CSi Weather…
…WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM WEDNESDAY EVENING TO 10 AM
CST THURSDAY IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA…NOON VALLEY CITY AREA
…
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS AROUND 15 BELOW. NORTHWEST WINDS
5 TO 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHWEST AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND CHILLS
AROUND 30 BELOW.
.THURSDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY IN THE MORNING…THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH
A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE AFTERNOON IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA. HIGHS AROUND 10.
SOUTH WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH. LOWEST WIND CHILLS AROUND 30 BELOW IN
THE MORNING.
.THURSDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY. SNOW LIKELY IN THE EVENING…THEN
CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. NOT AS COLD. SNOW ACCUMULATION
AROUND 1 INCH. LOWS 5 TO 10 ABOVE. SOUTH WINDS AROUND 15 MPH.
CHANCE OF SNOW 60 PERCENT IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA A 50 PERCENT CHANCE IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA.
.FRIDAY…CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA, A 40 PERCENT CHANCE IN THE VALLEY CITY AREA. NOT AS
COLD. HIGHS AROUND 30. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.
.FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA. LOWS ZERO TO 5 ABOVE. NORTH WINDS AROUND 15 MPH.
.SATURDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 5 TO 10 ABOVE.
.SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 15 BELOW.
HIGHS AROUND 5 BELOW.
.SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS AROUND 15 BELOW.
.MONDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 20S.
.MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 5 TO 10 ABOVE.
HIGHS 10 TO 15.
.TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND
5 BELOW. HIGHS AROUND 10.
MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY…
ANOTHER COLD FRONT ON MONDAY WITH SLIGHT CHANCES OF
SNOW SHOWERS.
WEDNESDAY WARMER AIR WITH LIGHT SNOW TUESDAY NIGHT.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP-CSi) – The Aeronautics Commission says the state’s eight commercial airports are continuing to break passenger boarding records.
The commission released its summary of January boarding statistics on Wednesday.
Jamestown boardings on UnitedExpress/SkyWest this year were at 584 compared to just 135 with Great Lakes Airlines in 2014, and 224 with Great Lakes in 2013. The recent high number of boardings were 599 in 2012 with Delta.
In North Dakota there were almost 3,900 more boardings this January over last year during the same period. That 4 percent increase brings passenger totals for the month to almost 101,000, the most ever recorded in January.
The state’s commercial airports have continued to see steady increases over the last decade. Aeronautics Commission data show there were only about 54,000 boardings statewide in January of 2006.
The commission says passenger boardings for 2014 were up 9 percent, bringing the total to 1.2 million.
Jamestown (CSi) A county-wide test of the CodeRED notification system will be held on Friday February 20, 2015 between 11-a.m., and noon.
CodeRED alerts residents of emergency events and sends notification to the public immediately. The system will call all land line telephones and send messages through email and text in the selected warned area. Residents will not need to respond to the message.
The service is provided free of charge.
To sign up for the service, visit the Stutsman County Website.
The system will only be used to keep the community safe and informed and has been used in the past during the times of tornado warnings that effect residents in a specific calling area.
Valley City (CSi) The kickoff this year to the North Dakota Winter Show is on Monday March 2, 2015, at the Winter Show Event Center, Main Arena.
At 5:30 p.m. Chili Cookoff starts for the public
Register on line at www.valleycitychamber.com or pick up at Rosebud Visitors Center.
7-p.m., Community Olympics
Events will include:
Egg Toss
Smoosh Race
Dizzy Cowboy
Outhouse Horseshoes
Modified Chuckwagon Race
Fly Flicker
Both at the Winter Show Event Center, Main Arena.
CHILI COOK-OFF: Participants are required to prepare at least ten (10) gallons of chili. Setup will be at 4:30 p.m. in the Winter Show Event Center Main Arena.
COMMUNITY OLYMPICS: Teams of at least 6-8 individuals are recommended to participate in several fun and creative “Olympic Events”. The Community Olympics will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the ND Winter Show Event Center Main Arena.
