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Career center applications open

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North Dakota’s Department of Career and Technical Education has opened the application process for new and expanding Career and Technology Centers. A grant review team will evaluate the applications, and the state CTE Board will determine the awards. State CTE director Wayde Sick said $70 million is coming from federal Coronavirus relief funds for the projects. "That does require a one-to-one match," Sick said. "That means $140 million will be invested into CTE in the upcoming biennium." Sick said he expects a lot of interest. "One of the barriers will be securing that match," Sick said. "And they must make sure the needs assessment they complete at the lcoal level will align with whatever programs they plan to expand or provide align with student needs and workforce needs." Sick said CTE is still awaiuting some final guidance on how those federal dollars can be used. The first round of grant applications are due Oct.1. Here is the link to the application process: https://www.cte.nd

18,000 job openings in ND

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The “Help Wanted” signs are out all over North Dakota. As of the end of May, Job Service North Dakota listed 18,000 job openings. "That's the highest since July, 2015," said Job Service interim director Bryan Klipfel. "And a good percentage of them are good-paying jobs." Klipfel said there continue to be openings in health care, trucking, administration and retail. He said the state is doing some things to help people get back to work. One was ending the federal unemployment pandemic payments in June. "Hopefully, that will get some people to work," Klipfel said. "It's not going to fill the 18,000 open jobs, however." Klipfel said he also hopes to find ways to remove some of the barriers people face in returning to work. "Health care, day care, people with addictions, the homeless, those who are justice-involved -- there's justa lot of individuals that have these barriers," Klipfel said. "We need to try to help them get back to work."

Employers will see a break on Workers Compensation premiums

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North Dakota’s workers compensation fund remains healthy. "Currently we're at about $2.2 billion in the fund," said Workforce Safety and Insurance Director Bryan Klipfel. "We've had a pretty good surplus, mainly due to the fact we've had pretty good rates of return the last number of years." Klipfel said because of that, employers will see a benefit – they will receive a $93 million premium dividend. "When they (employers) file their premiums, they will get a 50% reduction on the premium they had paid the year before, Klipfel said. "That will be substantial." Klipfel said with that money, employers can invest in safety equipment, or other things to help their employees. "That's a good thing for employers, especially coming out of this pandemic," Klipfel said. Klipfel said during the pandemic, claims dropped. He said between July 1st, 2020, and June 30 th , 2021, around 18,000 claims have been filed – and he said the normal number is around 20,000. Klipfel also said he thinks some of

Florida Condo Deaths Climb To 36 As Officials Try To Pinpoint The Number Of Missing

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Updated July 6, 2021 at 6:25 PM ET Crews searching the building collapse site in Surfside, Fla., have discovered four more victims since Tuesday morning, bringing the death toll to 36, according to local officials at an afternoon press conference. Authorities have identified 29 of the bodies. There's uncertainty about the exact number of people in the building when it collapsed nearly two weeks ago; officials said on Tuesday afternoon that there are reports of 109 people who were unaccounted for, but they had only been able to confirm that about 70 of those people were in the building at the time. "People call anonymously. People call and don't leave return phone numbers. People call with partial information, not enough to really secure whether that person may or may not have been in the building," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters on Tuesday morning. Some of the reports of possible victims are also incomplete, she said, including a name but no apartment

Here's What The Capitol Police Are Doing Differently 6 Months After The Insurrection

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On the six-month anniversary of the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection, Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman shared the changes the force is implementing to bolster security in the Capitol complex and support its officers. "We honor all the brave men and women who, against all odds, faced down a violent crowd that day and protected our elected leaders and everyone who was in the Capitol Complex," Pittman said in a statement released Tuesday, six months after a violent mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as lawmakers were fulfilling their constitutional duty to tally the Electoral College votes of the 2020 presidential election. Pittman said the Capitol Police have been working "around the clock with Congressional stakeholders to support our officers, enhance security around the Capitol Complex, and pivot towards an intelligence-based protective agency." Included in the list of "improvements" the Capitol Police have implemented in the wake

