Wed Fargo and Moorhead Briefings

Once again, I wanted to share my notes from the Fargo and Moorhead city briefings. If you'd like to hear them yourselves just tune in to: 970WDAY at 8am for Fargo and 10am for Moorhead.

Fargo

Last day of sandbag production

10pm last night: 935,000 completed
One million by today

2 separate groups of Jr. High students...one in morning one in afternoon

Those who get Denny bucks will be recognized tomorrow.

Last year we started sandbag March 20th....glad for the early start this year

All deliveries completed....700 thousand delivered to neighborhoods

Sandbag Distribution:
Rose creek completed
Oak creek, Meadow Creek almost done
Timberline, north Fargo majority of work today
Harwood groves and River drive today as well

SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT

1200 students yesterday
North, South, Shanley, Oak Grove, 1600 students today..

High school students will wrap up at 2pm. More volunteers needed later this afternoon.

(on a lighter note) Supt. Rick Buresh says the students liked the sirens/flashing lights escorts because they felt like celebrities.

Students might be needed tomorrow..Buresh says turnout could be lesser, because students have helped 2 days in a row. But they'll do what they can.

TRAFFIC/ROADS
Keith Ternes Police Chief

Travel advisory for 7th avenue north....Avoid driving there especially area east of 7th avenue

CASS COUNTY
Bonnie Johnson

Volunteers still needed. Report to the UP center. You must be able to devote a chunk of time because you won't be able to go back and forth like you would in the city.

Clay levee on 81 going well
Round Hill
Forest river
Krisann starting today

Stockman neighborhood (north of Fargo) is complete

75,000 sandbags delivered to subdivisions, about 400,000 empty bags delivered.

Roads closed:
cass hwy 18th south of Oxbow is closed

SHERIFF PAUL LANEY

U.S. Fish and wildlife, coast guard, customs all here today.

Traffic issues:
Ditches starting to fill up. Jamestown area fatalities
Rollover with sand truck soft shoulder, driver injured
kids screwing around in mud and ditches 19:51

UTILITIES
Cass county Electric
No electric problems.
if you have issues: 356-4470 if you want your power disconnected

Excel
1-800-895-1995

PARKS DEPARTMENT
Roger Gress

Mon, Tues went well. Buildings will be protected by end of today

WATER
All going fine.
Normal flow at wastewater treatment
Please redirect your sump pumps outside. REMINDER

WALAKER

A reminder that it is up to individual neighborhoods to monitor their own dikes. The Guard will be patrolling every 2 hours...but anything can happen when the guard isn't there. Up to the neighborhoods to keep a close eye and alert authorities about problems.

Engineers will be surveying the dikes today to make sure they're sound.

City leaders went on a helicopter tour. Very encouraged by what they see.

Moorhead briefing

MIKE REDLINGER: CITY MANAGER
Call Center open today from 8am to 8pm

Volunteers report to Nemzek will be dispatched to 3 places:

public works building to finish making sandbags

to new spider machine located McKara (MICK-CAR-AH) office park near public works

to neighborhoods

DIKE AND LEVEE PROGRESS:

Check: www.cityofmoorhead/flood.com....GOOD FEEDBACK ON NEW WEBSITE. Also using Facebook and Twitter.

Working today at: Hjemkomst, Horn Park, 40th ave

approve emergency flood assistance with the Corps

North Moorhead:
Country club: finishing bag placement, very pleased

Center part of town: Woodlawn point neighborhood, working on ring dike. 1-94 to main looking good.

Rivershore Drive north of 1-94 99% done

South Moorhead:
River oak point/River oak circle - progress being made. Still work to do.

Trollwood....no problems....100 sandbags being used to cover man holes.

Infrastructure is fine....to 38 feet.

This is the final push....

Redlinger estimates most neighborhoods are between 80 and 99 percent completed with their sandbag dikes.

SHERIFF BILL BERQUIST

Oakport, Crestwood, Georgetown areas are working.

Good news: Wilkin county called and said they'd deliver their extra sandbags

Roads that might no longer be covered in water are still soft and dangerous, because they can't fix...

County Road 26 is closed due to water.
Highway 75 north of Kragnes will be closed by tomorrow....

By tomorrow Wall Street will be closed.

MN Guard
300 soldiers on active duty here

Posted by: morningbuzz on 3/17/2010 at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Fargo and Moorhead Briefing updates

Most of you might not have time to listen to the entire Fargo flood briefing at 8am and the Moorhead briefing at 10am. So for the next couple of days, I want you to peek into my reporter's notebook. Here's a summary of the information you heard in today's Fargo and Moorhead city briefings.

FARGO:

SANDBAGS
Sandbag about 850 thousand have been made.
Sandbag goal....of 1 million should be reached by Wed afternoon.

Have delivered to: Yesterday Harwood groves, Hackberry, River vili, River Drive -

Have delivered about 450 thousand sandbags.

Today deliveries to:

Oak Creek

· Copperfield Court

· Meadow Creek

· Silver Leaf

· Southwood

· Oak Grove

· Belmont

· 15th Ave. N. to 35th Ave. N.

· Timberline

All sandbag delivery should be done by Wednesday.

SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT
740 kids coming from North and south, south river drive, hackberry.

175 shanley to river villa

West Fargo students to rose creek

125 Ben Franklin students working at sandbag central

130 Carl Ben students working at sandbag central

FIREFIGHTERS:
Firefighters from 3 to 10 in neighborhoods being sandbagged

POLICE OFFICERS:
Dispatched to help with traffic

No businesses closed....but reserving that right

ROADS:
120 trucks hauling sandbags throughout city
Major roads being used:

25th street South Oak Crreek, meadow creek to 40th avenue south
7th avenue to Oak Grove area
North Univ Drive to Cass 20, gets greasy
Around South Univ Pit also pretty sloppy and congested
45h street to 9th avenue congested
25th south of coulee gets congested
4th street is congested with 2nd street dike construction
(4:30 yesterday traffic was backed up 4 blocks)

Businesses are working with city to change hours of operation

WATER:
Water system functioning normally
Storm sewer system shut off to river
(at 24 feet they divert to lagoon)

UTILITIES:
Cass County Electric: some people have been calling to shut off service. If you have questions or concerns call them at 356-4470
excel energy: going well.

COUNTY UPDATE:
Bonnie Johnson: things going wellSaid they actually had someone call the cass emergency line for a marriage license

Keith Bernt:

Round Hill levee being built by Master Cont still going on today
Good meeting with Stanley Township

Work going on at: Forest river, Krisann, (south of fargo) and Stockman neighborhood (north of fargo)

Empty sandbags are available at county warehouse

Don't think they'll need to have levees on 25th street, but will keep monitering.

Sheriff Paul Laney
says it was quiet overnight. Haven't lost too many roads.
But roads are extremely "greasy" stay away especially at night.

www.casscountynd.gov for road closures.

activated emergency response teams at 7am today.

Coast guard arriving at noon, Fish and Game also ready to deploy

Army and Air Guard ready to go as well.

NATIONAL GUARD:

300 Soldiers on duty in Fargo. Missions: traffic control, resource control, sandbag assistance.
More coming today 300-400 by today.
Hesco mission tomorrow Wed
Quick reaction force - thursday - works with fire department.

SALVATION ARMY
Steve Carbno
Will be at 1st assembly providing snacks.
Served as many sandwiches and snacks yesterday as we had the entire previous 2 weeks, so it shows the volunteer turnout
(the mayor added he would like to see more condiments)

RED CROSS
Greg Voss
900 meals have been served
2800 snacks served

School age kids are getting lunch packs sent with them

MEDICAL
Sanford/Meritcare:
Dennis Millirons
Sandbags in storage ready to use
As well as supply: oxygen, etc

Prairie St. John's
Tim Mathern
operating 24 hours a day. Ready to take patients

Innovis:
Kevin Fitzer
Well prepared and ramped up

MOORHEAD

MIKE REDLINGER - CITY MANAGER

Volunteer turnout is looking good.

But more help is needed is needed at Nemzek on 17th street. Will stay open until Midnight if needed. Closed at 10pm last night. Transportation is provided to and from sandbagging sites.
If you have to drive your own vehicle to these neighborhoods please obey the "no parking" sites.

300 goal has been met, but they'd like more bags just to be safe.

16 trucks operating in Moorhead today delivering bags

Constructing these levees to 40ft.

Call center opened at 8am open until midnight 218-299-5300.

If you need sandbags you're asked to contact your zone leaders first.

Have reworked their website to make it more user friendly for flood and other information.

EDNA SZYMANSKI - MSUM
On spring break now.
Sending text messages to students

PAM JOLICOEUR - CONCORDIA
Impressed with how organized.
Students are NOT on spring break
Out of class today

LYNNE KOVASH - Moorhead k-12
In the middle of parent-teacher conferences
students are in school today
But off tomorrow, thurs, fri
Can provide bus transportation on those days

BILL SCHWANDT - MOORHEAD PUBLIC SERVICE
WATER:
You might have noticed taste and odor in water. Related to decaying vegetation. Happens occasionally, not every year. Switched to 50% well water. Should alleviate problems in a few days. It's safe to drink.
You'll be asked to conserve water. Avoid washing clothes, etc.
ELECTRIC:
No problems.
Reminders that water and electricity don't mix. So be careful.
If you have questions about generators it's best to call an electrician.
299-5400 is the number to call is you have an outage.
Will be staffing 24 hours later this week.

Neighborhoods worked on today
north and south of 1-94
Riverview area
Country club area

Filled sandbags should be delivered by late today or early tomorrow.

First automated machine arrived late last night. Second machine on the way.

SHERIFF BILL BERGQUIST - CLAY COUNTY AND OAKPORT TOWNSHIP
Crestwood (south of mhd) and Oakport - sandbagging is underway.

Please don't site see there.

They're using volunteers out of Nemzek

MN guard members will be coming in as will DNR and state patrol members in the coming days.

Clay county EOC is open 24 hours

Road closures available on Clay County website.

38 roads closed...that's up 8 from yesterday.

Water down: Buffalo at Sabin, Hawley

Water same: at Dilworth

No water rescues.

