Halloween is nearly here. Celebrate the holiday safely with free family-friendly events. Fort Lewis College will rename the School of Business Administration, the Katz School of Business, in honor of a $10.4 million donation by the Katz family. Join a School Safety Training by the I Love You Guys Foundation and Durango School District 9R on November fourth. And the City of Durango has put out a call for local artists to beautify the Santa Rita Water Reclamation facility. You’re watching the “Local News Roundup,” brought to you by The Payroll Department and Sky Ute Casino. I’m Wendy Graham Settle. Mark Katz, co-founder of Mercury Payment Systems and his wife, Jane Katz, have donated $10.4 million to the Fort Lewis College’s School of Business Administration. The donation, the single largest gift in Fort Lewis College history, will fund a range of initiatives in the business school, including three endowed professorships, a faculty and student development fund, and a student run marketing agency to name a few. In recognition of the gift, the School of Business Administration will be renamed the Katz School of Business, the first time that an entire academic school has been named in honor of a family. On November 6th, Durango School District 9R is hosting an essential safety training, run by John-Michael Keyes and Carly Posey of the I Love You Guys Foundation. The training is open to teachers, school safety teams, administrators, law enforcement, and others invested in school safety. During the day long event, the training will review the standard response protocol, hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate, and shelter, what each term means, and how to implement them during a crisis. There will be a segment on incident command and how it relates to crisis management for educators, and a deep dive into the standard reunification method, how to safely and effectively reunite students and parents and guardians in the event of an emergency. The training is free, but space is limited, so reserve online before the event. The I Love You Guys Foundation was founded by John-Michael and Ellen Keys after their daughter was killed during a school shooting in 2006. The foundation provides free accessible training to more than 45,000 schools and communities around the country. The City of Durango is looking for artists to brighten up the Santa Rita Water Reclamation facility. There are five possible art projects, a mural, repairs and enhancements to an existing statue, bathroom and way finding signage, and an interactive and interpretive art space. The total budget to be split among the projects is $100,000. Artist questions are due by 3:00 PM on October 30th, and artist proposals are due by November 7th at 3:00 PM The selected proposals will be announced the week of November 21st. Celebrate Halloween safely this year with the Downtown Durango Children’s Halloween. Businesses on Main and Second Avenue will be offering treats of all sorts to children under the age of 10, dressed in their best costumes, and accompanied by an adult, from four to 6:00 PM Halloween evening. Make sure to join TBK Bank and the Boys and Girls Clubs of La Plata County in the TBK Bank parking lot for a Halloween carnival and trunk or treat, also from four to 6:00 PM. Games are free for anyone 14 and younger, and there will be a variety of treats, games, and activities. Learn more about these and other stories online at durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of the “Local News Roundup,” I’m Wendy Graham Settle.
