Add Checking Smoke, CO Alarms to Your Spring Cabin to-do List

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Finally, sunshine and warm weather! You’ve been cooped up all winter, so naturally your first instinct is to drive up to the cabin and get it ready for summer. You probably have quite the to-do list: Put the dock back in the water. Turn on the utilities. Do some cleaning and air it out.

As long as you’re checking boxes, be sure to add the most important two: Make sure the smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in your cabin are working, and make a fire escape plan. Our latest blog tells you how.

Competitors Show Off Skills at Minnesota Utility Locate Rodeo

You’ve seen those little multicolored flags stuck in the ground at construction sites or maybe even in yards in your neighborhood. They’re there because someone is planning on digging and called Gopher State One Call at 811. Gopher State One Call contacted various companies that might have underground utilities in the area (think water, sewer, gas, electricity, and phone, to name a few), who sent out people to locate the utilities and mark them with those multicolored flags so that whoever’s doing the digging can avoid them.

Locating underground utilities involves sophisticated equipment and precise measurements. Read the DPS Blog to learn how utility locators compare their skills in locate rodeos.

​What’s the Latest on REAL ID?

By now, you’ve probably heard that, come Oct. 10, your standard Minnesota driver’s license won’t be enough to get you on a domestic flight. You’ve also heard that REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and ID cards won’t be available in Minnesota until Oct. 1.

What to do if you plan to get on a plane on, say, Oct. 11? Don’t worry – you have options. Enhanced driver’s licenses or ID cards and U.S. passports will work, so check out our blog to get the latest REAL ID update.