The Common Ground Alliance and its stakeholders have designated April 2010 as National Safe Digging Month. This month is dedicated to increasing awareness of safe digging practices across the country and to celebrate the three-year anniversary of 811, the national call-before-you-dig number.

Throughout the busy digging month of April, CGA and its members are encouraging homeowners and contractors to call 811 before they dig to prevent injuries, property damage and inconvenient outages.

Did you know?

• More than 200,000 underground utility lines are struck each year in the U.S.?
• 37% of all U.S. digging damages result from not calling before digging.
• Utilities are buried only a few inches underground, making them easy to strike even during shallow digging projects.

Here are some ways you can participate:

• Join us in National Safe Digging Month by calling 811 before beginning any outdoor digging project, large or small.
• If a neighbor is planning a digging project, remind them to call 811 before they break ground.
• If you have a web site, personal blog or or e-newsletter, you can post our "We Support Safe Digging Month" button on your profile to show your support for safe digging.
• Encourage your organization or company to sign a "Safe Digging Month Proclamation."

As you are fully aware 2010 is a census year. Most likely you have already received a census form in the mail. Completing the form is extremely important for our community.

"The U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2 mandates that an apportionment of representatives among the states, for the House of Representatives, be carried out every ten years (decennially). Apportionment is the process of dividing the 435 seats in the US House of Representatives among the 50 states. Congress decides the method to carry out the apportionment and, since 1940, has used the method of ‘equal proportions’ in accordance with Title 2, US Code.

Using equal portions, each state is assigned one congressional seat (as provided by the Constitution). The apportionment formula then allocates the remaining 385 seats one at a time among the 50 states until all 435 seats are assigned.

In addition to apportionment, the decennial census results are used to:

• distribute almost $200 billion annually in Federal and state, local, and tribal funds;
• draw state legislative districts;
• evaluate the success of programs or identify populations in need of services;
• and many other purposes. The URL http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/content.htm has a comprehensive review of each of the questions and why it is asked.

While the federal government uses census data for many purposes, businesses, students, and many others also user census data. Businesses may use the data to decide where to locate an outlet, or to select products for a specific area. Students research neighborhoods and cities for class projects and the local parent-teacher organization may use data to track trends in the local area. Historians, writers, and other researchers use census data to get a flavor of what the country looked like at a particular point in time. "