Month: August 2020

On Friday, August 14 at approximately 9:05 a.m., the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a property damage traffic accident that involved a BSNF train and a semi dump truck. The nearest intersection was 290th Ave SW and 260th St. SW in Rural Crookston MN. Deputies arrived and were able to determine that the train had struck the dump truck while it was on the tracks. The driver of the dump truck was John Bertils age 57. No injuries were sustained. Crookston Fire Department and the Minnesota State Patrol assisted with the call. At this time no further details are being released.

The Minnesota Department of Health is reporting 738 new cases of COVID-19 from 16,617 completed tests for a 4.4 percent positive rate and eight deaths. Five new cases were reported in Polk County for 161 total cases in the county. All the numbers are below –

Updated August 14, 2020
Updated daily at 11 a.m., with data current as of 4 p.m. the previous day.

Data is for cases that were tested and returned positive. All data is preliminary and may change as cases are investigated. Many data points are collected during case interviews. Data presented below is for all cases, regardless of interview status. Data for cases pending interview may be listed as “unknown/missing.”

Not all suspected cases of COVID-19 are tested, so this data is not representative of the total number of people in Minnesota who have or had COVID-19. Cumulative numbers are since Jan. 20, 2020.

Other Statistics

• Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children (MIS-C) Statistics
• Minnesota COVID-19 Public Dashboard
• Minnesota’s COVID-19 Response and Preparation Capacity
• CDC: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Cases in the U.S.
• Minnesota COVID-19 Modeling

Data in the data tables is correct as of 11 a.m. daily. Dynamic images and maps for case demographics, likely exposure, residence, and residence type will update shortly after 11 a.m. daily and will not work if your browser is in compatibility mode.

Polk County Public Health has released the latest COVID-19 information for the past week. There were 11 new cases from August 6-12. There have been 156 total cases since March and 129 (84.9 percent) of the cases are out of isolation. There have been four deaths since March.
The good news is the County had 11 positive tests, which was down from a high of 21 for the week of July 31 – August 6 and 20 cases the week of July 24 – July 30.

Information graphs, compliments of Polk County Public Health, are below – 

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The United Way of Crookston held a virtual annual awards meeting due to COVID-19 giving out a number of awards to local individuals and businesses. The awards are below –

Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Service
Sarah Olmstead

Community Partner Award
Biermaier Chiropractic Clinic, PA

Outstanding Giving Award
Dr. Ted and Lynnette Olson
Dr. Pete and Ann Graham

Outgoing Board Members
Kari Brault
Tara Rodriguez
Lee Groeschl

Board Chair Tracy Kuchan passed the gavel to Jacqueline Cournia for 2020-2021. The board for the next year includes:

Nell DeBoer – Vice Chair
Sarah Olmstead – Treasurer
Marley Melbye – Secretary
Jana Brekken
Rich Clauson
Shane Heldstab
Tracy Kuchan
Betsy Larson
Tammy Moe
Eric Morgan
Abdou Niang
Laurie Stahlecker

The board also welcomed new members Allan Dragseth and Sarah Ringdahl.

Executive Director Lori Wagner also shared a message to conclude to the meeting below –

We deeply missed the opportunity to see everyone at the United Way’s Annual Awards meeting this year canceled due to Covid-19.  It is especially important to us that we share our successes of the 2020 Campaign and present the Community Awards and our board of directors to you for 2021.

I am so proud to be the Executive Director of the United Way of Crookston.  Together we build a better community by investing your donations in local programs and initiatives to help improve children, families, and aging adults’ lives right here in your town and neighborhood. 

We would like to thank all the of people who have been on the frontlines during this difficult time of Covid-19.  We honor you.

I would like to thank 2020 Chair Tracy Kuchan for her leadership and willingness to jump in whenever and wherever help was needed.  Also, thank you to the 2020 United Way Board, I am blessed with the best individuals who believe in the United Way mission.  United Way would not be the same without Becky Cymbaluk, our senior administrative assistant, who is the foundation of our United Way.

And finally, we thank all the donors that have faith in us for being stewards of your generous donations. LIVE UNITED

United, We Will Build a Stronger Crookston

Lori A. Wagner