– Wayne Byers Show – Evening – Dec 23

CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…CLOUDY. A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE EVENING, 20 PERCENT IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA.
LOWS AROUND 10. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.
.THURSDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW IN
THE MORNING IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA. HIGHS 15 TO 20. WEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.
.THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 5 TO 10 ABOVE. SOUTH WINDS
AROUND 5 MPH.
.CHRISTMAS DAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 20S. SOUTH
WINDS AROUND 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE EAST IN THE AFTERNOON.
.FRIDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW, 30 PERCENT CHANCE AFTER MIDNIGHT IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA. LOWS
5 TO 10 ABOVE.
.SATURDAY…DECREASING CLOUDS. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGHS
AROUND 10.
.SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS AROUND 5 BELOW.
HIGHS 10 TO 15.
.SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS ZERO TO 5 ABOVE.
.MONDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 15 TO 20.
.MONDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW.
LOWS 5 TO 10 ABOVE.
.TUESDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS 15 TO 20.

FRIDAY AND ESPECIALLY SATURDAY WILL BE COLD WITH
THE CANADIAN SURFACE RIDGE BUILDING INTO THE AREA…WITH SUB-ZERO
LOWS LIKELY BY SATURDAY NIGHT IF SKIES CLEAR. THEREAFTER…THERE
COULD BE SOME MODERATION IN TEMPERATURES BY EARLY NEXT WEEK.

Bismarck (CSi) North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is warning that scam artists are once again making calls in North Dakota pretending to be from the IRS.

In the latest variation, the scam artists claim that the taxpayer has ignored previous messages and is now about to be charged with fraud. The scam artist demands that the taxpayer return the call immediately to avoid further legal action or imminent arrest, and leaves a call back number.

Although the call back number appears to be in the United States, the scam artists use readily available technology to relay the calls to their actual location, outside the country. Unfortunately, this puts the scam artists beyond the reach of state and federal authorities.

Stenehjem adds, “These calls are not from the IRS. The scam artists just want to steal your money.”

He advises residents simply delete the message or hang up on calls.

The Internal Revenue Service urges anyone who receives a fake IRS phone call or message to report it directly to the United States Treasury inspector general:

Phone: 1-800-366-4484 (toll free);

Online report: https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml

Email: phishing@irs.gov.

According to the US Treasury Inspector General’s office, between October 2013 and October 2015, over 736,000 scam contacts were reported and victims lost more than $23 million to the scam artists.

Valley City (CSi) The Valley City Park and Recreation District announces that Pioneer Park Warming House is open.

Hours:

Saturday & Sunday afternoons: 1pm to 5pm.

Holiday Hours: December 23 & 24 from 1pm to 5pm.

December 28 – January 1, 1pm to 5pm.

Regular season hours begin on January 2nd.

Pioneer Park Warming House closed if temperature is 10 degrees below zero or less or if the wind chill is 19 below or less.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Lawyers for North Dakota’s lone abortion clinic in Fargo have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a request from the state to review an abortion ban ruled unconstitutional.

     The New York-based Center For Reproductive Rights says it filed the request with the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

     North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem (STEHN’-juhm) last month asked the high court to review an appeals court ruling that the state’s law banning abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected is unconstitutional.

     The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a decision last year from federal Judge Daniel Hovland, who ruled the law unconstitutional.

     The Republican-dominated Legislature passed the law in 2013, though it was quickly put on hold after the state’s only abortion clinic sued.

  WATFORD CITY, N.D. (AP) – The North Dakota Highway Patrol has identified the man who died in a rollover crash near Watford City.

     Authorities on Wednesday said the man was 41-year-old William Reagan, of Sandy Hook, Mississippi.

     The Highway Patrol says Reagan was traveling on a county gravel road on Tuesday, about 15 miles north of Watford City, when he failed to maintain control of his pickup truck after he crested a hill and traveled onto a snowy and ice-packed portion of the roadway.

     The Highway Patrol says Reagan’s pickup truck slid into the ditch, struck a barbed wire fence and overturned. Reagan was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the pickup. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on 41st Street Northwest in McKenzie County.

MINOT, N.D. (AP) – A large jury pool is being sought for the trial of a man accused in a homicide in Minot a year ago.

     The judge and attorneys in the case agreed to seek a 100 person jury pool Tuesday for the Jan. 11 trial of 38-year-old Anthony Campbell.

     He’s accused of killing 25-year-old Shannon Brunelle, who was found dead in a garage at an apartment building on Sept. 15, 2014. Campbell was arrested in Philadelphia on a murder warrant and an unrelated burglary warrant after a nine-week search.

     Campbell has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge that carries a maximum punishment of life in prison without parole.

  FARGO, N.D. (AP) – Firefighters in Fargo are continuing their tradition of delivering gifts to children who are staying at hospitals on Christmas Day.

     This year, firefighters plan to give out gifts Friday at Sanford Children’s Hospital and Essentia Hospital in Fargo.

