Fargo, N.D., Oct. 21 — North Dakota State University campus police officer Chris Potter was just doing his job. In this case, the job was helping to save a life.
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Potter, who joined University Police last year after 19 years with the Fargo Police Department, was honored Oct. 16 by F-M Ambulance with the Medal of Merit for springing to action to help save an 18-year-old woman who collapsed into cardiac arrest on Sept. 25 during a dance class in downtown Fargo.
“This was one of those critical situations where it was life or death,” Potter said. “All the circumstances came together to allow all of us who responded to make a difference that night. It’s another reminder of why we got into this profession in the first place: to help out in times of crisis.”
Potter was just finishing up with a traffic stop with another officer in downtown Fargo when a call came from dispatch that a woman was having a seizure at the Avalon Event Center. Just a block away at the time, Potter suggested the officers check out the call to see if they could assist until an emergency medical crew arrived.
Once on the scene, Potter and the other officer were alerted that the woman had stopped breathing. Potter took over chest compressions from a bystander as his partner relayed the severity of the situation to the emergency responders en route.
He continued chest compressions until fire and ambulance personnel arrived, and assisted with hooking up an automatic external defibrillator before turning over full control of the situation to paramedics. The woman’s health is slowly improving and she has a chance for a full recovery, according to an email from the woman’s father that Potter received several days after the incident.
“It really hit home for me because I have a daughter about the same age,” Potter said. “That’s all I could think about.”
“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time an NDSU police officer has received the award,” added Bill Vandal, NDSU chief of police. “We are extremely proud of Officer Potter and his actions that evening. Officer Potter is a true professional and performs his responsibilities with passion. We are lucky to work with such a great team member.”
Potter said the collaboration between all of the emergency responders that day helped save the woman’s life.
“There is an amazing level of professionalism and cooperation between all of the Fargo-Moorhead agencies,” Potter said. “I think we are really blessed here to have that. It was a team effort. There wasn’t just one person responsible for the positive outcome.”
Dakota Goodhouse to Perform in Fargo/Moorhead for Native American Heritage Month
On November 8, 2013, Dakota Goodhouse, an accomplished Native American flute musician and scholar, will present about the Dakota-Lakota winter count at three Fargo Public Schools throughout the day and the Spirit Room Gallery at 6pm. The evening event at Spirit Room (111 Broadway) is free and open to the public (donations welcomed). On Saturday, he will be performing flute music at the Pangea ― Cultivate Our Cultures festival at the Hjemkomst Center from 10 – 10:30 am. Pangea ― Cultivate Our Cultures is also free and open to the public.
Program Officer for the North Dakota Humanities Council (NDHC), Dakota Wind Goodhouse is originally from Fort Yates, ND and enrolled in the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. He is known to deliver beautiful music with his flute while weaving the stories behind the songs into his performances. Goodhouse learned to play the flute about eighteen years ago. “I study under Kevin Locke. I learned how to play the flute, but now I am learning the traditional composition style,” said Goodhouse. He believes music is a good way to recite stories. Therefore, the music he plays all carry a story behind them.
Dakota Goodhouse’s presentations are sponsored by North Dakota Humanities Council, Fargo Public Schools /West Fargo Public Schools Indian Education and the Spirit Room Gallery.
GF Sales Tax Revenue Third All-Time Highest
Sales tax collections have topped the $2 million mark for the second time in three months in Grand Forks. The City brought in more than $2 million for the month of October, the third highest amount recorded since the inception of sales tax in 1985.
This marks the second time this year the sales tax collection has topped the $2 million mark, and it’s the fourth time the revenue has landed in the top 10 list. The October revenue represents the sales tax collected for the month of August 2013.
Sales tax revenue for the City of Grand Forks is nearly 4% higher than the same time last year.
For the 2013 calendar year, the sales tax collected totals $16.3 million, up more than $613,000 from the same ten month span in 2012.
Cass County Sheriff’s
Office Sobriety Checkpoint
The Cass County Sheriff’s Office will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint in Cass County Friday October 25, 2013.The primary goal of a sobriety checkpoint is to educate and deter impaired driving. Proactive measures, such as sobriety checkpoints, along with continued cooperation and support of the motoring public, all contribute to safer travel throughout Cass County and decrease the potential for serious crashes that can occur on our roadways.
Prairie Roots Brings Revolutionary ‘
Food for Change’ Movie to Fargo
A revolutionary documentary film about the story of “cooperation in America”, and specifically food cooperatives, is showing at the Fargo Theatre on Sunday, November 3rd at 2:00pm. The movie will be followed by a discussion moderated by Christopher Gabriel, local radio show host at 3:30pm, and wrapping up with guests invited to continue the conversation at a reception at the Hotel Donaldson. Tickets are available at www.food4change.eventbrite.com