Melissa Van Der Stad

Tuesday's event was packed with local residents in advance of next week's election to hear from candidates for Moorhead City Council and Minnesota's House of Representatives for District 4A and 4B.

The second phase of the sports center — boasting pickleball courts, ice rinks, an indoor playground and additional hardwood courts — marches closer to its January completion date.

“We’re feeling really good about where we’re at right now,” Fargo Dome Authority chairperson said. “We’re thankful we got a chance to get our message out. ... Now, it’s in the hands of the voters.”

The ongoing drought has strained rural firefighters and taken a toll on their vital equipment and limited budgets, Emergency Manager Jim Prochniak told commissioners on Monday.

Fargo voters appear to have voted to implement a 20-year, quarter-cent sales tax to fund operations, equipment and new buildings for the Fargo Fire Department and Fargo Police Department.

This is the second attempt for both of these ballot measures, which failed to pass as a unit during a special election hosted by the city of Fargo last December.

“Obviously the impacts of that move (by the DOCR) are felt statewide but, as the largest county jail in the state, that impact is particularly acute,” County Administrator Robert Wilson said.

When the polls closed on Tuesday, Nov. 5, residents of Fargo learned that voters emphatically approved a quarter-cent sales tax to fund the city's fire and police departments.

It’s full steam ahead now that Fargo voters have approved funding a new convention center. However, this project still requires a lot of planning before becoming a reality.

“This is a tourist attraction… for the city and the region,” Downtown Community Partnership's Rocky Schneider said. “A lot of people come to downtown and I think they are enjoying Broadway Square.”