Month: July 2021

A group of mosquitoes collected today from Grand Forks have been identified as having West Nile virus.  The cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks urge citizens to take extra precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

The mosquito most common for transmitting the West Nile virus is the Culex tarsalis.  This mosquito is most active just before sundown and throughout the night into the early morning hours.  To help reduce your risk of getting West Nile virus, the Health Department recommends the following protective measures:

• Use insect repellent that contains DEET.
• Limit outdoor activities between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
• Wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts when possible.
• Eliminate standing water around homes (e.g., buckets, flowerpots, old tires, wading pools, and birdbaths).

Grand Forks Mosquito Control operates as if the virus is always present and therefore will not be making major changes to the daily operations of mosquito control. 

West Nile virus is generally transmitted by mosquitoes.  When a mosquito feeds on an infected bird, it can pick up the virus and transmit it to other non-infected birds.  Occasionally, infective mosquitoes will feed on mammals such as horses, dogs, cats, and humans and transmit the virus to them.  Most people infected with the West Nile virus do not develop symptoms.  Sometimes, though, mild illness results from 1 to 2 weeks after exposure with symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches, skin rash, and swollen lymph nodes.  Less than one percent of infected people may develop a serious illness that includes encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).  These persons might experience headaches, high fever, neck stiffness, disorientation, convulsions, and muscle weakness.  Infection may prove fatal, especially among the elderly, in a small number of those who develop encephalitis.  West Nile virus is not transmitted directly from birds to humans.

For more information about the West Nile virus and the Grand Forks, Mosquito Control Program, visit our website at: www.gfmosquito.com

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The Crookston Gun Club’s DNR Hunter Safety Training classes will begin this upcoming week at the Crookston Gun Club, located at 26251 240th Street SW, Crookston. The August class session has filled up earlier this week and will be held throughout the first two weeks of the month, with the field and test day on Saturday, August 14.

Lead Instructor & Youth Activities Coordinator Steve Videen talked about the busy upcoming couple of weeks around the Gun Club. “This is probably the biggest event that we have now in the Firearms Safety class, which will start up on August 3rd,” said Videen. “The first night will be an orientation for the students, I have a couple of videos to show them, and then from there, we will go into the different modules of the courses.”

The Club has at least 15 different certified instructors and will be helping over the course of the next couple of weeks. The class is for anyone over the age of 11 and will feature more than just kids, as it is meant for anyone looking to obtain a firearms safety certificate. The class will cover various topics, including the exchanging and handling of firearms, the different ways to carry a gun and how to do so safely, and the different rules and regulations of being in the field hunting.

Videen explained a misconception people have about the class and what it truly is meant for. “One of the biggest issues that we have, is that people believe this is a “teach me how to shoot and hunt” class,” said Videen. “We will give you the theories to steps to go through, but at the end of the class, it is up to the individual to get out on the range and practice the skill and learn how to do it safely.”

The second week of the course will cover storing the guns properly, taking care of them, and the legal aspects of hunting with DNR regulations. The second week will also include handguns and archery hunting and the limits of the game while hunting.

Videen said the best part of the training is the field day. “On Saturday, everything culminates together at the field day,” said Videen. “The kids get there at 9 a.m., and then we go through everything we’ve learned in class up to that point. We take them out the range to do live fire, they have the chance to climb up and down three different types of tree stands, and then we put them through situations of if they should “shoot or not shoot.”

The course will also offer the students to cover specific types of hunting such as turkey and blood-tracking an animal after you’ve shot it. The students will also be put into different scenarios to see how they will carry their firearms going up and down hills and people around them.

Videen was sure to put everyone at ease and make sure they’re aware the students won’t be handling real guns in these situations. “To put everyone’s mind at ease, they won’t be carrying real guns, but they’ve taught to treat them like they’re real,” said Videen. “They’ll go on a pheasant walk and will throw frisbees in front of them so they can learn who should talk what shot when. We also go over a boat duck hunting scenario, and then they get to do what I call their favorite part of the class, and that’s clean the equipment we used.”

The class offers and provides a wide range of skills for the students to take with them when they leave. A student’s grade will be determined by how they do on the written test and how they perform during the field day. Their grade will be 50% on the field day and 50% on the written exam from time spent in the classroom.

Everything will happen at the Crookston Gun Club, and the field day will take place Saturday, August 14, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with COVID-19 starting to flare up again and being back in the news Videen wanted to speak briefly on it before the class starts. “With COVID-19 being back in the picture, the clubhouse is being sprayed at least an hour in advance before it’s being used,” said Videen. “I’m going to leave it up to the students and parents as far as if they want to mask or not; I recommend having a mask, just because we aren’t sure what other peoples’ outlying conditions are, and I don’t want anyone getting sick. We’re not here to get sick, and if you are sick, please stay home”.

The Safety Training Class is sponsored and conducted by the Crookston Gun Club, West Polk County Deer Hunters Association, Bingham Construction, B&F Investments, Northern Sky Bank, Swanson Law, Adams Heating & Cooling, Eagles Club, Crookston VFW & Legion, Longtin Insurance Agency, and Noah Insurance Agency.

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The summer construction project on Fisher Avenue in Crookston by Draft’s Sports Bar and Grill is starting the final phases of completion. The project needed to be completed by the beginning of September, and with the drought and lack of rain that the City of Crookston has received, the contractors have continued moving forward with the project without delays.

Polk County Engineer Richard Sanders gave a project report earlier this week. “The project is moving along quite well,” said Sanders. No rain is a good thing in our business, and we’ve been hoping for no rain and haven’t gotten any really on that project. The contractor Davidson Construction out of New Folden, Minnesota has been doing a great job, and if you look at the status right now, we actually have one sidewalk on the north side of the project complete”.

Sanders also looked at what will be taking place in the next couple of days with the project and the timeline moving forward. “They’re working on the sidewalk on the south side. Curb and gutter work will take place this week as well,” said Sanders. “That will take a couple of days to complete that portion of the project, and once that’s done, they can start paving with the only thing slowing that down being rain.”

The project is on pace to be completed sometime in the middle of August. All the materials for the project were delivered in the early part of the summer when the project started, and the only thing that would prevent the project from being completed on time would be the weather which looks good for the upcoming week.

Sanders expects paving on the project to start up soon based on where they’re at in the project. “I would expect paving to start taking place sometime in the first or second week of August,” said Sanders. “It should definitely be completed well before the September due date.”

There will also be a few other aspects of the project that will be starting shortly. One of those is the Mill & Overlay aspect of the project, which will start sometime near when the paving will occur.

The Polk County Highway Department has a camera in place on their website in which you can view the work on the project and see the progress that is being made. Sanders explained how to do that if you’re interested in checking it out without leaving your home. “Right now, the camera is set up, so you’re looking at Barrette Street and Fisher Avenue and all the work that is going on there,” said Sanders. “You can go to the Polk County Highway Department webpage or our Facebook page, and there is a link that will allow you to pull that up and see it live.”

The website link is https://www.co.polk.mn.us/.

In a year without much rain, construction companies are the ones not complaining and thriving this summer. Bad news for most businesses, but good news for anyone not wanting to deal with construction or detours moving forward.

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