K C S i - T.V. Weather from Staff
Meteorologist Steve Root...

Flood Watch Cancelled
Includes City Of Jamestown

DUNN-MERCER-OLIVER-MCLEAN-SHERIDAN-WELLS-GOLDEN VALLEY-BILLINGS-
STARK-MORTON-BURLEIGH-KIDDER-STUTSMAN-SLOPE-HETTINGER-GRANT-
BOWMAN-ADAMS-SIOUX-EMMONS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...KILLDEER...BEULAH...HAZEN...CENTER...
GARRISON...MCCLUSKY...HARVEY...BEACH...MEDORA...DICKINSON...
MANDAN...BISMARCK...STEELE...JAMESTOWN...MARMARTH...MOTT...
ELGIN...BOWMAN...HETTINGER...FORT YATES...LINTON
339 PM CDT FRI MAR 19 2010 /239 PM MDT FRI MAR 19 2010/

...FLOOD WATCH IS CANCELLED...

THE FLOOD WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA HAS
BEEN CANCELLED.

COOLER TEMPERATURES HAVE SLOWED RUNOFF ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH
DAKOTA.

Forecast...

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...STEELE...JAMESTOWN

.TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 15 TO 20. NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO
15 MPH.
.SATURDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 30S. WEST WINDS 5 TO
15 MPH.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS IN THE MID 20S. SOUTHWEST
WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.
.SUNDAY...SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 40S. WEST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE MID 20S. SOUTH WINDS
5 TO 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE EAST AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 40S.
LOWS IN THE UPPER 20S.
.TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN AND
SNOW. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 30S.
.TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE LOWER
20S. HIGHS IN THE MID 30S.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 15 TO 20.
HIGHS IN THE MID 30S.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN
AND SNOW. LOWS IN THE MID 20S.
.FRIDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW.
HIGHS IN THE MID 30S.

Jamestown, ND (KCSi-T.V. News) -- The Interagency met Friday (Mar 19th) for a briefing on the construction of levees in Jamestown, and updates on sandbagging efforts.

The Corps of Engineers:

Contracts have been issued for the levee installation from the railroad tracks and south, with the contracts expected to be finalized Friday for work from the railroad tracks, north. (see separate story on contracts)
The work on building the levees is expected to start Saturday (Mar 20).
The Corps’ John Bartell said yard stake placements are “offset” meaning the levees will be placed form 10-20 feet from the marker.
The maps of where the levees are being placed are available at Jamestown City Hall, and the Stutsman County Courthouse, and soon on the County web site. (which can be accessed at JamestownUSA.com with the button on the right side of the page.)

Sandbagging:

Sandbag pallets are in demand, the call center is taking information from those who can supply pallets, at 251-6241.
Plans are still in place to starting producing filled sandbags with volunteer help on Tuesday March 23rd from 9-a.m. to 6-p.m., at Wilson Arena. High School students will fill bags at the high school location. The City of Jamestown will need about 55,000 sandbags to protect infrastructures, and areas not accessible to larger installations. Other sandbags will be filled for use for the public on a priority basis.
The estimate is to fill 200,000 sandbags, which are planned for distribution on Thursday the 25th. The James River Correctional Center is also filling sandbags.
Jamestown College students have indicated a willingness to fill bags, as well.
Call 251-6241 to volunteer, or to indicate the need for filled sandbags. The Call Center number is also available for general flood related questions from the public.
The Call Center is now operating 7-days a week, from 8-a.m., to 5-p.m.

City Engineer Reed Schwartzkopf:

Officials continue to monitor the force main leak, the line from the Main Lift Station to the sewage treatment lagoon. Remedies include…short term, pumping the material into tankers and brought to the lagoon….long term obtaining an industrial unit to pump overland to the lagoon, and eventually replacing the line.
The State Health Department is working with the city on the issue, along with possible pumping of sewage into the river, in four locations, if the sanitary sewer system is overwhelmed with river water.

National Guard:

As of Friday the Guard had 18 soldiers in Jamestown assisting with traffic control for vehicles hauling clay for dike building.

County Roads:

Superintendent Mike Zimmerman said the ice jams are breaking up at Beaver Creek in southeast Stutsman County and is not causing a major problem, with the water 12 feet below the bridge decks, on Friday.

