CSi Weather…
TODAY…SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 80S. WEST WINDS AROUND
5 MPH.
.TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS IN THE LOWER 60S. SOUTHEAST WINDS
AROUND 5 MPH.
.WEDNESDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTHEAST
WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY. LOWS IN THE
MID 60S. SOUTHEAST WINDS AROUND 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTH
AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 70 PERCENT.
.THURSDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 80S. NORTHWEST
WINDS AROUND 10 MPH.
.THURSDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS IN THE LOWER 60S.
.FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE
OF RAIN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE MID 70S. LOWS IN
THE UPPER 50S.
.SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 30 PERCENT CHANCE
OF RAIN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 70S. LOWS
IN THE LOWER 50S.
.SUNDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S.
.SUNDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS AROUND 50.
.MONDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S.
THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY WEDNESDAY. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY.
Jamestown (CSi) The Jamestown City Engineer’s Office reports that
Fourth Avenue East viaduct reopened Monday morning about 11-O’Clock.
Sediment (mud) was deposited on the street at the underpass, from Saturday’s torrential rain leading to the closure until the street surface was cleaned.
The slick surface had caused a male operator of a motorcycle to lose control of his bike, there.
He and his female passenger were taken to the Jamestown Regional Medical Center for treatment of their injuries.
The accident remains under investigation.
Valley City (CSi) Motorists in Valley City are advised to use caution with two areas of the city experiencing street, and water main replacement projects.
The seal coat work is expected to be completed by Tuesday, August 19, 2014.
On-street parking is prohibited within the project.
Access to residential properties and businesses is disrupted while the work is being completed in each project area; however, these should be minimal.
The work are is listed in a map posted with this story at CsiNewsNow.com
Also construction for a water main replacement project is in progress near Mercy Hospital and Sanford Clinic.
Those streets affected by construction are 6th Street Northeast from 5th Avenue Northeast to the Hospital Bridge.
6th Street Northeast may be closed during the project and access to Mercy Hospital may not be available from the north, with full access from the south along 6th Avenue Northeast.
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (AP) – A change of plea hearing has been scheduled for the two people accused of torching a Valley City church to cover up a break-in.
Barnes County State’s Attorney Carl Martineck says the hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 25.
Miklas and Nicole Lindermann, of Kathryn, were charged with burglarizing Faith Lutheran Church on Oct. 6. Both pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The fire caused an estimated $2.5 million in damage to Faith Lutheran Church. The 800-member congregation has decided to build a new church at the same spot.
Cooperstown (CSi) — The Griggs County Courthouse construction project remains at a standstill, three months following construction crews walking off the job over payment issues.
The dispute involves the $1.25 million Emergency Operations Center portion of the project.
The Griggs County Courthouse and Emergency Operations Center, in Cooperstown is nearly completed.
The County has obtained a $1 million federal grant awarded to build the EOC portion of the $3.5 million project, and North Dakota Department of Emergency Services has released two payments totaling nearly $160,000 to the county.
Construction Engineers, the project’s Grand Forks-based general contractor, and subcontractors stopped working on the project May 2, 2014, after the contractor said the county was overdue on paying $170,000 in bills. The project is estimated to be 90 to 95 percent completed.
The Griggs County project involves two separate projects within one contract, with each controlled by a different group, a result of a recall election last October in which all five county commissioners were defeated.
The county has until September 2015 to comply with grant regulations, or lose the federal funding.
Devils Lake (CSi) U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth and Energy Innovation and member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Mondday announced $120,000 in federal funding to help grow small businesses in rural North Dakota communities.
The funding, made available through U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development which Heitkamp oversees as chair of the Subcommittee.
The funding will be used to develop more commercial business space in Garrison and help improve small business management and efficiency in Stutsman County. The funding is part of the Rural Business Enterprise Grant Program.
The grants are distributed as follows:
· South Central Dakota Regional Council – $24,000. The funds will be used to provide individual assistance to small businesses in Stutsman County to improve management and efficiency and create sustainable options for the future.
· Garrison Area Improvement Association – $96,000. The funds will be used to improve water and sewer infrastructure to develop two commercial lots, helping to alleviate the current shortage of available commercial business space in Garrison.
In North Dakota, small businesses make up 96 percent of all employers and employ almost 62 percent of the private-sector labor force. As a result, small businesses support a booming economy across the state, in addition to helping drive the national recovery from the Great Recession.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Police are investigating the shooting death of a man at an apartment.
