Month: August 2021

Today at approximately 9:58 AM Officers of the Grand Forks Police Dept. were dispatched to a report of a vehicle that drove into freshly poured concrete at 32nd Avenue South and South 31st Street in Grand Forks.

Reports indicated that a 2013 Nissan Murano driven by a 79-year-old Grand Forks resident mistakenly drove around some traffic cones and into a closed lane that had freshly poured concrete. The vehicle became stuck and had to be removed by an on-site construction tractor.

There were no reported injuries and the driver of the vehicle was issued a citation for Care Required. The damage to the concrete was repaired by crews shortly after the vehicle was removed.

The Grand Forks Police Department would like to use this opportunity to remind the public to use caution when driving through construction zones.

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The City of Crookston will be doing a water service leak sweep of the entire town beginning Thursday, September 2nd, and will continue for a couple of weeks. Please be advised that you may see Water Department personnel near your house checking the spigot.

The post CITY OF CROOKSTON TO CONDUCT WATER SERVICE LEAK SWEEP BEGINNING THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 2 appeared first on KROX.

Last week at a Polk County Board of Commissioners meeting, the commissioners were informed that the county would only need to refund Enbridge Energy $4,148 compared to the initial estimate of $1.2 million. This is because the Minnesota State Legislature passed a vote to give all 13 counties affected by the refund grants to help cover the cost. Polk County will cover its new amount of $4,148, and the state will cover the rest.

Polk County Administrator Chuck Whiting discussed how this process has been ongoing and more of the details for why the refund was needed in the first place. “It’s been a long time coming,” said Whiting. “The refund was for property taxes that were misevaluated all the way back in 2012-2013. Our number was $1.2 million, and the grant covers almost all of it.”

Whiting also discussed how the process is essentially complete and behind the county. “We received the grant, processed the paperwork, and I believe we’ve already made the payment,” said Whiting. “Hopefully, we don’t have to deal with this kind of issue again for quite a while.”

Part of the reason the process has taken this long was due to Enbridge contesting the initial value on their property taxes from the state in 2012-2013 and going to court to challenge the state on the amount. They prevailed in court after some longer complications, and once the amount was re-set, counties were made aware of what they would need to refund Enbridge.

Whiting noted he isn’t sure if grants have ever been passed out before in this amount to help counties pay back property taxes. “I’m not sure if something like this has ever happened before,” said Whiting. “Utilities contest evaluations, but I’m not sure if it’s ever happened to the degree of this amount. We didn’t know what the refund amount would end up being because the case was still ongoing in court; because of this, no one knew what was going to happen. Thankfully it started materializing this spring before the legislative session ended, and we were fortunate those two things coincided with each other.”

Because of the grant being passed, the county will avoid finding a way to come up with $1.2 million on its own. Whiting discussed what some of those options could’ve been and why this is a huge relief not just to the county but also to the citizens within the county. “It certainly would’ve forced us to make some tough decisions,” said Whiting. “We could’ve gone to our fun balance which would’ve stung. I don’t know if we would’ve wanted to raise taxes to pay them back, but it could’ve been an option. The flaw in the system is that it takes so long to reconcile something like this, and we don’t levy money on people. We levy it on properties, and then everyone pays their fair share.”

Whiting noted eight years after the fact; the county has already collected money for that year and, in most cases, already spent it. Whiting is hopefully, this process is sped up at the state level in the future to avoid these situations as much as possible.

The post POLK COUNTY TO REFUND ENBRIDGE ENERGY ONLY $4,148 AFTER RECEIVING GRANT appeared first on KROX.

As of today (August 31, 2021) in Minnesota, there are now 3,882 new COVID cases that have been reported. Polk County had 16 of those, Pennington county reported 30, Red Lake County 4, Roseau County 2, Marshall County 3, and Mahnomen County 5. The state reported 6 new deaths and none of them were in northwest Minnesota.  

All the data from the Minnesota Department of Health is below.

 

Testing

Total approximate completed tests (cumulative)	11,456,835
Total approximate number of completed PCR tests (cumulative)	10,379,811
Total approximate number of completed antigen tests (cumulative)	1,077,024

Total approximate number of people tested (cumulative)	5,078,283

Minnesota Case Overview

Total positive cases (cumulative)	649,964
Total confirmed cases (PCR positive) (cumulative)	600,267
Total probable cases (Antigen positive) (cumulative)	49,697

Total number of health care workers (cumulative)	44,781

Patients no longer needing isolation

Patients no longer needing isolation (cumulative)	630,243

Deaths

Total deaths (cumulative)	7,811
Deaths from confirmed cases (cumulative)	7,382
Deaths from probable cases (cumulative)	429
Deaths among cases that resided in long-term care or assisted living facilities (cumulative)	4,544

Total non-laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 deaths (death certificate) (cumulative)	93

Hospitalizations

Total cases hospitalized (cumulative)	35,121
Total cases hospitalized in ICU (cumulative)	7,139

Case Demographics

Age

Gender

Race & Ethnicity

Likely Exposure

Not all cases among health care workers have a likely exposure as health care staff.