The next scheduled meeting of the Interagency Committee is Tuesday March 23rd.

Updated information can also be found at JamestownUSA.com under River Watch, and on The Wayne Byers Show, on CSi Cable 2.

Jamestown, ND (KCSi-T.V. News) -- The Corps of Engineers reported Friday (Mar 19th), a contract was awarded Thursday for the construction of emergency flood protection structures south of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad bridge along the James River to protect the city of Jamestown, N.D. from projected high river stages, said officials with the Army Corps of Engineers here.
Six D Construction & Development, LLC, based out of Valley City, N.D., was awarded a $579,000 contract to build flood control structures that will consist of earthen levees and Hesco Bastions. The work is scheduled to be completed in seven days.
A Hesco Bastion is a portable flood protection structure made of a collapsible wire mesh container, heavy duty fabric liner and pins that lock it into place. The structure is then filled with sand, gravel or dirt. The units can be quickly assembled and provide a sturdy temporary barrier against rising water.
Local residents are cautioned to watch for flagmen and heavy equipment. Curious onlookers are asked to stay away from equipment and worksites.

Valley City, ND (KCSi-T.V. News) -- The Corps of Engineers Friday March 19th, said the inflows this morning over a 24 hour period at Lake Ashtabula was 1,150 cfs, with the release Friday morning cut to 1,600 cfs, putting the Sheyenne River stage in Valley City at 9-feet.
The Lake pool level was 1,266.38 feet.
Rich Schueneman says, it’s anticipated the Bald Hill Dam release will be decreased another 500 cfs, Friday afternoon, to make it 1,100 cfs, putting the river Stage at 7.5 to 7.8 feet. (updated with information as available at ValleyCityUSA.com under River Watch.

Jamestown, ND (KCSi-T.V. News) -- As Jamestown and Stutsman County prepares for this springs snow melt, it’s important to remember that warmer weather is right around the corner and so is the potential for severe summer weather. Because of that, the National Weather Service has scheduled a SKYWARN Weather Spotter Training Class on Tuesday, March 23rd, 7:00 p.m., in the lower level of the Law Enforcement Center, 205 6th Street SE in Jamestown.

On Friday’s Wayne Byers Show on CSi Cabel 2, Stutsman County Emergency Manager Jerry Bergquist said, the class will be conducted by John Paul Martin, meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Bismarck. Attending this class does not require an individual to become an official weather spotter. The class, which lasts about two hours, will focus on recognizing and understanding the different types of severe summer weather such as thunderstorms, down-burst winds, flash floods, hail, and tornadoes.

The class is free and open to all organizations and individuals who want to become more familiar with how to identify severe summer weather. If you’ve previously attended this class, attend again. It’s a great refresher that keeps you aware and informed.

For more information contact the Stutsman County Emergency Manager’s Office at 701-252-9093.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) - The National Weather Service is revising its
projection downward for the Red River's crest. Now the river is
expected to be at 19.5 feet above flood stage by Sunday morning.
That's down a half-foot from an earlier forecast.

