Concordia College accounting students are offering free assistance to anyone needing help completing their tax forms. Students will be in the lower level of Moorhead Library on March 7, 14 and 28 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and on the upper level on March 21 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Items to bring to have your tax return prepared:
*Proof of Identification
*Birth dates for you, spouse, and all dependents
*Social Security Cards for you, spouse, and all dependents
*Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for you, spouse, and all dependents
*Form(s) W-2, W-2G, 1099-R, 1099 *A copy of last year’s federal and state returns
*Total paid for daycare provider and daycare provider’s TIN
Please note that Library staff can only direct customers to tax forms and information, they cannot provide tax advice. This program is sponsored in part by Concordia College VITA program. For more information on this and other programs, please call 218-233-7594 or visit your library at 118 S. 5th St. Information is also available online at www.larl.org. Moorhead Library is a branch of Lake Agassiz Regional Library.
Fargo Public Library Holds Bookmark Design Contest for Kids
FARGO, N.D. (Feb. 26, 2013) – Do you have a budding young artist at your house? Starting March 1, entries are being accepted for the Fargo Public Library’s 4th annual “Design a Bookmark Contest” for kids. The contest, to help celebrate March’s designation as Youth Art Month, is open to kids ages birth through age 12 and runs March 1 through March 31. Entry forms and contest rules can be picked up at any Fargo Public Library location and are also available on the library’s website, www.fargolibrary.org. Entries will be accepted at all three library locations and must be turned in on or before Saturday, March 31.
Three winners will be selected – one for each age group: 0 to 5 years, 6 to 8 years, and 9 to 12 years; children are welcome to submit up to three designs. All design entries will be displayed in the children’s department at the Main Library. Library staff will vote to determine the winners of the contest; winners will be announced April 5. Winning bookmark entries will be printed and distributed at all library locations. The winning originals designs will be put on permanent display at the downtown Main Library. For further information, visit the library’s website or call the Children’s Librarian at 241-1495.
UND Air Force ROTC to hold fourth annual chili cook-off event
The University of North Dakota’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 610 will hold its fourth annual chili cook-off from Noon – 2:00 PM Saturday, March 2nd at the UND Armory (across from Twamley Hall on Centennial Drive.)
UND Air Force ROTC Detachment 610 chili cook-off teams of cadets, with special guests Grand Forks Air Force Base Commander Col. Timothy Bush, Dean of the College of Business & Public Administration Dennis Elbert (UND’s ROTC advisor), as well as several UND professors and local high school Civil Air Patrol cadets.
For the fourth year in a row, individual cadets and teams from UND’s Air Force ROTC program, in addition to a few ROTC faculty members, will face-off to see who can make the best concoction of homemade chili. The cadets will compete for fun and prizes, including trophies for the top entry in four categories: Best Overall, Hottest, People’s Choice, and Worst Creation, according to Cadet/Lt. Col. Matthew R. Stout of UND Air Force ROTC program.
Enventis Announces $14,500 in Grant Awards in Fargo-Moorhead Area
Foundation marks 50 years of giving
MANKATO, Minn., Feb. 20, 2013— Enventis, a subsidiary of HickoryTech, is pleased to announce the HickoryTech Foundation has awarded five grants totaling $14,500 to non-profit organizations in the Fargo-Moorhead area. With a focus on education, critical community needs, and culture, the Foundation aims to strengthen community programs with its financial support.
Grants are being awarded to the following organizations:
· Rape and Abuse Crisis Center, Teen Talk Dating Violence Curriculum; $3,000
· Riding on Angels’ Wings, Hippotherapy scholarships for equine assisted activities for children; $3,000
· Village Family Service Center, Nokomis Child Care early literacy program; $3,000
· Red River Zoo, Edu Cart materials and Discovery Boxes; $3,000
· YWCA-Cass Clay, Education and Employment Program; $2,500
The HickoryTech Foundation is awarding 35 grants totaling $125,000 in communities served by the company.
“Over the past 50 years, our Foundation has made a notable impact on numerous organizations and programs in the communities we serve, and our grants to 35 different organizations this year are no exception,” said John Finke, HickoryTech president and chief executive officer. “We are proud to partner with many outstanding groups in our communities through our Foundation grants program and employee volunteerism.”
Additionally, HickoryTech has been recognized as a company that gives more than 3% of pre-tax profits to non-profit and charitable organizations through cash contributions and in-kind donations.