PARTICIPATION FEES: Fees are $10 per team for the Chili Cook-off and $20 for the Community Olympics. If your business or organization participates in both, the fee is $25. Please include payment with your registration form.
More information will be sent upon receipt of your registration.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota’s House has defeated a bipartisan bill that would legalize medicinal marijuana in the state.
The House voted 67 to 26 on Wednesday to kill the measure.
Freshman Democratic Rep. Pam Anderson of Fargo sponsored the bill that would allow pot or cannabis-related products for medical use.
People suffering chronic pain and parents of critically ill children pleaded with North Dakota lawmakers earlier this month to pass the legislation to legalize medicinal marijuana in the state.
Health officials and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem opposed the measure. Stenehjem says the bill does not address numerous regulatory and public safety concerns.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota’s Legislature has snuffed a pair of bills aimed at increasing tobacco taxes.
The Senate voted 30-17 on Wednesday to kill a bill that would raise the state’s 44-cent cigarette tax to $2 per pack.
North Dakota’s House last week voted 56-34 to reject a measure that would raise the state’s cigarette tax to $1.54 a pack. Tax on a can of snuff would jump from 60 cents to $2.72.
North Dakota ranks 46th among states in the amount of tax smokers pay.
Retailers have successfully fought off several attempts to raise the state’s tobacco tax in the past two decades. The last increase was imposed in 1993.
FARGO, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota political leaders are celebrating a lease agreement that paves the way for an unmanned aircraft business park, but want the federal government to get moving on rules for commercial drones.
The military is providing 217 acres on the Grand Forks Air Force Base for Grand Sky, which will have aerospace and defense technology giant Northrop Grumman as its anchor tenant. The park could create thousands of jobs.
North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who spoke at Wednesday’s signing ceremony, says the lease agreement is an important step for the state, which is one of six national test sites for drones.
University of North Dakota unmanned aircraft program director Al Palmer calls the recent developments exciting, but says the Federal Aviation Administration guidelines on drones “can’t come soon enough.”
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – Federal regulators issued a $1.3 million civil penalty to a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp. for failure to provide information related to an oil and gas lease audit in North Dakota.
The federal Office of Natural Resources Revenue said Wednesday that Texas-based XTO Energy, Inc. did not fully comply with the 2013 information request from state officials until a year later.
Audits are used to ensure companies pay the appropriate royalties on oil and gas produced from publicly-owned energy leases.
XTO spokeswoman Suann Guthrie says the company will appeal the fine.
She says XTO attempted to provide all the information but had difficulty immediately obtaining some contracts sought by officials.
XTO was penalized $684,000 two years ago over a similar case in Kansas. An appeal is pending.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – South Dakota’s federal prosecutor is joining his North Dakota counterpart in leaving those posts and opening local offices for a large national law firm that’s expanding to the Dakotas and looking to tap their expertise in the area.
Brendan Johnson says he’ll step down as U.S. attorney for South Dakota on March 11. He made the announcement Wednesday, a week after North Dakota’s U.S. attorney, Tim Purdon, said he was resigning March 12.
A person with knowledge of the moves who was not authorized to discuss them publicly confirmed that both will join Minneapolis-based Robins Kaplan LLP.
Johnson says he’s most proud of the increase in prosecutions on the state’s reservations and how the district has prosecuted more commercial sex trafficking cases at the federal level than any other district.
MINOT, N.D. (AP) – Souris River Basin officials are hoping a five-pronged approach to disaster resilience will secure a top spot in a competition for nearly $1 billion in federal money.
Minot, Ward County and the Souris River Joint Board together are competing against nearly 70 other applicants in the Housing and Urban Development’s National Disaster Resiliency Competition. It aims to help communities continue recovery and enhance resilience for future disasters.
Officials have unveiled a proposal focusing on five areas: flood protection and river management; safe, affordable housing; resilient transportation and infrastructure; economic development; and strategies to support vulnerable populations.
