Fire Prevention week runs through October 12 and this year’s campaign is “Not every hero wears a cape. Plan and Practice your Escape.” This year’s campaign highlights steps people can take to quickly and safely escape a fire: map the layout of your home and mark two exits from every room (typically a door and a window); mark the location of all smoke alarms (there should be one on each level and in each bedroom); pick a meeting place outside of your home; make sure everyone knows how to call 911; and teach children how to make emergency calls from a locked cell phone.
All Fargo Fire Department stations are available for tours and visits every day during Fire Prevent Week from 6 to 8 p.m. The stations and addresses are:
- Station 1 – 637 NP Ave.
- Station 2 – 3020 25th St. S.
- Station 3 – 1101 25th Ave. N.
- Station 4 – 2701 1st Ave. N.
- Station 5 – 930 40th St. S.
- Station 6 – 4630 15th Ave. N.
- Station 7 – 3957 Village Lane S.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. An estimated 268,000 women and 2,670 men in the United States will be diagnosed this year with invasive breast cancer. Fargo Cass Public Health Women’s Way program will host a breast-cancer awareness event featuring guest speakers from the community on October 18 from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Oak Room at FCPH. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served and attendees are encouraged to wear pink.
The Jazz into Fall concert series at the Downtown Library has started and upcoming concert dates are October 13, 20 and 27; the Library’s weekly Crafternoon events on Mondays and Tuesdays for school-age children continues through December 17 at the Carlson and Northport branches; the Library, in partnership with the Red River Genealogical Society, will present a “Genealogy for Beginners” workshop on October 10 at the Main Library; as part of Fire Prevention Week, members of the Fire Department will visit the Carlson Library on October 12 for a storytime and safety session where children of all ages will learn basic safety tips for home and school and will also get a close up look at a firetruck; the Library will host a Paws for Reading event on October 12 where children can read to a dog from Therapy Pets of the Red River Valley; teens are invited to participate in a Great Science for Teens event with Graeme Wyllie from Concordia College on October 15 at the Main Library; and events happening in the next couple of weeks as part of the 2019 One Book, One Community reading project include a science, technology, engineering and math event for children titled “The Physics of Flight” on October 8 at the Main Library with instructors from the Concordia Science Academy and Keith O’Brien, author of “Fly Girls,” will speak at the Fargo Air Museum on October 28.
During the first eight months of 2019, building permit values are 12.5 percent lower than last year and are currently at $275 million compared to $315 million in the first eight months of 2018. Multi-family housing declined from $60 million last year to $8.4 million this year and only one permit has been issued this year for an 80-unit building compared to more than 500 units permitted last year during the same time-period. Commercial building permits are at $61 million compared to $50 million last year and commercial remodeling is at $74 million this year compared to $59 million last year. Single-family housing permits are up 14 percent over last year, with 193 houses built so far this year compared to 168 last year.
Two planners from the Department of Planning and Development attended the North Dakota Planning Association annual conference September 19 in Bismarck where they were part of the committee that planned and ran the event. One planner gave part of the presentation during the planning commissioner training session.
Fargo Police Department Investigations has moved into the new police station and within a couple of weeks, records and administration divisions will be moving in, then all departments and divisions will be out of the downtown building and under one roof. Signage is going up at the new building (see below) and Chief Todd said it is nice to see detectives and supervisors in the morning briefings and regaining the day-to-day communication that was lost by being in separate buildings.