What Is the Foster County/Carrington Complete Count Committee?

Do you realize how important it is to get a complete census count for Carrington and Foster County?  Of course, you realize that the census count determines how many representatives each state gets in Congress, and it is used to draw district boundaries. What is not so well known is how the census count affects us locally.   For instance, our community relies on accurate census data to plan such things as new roads, schools, emergency services and more.  What's more, our census count determines the amount of money/grants that are given to us from the state/federal government.  In other words, the more population we have, the more money will be allocated to us for important local services.

On Tuesday, October 22, the Foster County/Carrington Complete Count Committee met at Carrington City Hall to plan ways to raise community awareness of the coming census.  Their main focus is to figure out ways to reach every resident in our area and convince them how important it is to complete and turn in a census form.

If we don't reach a certain population count, we are in jeopardy of losing millions of dollars in support from the federal government. So, if you have ideas about how to increase public awareness of how important the 2020 census is... and if you are interested in joining this committee, please contact either Jennifer Gast at 652-2911 or Brad Solberg at 653-2441.  We all need to work together to get an accurate 2020 count.

Getting Tired of Roadwork in Carrington & North Dakota

Any roadwork going on in your part of the country? Kudos to the person who created this poster... wish I could give him/her credit! 

Here in Carrington we've had to figure out new ways to get places all summer long... and the roadwork still continues. If you have an appointment somewhere, be sure to leave early because there's no telling what road will be closed from one day to the next. 

Example: I had an appointment in New Rockford yesterday and spent about 10 minutes figuring out how to get out of my neighborhood and across the railroad tracks because the overpass was suddenly closed. I got to 2nd Ave. North and, of course, a train decided to slow down and stop just when I needed to get across. 

Thank goodness for a friend who drove by and said ,"Follow me." We drove back across Carrington and came out on Hwy 52 going toward Sykeston. I turned east, and even though it was out of the way, it saved me time because the train was still sitting still when I got back to Hwy 281 and headed north!

 Anyone else running around in circles because of roadwork? #roadworkblues #carringtonnd

2020 Census Count Coming to Carrington

On Tuesday evening, September 10, 2019, Erin Musland, a specialist from the U.S. Census Bureau, presented important information regarding the 2020 Census to members of the Foster County community. The focus of the meeting was to emphasize how important it is to obtain a complete count of persons living in our state.  That count determines how many representatives our state gets in Congress and is used to determine legislative district boundaries.  On our local level, the census count affects the boundaries of our Foster County commission districts.  As well, the census count determines the amount of federal funds that our community will receive to implement many of the programs and services that are so valuable to us... things such as new roads, schools, emergency services and more.

A few important changes for the 2020 census show that the Census Bureau is trying to make it easier for residents to report their census data.  For instance, this will be the first time people will be able to report online or by phone, as well as by mail.  Also, the questionnaire, itself, is much shorter... only eleven basic questions.

Erin Musland emphasized the need to assure everyone that the information collected is confidential.  Personal responses cannot be used in any way to identify a person.  Furthermore, information cannot be shared with immigration enforcement agencies, such as ICE, or law enforcement agencies such as the FBI or police.  The information is used only to produce statistics.

At the end of the meeting, it was determined that Brad Solberg, Foster County auditor, and Jennifer Gast, Carrington City auditor, would chair a local "Complete Count Committee" of community volunteers endeavoring to get an accurate count of people in our local area.

CarringtonNews.com

Foster County Courthouse - Carrington, ND

CarringtonNews.com on Facebook is the place to visit when you want to find out what’s going on in Carrington, ND, the surrounding area, and North Dakota in general.  At first this site focused on news, events and activities in Carrington, but eventually spread out to covering news around the state.  

Being known as the Central City, Carrington folks pretty much travel to all corners of North Dakota, supporting activities/events throughout the region.  That’s why you’ll find news here about Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot and more.  

Carrington News is also a place where people who lived here in the past can visit to see what’s going on in their home town or make contact with friends from their high school days and earlier years.  

We recently started a group called “Memories of Carrington,” which is becoming popular with folks who like to talk about the history of Carrington.  It’s becoming a very interesting site with lots of old pictures and comments about Carrington’s past.  We hope you will check out the group and add to the chat and information!

Happy Official Spring in North Dakota

Hello Everyone! Hope you're having a happy official Spring day! (Real Spring weather coming later!)

