Preparing for flooding

It is no surprise that flooding will soon be a concern for Fargo residents. KFGO reported that North Dakotan officials are starting to suggest property owners look into purchasing flood insurance, especially if they live along flood-prone areas on the Red River Valley. The suggestions are coming as early as January since the amount of snowfall received so far is raising heightened risks for springtime flooding. According to the National Weather Service, the Red River Valley has seen record precipitation rates for the fall and winter months starting back in September.

Digital land posting

A new project is being tested in three North Dakotan counties in regards to hunting. According to the Bismarck Tribute, Ramsey, Richland and Slope counties are the chosen project participants to try a mobile app that will allow landowners to electronically post land that’s open for hunting. The landowners will have until July 15 to post voluntary land which hunters can then utilize the app to see where they can hunt. KXNet reported that the project plays off of the ‘trespass bill’ which was defeated in the 2019 legislature, but protects private landowners from having hunters trespass on their land.

Coronavirus in the U.S.

As the Coronavirus continues to spread throughout the world, there have been reported cases in the U.S. NBS News reported that as of Jan. 28, there have been five cases of the virus confirmed in the U.S. One case each is in Arizona, Illinois and Washington state while there are two confirmed cases in California. The Coronavirus has spread to neighboring countries of China including Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea with the virus spreading throughout Europe and even spreading to Australia. So far the virus has taken the lives of 106 victims as the death toll continues to increase.

Job cuts for 3M

According to the Wall Street Journal, 3M Co. has posted lower revenue in U.S. markets as they plan to post layoffs for their employees which will save them $134 million. The manufacturer has shown signs of strain as currently there is a time of weakness for the industrial economy. The Wall Street Journal reported that though the economy had remained strong, the manufacturing sector has been constrained for the past five months as slow rates of domestic car production and slack demands from China have affected U.S. manufacturers. 3M Co. sells its products to offices, hospitals and consumers.

The introduction of the U.S. Space Force

President Trump achieved his goal of creating a stand-alone ‘Space Force’ which passed through the legislature at the end of 2019. So far the sixth military branch has received criticism while jokes and controversies have arisen since the uniforms and logo have been unveiled to the public. The logo, which many including Star Trek actor, George Takei, has commented looks similar to the Starfleet logo has received an abundance of jokes on social media since it was unveiled on Jan. 24. Wired reported that Trump believes ‘Space Force’ is a crucial branch to the military as he stated, “Space is the world’s newest warfighting domain,” when he signed the $738 billion defense bill in December.