Wayne Byers Show – Evening – Apr 6

 CSi Weather…

.TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS AND
SNOW SHOWERS IN THE EVENING.  A 60 PERCENT CHANCE POSSIBLY MIXED WITH SNOW AND AFTER
MIDNIGHT IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA.  LITTLE OR NO SNOW ACCUMULATION.BREEZY. LOWS IN THE MID 30S.
NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH INCREASING TO 15 TO 25 MPH AFTER
MIDNIGHT.
.THURSDAY…DECREASING CLOUDS. WINDY. HIGHS IN THE MID 40S.
NORTHWEST WINDS 25 TO 30 MPH.
.THURSDAY NIGHT…DECREASING CLOUDS. LOWS IN THE LOWER 20S. NORTH
WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH IN THE EVENING.
.FRIDAY…PARTLY SUNNY IN THE MORNING THEN CLEARING. HIGHS AROUND
40. NORTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.
.FRIDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 15 TO 20. NORTHEAST WINDS
AROUND 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHEAST AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. BREEZY. HIGHS IN THE
LOWER 50S. LOWS IN THE UPPER TEENS TO LOWER 30S.
.SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE UPPER 20S.
.MONDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 40S.
.MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS IN THE LOWER 20S.
HIGHS IN THE 40S TO LOWER 50S.
.TUESDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 30.
.WEDNESDAY…SUNNY. HIGHS AROUND 60.

 

GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS THURSDAY SUSTAINED AROUND 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO
 40 MPH WILL PROMPT ELEVATED FIRE CONCERNS ACROSS SOUTHWEST AND
 PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. WINDS RELAX ON FRIDAY

GUSTY SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH CAN BE
 EXPECTED SATURDAY…WITH A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE SATURDAY
 NIGHT/SUNDAY MORNING. GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL FOLLOW THE FRONT
 SUNDAY. THE FRONT OVERALL WILL COME THROUGH DRY.

 

Fargo (CSi) Senator John Hoeven has announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has agreed to develop and start to implement a pilot project over the next 30 days at the Fargo VA Medical Center to address scheduling and service with the Veterans Choice Program.

The senator’s announcement follows a roundtable he hosted on Friday with officials he invited to North Dakota from the VA and Health Net. The pilot program will serve as an administrative remedy to the bureaucratic delays and confusion that veterans have experienced in North Dakota when trying to schedule appointments.

Stutsman County Veterans Service Officer, David Bratton has more information at his office, located at the LEC lower level.

On the Wayne Byers Show, Wednesday, on CSi Cable 2, Bratton also pointed out that Hoeven and his Senate colleagues

introduced the Veterans Choice Improvement Act, which would make needed reforms to the Veterans Choice Program to simplify and streamline the process for veterans who need to go outside of the VA to receive care from private providers. It would also improve the provider reimbursement challenges on a national level.

Specifically, the bill achieves two important objectives:

· Consolidates redundant and overlapping programs into a single program, the Veterans Choice Program, and

· Streamlines the process by creating one funding source for all non-VA care programs.

A summary of the legislation is available here.

The provision is similar to Hoeven’s Veterans Access to Long Term Care and Health Services Act, which was approved by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in December.

The legislation would enable skilled nursing homes and in-home care providers to accept veteran patients without having to comply with burdensome and oftentimes expensive federal contracting requirements.

Also on our show, Bratton said veterans may also work directly with the VA to resolve debt collection issues resulting from inappropriate or delayed Choice Program billing. The number for more information is 1-877-881-7618.

He added that a Living with Loss: Bereavement Support Group for veterans is available at the Fargo VA Hospital, on Friday’s from 3-p.m., to 4:30-p.m.,

Call 701-239-3700.

Bratton said his office has copies of supplement booklets for VA, Know your Benefits.

He reminds veterans that the PTSD Support Group meeting is at the lower level of the LEC in Jamestown the second and fourth Thursday each month from 12:30-p.m., to 2-p.m., with a combat veteran from the Fargo VA.

The Stutsman County Veterans Service Office is open Monday through Friday from 8-a.m., to 5-p.m. Bratton suggests making an appointment to visit with him.

Call 701-252-9030.

　

Valley City (CSi) To stem a budget shortfall, Valley City is proposing across the board increases for electric, water and sewer rates.

Valley City Administrator David Schelkoph says a 2015 city employee pay raise and other factors lead to the shortfall.

Schelkoph says the city will study three options during the May, 2016, City Finance meeting followed by the Valley city Commission making a final decision in mid-May this year.

　

Jamestown (CSi) The Jamestown City Planning Commission on Monday April 11, 2016 will address topics concerning new developments.

A public Hearing will be held on a zone change Lot 1, Block 2, Mill Hill 2nd Addition from C-2 (General Commercial District) to R-4 (Planned Residence District).

The property is located along the 600 Block of 11 th St SW.

Another Public Hearing will concern the preliminary plat of Sumac Ridge Addition, at that location a replat of a portion of Lot 1, Block 2 of Mill Hill 2nd Addition to the City of Jamestown.

The Planning Commission will also talk about zoning research at

104 3rd Street SE, the former Masonic Lodge building.

A memo from SRF Consultanting Group says, the current property owners are considering the redevelopment of the former Masonic Lodge structure located on the property.

The property is currently zoned, C-2, General Commercial District, and is consistent with the adjacent properties in the same block.