Bismarck Police Sgt. Mark Buschena says 54-year-old Kelly Carrol Smith entered the apartment Saturday night and allegedly pointed a gun at three children inside. A man living in the apartment confronted Smith. The gun went off during the struggle and the bullet struck Smith in the head, killing him.
Donlin says police believe Smith was a neighbor.
No one else was hurt in the incident. Police did not arrest anyone at the scene.
MANDAN, N.D. (AP) – Mandan police are treating the death of a man in Lakewood Marina as an accident.
Authorities say 23-year-old Blake Allen Johnson jumped off a pontoon while swimming with friends on Saturday night and did not resurface. He was unresponsive when his friends pulled him from the water, and he was later pronounced dead at a Bismarck hospital.
The medical examiner has determined the cause of death was drowning. Police suspect alcohol may have been a factor in the drowning of the Mandan man.
Lt. Lori Flaten with the Mandan Police Department tells the Bismarck Tribune lab tests could later confirm or dispel the possible influence of alcohol in the incident.
FARGO, N.D. (AP) – Authorities have arrested a suspect in recent vandalism to the Cass County Courthouse in Fargo.
The sheriff’s office says a 28-year-old man caught in the act of vandalizing the building just after midnight Sunday is believed to also have been responsible for two previous acts of vandalism this month.
Christopher Wagar, of Fargo, was booked into the Cass County Jail on a misdemeanor count of criminal mischief and a felony count of criminal mischief.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota’s state tax commissioner has proposed a more than $1.3 billion property tax relief plan.
Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger on Monday said the proposal could give the owners of a $200,000 home an average of $2,000 in annual property tax savings.
Property tax in North Dakota is assessed based on the estimated value of property. The state’s robust economy has spurred rising property values, often leading to increased local tax collections.
Rauschenberger says the plan would increase state funded property tax relief from $857 million to $1.36 billion in the next two years.
Gov. Jack Dalrymple in December announced a task force to study permanent property tax reform. He said North Dakota has had about $1.5 billion in local property taxes reductions since 2009, but a lasting reform is needed.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The North Dakota Aeronautics Commission is getting a $433,000 federal grant to study airports in the state.
U.S. Sens. John Hoeven and Heidi Heitkamp say the study will look at the economic impacts of airports, and also at ways to improve aviation throughout the state.
The funding is through the federal Transportation Department. The agency also is providing more than $704,000 for taxiway work at the Grand Forks airport and $38,000 for similar work at the Cavalier airport.
Airline boardings at North Dakota’s eight large airports have been booming in recent months, setting records in many cities.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) – U.S. Sen. John Hoeven is applauding the completion of a 250-mile transmission line from Center to Grand Forks.
The Republican member of the Senate Energy Committee said Monday the $353 million project is “a good example of energy infrastructure investments” the state and nation need. The 345-kilovolt line operated by Minnkota Power Cooperative took more than two years to build and is the largest transmission project in the state’s history.
The line started service on Aug. 7 and is intended to provide grid reliability and support long-term growth in the region.
Minnkota serves 34,500 square miles in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.
WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) – A real estate developer wants to build a $150 million convention center complex in Williston with the help of public money.
The proposal by The Prime Group is to spend about $115 million on a hotel, retail and office complex, with local or state funds paying for a $35 million convention center that would be the heart of the complex.
John Breugelmans with The Prime Group says the complex would be on a site overlooking the downtown area of the oil patch hub. He says it would include a 16-story, 300-room hotel, underground parking for 1,500 vehicles, retail space and a restaurant.
Breugelmans says Williston is losing business and tax income by not having a world-class convention facility. He wants to open one within two years.
DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) – Construction is set to begin on temporary housing for federal workers in western North Dakota.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Monday work will start this week on lodging for bureau and U.S. Agriculture Department Forest Service employees near Dickinson. A U.S. Air Force construction team stationed in Montana will build a site to host up to 10 mobile housing units.
The bureau says the agencies are having trouble attracting qualified new employees who are willing to move to North Dakota. It says its North Dakota field office has had a large increase in its oil and gas workload but difficulties finding housing for employees.
It says the site will be restored to a more natural setting if housing conditions improve enough that workers don’t need temporary lodging.
In sports…
AA…
Rockland 4, Fargo-Moorhead 1
MLB…
INTERLEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 4 Seattle 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Jason Vargas pitched seven strong innings to lead the first-place Kansas City Royals to a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins last night. Erik Kratz homered twice after replacing an ailing Salvador Perez. Trevor May gave up three runs on seven hits and walked four in 4 2-3 innings for the Twins.
