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SRT Donates $2500 to Upham Fire Supporters, Inc. for Upham Fire Protection District Safety Equipment

SRT Donates $2500 to Upham Fire Supporters, Inc. for Upham Fire Protection District Safety Equipment

SRT Upham Fire Donation 7.18.25_news

Minot, N.D. – SRT presented a check for $2500 to Upham Fire Supporters, Inc. toward purchasing new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs) for Upham Fire Protection District’s volunteer first responders.

The SCBAs are critical equipment for protecting volunteers responding to fires or hazmat emergencies. Upham Fire Protection District volunteers described a recent response to a house fire that was “solid smoke” and required entering through the roof and attic, which they could not have done without SCBAs.

Cheston Erdman, Fire Chief for Upham Fire Protection District, indicated that their previous SCBAs reached end-of-life and were no longer viable safety equipment. Each new SCBA setup includes a carbon fiber tank, face piece, harness, and thermal imager for added safety.

“We appreciate SRT’s donation to ensure the safety of our volunteers,” said Kolena Drader, Board Secretary of Upham Fire Supporters, Inc.

Upham Fire Supporters, Inc. is a charitable organization established to support Upham Fire Protection District through financial, educational, safety, and community programs.

Upham Fire Protection District serves more than 260 square miles and seven townships – including the nearby 59,000-acre J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge – with roughly 20 volunteer first responders.

Stanley Vangsness, SRT Board President, said about the donation, “SRT proudly supports first responders in our communities. We appreciate the dedication of Upham Fire Supporters, Inc. and Upham Fire Protection District and were honored to help them acquire new equipment.”

SRT Communications, headquartered in Minot, North Dakota, is the state’s largest telecommunications cooperative and a multi-gig internet provider. Established in 1951, SRT employs roughly 180 people and serves more than 25,000 customers across north-central North Dakota. SRT has a 100% fiber optic broadband network. Services include high-speed internet, phone, and security and surveillance systems for home and business. Learn more at www.srt.com.

TUTORIAL/FAQ

TUTORIAL/FAQ

Short Tutorial/FAQ – How Can I Manage What Ads I See on Facebook?

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Question: Sometimes I get irritated by the ads that show up in my Facebook feed. What can I do to manage them?

Answer: Below is information from the Facebook Help Center.

View and adjust your Ad preferences:
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Click Accounts Center, then click Ad preferences.
Note: Not everyone will be able to access this setting in Accounts Center at this time. If these steps don’t work for you, try updating your app or go to accountscenter.facebook.com on your web browser.

From here, you can select Customize ads or Manage info. In the Customize ads tab you can:
  • See your ad activity
  • Manage your ad topics
  • See the ads you’ve saved
  • Review advertisers you saw ads from
In the Manage info tab you can:
  • Manage information from your profile used to show you ads
  • Personalize ads based on your Activity information from ad partners
  • Choose if you get ads shown by Meta in other apps
  • Choose who can see your social interactions alongside ads.
Note: Changing your ad preferences influences which ads you see, but it won’t change the total number of ads you see.

Hide ads from an advertiser:
  • Click in the top right of the ad and choose Why am I seeing this ad?
  • Next to Hide all ads from this advertiser, click Hide.

CUSTOMER ALERT

CUSTOMER ALERT

Stay Alert – Fake Gift Card Balance-Checking Sites

Watch Out For Charity Scams Can’t remember the balance on one of your gift cards? Make sure you don’t accidentally go to a fake gift card balance-checking site!

As part of their customer service, many legitimate companies provide sites for customers to check their gift card balances. Unfortunately, scammers have become increasingly skilled at creating deceptive balance-checking sites with fake URLs. If you want to check your card balance and do a Google search, among the top results may be a link that seems perfectly legit — even endorsed by Google Ads — but the whole thing is just a facade. Should you end up on one of these fake sites and enter your gift card number and PIN, you’ll unknowingly give scammers direct access to the funds on your card.

Keep this in mind: Just because a site to check your gift card balance appears at the top of a search, it does not mean it’s legitimate. Search results can be filled with fake gift card balance-checking sites, and scammers are constantly finding new ways to get their pages to show up at the top of results.

The safest way to check the balance of a gift card is to refer to the back of the card for a web address or phone number. If this information is not provided, proceed with caution. Avoid entering your gift card details into any search result labeled as “Sponsored” or “Ad.” In addition, be cautious of any site title that appears in wacky fonts or next to odd emojis. Scammers often use this tactic to make their fake sites both visually pop and appear towards the top.

Foundation for Rural Service Now Accepting Community Grant Applications

Foundation for Rural Service Now Accepting Community Grant Applications

The Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) is currently accepting applications for their Community Grant Program.  FRS is a nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association to sustain and enhance the quality of life in America by advancing an understanding of rural issues. As a member of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, rural communities within SRT’s area can apply for the Community Grant Program offered by FRS. This grant program looks for current projects that will improve quality of life and create sustainable rural communities for its residents. The FRS Community Grant Program is a great way for projects in rural communities to receive potential financial assistance. If accepted, the grants awarded range from $250 to $5,000.
 
FRS provides priority to projects that:
 
  • Could be fully funded by the grant maximum of $5,000 or have at least 75% of the project currently funded.
  • Technology and broadband enabled focused projects.
  • Have a long-term impact for the community and its residents.
  • Promote community participation and engagement.
  • Create a more sustainable rural community.
SRT has had two local recipients in recent years. In 2023, $5,000 was awarded to the Minot Regional Impact Centers to develop and launch an online app to identify uneaten prepared food that can be collected and distributed through a network of programs that feed the hungry. 
 
In 2024, Local Motives in Minot received $5,000 to procure three checker/chessboard picnic tables for Citizens Alley to enhance passive recreation, foster community engagement, and enrich the public plaza experience. Citizens Alley will be open to the public this summer.
 
Interested? Click here to fill out an application or pick up an application guide at SRT headquarters in Minot, 3615 N Broadway.
 
The deadline to submit your application proposal is September 3, 2025.

TUTORIAL/FAQ

TUTORIAL/FAQ

Short Tutorial/FAQ – What Are the Downsides of 5G Home Internet?

Download Graphics to View Question: I’m hearing big promises from 5G home internet. What are the downsides?

Answer: As the saying goes, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Some customers who switched to 5G home internet are feeling buyer’s remorse for these reasons:
  1. Service is less stable. Signals for 5G travel through the air rather than in cables underground, and speeds tend to fluctuate more often.

  2. Actual speeds are often slower than advertised ones. Factors such as network congestion, buildings and other obstructions, and inclement weather can slow down speeds.

  3. During peak usage times, your connection may be deprioritized. This is because 5G home internet is a connection shared by many users.

  4. The farther you are from the radio towers, the weaker your internet signal will be. Since 5G home internet uses radio frequencies, the travel distances of the signals are limited.

  5. 5G home internet isn’t as good as fiber internet. Fiber is the fastest, most reliable internet available.