Month: April 2020

Senator Mark Johnson (R – East Grand Forks) said he was disappointed in Governor Tim Walz’s extension of the Stay at Home order through May 18.  Johnson’s response is below – 

I couldn’t be more disappointed with the decision to continue the stay-at-home order until May 18 in MN.

In discussions with our area hospitals, they tell me they are ready for Covid patients but have not had any admitted into their facilities. Yet, because they were ordered to curtail their operations, they sit nearly empty and bleeding funds, jeopardizing rural healthcare.

Our small businesses are doing all they can to stay afloat. Luckily many received PPP funds that will take them to June, but it will take them a long time to get back on track even after they are allowed to open.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has proactively transitioned the entire State of Minnesota into burning restrictions consistent with Gov. Tim Walz’s executive orders. Currently, recreational fires are permissible, but open burning will require a permit within city limits, according to Crookston Firefighter Justin Johnson. “If there is a burning ban in the city, even recreational fires will not be permitted,” said Johnson. “If you’re ever curious if it’s allowed, call the fire department and/or check on the DNR website for all burning bands.  It is required that if you are going to do any open burning on your property in the City of Crookston, you have to have a burn permit.”

The only permits being granted for non-recreational fires both in the city and in the entire fire district are variance permits. Johnson said that ultimately the DNR will determine whether anyone is allowed to burn with their variance permit. “Burn permits are currently required,” said Johnson. “It is probably best right now with COVID that you call in advance to get your permit so that we can fill out the required information. Then, you can stop down to get your permit and then activate it. With the COVID-19 pandemic, only variance permits are being allowed at this time, and it will be up to the DNR if you are ultimately allowed to burn in the Crookston district.”

Those looking to burn will still obtain their permit through the fire department, but Johnson says people should call in advance so they can be filled out ahead of pickup. “You need to have a permit filled out from the Crookston Fire Department, along with a DNR permit before you burn at all right now,” said Johnson. “And you need to have it activated, and the permit signed before you start the fire. When you get these permits, you need to call us in advance and then follow the rest of the directions on the permit for your open burning. If you have any other recreational fire questions or burn permit questions, please feel free to call us at the CFD at 281-4584.”

The Crookston Fire Department provided a simplified version of the City of Crookston Burning Rules below, or the full rules can be found in the City Code Ordinance Section 94.60.

At least 145 employees at LM Wind Power in Grand Forks have tested positive for COVID-19, one of which was a spouse of an employee working at Highland Elementary School.
“First of all, to shed some light on what happens – if we hear anything about a child, or family member of a child that might have some signs or symptoms or is sick, ill, we immediately get that to our nurse Laurie Coauette,” said Highland School Principal Chris Trostad. “She does a great job. She communicates with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) almost daily. And so, then, we ask for guidance, and Laurie will get information back and share that with myself. We had a situation where we hard an employee’s spouse that tested positive about five days after that person had been working with one child in our daycare.”

Trostad said, contrary to other information that has been shared, the school reached out to the Minnesota Department of Health to notify them of the COVID-19 case’s relation to the district and to seek guidance. “Once we learned of that, we contacted the MDH,” said Trostad. “I think there is some misinformation on some social media things I’ve read.  MDH did not notify us, we contacted the MDH with Laurie Coauette, our nurse. They ended up sending us back some guidance. They classified it as very low risk because neither the worker or the child had any symptoms when they were together, and it was five days later when the employee’s spouse tested positive. So, I think we’re doing a really good job with Laurie communicating with families. They are doing a really good job about sharing potential issues, contacting the MDH, getting guidance, and even sometimes the MDH has a sample letter that I can send home to parents notifying parents as much as we can.”

Trostad commended custodial staff who have been disinfecting the school throughout each day. “Our custodial staff, I want to commend them too,” said Trostad. “They’re cleaning and disinfecting like crazy.  When the kids go for lunch, they are going into the daycare area to disinfect. When the kids go outside, they are going in to disinfect. I know everything is being disinfected as best as possible multiple times a day. So, I just wanted the information out there that if we learn of anything, we contact the department of health and look for guidance. Then, whatever they tell us, that’s what we’ve been doing. Laurie Coauette has been doing a great job of that, but I feel there has been some misinformation on social media. The MDH didn’t notify us, we notified the MDH and asked for guidance.  If any parents have any questions, they can contact me, or Laurie Coauette here at Highland School, and we’d be more than happy to answer any questions they might have.”

Trostad said that in addition to classifying the risk of transmission to the daycare as low risk, the MDH’s guidance was to continue to monitor and check for symptoms among staff and children. “The guidance from the MDH is simply to continue to monitor signs and symptoms,” said Trostad. “We check temps, and if there’s any signs or symptoms that children have, they can’t stay in the daycare, they have to go home. And if there are signs or symptoms that a family member is having, families have been really good about keeping their kids away from daycare. We’ve had two situations that were kind of close, but in both situations, I think due to the communication with the families and the school.  And then the families keeping the kids out of the school or the employee staying out of the school, I think, due to information being provided to us as fast as possible, we’ve been able to eliminate having any of that COVID-19 get into our daycare.”

The Village Family Service Center has been awarded $2,500 to purchase technology for its Grand Forks office staff to assist with remote work arrangements during the COVID-19 crisis. The funds came from the Nonprofit Relief Fund, distributed in the Grand Forks area by the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, and the region.

The 2020 Nonprofit Relief Fund provides immediate support for nonprofits and eligible public entities impacted by the COVID-19 disaster in Grand Forks and Walsh Counties in North Dakota and Polk County in Minnesota.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Village staff are providing mental health counseling and other behavioral health services online or by telephone instead of in person. To access telehealth services, call 701-746-4584 or visit www.TheVillageFamily.org to request an appointment online.

KROX will broadcast a press conference with Governor Tim Walz today at 2:00 p.m. today and he will provide an update on the Stay Home Order and the State of Minnesota’s next steps to combat COVID-19.  Governor Walz will be joined by Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm; Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove; and Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Joe Kelly for this conference.

You can listen to the press conference on KROX Radio, online by clicking on the listen live tab in the upper right hand corner of the page, on the KROX app, or Alexa.