Final L.A. Angels 4 Boston 2
Final Baltimore 8 Chi White Sox 2
Final Kansas City 6 Minnesota 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chi Cubs 4 N-Y Mets 1
Final Washington 5 Arizona 4, 11 Innings
Final Atlanta 7 Pittsburgh 3
Final St. Louis 6 Cincinnati 5, 10 Innings
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON
Final Washington 24 Cleveland 23
LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES…
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) – Lynnwood, Washington, has been eliminated in the Little League World Series.
Pearland, Texas, stayed alive in the tournament by rolling to an 11-4 win over Lynnwood.
Chicago rallied to beat Cumberland, Rhode Island, 8-7, eliminating Cumberland.
Mexico eliminated Australia 6-2, Venezuela knocked out Puerto Rico 2-1 and Rapid City, South Dakota earned a 5-3 win over the Czech.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – No. 14 Wisconsin won’t officially announce its starting quarterback until the season opener on August 30th against No. 13 LSU. Coach Gary Andersen said that returning starter Joel Stave and challenger Tanner McEvoy had solid efforts in a scrimmage that included three offensive turnovers and one defensive touchdown. The incumbent appears to be the front-runner.
MLB…
The Washington Nationals agreed to a minor league deal with Nate Schierholtz (SHEER’-hohlts) and assigned the veteran outfielder to Triple-A Syracuse. The lefty-hitting Schierholtz hit .192 with six homers in 99 games with the Chicago Cubs before he was designated for assignment Aug. 6. Schierholtz is a .254 career hitter with 51 home runs and 224 RBIs in 776 games.
NBA-CLIPPERS…
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Steve Ballmer has introduced himself to Los Angeles Clippers fans at a rally celebrating his new ownership of the NBA team.
The former Microsoft CEO made his way through the crowd inside Staples Center, exchanging high-fives and clapping furiously as he took the stage Monday.
Ballmer paid a record $2 billion for the team in a sale that was confirmed by a judge last week. The name of disgraced owner Donald Sterling, who controlled the team for 33 years, was never uttered during the rally.
Ballmer assured the crowd that he has no plans to move the team to Seattle, where he lives.
NFL ANNOUNCERS/REDSKINS
NEW YORK (AP) – Two influential NFL voices said Monday they likely won’t use the term “Redskins” when discussing the franchise. CBS broadcaster and former Giants quarterback Phil Simms says, “my very first thought is it will be Washington the whole game.” NBC’s Tony Dungy said in an email that “I will personally try not to use Redskins and refer to them as Washington. Personal opinion for me, not the network.”
TENNIS…
UNDATED (AP) – Defending champion Rafael Nadal (rah-fay-ehl nah-DAHL’) has withdrawn from the upcoming U.S. Open because of an injured right wrist. The final Grand Slam event of the year starts next week in New York.
The 27-year-old Spaniard was hurt July 29 while practicing and said he was told by doctors the next day to wear a cast on his wrist for two to three weeks. He hoped to be able to return in time for the Open.
This marks the second time in three years that Nadal has had to skip the tournament. He did not enter the U.S. Open in 2012, part of an extended absence because of a problem with his left knee.
This is only the fourth time in the Open era began in 1968 that the reigning U.S. Open men’s champion is not in the field.
In world and national news…
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) – Gunshots and clouds of tear gas marked that latest protests against a police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. Demonstrators filled the streets after nightfall and Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol called it a dangerous dynamic. He called on protesters to only come out in the daylight if their intentions were truly peaceful.
GENEVA (AP) – The World Health Organization says more than half the 2,200 people sickened by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa have died. Authorities have struggled to contain the outbreak, which started in Guinea and has spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. And officials warn that travel restrictions have sometimes hampered food deliveries. The death toll stands at more than 1,200.
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) – Officials say the noose is tightening around a key, rebel-held stronghold in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian government says its troops have captured most of a town near Donetsk. Government efforts to quell the pro-Russian separatist front have focused lately on gradually encircling Donetsk, the largest rebel-controlled city.
GOTEMBA, Japan (AP) – Japan’s military has begun large-scale annual exercises to promote its ability to defend remote islands. Japan’s troops face an expanding role at home and abroad under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay). Defense officials say the exercises at the foot of Mount Fuji, which last until Sunday, are aimed at repelling a hypothetical invasion of far-off Japanese islands.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The National Museum of American History is expanding the Smithsonian collection documenting the history of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Hundreds of photographs, papers and historical objects are being added, including items from the popular TV show “Will and Grace.” It’s part of a larger effort to document gay and lesbian history, an area that has not been well understood at the museum.