Pentagon Scraps $10 Billion Contract With Microsoft, Bitterly Contested By Amazon

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Updated July 6, 2021 at 4:22 PM ET The Defense Department is scrapping its $10 billion cloud-computing contract with Microsoft, ending the award process that's been mired in a legal battle with Amazon. The Pentagon's announcement on Tuesday ends what has been a complicated and highly politicized saga of one of the most lucrative military tech contracts in U.S. history. Amazon has been litigating the contract — known as JEDI — since 2019 when the company was stunned by its loss of the lucrative 10-year award to Microsoft . Amazon's legal strategy has included a call for testimony from former President Donald Trump, arguing his disdain for company founder Jeff Bezos swayed the bidding process. The Defense Department on Tuesday said the JEDI contract — short for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure — no longer met its needs "due to evolving requirements, increased cloud conversancy, and industry advances." The agency said it planned instead to pursue a contract with multiple

State finds six new coronavirus cases

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According to the state health department’s coronavirus dashboard, six new individuals from six counties have tested positive for COVID-19 in North Dakota, bringing the new statewide positive total to 110,751. These results were from a pool of 342 tests for a daily positive rate of 1.79 percent. Two of those positives were PCR tests, and four were antigen tests. The cases broken down by county are: 2,073,847 total tests have been administered for the novel coronavirus. 447,472 unique individuals have been tested. 10 people are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19. Since yesterday eleven individuals have been confirmed as recovered, bringing the recovered total to 109,104. This leaves 119 active confirmed cases.

Fargo Police are searching for missing woman

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Fargo Police are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing woman. 31-year-old Karri Daugherty was reported missing yesterday, July 5. She has not been seen or heard from since July 1. Fargo Police have followed up on possible known addresses and phone locations, but have not been able to locate her and the investigation into her whereabouts is ongoing. Daugherty is 5’5, weighs 130 pounds, and has blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information regarding Daugherty is urged to contact dispatch at 701-451-7660, or their local law enforcement agency.

Iceland Finds 'Major Success' Moving To Shorter Workweek

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As many people contemplate a future in which they don't need to commute to offices, the idea of working less altogether also has its appeal. Now, research out of Iceland has found that working fewer hours for the same pay led to improved well-being among workers, with no loss in productivity. In fact, in some places, workers were more productive after cutting back their hours. Granted, Iceland is tiny. Its entire workforce amounts to about 200,000 people. But 86% of Iceland's working population has moved to shorter hours or has the right to negotiate such a schedule, according to a report by the Association for Democracy and Sustainability and the think tank Autonomy . This follows two successful trials, involving 2,500 workers, that the report called "a major success." The trials were conducted from 2015 to 2019. Workers went from a 40-hour weekly schedule to 35- or 36-hour weekly schedules without a reduction in pay. The trials were launched after agitation from labor unions and

Israel's New Government Is Dealt A Defeat With Vote Over Palestinian Citizenship Law

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JERUSALEM — In a blow to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Israel's parliament failed to renew a controversial law that prevents Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza from getting residency in Israel after they marry Palestinians with Israeli citizenship. The Tuesday vote was 59-59. The law required a simple majority to pass in what's usually a routine annual renewal. A new effort to reinstate the law could still come soon. Bennett, who took office less than a month ago, was undermined by several members of his governing coalition, including those of the United Arab List party and a rebel member of his own Yamina party, who all voted against extending the law. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opposition Likud party, along with the Religious Zionist Party, also voted against extending the law despite supporting it in the past. The move was widely seen as an attempt by Netanyahu to make good on a promise to "bring down this dangerous government." Interior

Poet Tess Taylor Tells Us What She's Reading This Summer

There's Work To Do If The Olympics Actually Wants To Be Environmentally-Friendly

Protection Provided By The Pfizer Vaccine May Might Be Fading, Israeli Officials Say