THOMPSON, N.D. (AP) - Bridges in the northern Red River Valley
are being closed as the river continues its spring rise.
The Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office on Friday morning was
closing the Thompson Bridge, a link between Grand Forks and the
Minnesota town of Crookston.
On Thursday, two of the three bridges connecting Grand Forks and
East Grand Forks, Minn., were closed.
Those two bridges were closed for about three weeks during 2009
flooding. East Grand Forks Emergency Manager Randy Gust says
officials expect they will open much sooner this year.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A Federal Emergency Management Agency
spokesman says officials are better prepared to respond to North
Dakota flooding this year.
Federal coordination officer Tito Hernandez says last year FEMA
officials had to plan while they responded. He says this year plans
were made well ahead of time.
Hernandez says the lessons learned during last year's flood
fight and the relationships forged among local, state and federal
officials will help with his year's battle.
FEMA has brought in trailers that include a satellite and radio
command center, a mobile power plant, an emergency medical center
and about 70 semitrailers with commodities to help flood victims.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Secretary of Health and Human Services
Kathleen Sebelius has declared a public health emergency for North
Dakota because of flooding.
It means certain health insurance program requirements will be
temporarily waived or modified for the 18 counties and the Spirit
Lake Nation that were included in an earlier presidential disaster
declaration.
Requirements deal with such matters as doctors having to be
licensed in the state in which they provide services.
The waivers and modifications become effective Saturday but are
retroactive to Feb. 26. Sebelius' order says they are aimed at
ensuring that needs are met for people enrolled in Medicare,
Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - A University of North Dakota freshman
majoring in criminal justice is accused in a rash of car
burglaries.
Authorities say they found 20 stolen GPS units in 19-year-old
Joseph Sontoya's dorm room, after getting a tip.
They say they also found numerous other electronic items,
ranging from radar detectors to cell phones, along with a tool used
for breaking out windows.
Sontoya is due in court April 14 on charges of theft of property
and unlawful entry of a vehicle. Court officials did not know if he
had attorney. He did not return a telephone message left Friday on
a Minneapolis-St. Paul cell phone number listed for him in the
university's student directory.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - A Larimore man once charged with
attempted murder in the choking of a woman has pleaded guilty to a
lesser charge of aggravated assault.
Twenty-three-year-old Kermit Dumarce was accused of threatening
to kill his children's mother as he choked her until she passed
out, causing her to vomit blood and seek medical treatment.
Dumarce on Thursday also pleaded guilty to terrorizing and three
misdemeanor counts of violating a no-contact order. He faces up to
10 years in prison when he is sentenced April 26.

WYNDMERE, N.D. (AP) - Bond is set at $5 million for a man
charged with murder in a bar shooting in the southeast North Dakota
town of Wyndmere.
Forty-six-year-old Steven Rowland is accused of shooting
58-year-old Gordon Vosberg in the chest, killing him, after a fight
at the Four Corners Motel and Lounge about closing time Thursday
morning.
Rowland's attorney, Jason Butts of Wahpeton, declined comment.
Rowland is expected to make his initial court appearance on
Tuesday.
Vosberg's daughter, Nichole Springer, said he was born and
raised in Wyndmere but had lived for the past three years in nearby
Lidgerwood.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota's congressional delegation
says Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
(neh-pahl-ih-TAN'-oh) will deliver the keynote speech at the
University of North Dakota's spring graduation ceremony.
Sens. Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad and Rep. Earl Pomeroy say
Napolitano played a key role in orchestrating the federal response
to record flooding in North Dakota last year.
UND President Robert Kelley says Napolitano's appearance also
will be fitting given that UND is developing programs in unmanned
aerial systems and has a working relationship with Grand Forks Air
Force Base and the U.S. Border Patrol.
The commencement ceremony is May 15.

In world and national news...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats who need every possible vote to pass
a health care bill in the House this weekend can count four new
ones -- lawmakers who've switched from "no" to "yes" since the
last health care vote. They include Ohio Democrat John Boccieri,
who says he's putting political concerns aside in order to do
"what's right." White House and House Democratic leaders are
working now to resolve objections to a provision on how health
providers are paid under Medicare.

NEW YORK (AP) - A federal judge in New York is rejecting a
multimillion-dollar legal settlement for people sickened by dust
from the ruins of the World Trade Center. At a hearing today, the
judge said the deal to compensate 10,000 police officers,
firefighters and other laborers didn't include enough money for the
workers. He also said he was concerned that too much of the deal
was eaten up by legal fees.

NEW YORK (AP) - An eight-day winning streak is over. After eight
straight gains, the Dow industrials have slipped back, losing 37
points Friday. There are renewed concerns about whether Greece will
be able to pay its debts, and whether those troubles will stand in
the way of a global economic recovery.

LA HABRA, Calif. (AP) - The octuplets and their mom may be
looking for a place to live. The holder of the mortgage on the home
where Nadya Suleman and her children are living says he's starting
foreclosure proceedings because the family hasn't kept up the
payments. Suleman's father has been leasing the home to his
daughter, and was supposed to be paying off the mortgage.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A judge in Florida has ruled that Casey
Anthony is indigent and can use public money to pay for part of her
defense against charges that she killed her 2-year-old daughter.
The ruling came a day after Anthony's lawyer disclosed that ABC had
paid the Florida mother and her relatives $200,000 for exclusive
use of family photos and videos.

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