory over North Dakota Thursday night.
Authorities say some fans threw beer bottles and cans at officers, others climbed light poles and one video showed several young men jumping on top of a squad car. Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder says there were less than a dozen arrests and no one was seriously injured. A State Patrol helicopter illuminated the rowdy crowd.
University President Eric Kaler sent an email to students before the NCAA game warning against any rioting.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – An arbitrator says Minnesota State University, Mankato, had no grounds to fire football coach Todd Hoffner and he should be reinstated.
Hoffner’s attorney confirmed the ruling Thursday and says Hoffner is weighing his options.
Hoffner was charged in 2012 with two child pornography counts after video of his naked children was found on his work phone. The charges were dismissed after a judge determined the images were innocent.
Hoffner was fired last May for undisclosed reasons. But an arbitrator’s report obtained by the Mankato Free Press says he was fired for viewing pornography on his work computer. The arbitrator ruled there was no proof, noting Hoffner denied it and others had access to the computer.
The university says employers are bound by arbitration awards.
Hoffner coaches at Minot State.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Sam Fuld hit a rare home run to help the Oakland Athletics complete a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 6-1 victory yesterday. Dan Straily pitched three-hit ball for seven innings. He gave up one run and struck out five. The Athletics have gone nine straight games to start the season without their starter allowing more than three runs.
Final N-Y Yankees 4 Boston 1
Final Houston 6 Toronto 4
Final Chi White Sox 7 Cleveland 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 5 Chi Cubs 4
Final Washington 7 Miami 1
Final Milwaukee 6 Philadelphia 2
Final N-Y Mets 6 Atlanta 4
Final Arizona 6 San Francisco 5, 10 Innings
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
UNDATED (AP) – The San Antonio Spurs are on the verge of wrapping up the NBA’s best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Patty Mills filled in for Tony Parker and scored a team-high 26 points as the Spurs downed the Mavericks 109-100 in Dallas.
The loss leaves the Mavericks just one game ahead of Memphis for the final Western Conference playoff berth. The Grizzlies have two games in hand.
Denver won the only other NBA game as Kenneth Faried hit a hook shot with a half-second left to push the Nuggets past the Warriors 100-99.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – John Curry made 43 saves in his Wild debut to lead Minnesota over the struggling St. Louis Blues 4-2 last night. Nino Niederreiter added a goal and an assist to help the Wild snap a nine-game losing streak against the Blues and win for the sixth time in seven games. Kyle Brodziak scored two goals.
Final N-Y Rangers 2 Buffalo 1
Final Washington 5 Carolina 2
Final 2OT Ottawa 2 New Jersey 1 (SO Ottawa 1-0)
Final N-Y Islanders 2 Montreal 0
Final Tampa Bay 4 Philadelphia 2
Final Florida 4 Toronto 2
Final 2OT Winnipeg 2 Boston 1 (SO Winnipeg 1-0)
Final Nashville 2 Phoenix 0
Final Los Angeles 3 Edmonton 0
Final Colorado 4 Vancouver 2
MLB…
CHICAGO (AP) – The Chicago White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia will miss the rest of the season because of a tear in his left shoulder. An MRI taken Thursday revealed the torn labrum. Garcia is scheduled to have surgery next week.
He was hurt while trying to make a diving catch in Wednesday’s loss at Colorado
GOLF-MASTERS
Haas takes lead at Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) – Jay Haas played the Masters 22 times from 1976-2005 without winning. His son finds himself atop the leaderboard through 18 holes at August.
Bill Haas broke 70 at the Masters on Thursday for the first time in five appearances at Augusta National. He fired a 4-under-par 68 to take the lead in a major for the first time.
Haas opened the tournament with a bogey but bounced back to knock in six birdies on a warm, sunny day when only three other players got into the 60s.
Defending champion Adam Scott and 2012 winner Bubba Watson are both at 69, one shot back and tied with Louis Oosthuizen (WUHST’-hy-zehn).
Marc Leishman joins first-time Masters invitees Kevin Stadler, Jonas Blixt, Gary Woodland, Jimmy Walker, K.J. Choi and Brandt Snedeker (SNEH’-deh-kur) at minus-2.
And with a record 24 Masters rookies competing, 54-year-old Fred Couples is in the mix following a 71. He led after the second round two years ago, after the first round in 2010 and won in 1992.
Phil Mickelson had a triple-bogey on 7 and a double-bogey on 15 en route to a 4-over 76, one off the worst scores of his Masters career. Lefty is trying to join Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to win at least four Masters.
NFL-MANNING-SURGERY
Giants QB to have ankle surgery
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning has undergone arthroscopic surgery to relieve some lingering discomfort in the ankle he sprained in the regular season finale against Washington.
The two-time Super Bowl MVP has been rehabbing the ankle for more than three months, but it is still bothering him.
Manning expects to be able to run in six weeks.
In world and national news…
ORLAND, Calif. (AP) – A bus carrying high school students to a university visit and a FedEx truck became a raging inferno when they collided on Interstate 5 in California, about 100 miles north of Sacramento. Authorities say at least 10 people were killed in the collision, which happened when the truck crossed the median and slammed into the bus. Many of the more than 40 students on board escaped through a window that someone had kicked open. Both drivers died.
PERTH, Australia (AP) – Search crews are racing against time looking for the missing Malaysian airliner because the batteries powering the black box’s locator beacons last only about a month and it’s been longer than that since the plane disappeared. Officials say they’re confident they’ve been hearing sounds from the beacons, but the sounds have begun to fade.
GENEVA (AP) – The Swiss government says the Palestinians can join the Geneva Conventions, the international rules of war that also cover occupations. The Palestinians signed letters of accession to several international conventions after Israel failed to carry out a planned prisoner release. Israel argues the West Bank and Gaza are not universally accepted as a state.
BRUSSELS (AP) – Some European Union governments want to add teeth to the sanctions already in place against Russia for actions in Ukraine. A senior EU official says ministers at Monday’s meeting in Luxembourg could agree on ordering the preparation of a new list of targets. The West is searching for ways to deter Russia from further destabilizing the situation in eastern Ukraine.
AMSTERDAM (AP) – The Netherlands has an unusual prison problem — a relative scarcity of inmates. Data released by the Justice Ministry shows that, for the first time, there are now more guards and other prison staff than prisoners. The ministry is studying the reason for the decline as well as closing prisons.
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