Mental Health Counselors Address Enormous Grief From Surfside Families

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Hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in the rubble of the collapsed Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla. As of Tuesday, 32 people have been reported dead, and 113 are still missing . Mental health counselors are also on the scene, helping families whose loved ones have been confirmed dead and those still waiting for news of missing loved ones. "It's getting more emotional for them," says Sandy Ala, a licensed clinician and director of case management at Jewish Community Services of South Florida. As days have passed since any survivors have been pulled out, and with more than 100 people still unaccounted for — and after Miami-Dade County officials made the decision to demolish the remaining structure on Sunday — Ala says conversations with waiting family members have become more difficult. "They are coming to terms with what is the end result," Ala says. "It's a tough place to be right now." Shortly after the building collapsed, the Red Cross and other

Christina Hillsberg: "License to Parent" ~ Horticulturist Ron Smith

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Tuesday, July 6, 2021 - Conflict resolution, resourcefulness, keeping cool in heated situations...all traits of a good spy, or a good mom. Christina Hillsberg is both and she shares how her training as a former CIA operative influences her parenting in the new book, License to Parent. ~~~ Chuck Lura suggests some summer star gazing in an episode of Natural North Dakota. ~~~ Historian Tom Isern is here with a Plains Folk essay titled “Since 1890.” ~~~ It’s a busy time for gardening, so let’s check in with horticulturist Ron Smith.

A Swim Cap Made For Black Hair Will Get A Second Look From Swimming's Governing Body

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The International Swimming Federation says it will revisit its decision barring a swimming cap designed specifically for natural Black hair from being used in competition. The makers of the Soul Cap, a product tailor-made so that swimmers with voluminous, Afro-textured hair can protect their hair while in the water, said on Instagram last week that the sport's governing body had denied their application for certification. The decision effectively ensured that the cap would not be in use when the Olympic Games begin this month. The news drew considerable backlash, prompting the International Swimming Federation, also known as FINA, to release a statement on Friday acknowledging the public response and announcing that it was "reviewing" the situation. "FINA is committed to ensuring that all aquatics athletes have access to appropriate swimwear for competition where this swimwear does not confer a competitive advantage," the statement reads. "FINA is currently reviewing the situation with

Afghan And American Officials Dispute The Details Of The U.S. Pullout From Bagram

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Updated July 6, 2021 at 5:35 PM ET Five days after the final U.S. troops left Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, the Pentagon is defending itself from criticism by Afghan military officials who have accused the U.S. of secretly slipping out overnight, shutting off the electricity and prompting a security lapse that allowed looters to scavenge the facilities before Afghan troops were able to retake control. It is the latest mishap in the U.S. military withdrawal from the country after 20 years of military presence, a process President Biden has promised will be complete by Sept. 11. Bagram Airfield, about an hour's drive from Kabul, was the center of operations for the longest-running war in U.S. history. It housed tens of thousands of troops at its peak, with planes and helicopters coming and going at all hours. A story published Monday by The Associated Press cited Afghan military officials in reporting that U.S. forces had left the base overnight without notifying the new Afghan

Bucks And Suns Vie For Title As Injuries And Broadcast Controversy Cloud NBA Finals

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In the decades since the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks became the 13th and 14th teams to join the NBA back in 1968, only once has either squad managed to win a league championship. For the Bucks, who won their first and only title in 1971, it's been 50 years since a championship trophy graced the halls of their arena. For the Suns, drought is all they've ever known. But now, for the first time in more than 10 years, the NBA Finals are free of the league's recent heavyweights — the Golden State Warriors and any team helmed by LeBron James. The Bucks and the Suns, each buoyed by long-suffering-and-now-thrilled fanbases, are once again close enough to imagine kissing the trophy's 24-karat gold vermeil. Who wins that trophy may come down to a single left knee. All eyes are on Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the two-time league MVP who injured his knee during the Bucks' previous series against the Atlanta Hawks, hyperextending it as he came down from attempting to block an alley-oop

U.S. Sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson Left Off Relay List, Won't Compete At Olympics

The Farmer’s Library

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Books were not widely available to the general public in the United States until the mid-1800s. In the 1700s, wealthy people with access to books hosted literary salons. These were events where the participants could discuss fiction and nonfiction literature.




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