Announcements for the week:
Fargo Cass Public Health with celebrate National Public Health Week April 2nd through April 8th. Each day will feature a specific theme, including Behavioral Health, Communicable Diseases, Environmental Health, Injury and Violence Prevention and Ensuring the Right to Health. Other events during the week include Community Emergency Response Team Training at West Acres on April 3rd and Stepping On, a free 7-week fall prevention workshop for area residents age 60 and older, begins on April 5th. All events are free and open to the public. Contact Fargo Cass Public Health for more information and to register. We thank you Fargo Cass Public Health for all you do.
Program highlights at the Library during the next couple of weeks include: The Children’s Department will present “The Wizard of Oz” play at The Stage at Island Park on March 27th with more than 60 area kids involved as cast and as a crew; a “Parrot Pals” event featuring staff from the Center for Avian Adoption, Rescue and Education is set for April 2nd at the Main Library, kids of all ages can meet Molly the African Gray, Yogi the Blue Macaw and other parrots; cast members from NDSU Theatre’s production of “Junie B. Jones in Jungle Bells, Batman Smells!” will be at the Library on April 7th to present a sneak peek of their upcoming production; April is National Poetry Month and the Library will host a “Favorite Poem Reading” event on April 8th at the Main Library, anyone interested in sharing/reading their favorite poem is asked to call the Library to register.
Five Library staff members attended the Public Library Association Conference in Philadelphia last week. The association is dedicated to supporting the unique and evolving needs of public library professionals.
Interesting thing in Planning; they always bring these great things to us. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Fargo metro area grew by 3,873 people between 2016 and 2017. That's approximately 10 per day moving into town. The Fargo metro area had an estimated population of 241,356 as of July 1, 2017, up from 237,483 in 2016. Population growth between 2010 and 2017 was 32,579. That's a lot of people.
Chief Todd with Police, he's going to give a report tonight as well, said he is thankful none of the officers involved in recent shooting incidents were hurt. He said that is a blessing the Police Department has learned not to take for granted. He said these are chaotic and stressful situations and he wanted everyone to know that the Police Department takes care of its people in the aftermath of a shooting and does the right things in order to protect the integrity of investigations. He said those involved have his utmost respect and confidence because they followed their training and did what they had to do. Usually our Police Officers are not on duty and are taking some time off after these shoots that is being investigated. The support of the of the public and of the department for these members is very much appreciated. Thanks Chief.
The MATBUS “iGoEco Challenge” started today, great day with the snow out, and thus far has more than 200 registered participants. Sign up at igoecochallenge.com and give up your car once per week and ride MATBUS, walk, bike, Rollerblade or carpool to work or school. Enter your “eco-friendly” transportation mode each week at igoecochallenge.com to be eligible for a prize. And there are some prizes there to be given.
Lastly, tomorrow we are going to have a special guest in our community. Vice President Pence will be in the community, so if you have a little disruption of your traffic or from getting here to there please bear that in mind. We are happy to welcome him into our community. Maybe he can come and look at the Diversion Project.
Mayor Tim Mahoney