     The tradition began in 1990 when the 3-year-old son of a Fargo firefighter was in the hospital and worried that Santa Claus would not be able to find him. Members of the Fargo Fire Department have delivered gifts to children on every Christmas Day since then.

     The gifts are paid for from a charity account funded by firefighters.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A committee that is raising private donations for a new home for North Dakota’s first family says enough money has been raised to begin construction.

     Committee co-chairman Jim Poolman announced Wednesday that more than $500,000 has been donated and pledged toward the construction of a new governor’s residence.

     The Legislature in April approved construction of a new $ 5 million governor’s home, stipulating that 20 percent of its cost must be funded by private donations.

     Construction cannot begin until at least $500,000 has been raised from private sources.

     The fundraising committee says the entire $1 million amount in private donations should be obtained by spring. Construction is planned to begin next year, with completion by Thanksgiving 2017.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) – The number of hogs in North Dakota as 2015 comes to an end is down 1 percent from the previous year.

The most recent inventory from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows hogs and pigs in the state on Dec. 1 totaled 138,000 head. The breeding hog inventory was 31,000 head and the market hog inventory was 107,000 head. The market hog inventory was up 1 percent over the year.

The 2015 North Dakota pig crop, at 736,000 head, was down 4 percent from 2014. Sows farrowed during that period totaled 68,000 head, down 5 percent from last year.

WEST FARGO, N.D. (AP) – West Fargo sixth-graders are looking to continue their reign as app masters.

     Students from the city’s middle schools have been state champs of the Verizon Innovative App Challenge for three straight years. The STEM Center Middle School students won for their Recycling Bin app in 2013, Cheney Middle School students won for Snap Docs in 2014, and Liberty Middle School students took first last year with their School Handy app.

     No other city in the country has three straight state winners. This year’s state champs will be announced Jan. 6.

     Liberty has entered 16 apps this year. Pupils came up with ideas to help students deal with grieving, bullying and minor injuries when they’re home alone.

     Liberty adviser Gretchen Peterson says she’s never surprised by the creative and innovative ideas.

In sports…

NEW YORK (AP) – Odell Beckham Jr. is going to have to serve his one-game suspension.

     Hearing officer James Thrash on Wednesday upheld the suspension for multiple violations of safety-related playing rules after hearing an appeal by the New York Giants wide receiver earlier in the day.

     Beckham will miss the game Sunday night at Minnesota. The second-year Pro Bowler is barred from team meetings; attending or watching practices; attending Sunday’s game; or having contact with any club personnel except to arrange off-site medical treatment or rehabilitation. He will be reinstated next Monday.

     The league suspended Beckham on Monday for his conduct last Sunday against Carolina, when he drew three personal foul penalties, including one for a diving helmet-to-helmet hit on Panthers cornerback Josh Norman.

     Norman was fined $26,044 for his role in the confrontations.

     Beckham also had a run-in with a Panthers’ player in the pre-game warmups.

In world and national news…

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – It’s two days before Christmas, but several stores at Minnesota’s Mall of America closed Wednesday. They shut down ahead of a scheduled protest organized by Black Lives Matter. The stores, including a Starbucks and a Barnes and Noble bookstore, are near the mall’s rotunda, a central gathering point. Organizers of the protest are trying to get authorities to release video of a black man who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police last month.

     JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli police say two Palestinian assailants have been shot and killed Wednesday after stabbing Jewish pedestrians outside Jerusalem’s Old City. One Israeli later died from his wounds. Another man, who was apparently wounded by police as they shot at the Palestinian assailants, also died later. Since mid-September, near-daily Palestinian stabbing, shooting and car ramming attacks have killed 20 Israelis and an American student. At least 120 Palestinians have died by Israeli fire in the same period, including 82 said by Israel to be attackers.

     BAGHDAD (AP) – As Iraqi troops continue with their effort to dislodge Islamic State militants from a major city west of Baghdad, a wave of attacks across the country has killed at least 15 civilians. The attacks bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group, which has targeted Iraqi troops and civilians, especially Shiites. In and around Baghdad Wednesday, five bombs went off in commercial areas, leaving eight people dead.

     NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) – A truck driver is now facing charges including first-degree aggravated manslaughter in connection with last year’s crash that seriously injured comedian Tracy Morgan. Another man riding in the limo van carrying Morgan was killed when the truck crashed into it on the New Jersey Turnpike. A grand jury Wednesday indicted Kevin Roper, who was driving the Wal-Mart truck. The National Transportation Safety Board found that Roper hadn’t slept for 28 hours before the crash — a finding that his lawyer disputes.

     HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s state government pension system is about to send Jerry Sandusky a $211,000 check. It covers payments going back to when it stopped his retirement benefits after he was sentenced for child molestation. The 71-year-old former Penn State assistant coach is serving a lengthy prison term after being convicted in 2012 of sexual abuse of 10 boys. A court ruled last month that the pension system was wrong to classify Sandusky as a university employee at the time of the abuse crimes, which were the basis of the forfeiture of his pension.