This past week has been a blur of activity, five meetings in three days have put me on information overload, and I'm going to use the column to catch up on all the tidbits I overlooked in my daily stories.

Actually it was six meetings if you count the Burleigh County Commission turning into the Burleigh County Park Board during the course of the regular commission meeting Wednesday. All the members on the commission also sit on the park board, which includes two extra members, Bob Gregoire and Reiny Kellar.

The meetings, in order, were: Morton County Commission, Mandan City Commission, Burleigh County Commission, Burleigh County Park Board, Bismarck Park Board and Lincoln City Council.

Here are those overlooked items plus a few extras.

Two to be recognized

The Morton County Park Board will be having a special recognition of two longtime board members, Richard Baron and Howard Hendrickson, at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in the courthouse's commission room. Both men have recently stepped down from the board.

Petitions due Monday

The second set of petitions being circulated to recall Lincoln council members Karen Daly, Pete Hoerner and Mayor Glenn Christmann have still not been turned in and Monday is the deadline. Auditor Kim Kramer is expecting them on Monday, after which she will have three days to verify the signatures, certify all seven petitions and call for an election.

Market still operating

The Capital Farmers Market informed me it can still be found on the Kmart parking lot Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m., and on Sunday, beginning at noon.

McDowell Dam the subject

There will be a public input meeting on the McDowell Dam recreation area at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Tom Baker Room of the City/County Building.

The Burleigh County Water Resource District is sponsoring the meeting and will kick things off with a presentation before taking comments.

Libraries might merge

A proposed merger of the Morton County and Mandan libraries is in the works. County and city residents will likely get to vote on the merger, separately. In other words, if the county residents, outside Mandan city limits, don't want a merger there won't be one, and city residents will be accorded the same decision.

According to Morton County Commissioner Mark Bitz, the benefits of the merger far outweigh the negatives. Several things still remain to be worked out, including whether city library employees would become county employees or vice versa.

Who did what

My buddy Don Ronsberg informs me that it's not the Division of Emergency Services, which has replaced the familiar "Division of Emergency Management," but the "Department of Emergency Services," directed by the adjutant general. The department is comprised of the Division of Homeland Security being directed by Sue Reinertson, and the Division of State Radio, directed by Russ Timmreck.

A whole lot of changes appear to be going on with the former NDDEM, and after all the dust settles, I'll have to follow up.

UTTC request considered

The Burleigh County Commission held a hearing on vacating two section lines on property owned by United Tribes Technical College just south of the campus. UTTC says they need the public easements vacated to allow construction of student residences. The commission tabled action as it tries to determine public benefit in vacating section lines.

Commission may add meeting

Burleigh County commissioners also are considering the possibility of holding two regular monthly meetings. It seems they may have to in order to pay bills appropriately. Commissioners have asked State's Attorney Richard Riha to get an attorney's general opinion on the matter. They will hold a second meeting this month on July 18.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@bismarcktribune.com.)