Although we have hills of snow all around us here in Carrington, it's a beautiful, sunny day. We have melting snow which will turn to ice tonight... so be careful everyone in the early morning tomorrow.

 Some 40 degree days are actually coming soon... hooray!!! 

(This picture was taken at the beginning of May in 2016. Can hardly wait to see these blossoming trees 

again!) #carringtonnd #carringtonndnews #springinND

Why So Many Layoffs at Carrington ND Medical Center?

RECENT LAYOFFS at Carrington Medical Center? The number seems to keep rising.

What is CHI's intent for the future of Carrington's hospital/clinic? Many people no longer go to the clinic since Dr. Geier was terminated (and many of us have questions about the reason for that). St. Aloisius Clinic in Harvey, where Dr. Geier is now located, seems to be thriving. MANY of Dr. Geier's CHI Carringtion patients are going there now instead of to the Carrington clinic. As it stands, we now have only one doctor on staff, Dr. Paige ... so one wonders about the rationale for terminating Dr. Geier's contract when he had a large following stretching within a 100-mile radius of the hospital.

Do you, as a local citizen, question the importance of having a hospital in Carrington. Why isn't the CHI and local management informing us as to what their long-term plans are for our community hospital?

On a side-note the City of Carrington officials are trying to attract new people and businesses to our community. Do you think their goals will be affected by the questionable economic health of our local hospital? Many retirees and older citizens live in Carrington because of the closeness of a hospital and good health care. It's our hope that it will continue to exist.

What can we do to help our hospital and town thrive in the face of job layoffs, loss of businesses (Shopko, for example), and a shrinking population? Until we address those issues, many questions remain about the physical and economic health of our community.

Minus 60 Degree Wind Chill Predicted

January 29, 2018  --  Hello Everyone! Hope you're having an awesome Tuesday... no matter what your weather is like! 

We went on a trip to Harvey today and experienced A LOT of blowing snow... also ice and built-up snow across the road at times. 

This was not a good day to be traveling anywhere in this area! The temperature got lower as we traveled back to Carrington... minus 20 degrees around 3pm... and by 12Midnight should be -32 with a windchill of -53. 

The fact that there is no school today or tomorrow (Wednesday) in Carrington tells you how serious this weather is. 

If you live in Arizona, Texas, Florida, etc.... you can see why a lot of snowbirds migrate your way at this time of year! 

Thanks to each of you for dropping by Carrington News today. We'd love to hear about your weather (and pictures) if you have time.

#carringtonnd #carringtonndnews #winterwindchillwarningND

Sunrise on the North Dakota Plains... near Carrington, ND

Hello Everyone! Hope your Saturday is treating you well! 

Today in Carrington it's a rather frosty day with fog crystalizing on the trees. It makes for beautiful pictures but rather slippery roads around the area. Right now it's 16 degrees with practically no wind... which is unusual and very nice. 

The Lions Club, an awesome service club here in Carrington, sponsored a French Toast & Sausage Feed at the Senior Center this morning which benefits the Senior Center, the Carrington Youth Center and the City Library. 

Headlocks is having a dart tournament at 2pm as part of their Grand Opening Weekend... with DUJ Music&Karaoke tonight at 8:30pm.
 Also, tonight starting at 5pm there is a gala event taking place at the Armory... Casino Night! It is sponsored by the St. Alexious Health-Carrington Medical Center and is their annual fundraising event. 

If you don't live in Carrington, what are some fun events happening around YOUR area? We'd love to hear from you! 😊

ND House of Representatives Wants to Do Something about Robocalls! Hooray!

Do Something about Robocalls!

Kudos to anyone who can do something about robocalls! These robocalls are so aggravating! Besides all the unwanted ad/nuisance calls, I've had calls saying I was in trouble with the IRS, that I might be arrested if I didn't return the call, that a relative needed money for an emergency... and more! 

Now I don't answer a phonecall if it's from out of state. I figure if it's important the caller will leave a message. Now, however, I'm getting robocalls with the ND prefix!!! 

Think about what this means to a business. For example, my husband can't ignore calls the way I do because he gets business calls from all over the United States. He has to answer all his calls in case it's an important business call. I hear him hanging up on robocalls all day long. There are so many of them!!! (As I'm typing this, my husband just got a robocall saying our Google business listing is in jeopardy... which isn't true.)

 I hope something can be done about this because being on the "no call" list definitely doesn't work anymore! By the way, how are YOU handling your robocalls?
 #robocalls #combatrobocalls #repmaryadams#NDhouseresolution3005