Grants are awarded on an annual basis and through a grant application process. Requests for the next fiscal year, which begins March 1, 2014, are due Dec. 1, 2013. More information on the Foundation is available at http://www.enventis.com/foundation. The Foundation’s Employee Matching Gift Program provided more than $23,000 in support to non-profit organizations last year. Additionally, the Foundation’s Employee Volunteer Bonus Program provides a monetary contribution to non-profit organizations at which employees volunteer 40 hours or more during a year.
Spring Forward into Savings at the Grand Forks Public Library!
What a deal! During the week of March 10th-16th if you bring one non-perishable food item to the Grand Forks Public Library you will receive $2.00 off your overdue fines! What a deal! You can knock off some of your fines and help the needy! All collected food items will be donated to St. Joseph’s Social Care and Thrift Store.
STATE PROGRAM PROVIDED 4,591 CAR SEATS TO LOW-INCOME FAMILIES DURING LAST TWO YEARS
ST. PAUL — A state program administered by the Minnesota Department of Public (DPS) Safety Office of Traffic Safety has provided 4,591 car seats during the last two years to families in need.
The Child Passenger Restraint and Education Account addresses the needs of low-income families to transport children safely. Child passenger safety seat violations fund the account to pay for the car seats. The program began in 1994.
Families that meet low-income guidelines may be eligible to receive car seats. There are more than 100 locations statewide where car seats are distributed (listed at BuckleUpKids.mn.gov). Car seats are made available through local public health offices, hospitals, law enforcement, fire departments and other agencies in partnership with DPS.
“The opportunity to make outreach to these families and assist them in protecting their children is critical to raising healthy families,” says Heather Darby, DPS child passenger safety coordinator. “Traffic crashes are the leading killer of children age 14 and younger and this fact can be remedied with education and proper use of car seats.”
Families who receive a car seat also receive an education and demonstration session from a trained child passenger safety technician to ensure they understand how to properly use the restraint.
When used correctly, child seats reduce the chance of death by 70 percent for infants less than 1 year old and by 54 percent for toddlers ages 1-4. A belt positioning booster with a lap-and-shoulder seat belt reduces a child’s risk of injury by 59 percent.
UND’s Global Visions Film Series
The Global Visions Film Series continues at 7 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays, in the Memorial Union Lecture Bowl. This spring marks its 10th year.
Films are:
· Hello I Must Be Going, Thursday, March 7: Directed by Todd Louiso, this 2012 film explores the life of a divorcee from suburban Connecticut who begins an affair with a 19-year old actor. The affair jump-starts her passion for life and helps her discover an independence and sense of purpose that she has missed for years.
· Iron Jawed Angels, Tuesday, March 26, portrays the defiant young activists who took the women’s suffrage movement by storm and put their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote. Directed by Katja von Garnier, the film runs 125 minutes.
· The Namesake, Tuesday, April 2, tells the story of American-born Gogol, the son of Indian immigrants, who wants to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers despite his family’s unwillingness to let go of their traditional ways. Directed by Mira Nair, the story unfolds the journey of the Ganguli family as they move from Calcutta to New York, portraying the balancing act of both culture shock that occurs upon entering a new country and cultural assimilation as the family attempts to become American without losing the great pride they carry within for India and their cultural values. The film was honored at both the Toronto and Telluride Film Festivals.
· Civil Action, Tuesday, April 30. Directed by Schindler’s List screenwriter Steve Zaillian, this film portrays a courtroom drama based on a true story and non-fiction book by Jonathan Harr. The case revolves around an incident in 1979 in East Woburn, Mass. where two drinking wells supplying water to the town were found to be contaminated with industrial solvents. When toxic waste was discovered later that year, suspicions arose that the local factories caused the pollution, and unusually high rate of leukemia deaths amongst the town’s children. The film is particularly poignant to North Dakota where ag toxins can be a controversial topic. The film is an hour and 52 minutes.
All films in the Global Visions Film Series are award winning national and international films, whose cinematic acuity and artistic perspectives reveal the realities of daily life from cross-cultural perspectives, exposing the unity and disparity of the human condition around the world.
The series is free and open to the public. Suggested goodwill donations of $1 are encouraged, but not required. Film-goers are encouraged to come early to ensure a seat.
Global Visions Film Series is directed by Marcia Mikulak, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and sponsored by the Black Student Association, the Era Bell Thompson Multicultural Center, and the Office of International Studies will bring an exciting array of films to the community of Grand Forks for the 10th consecutive year. The series is currently the only venue in Grand Forks to view award-winning, nationally recognized independent films from a wide variety of contemporary film makers around the world.