Month: April 2020

UPDATE 4/16/20 11:15 a.m.

This fire occurred at 2461 Estabrook Dr in Grand Forks. The victim has been identified as the resident of the trailer, Charles Currier, 63.

The fire was isolated to one section of the interior of the trailer and likely occurred sometime over the past few days. It was not noticed by anyone in the area and was only discovered by officers who responded to a requested welfare check called in by a neighbor who had not seen the victim in several days.

The cause of the fire and Currier’s death are under investigation by the Grand Forks Police Department, Grand Forks Fire Department and North Dakota Fire Marshal’s Office. No indications of foul play have been identified at this time.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Grand Forks Police Department by one of the following methods:

Call:                       701-787-8000
Online:                 Submit a tip via the GFPD’s Facebook or website
App:                     Submit a tip via the Tip411 app

 ORIGINAL RELEASE

Officers from the Grand Forks Police Department were requested to do a welfare check on a male that had not been observed in some time.

A deceased male was found in the home at 2461 Estabrook.  There was obvious fire damage to the interior of the home.

The criminal investigations bureau from GFPD, the investigators from the Grand Forks Fire Department and the State Fire Marshal’s office is conducting an investigation.

As this is an ongoing investigation no other details will be released at this time. 

The Point Bridge on Minnesota Ave. will be opening at 3 p.m. today.  The Red River is expected to fall below the 44-foot level by tomorrow morning.

The Greenway in Grand Forks is still closed.  The community is asked to stay out of the Greenway and off of the levees as the water continues to go down.

The Severe Weather Awareness Week Topic for Wednesday is Floods and Flash Floods.  Flooding is one of the most common natural hazards in Minnesota.  Seasonal snowmelt floods tend to develop slowly, while flash floods develop quickly during a big storm. 

Crookston Firefighter Chris Klawitter said floods are the most common natural disaster in Minnesota.  “They are the most common natural disaster in Minnesota,” said Klawitter.  “Seasonal snowmelt floods tend to develop slowly, which is what we’ve experienced this spring and most other springs, meaning we have some time to make plans.  Flash floods can develop very quickly and leave little time for preparation.  We did have some flooding issues with the torrential rain last fall.  The water came very fast, and we had some flash flood situations in areas we weren’t quite used too.”

Additionally, Klawitter says if you are considering buying flood insurance, you should do so at least 30 days in advance. “Before a flood, the best thing you can do in advance of at least 30 days is to have flood insurance if you are in a flood-prone area,” said Klawitter.  “The policy needs ample time to be in effect.  You can’t call the morning that you are flooding and expect to have flood insurance that will cover you.  Elevate your stuff in the basement, such as furnaces, water heaters, make sure electrical appliances are up off the floor in case you do get water.  And install check valves, meaning one-way valves, in your sewer system so you can’t get back-up through the sewer system.” 

Flash flooding and overland flooding can create dangerous situations for driving.  People shouldn’t drive through water as few as six inches of water can cause loss of control and potentially stall a car.  A foot of water will float many vehicles, and two feet of rushing water will carry away most vehicles, including SUVs and pickups. 

Minnesota’s statewide tornado drill will take place on Thursday.  Outdoor warning sirens and NOAA Weather Radios across the state will be sounded at 1:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.

Trainers with The Village Employee Assistance Program (EAP) are providing free online training workshops on certain Wednesdays in April and May. The sessions will address topics relevant to coping during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each virtual event will begin at noon and last about 45 minutes, including time for participant questions.

The sessions are the first of The Business Bite, a series of lunchtime talks on topics that matter, hosted by The Village Business Institute. The dates and topics for the first three workshops are:

• April 22: Self-Care for the Remote Worker. Nancy Boyle examines the importance of setting boundaries and caring for yourself when working remotely.
• May 6: Positively Navigating Change. Robert Jones shares how to find ways to stay on course during a rapidly changing time.
• May 20: Acknowledging Loss and Celebrating Milestones. Jones and Cole Brunner look at the grief that comes with postponed or canceled milestone celebrations and will offer resources and ideas for ensuring they are still are acknowledged.

The sessions will be offered through the Go-To-Training platform and are limited to 50 participants each. To register for any of the training, visit www.TheVillageFamily.org/Eventbrite.  

The Village Business Institute is a program of The Village Family Service Center, which strengthens kids and families across Minnesota and North Dakota through behavioral health services. These include mental health counseling, in-home family therapy, financial counseling, adoption, mentoring, employee assistance programs, and more. For more information, visit www.TheVillageFamily.org.

Biermaier Chiropractic Clinic is giving away $25 in Chamber Bucks each of the next three Fridays – April 17, 24 and May 1 – through a drawing.  The giveaway is meant to get people active while they are staying at home, said Dr. Lukas Biermaier. “We came up with this fun promotion spur of the moment to try to get people a little more active because we’re all staying home during this stay home order,” said Biermaier.  “So, we thought we’d have something fun to do to get people out and about.  And especially because the weather hasn’t been cooperating with us, we thought we’d ad a little incentive to get people moving a little bit.”

People can enter every day by Facebook or email explained Biermaier. “It’s a pretty simple giveaway,” said Biermaier.  “All we’re having people do is they can find our clinic, Biermaier Chiropractic Clinic, on Facebook.  They can tag us in a Facebook post of a picture of them working out.  It can be as simple walking your dog or taking your kids for a walk or something a little more extravagant like doing a big workout.  Simply tag our clinic, so we get notified that you’re doing some sort of activity.  You can also email us a picture if you don’t have Facebook.  They can email the clinic at biermaierchiropractic@gmail.com.  That’s one of the simplest ways you can let us know that you are doing something.  What we do is we take whoever has done a workout of some sort and put their name into a drawing for a $25 gift card at the end of this week, Friday, April 17.  We will also do it on Friday, April 24, and Friday, May 1.  We’re trying to hit these three weeks that the governor has us staying home to get us out and about.  You can enter every day that you’re working out, so you can tag us every day to get entered into the drawing, and we’ll keep it going for the next week as well.”

Biermaier said it’s important to stay active to avoid injuries that come with underuse and being sedentary. “The big thing we want to promote with this is to get people out and active,” said Biermaier.  “The one thing that we’ve seen a little more frequently is some acute underuse injuries, which means people are staying home.  That is good, but people also are not doing as much as they normally do when they are in their workplace or around town going for those walks and shopping.  This provides a little incentive for people to get out and about and hopefully prevents those underuse and sedentary type injuries that we’ve seen in here to keep people up and active, which is what our bodies are meant to do.”