Residence

Cases by County of Residence

County of residence is confirmed during the case interview. At the time of this posting not all interviews have been completed.

Residence Type

• MN DOC: COVID-19 Testing of People Incarcerated in MN Prisons

The post POLK COUNTY HAS 16 NEW COVID-19 CASES AS MINNESOTA REPORTS 3,882 NEW CASES appeared first on KROX.

On Sunday, August 29, at approximately 8:07 AM, the Grand Forks Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a structure fire at 2751 32nd Avenue South in Grand Forks.

Upon first arriving, crews found a small shed at the back of this address that was partially involved with fire. Thety were able to extinguish the fire shortly after arrival. Approximately 250 gallons of water were used. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Grand Forks Fire Department responded with 1 command vehicle, 5 engines, and 1 ladder truck. Once the fire was under control, the response was downgraded to two engines and a command vehicle. The Grand Forks Fire Department was assisted by Altru Ambulance and Grand Forks Police Department.

The post GRAND FORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO STRUCTURE FIRE appeared first on KROX.

Crookston Public Schools announced this morning what their Quarantine Guidelines will be at the start of the 2021-2022 School year. Below are the details.

 

Crookston Public Schools Quarantine Guidelines

The manner in which individuals were quarantined posed some major challenges to our parents last year and we are looking to safely limit the number of quarantines this year. If individuals are identified as close contacts the following exemptions can be made to avoid quarantine. 

Any student or adult who is fully vaccinated and is not experiencing symptoms would not have to quarantine.

Any student or adult who regardless of vaccination status is identified during the close contact investigation to have properly worn a mask and is not exhibiting symptoms regardless of whether or not the positive case was wearing a mask would not have to be quarantined. *

*Subject to change. If the situation changes as we get more info during the school year this may need to be amended. 

The post CROOKSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS ANNOUNCE QUARENTINE GUIDELINES FOR BEGINNING OF SCHOOL YEAR appeared first on KROX.

The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council is pleased to announce this year’s recipient for the Artist Advocate of the Year Award is Ann Novacek of Greenbush. Novacek received the award at a program in Warroad on August 26.

Novacek is a prolific painter from Greenbush and has encouraged many others in art. In the 1960s, Ann joined Artists Unlimited, a group of artists from the region who learned and shared her talents. She remains a member of this group today and serves as its secretary. She has displayed her work in numerous art shows hosted by the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council and Artists Unlimited and displays at the Roseau and Greenbush libraries. 

According to fellow Artists Unlimited member Bernie Wilebski, Ann is an “extraordinary watercolorist. She has been active in the community, church, Ladies Auxiliary, as well as worked on four large projects with our group – Lifecare Center in Roseau, Greenbush swimming pool, Hallock Senior Center, and the Kennedy Center.”

Her sister Loreen Hanson of Thief River Falls shared, “Ann is an encourager to everyone who has an interest in the arts. She has worked with many children, instilling the love of art and appreciation of the beauty around us. Ann’s influence has enriched and influenced so many.”

Artist Margaret Anderson said that Ann has been promoting the arts for more than 35 years in her community and the region. “With Artists Unlimited, Ann has set up and taken down numerous shows and mentored new artists to create paintings. Ann is one of the quiet doers working behind the scene, making a project, no matter what it was, proceed without a hitch. Without these quiet doers, no project would succeed.”

Asked about the impact of the arts on individuals or society, Ann explained, ‘It’s necessary for one thing if you are artistic at all. Art makes people happy and relaxed, and so many positive things. If you have a finished product that people like, it’s uplifting, as well. However, you learn disappointment, too. There is lots of art that you throw away, or there’s no hope for. It’s not always a success.”

Our Arts Advocate of the Year award is given each year to recognize arts advocates within our seven-county region who stand out in terms of volunteerism in the arts. “Of the Year” award winners were nominated by area residents. This award comes with a cash award of $500.00. Funding for the Northwest Arts Advocate of the Year comes from the Minnesota State Legislature.

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