1. Trump administration makes new $916 billion offer for COVID-19 aid
The Trump administration proposed a $916 billion coronavirus relief package on Tuesday, after congressional Democrats shot down a suggestion for a pared-down plan from the Senate's leading Republican, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he presented the administration's $916 billion plan in a conversation with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat. Writing on Twitter, he said it included money for state and local governments, a Democratic priority, and liability protections for businesses, a Republican priority.
2. East Grand Forks School Board extends full-time distance learning to Jan. 4
The East Grand Forks School Board has voted to extend full-time distance learning for all students through the holidays.
At a special meeting Tuesday evening, Dec. 8, board members unanimously decided that students will return to their regular learning models on Jan. 4. For elementary school students, that means full-time in-person learning, and for middle and high school students, that means in-person learning and distance learning on alternating days to keep their school buildings at 50%.
3. Wedding goes on as planned, despite nearby building fire
Mitchell and Hayley Maanum were pretty calm after their wedding ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 5, as they posed for a photo while a fire raged in a large building across the street from their wedding venue in Fargo, said Abby Johnson, the wedding photographer.
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Johnson recalled arriving at the Ivy and Rose Warehouse shortly before 3 p.m. that day, when someone noticed that a building across the street was on fire and called 9-1-1, she said.
4. East Grand Forks readies its 2021 city budget
The latest budget proposal winding its way through East Grand Forks City Hall would chop the city government’s predicted budget deficit approximately in half.
City administrators on Tuesday presented an $11.86 million 2021 budget that would outstrip the city’s predicted revenue by about $253,000. Before that, they had predicted a budget gap of about $505,000, which city leaders asked to be trimmed considerably. If City Council members finalize the latest iteration of their spending plan later this month, it will mean canceling the once-planned purchases of a police SUV, a parks department pickup truck, playground equipment and more.
5. UND graduate named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list
What started as a spark of an idea while visiting a gelato shop in the Netherlands has landed UND graduate Maartje Murphy on Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Murphy, who graduated from UND, is the owner and founder of Duchessa Gelato , a gelato business based in Carrington.
She said she was shocked to find out that she had made the 30 Under 30 Food and Drink list.
“It was a fun surprise,” she said.
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