Hasn’t the weather been great lately? I know we’ve had our share of rain recently but with the warm temperatures it’s great to see the snow melting so rapidly. Just a reminder that this weekend Daylight Saving Time begins that means we’ve got to move our clocks one hour ahead. I don’t appreciate the time change. It takes my body a good week or so to adapt to the change but I do love having that extra hour of daylight in the evening.

Dr. Paul Koskinen & Mary Jo JessICTV staff members produced the first program in our new series “Animal Answers”. Mary Jo Jess has agreed to be the host for the series. Our first program was with Dr. Paul Koskinen, from the Arrowhead Animal Clinic. This first program is all about ticks. He talked about and had samples to show the differences between wood ticks and deer ticks and talked about awareness and prevention for tick diseases in pets and humans. This first program is scheduled to be cablecast this Friday, March 5 at 5:30 pm on your local public access channel. Also stay tuned for the next program in the series. It will be all about dog bite prevention with Dr. Hans Kaldahl from Grand Rapids Veterinary Clinic.

ElderCircle ForumLinda Morrow, the former director of Eldercircle retired in December. Newcomer, Kristi Kane has completed her first Eldercircle Forum interview. Kristi talked with Jo Musich who is a University of Minnesota Extension Educator. They talked about the “Powerful Tools for Caregivers” workshop being offered here in Itasca County. Caregiving takes many forms. You may help a friend or relative with transportation, grocery shopping, emotional support, social activities, financial concerns, housekeeping, personal care, doctor appointments, living arrangements, legal or insurance issues. This workshop which includes six two-and-a-half hour class sessions gives caregivers tools to help them reduce stress, improve self-confidence, balance their life, better communicate their feelings, increase their ability to make tough decisions and learn to locate helpful resources. Look for this program to be cablecast on Monday afternoon beginning at 4:00 PM on your local public access channel.

Mary Streufert & Ann Backes-DodgeIt has been a while but recently ICTV staff produced another program in the Big View on Business series. Ann Backes-Dodge, the host for the series, talked with Mary Streufert. She is the Regional Coordinator for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Northeast Chapter. They talked about the impact the economic downturn has had on Minnesota nonprofits. Mary stated that nonprofits are facing many challenges. A decrease in state budget funding affects many nonprofits because many rely on state funding. When the stock market goes down foundations have less money to give out and with high unemployment many people have fewer discretionary funds and end up cutting their budgets and giving less to nonprofits. Mary also pointed out in these difficult times the increased demands for basic necessities like food and shelter put more pressure on nonprofits like food shelves to do more with less funds. Mary did talk about a bright spot for nonprofits in Minnesota, its called givemn.org. It’s a way for Minnesotans to discover, support and engages with charities.  read more »