The first phase of the competition requires communities to develop an outline. Applicants who make it into the second phase are eligible for up to $30 million.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The U.S. Forest Service’s new deputy supervisor for the Dakota Prairie Grasslands says he’s glad to be back in the Dakotas.
John Kinney is graduate of Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and says he has family spread throughout both Dakotas.
Kinney most recently worked at the Helena and Lewis and Clark National Forests in Montana. He also has worked for the Forest Service in Idaho, Kentucky and South Dakota.
He’s been named the deputy grasslands supervisor for the Dakota Prairie Grasslands, which manages the Little Missouri, Sheyenne, Grand River and Cedar River grasslands in the Dakotas.
MANDAN, N.D. (AP) – Longtime Mandan law officer Dennis Bullinger says he will retire as police chief at the end of the year.
Bullinger has been with the Mandan Police Department for 42 years and has been the chief the last eight years. He plans to step down on Dec. 28.
The 64-year-old Bullinger says heavier stress loads and a heart bypass surgery four years ago factored into his decision. He also wants to spend more time with family. He plans to find part-time work the next two years until he can collect Social Security.
In sports…
SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) – Black Hills State University is suspending two academic programs and taking other steps to address a $1.5 million budget deficit.
University officials say the revenue shortfall is due to students taking fewer credit hours, which they attribute to fewer high school graduates in South Dakota and an increase in the number of part-time students.
The Spearfish school is suspending its engineering technology program and a master’s degree program in sustainability. Officials say both programs have low enrollment.
University President Tom Jackson Jr. says the school also is putting more emphasis on marketing and student recruitment.
By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Pro Football Writer
Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman says he expects star running back Adrian Peterson to stay with the team this season.
Several high-ranking Vikings officials have expressed their desire to bring Peterson back in recent weeks, and Spielman’s comments to reporters at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis were the strongest yet.
Spielman said he believes the “whole organization is on that same page” about Peterson returning once his NFL suspension is lifted. He was punished under the league’s personal conduct policy for the child abuse case he was involved in.
Spielman, however, declined to comment about whether or not the Vikings would ask Peterson to restructure his contract. His deal calls for a salary cap hit of $15.4 million in 2015.
In world and national news…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal Reserve policymakers do not appear ready to start raising interest rates anytime soon. They’re expressing concerns about inflation and lingering problems in the labor market. The minutes from the Fed’s January meeting show that officials discussed the appropriate timing for beginning to raise rates. The Fed’s benchmark interest rate has been at a record low near zero since December 2008.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The job was supposed to go to an outsider — at least, that was the recommendation of an independent panel that looked at the problems plaguing the Secret Service. But instead, President Barack Obama has chosen Joseph Clancy as the agency’s next director. Clancy is a former Secret Service special agent who’d been installed temporarily in the job in the wake of security breaches.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The new Republican governor of Illinois is calling for deep spending cuts to Medicaid, pensions and other programs — as a way to fix the state’s budget mess without raising taxes. And the proposal is running into immediate opposition from Democrats who control the state legislature. In his first budget address since winning office last fall, Gov. Bruce Rauner said his plan would end what he calls the “irresponsible and reckless practices of the past.”
NEW YORK (AP) – A man accused of being an al-Qaida operative has been allowed to cross-examine a convicted terrorist at his trial in New York. Abid Naseer questioned Najibulla Zazi (nah-jee-BOO’-lah ZAH’-zee) for about an hour today. Naseer is acting as his own attorney at his trial in federal court. Prosecutors say both men were part of an al-Qaida conspiracy in 2009 to stage attacks in England, Denmark and New York. But in his cross-examination, Naseer sought to distance himself from Zazi by getting Zazi to acknowledge the two had never met.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – A singer in Haiti who was shocked by a high-voltage wire during Carnival is giving his account of an accident that resulted in 16 deaths. The hip-hop performer known as Fantom says a man on the group’s Carnival float responsible for moving power lines had moved two of three wires when the float abruptly moved forward. The singer, who was standing atop a speaker, lost consciousness when he was shocked. The sparks set off a deadly stampede. He’s hospitalized in good condition with burns.