The proposed redevelopment of the site would include a single residence on the building’s upper floor and a massage and aromatherapy business. The potential use of other portions of the building as a gathering/event space is another consideration.

The memo says based on a review of the three commercial districts, the existing C-2 District is appropriate for the development of a massage therapy and aroma therapy retail business and single family dwelling within the existing Masonic Temple structure.

Residential use within the structure will become nonconforming if no primary commercial use allowed within the C-2 District resides in the structure. Additionally, an event center business could be established within the structure.

The Planning Commission meeting is Monday April 11, 2016 at 8:00 a.m. at City Hall.

 

WASHINGTON – During a hearing of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Rural Development Subcommittee today, Senator John Hoeven cited the work of Dakota Turbines, a small-wind turbine company based in Cooperstown, as a good example of the rural entrepreneurship needed to grow the economy and create good jobs.

 

Cris Somerville, President of Dakota Turbines, testified at the hearing about the work of the family-owned and operated company, which manufactures blades, alternator and power electronics for single-phase small wind systems. The company, which is ten years old, has a small fleet of 40 wind turbines across the Upper Midwest.

 

Hoeven says, “Dakota Turbines has a great story and is good example of the entrepreneurship we need in North Dakota and across the nation.”In prepared testimony, Somerville cited the importance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which helps rural small businesses and producers make energy efficiency improvements or install renewable energy systems.

As a member of the farm bill conference committee, Senator Hoeven worked to support the REAP provisions to help rural communities. The farm bill reauthorized the program, which was started in 2008.

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A Bismarck man has been charged with murder in the death of a 61-year-old man found in his apartment.
 
      55-year-old Morris Pederson was charged with felony murder in South Central District Court on Wednesday. An attorney representing Pederson in the investigatory phase of the case, Erica Jo Shively, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she did not wish to comment at this time.
 
     Police responded to an apartment building shortly before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday after a building employee reported finding a tenant possibly dead in his eighth-floor apartment. Sgt. Mark Buschena says officers found Greg Duane Comes in his living room. An autopsy is being performed to determine the cause of death.
 
     Officers arrested Pederson shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday.

 

 

 

 BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple says the state’s economic strength and diversified economy is helping to weather fluctuations in the energy and agriculture industries.
 
     Dalrymple spoke Wednesday at the state’s first demographic conference, which is focusing on how demographics impact citizens, businesses and communities.
 
     The governor told the group at Bismarck State College that North Dakota has a “strong and growing” economic base that includes technology, manufacturing and aviation. He cited the fact that the state has more than 15,000 job openings and continues to have one of the fastest-growing populations in the country.
 
     Dalrymple also noted that North Dakota is one of just a handful of states whose populations are getting younger, reversing a longtime trend of outmigration.

 

In world and national news…

WASHINGTON (AP) – South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says he expects to see more establishment GOP support shifting to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz following Cruz’s commanding win  Tuesday night in Wisconsin. Graham is supporting Cruz himself though he acknowledges it’s despite disagreement with many of his tactics. But Graham argues that Donald Trump would destroy the Republican Party for generations to come, wiping out any chance of appealing to Hispanics, young people and others.
 
     TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – An already nasty Senate race is becoming even nastier. Florida Congressman Patrick Murphy says his Democratic House colleague Alan Grayson is a liar and lawbreaker who shouldn’t be serving the public. Tuesday, the House Ethics Committee found there is “substantial reason to believe” Grayson violated federal law and House rules in a number of business and legal activities and in managing his congressional office. Grayson has said he’s done nothing wrong.
 
     LOS ANGELES (AP) – The former second-in-command of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has been convicted in a corruption probe — one that also brought down his boss and several underlings. They had tried to thwart a federal investigation into abuses in the nation’s largest jail system. Prosecutors said ex-Undersheriff Paul Tanaka helped orchestrate efforts to hide an inmate when he was found to be an FBI informant. Underlings were ordered to intimidate an FBI agent in the case by threatening to have her arrested.
 
     WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal Reserve policymakers aren’t in agreement over how to respond to a slowing global economy. Minutes from the Fed’s last meeting show that several participants wanted to proceed “cautiously” with future rate hikes because of global risks such as weaker growth. But a couple of officials believed a rate hike at the March meeting would be “appropriate.” In the end, the Fed voted 9-to-1 to leave its key rate unchanged. Last week, Fed Chair Janet Yellen signaled her concerns about raising rates too quickly.
 
     NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The White House is remembering country singer Merle Haggard as a “legend” who told stories that people from all walks of American life could relate to. Haggard died today — his 79th birthday — in California, from what his manager says was pneumonia. It had caused him to cancel several shows this year.
 

 

 

In sports…

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The percentage of hunters who successfully killed a deer in North Dakota last fall was the highest in five years.
 
     That might increase the likelihood of more licenses being made available this year after a dismal allocation in 2015.
 
     Game and Fish Department data show 68 percent of deer hunters bagged an animal last fall, up from 60 percent in 2014 and a significant rise from the all-time low of 51 percent in 2011.
 
     North Dakota’s deer population has declined with a drop in habitat. The state last year issued 43,275 licenses, the lowest in nearly 40 years.
 
     Game and Fish will send its recommendation for 2016 licenses to the governor for approval later this month. State Wildlife Chief Jeb Williams says some hunting units might see a license increase.