CITY CREWS TO PICK UP BRANCHES CURBSIDE ON SCHEDULED RECYCLING DAYS
This week’s ice storm has damaged tree limbs across the City of Moorhead. The Forestry Division will be cleaning up tree branches and debris curbside over the next several weeks on scheduled recycling days.
Please put downed limbs/branches along the boulevard so crews can pick them up with the brush chipper. Do not call for pickup; crews will be busy picking up along recycling routes. Cleanup will continue until the debris is cleaned up or as winter weather allows.
Additionally, crews will collect natural Christmas trees curbside from January 2-12, 2024. Place trees 3-5 feet from garbage/recycling cans. Remove plastic bags, lights, ornaments and stands.
Guidelines that will help this service work effectively:
Piles must not be larger than 12 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 4 feet high. A pile this size will take approximately 15-20 minutes to chip. If a pile is too big, crews will chip what is equivalent to 12x8x4 and leave the remainder until your next recycling day.
Branches must be 8 inches or smaller in diameter.
Pile branches so the base of limbs point in the same direction. This will make it easier to grab branches and feed them into the chipper. Piles with branches facing all directions take extra time because they need to be pulled apart and then fed into the machine.
Branches must be placed on the boulevard, not in alleys.
Branches should not be bundled.
Do not put brush in bags, garbage cans, wheelbarrows, or boxes.
Branches cannot be mixed with root balls, compost, leaves, trash, dirt, lumber, etc.
Wood debris can also be hauled to the City’s compost site at 1800 Hwy 75 N. (north of Centennial Park baseball fields on Hwy 75). It will be open from 8 am-4 pm from December 27-29.

MATBUS ANNOUNCES TEMPORARY SATURDAY SERVICE CHANGES STARTING JANUARY 13
Due to continued driver shortages, all MATBUS fixed routes and MATBUS Paratransit services will end at 8:15 pm on Saturdays beginning Jan. 13, 2024. This is a temporary reduction in hours from the current Saturday end time of 10:15 pm. There will be no changes to weekday service.
Temporary timetable changes will also begin on January 13 for the following routes: 6, 9, 13, and 16.
Route 6: not operating on Saturdays
Route 9: not operating on Saturdays
Route 13: reduced to hourly service on Saturdays, with trips leaving the Ground Transportation Center 15 minutes after each hour
Route 16: not operating on Saturdays
These changes will allow MATBUS to provide more reliable service for riders, while also allowing time to recruit and train additional drivers. Driver shortages are a nationwide trend in public transit, requiring service changes in transit agencies of every size.
These temporary MATBUS changes will be in effect until further notice. Any future service changes will be communicated to the public through the MATBUS News page, Facebook, X and local news outlets. MATBUS riders are also encouraged to sign up for Rider Alerts on the MATBUS website, which will allow them to receive direct emails about future announcements.

FREE ICE FISHING WEEKEND IN ND
NDGF
North Dakota’s free ice fishing weekend is Dec. 30 and 31. Resident anglers may fish those two days without a license. All other winter fishing regulations apply.
The weekend provides a great opportunity to try ice fishing for the first time or take someone new. Share your story for a chance to win a fish house.
Information on regulations, where to fish and what equipment is needed to ice fish is available on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov.

M STATE, PERHAM HIGH SCHOOL LAUNCH FIRST-IN-THE-REGION CDL TRAINING PROGRAM
MOORHEAD – High school seniors hit the gas on their commercial driving careers with ‘Road to CDL’ A new collaboration between M State and the Perham-Dent Public School District makes it possible for students to graduate high school with a Class A Commercial Driver’s License already in hand and gainful full-time employment all but guaranteed. Dubbed “Road to CDL,” the initiative is a first for the West Central Minnesota region.
“Road to CDL” is a training program that provides high school students with an affordable and tangible career pathway in commercial driving while simultaneously helping to bridge a regional workforce employment gap. M State’s Workforce Development Solutions (WDS) division and K12 department are working together with Perham High School to offer the program, with further support from local trucking businesses.
“We’re excited to discuss CDL training with high schools and create another career pathway for students,” says G.L. Tucker, Executive Director of WDS. “CDL licensure has been a hot topic for a while, as every zip code in America is short on CDL drivers. M State has been talking to high schools about a CDL program since last spring. Perham is the first to implement it, but other area schools have also expressed interest. We’re one of the largest CDL training providers in the region, if not the largest; we’re well-positioned to partner on a program like this.”
M State offers Class A and Class B CDL training programs to the public. For more information about those programs, email CDL@minnesota.edu or call the college’s WDS division at 218.846.3733.

LIGHT HOUSE RECOVERY SERVICES (LHRS) ANNOUNCES OPENING OF HOPE IN RECOVERY CENTER
FARGO – This center is a drop-in center, open 40 hours a week, with activities happening every day that we are open, and is member-led. LHRS received the contract through the STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES to provide this much needed Center in Fargo. The grand opening bash is set for December 31st from 8:00 pm to 12:30 am. We will be ringing in the New Year while celebrating this wonderful recovery center’s grand opening! Open Mic, Arts, crafts, pop-up recovery meetings, movies, games, food and more will all be happening during our New Years Eve, Grand Opening Bash. All are welcome to join in this celebration.
Hope in Recovery Center will be able to reach more people and offer additional services including, recovery education, peer-led recovery groups, structured activities, community outings, shuttles to other agencies events, weekend and evening activities, weekly meals, food baskets, and most importantly a safe place for people working on their mental health recovery to come together and build a community of support. All of this at no charge to the members of the center.