KATHY MCKAY - CLAY COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH
Vulnerable population directory open. Homebound, wheelchair bound, etc. These are people who need assistance. Go to website or call: 299-5220.

Still recruiting health and medical professionals to assist them in case of emergencies. Www.mn.response.org.

RHONDA PORTER - CLAY COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES
If you need emotional support, First Link 235-7335. Also, a mental health hotline: 1-800-223-4512. Open 24/7.

Clay county website will give advice on talking to children, emotional support, etc. 

 

Posted by: morningbuzz on 3/16/2010 at 10:40 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Helping veterans returning from war

Barnesville area service organizations are joining forces to raise money for PROJECT NEW HOPE, a retreat experience for returning soldiers and their families, to help them with the challenges of transition from war to civilian home life. Recognized by several national service organizations, the enthusiasm for this innovative program has fostered a unique opportunity for the local organizations to work together toward a common goal.

This is the first time all the service organizations in Barnesville have collaborated on one fundraising event. Members of the Barnesville Lions, Thursday Nite Lions, Knights of Columbus; the VFW, Legion and their respective Auxiliaries have all been involved with the planning of this day long event with the goal to raise $25,000 for Project New Hope, in addition to raising awareness of the challenges facing returning veterans.

The Project New Hope fundraising event is set for Saturday March 20th and includes everything that small town organizations know how to do best, pancake breakfast, raffles, bingo, roast beef supper, bake sale, games for the kids, card games for the adults, and wrapping up with Karaoke! The entire Barnesville community and most of its facilities are included in this fundraiser, moving from one place to another to give the event diversity, so everyone will find something to do from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm !!

The excitement surrounding this worthwhile project started last fall when several Lions members listened to Dale Johansen, a board member for Project New Hope, and a participant of one of the first retreats.

At that meeting, Johansen shared heartfelt stories of fellow retreat participants “Project New Hope has done just what the name says, I have New Hope…more hope. I feel like I can be me; open up, relax, fish, and eat great food. Everyone I met will be in my prayers everyday. All the staff were very helpful to me. So thank you from my heart. I have brother and sisters now. Thank you.”

It was stories like this and personal experiences that solidified the committee of 14 to resolve to do something to help raise awareness and funds for this worthwhile project.

Many of the committee members lives have personally been affected by the return of vets. One member said “My son & I, could have used a program like Project New Hope when he came home from Vietnam, using drugs & alcohol. It was so bad that when he walked in the front door, I would walk out the back door. That is why I got so excited about this program to helps others.”

Founded by caring individuals who understand that wartime does not end the day a soldier returns to his family, Project New Hope is a weekend retreat for the entire family. Its mission is to provide veterans and their families the education, training and skills necessary to manage their lives after wartime service.

Often times, returning soldiers may feel as though others expect them to pick up right where they left off, just as though nothing had changed during their time away. Spouses may struggle with changes in the home, first with their soldier gone, and then to another set of changes after the return. Children may lack the maturity to independently adjust to the absence of a parent, their return and the transitions that must take place. The weekend Project New Hope retreats are offered to all combat veterans and their families free of charge. Counselors are available to the participants 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

One individual who took part in a recent retreat summed up the feelings of many of the participants, “This is one of the better things that has happened to me since I returned. I am glad my wife and I had the strength to attend this retreat. We had concerns and doubts but they were all taken care of.”

More information on Project New Hope is available at www.projectnewhope.net including details on how to sign up for military family retreats.

A complete schedule of the Barnesville Project New Hope Fundraiser Event or more information is available by calling (218) 354-2175. Tax deductible donations may also be sent to Project New Hope, Post Office Box 174, Barnesville, MN 56514.
 

Posted by: morningbuzz on 3/10/2010 at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Changes

Change is never easy. I won't lie. It's been a tough few days. I decided to wait to comment on the changes to The Morning Buzz after letting it settle for a few days. It's hard not to feel a little shellshocked.

I will tell you Al Aamodt and Ben Ziegler are wonderful, talented men and they will be missed more than I can say. I've spoken with both of them and they're handling the bad news with class and dignity. I feel so fortunate to have worked with them for as long as I did and I know I will remain friends with both of them (if they'll have me). Future employers will be lucky to have them.

But in these tough economic times, we carry on and hope for brighter days in the future. I'm confident our new restructured Morning Buzz will deliver what listeners are hoping for: fast-paced news, weather, traffic, sports and information. We'll tell you what you need to know and get you on your way. As always, this show is for you. We want to give you the information that hits home with you!

I'm happy to be working with Erick Johnson again. He's a great talent. His News at Noon show has been a big success. It's nice to get a full hourlong newscast over the lunch hour. I know I listen as I'm heading through the drive-thru of the day!

So there you have it. Change is rough. But sometimes necessary. I look forward to being part of a new show that becomes an even more important part of your day!

Posted by: morningbuzz on 3/09/2010 at 6:00 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Flood Insurance Information

It's crunch time for those of you still hoping to get flood information. Checkout:  www.floodsmart.gov for information.

Posted by: morningbuzz on 3/01/2010 at 8:33 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink