Month: August 2021

Crookston High School has unveiled its new “Touch Wall” right outside the main office when you enter the school. The touch wall was up for the last school year; however, due to COVID-19, it was not in operation as the school didn’t want everyone touching the screen and potentially getting sick.

Activities Director Greg Garmen spoke more on the newest addition. “As we got to different schools, we started realizing that a lot of people have one,” said Garmen. “We found some funding with the help of the Crookston Pirates Boosters and CHS Activities, and we were able to make it happen. We put the rest of the information of our history and upcoming schedules on there, and now people will be able to check out all of our history and sports records along with a variety of other things as well.”

The Touch Wall has three main pages, Athletics, Activities, and History. It will be used for more than just sports and offers the user a lot of capabilities. You can use the touch wall to find the player and team record books, view a day-to-day schedule of the school, or search for a specific item you want to find.

Garmen is hopeful that the Touch Wall will allow coaches to get their team records in for people to view. “We haven’t really had a good place to store our record books,” said Garmen. I know our Basketball records are in there, and now people can look and see who holds different records and stuff like that. “I’m hopeful this will make coaches want to get that information in so that people can view that information.”

You don’t have to go to the High School to use the Touch Wall, however, as there is an online address that allows you to view the wall anywhere at any time. crookston.touchpros.com.

The plan is to have the Touch Wall stay up to the most recent date, as it is connected with the school’s program that is used to schedule all activities. It will be a great benefit and use for the public as well as the students and staff.

The link to the touch wall is crookston.touchpros.com Garmen, and the rest of the staff encourage people to check out the Touch Wall the next time there at the High School.

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The Altru youth bean bag toss tournament during Ox Cart Days was Saturday, August 21. There were five different age groups, the winners for each category and their prizes were.

5–6-year-olds: Lily Griffin and Annie Kollin (Northern Air Passes)

7–8-year-olds: Addie Haas and Haley Plante (Passes to the Crookston Pool, Beach towel)

9-10-year-olds: Bladen Melsa and Beau Smith (Tickets to the Grand Theatre)

11-12-year-olds: Carson Bernardy and Ryan Sykes (Northern Air Passes)

13-14-year-olds: Teagan Lubinski and Jack Everett (Minakwa Golf Passes)

The event was sponsored by Altru Health.

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Minnesota is reporting 3,838 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, August 24 and Polk County reported eight new cases and four probable along with one death in a 65 to 69-year-old.  Pennington County reported 23 new cases, Marshall County had 15, Red Lake County had 4, Roseau County 3, Mahnomen County 3, Kittson County 2, Lake of the Woods County 1, and Norman County had two probable cases. 
All the data from the Minnesota Department of Health is below.

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.”

Positive PCR test results are considered confirmed cases. Positive antigen test results are considered probable cases.

All probable cases get the same public health follow up and recommendations as cases confirmed by PCR tests.

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The Polk County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday morning inside the Polk County Government Center. The agenda included Sheriff James Tadman for an amendment of a Federal Boat Grant Contract Agreement, Richard Sanders of the Highway Department for a couple of County Ditch Maintenance requests, two ditch hearings, an Enbridge Energy Refund update, a meeting with ICON Architectural Group, and Chuck Whiting for a reviewal of the Deputy County Administrator Position Description.

ENBRIDGE TAX REFUND UPDATE

Polk County Assessor Mark Landsverk reviewed his calculations on the Enbridge Tax Refund. The county, at one point, was concerned they would need to refund Enbridge over $1 million. However, they will only need to add $4,148 to complete the local tax refund, and the state portion of the tax refund will be an additional $686,373. The rest of the money will come from grant money provided by the State after the legislature approved grants to help pay back Enbridge the full amount of $1,170,802

Landsverk discussed the good news more. “Because of the legislature voting to give grants out to counties affected by the Enbridge Energy refund, we were able to reduce our payback quite significantly,” said Landsverk. “It helped a great deal. It’s the difference between almost $1.2 million and just under $5,000.”

Some counties have already started to pay Enbridge back, and Polk County will be able to pay their share back once they receive the grant money from the State.

SHERIFF TADMAN

Polk County Sheriff James Tadman brought forth an amendment for a Federal Boat Grant Contract Agreement which the board passed. Sheriff Tadman explained more about what the agreement is for. “Each year, we have a federal boat grant that goes to the State of Minnesota,” said Tadman. “We fill out an application for different equipment that we may need for the year, and this year we filled for an airboat for our area during flood time. We are very excited to have the boat in our area and being able to utilize it during flooding season.”

Tadman also gave the board a monthly reports update for August, and everything is around its usual number.

COUNTY DITCH MAINTENANCE REQUESTS

Polk County Engineer Richard Sanders had two County Ditch Maintenance Requests that he placed before the board. He explained what the first request was for and its location. “Last board meeting, we had an approval to allow the Red Lake Watershed District to do some work in Euclid on County Ditch 66,” said Sanders. “Now we have a petition to survey that project and see what exactly will be done with it.”

Sanders also explained the second County Ditch request and the reason for it. “The second one is County Ditch 26, and it runs along the north side of Fisher,” said Sanders. “We are going to do a ditch realignment to get it farther away from the businesses nearby and making it safer for their property while also getting better drainage for the ditch.”

DITCH HEARINGS

There were also two more Ditch items on the agenda. State Ditch 61 and Judicial Ditch 72.

The board’s only action was to set a date for the hearings, which will be held September 28 at their Commissioners meeting at 9:00 a.m. More discussion on the ditches will take place at that time.

ICON ARCHITECTURAL GROUP

Polk County Facilities Manager Mark Dietz brought in members from the ICON Architect group to discuss their group with the board. The county will need a new Architect company now that their previous one has retired. ICON is from Grand Forks, North Dakota, and specializes in Municipal work.

Dietz spoke on why he feels ICON would be a good fit as the County’s new architect. “Looking for what we had for architects in the area, they have an excellent history of public buildings such as jails and sheriffs’ offices,” said Dietz. “They gave me an excellent feeling and came prepared with facts and information to give a good impression that they know what they’re doing.”

The plan is for the board to approve a contract with ICON at their next meeting in early September. ICON has done work with the Crookston School District in the past and the surrounding area.

CHUCK WHITING

Polk County Administrator Chuck Whiting discussed the American Relief Program Status and 2022 Budget Update with the board. There wasn’t much for Whiting to update as nothing has changed in the budget since the board members last met.

Whiting and the board also reviewed the position description of Deputy County Administrator and how the job search is going. “We’ve been talking about this for a few years,” said Whiting. “We’ve gone about various ways of doing it, and we recently decided to change the description of the job to make it more attractive and change the title. Perhaps down the road, it could provide some succession opportunities in the department as well.”

OTHER ITEMS

Other Items included Michelle Cote of Property Records giving the board an update on 2020 TIF Reports for the City of Fertile. Her presentation was informational, and no action was needed.

The last item the board reviewed was the 2022 West Polk Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) Budget. The district is looking for a 10% increase in allocation dollars for the budget in 2022, bringing the total up to $53,900 for this year to help cover costs. The board discussed the matter with the SWCD, and a decision will be reached at another time.

The SWCD was also looking for $50,000 to get buffers installed to protect vulnerable Polk County waterways. This will eliminate field checks and be time-saving for the district and landowners. The money would come through State Riparian Aid money. The board again discussed the matter with members of the SWCD, and a decision for the budget will be reached later.

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Governor Walz announced yesterday the conclusion of Minnesota’s successful $100 COVID-19 vaccine incentive program, with nearly 80,000 Minnesotans who received their first dose of vaccine since July 30 signing up for the reward.

The program has helped drive up Minnesota’s vaccination rate over the past month. The seven-day average for first doses administered was 2,675 one month ago. Today, Minnesota is averaging 4,955 first doses daily.

The program was particularly popular among Minnesotans whose vaccination rates are lower than the statewide average. While every Minnesota county recorded at least 70 gift card requests, the program was most popular per capita in Brown, Carlton, Sherburne, Mille Lacs, and Chisago Counties. With the exception of Carlton County, each of these counties lags behind the statewide 16-and-older vaccination rate by between 5 and 21 percentage points.

Nearly 80 percent of incentive requests came from Minnesotans under the age of 50, whose vaccination rates trail those of older Minnesotans.

In total, the program garnered 79,810 submissions.

“The $100 incentive program was a great success. I am so pleased more Minnesotans have received their vaccine and are on their way to protecting themselves, their families, and their communities from COVID-19,” said Governor Walz. “Everybody in our state benefited from this incentive program, regardless of when they got their shot. The best way to manage COVID-19 is by vaccinating more of our friends and neighbors. This program went a long way toward increasing statewide vaccination rates and building the community program we need against the virus.”

“The best tools we have to fight COVID-19 are the three safe, free, and highly-effective vaccines. Because of this incentive program, more Minnesotans have received the shot they need to keep themselves and others safe,” said Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. “To every Minnesotan who has gotten their shot, thank you. By getting your vaccine, you prioritized not only your own health, but also that of your family and community. That has been tremendously helpful in our fight against COVID-19. It has literally saved lives.”

Governor Walz announced on July 29 that Minnesota would join President Biden’s push to provide cash incentives to encourage Americans to receive their COVID-19 vaccine. The incentive program is part of Governor Walz’s drive to encourage more Minnesotans to get their shot and build protection against COVID-19 and its dangerous variants.

Governor Walz initially authorized $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to start the rewards program. At Governor Walz’s request, the Legislative COVID-19 Response Commission approved an additional $13.8 million to ensure the program’s funding would meet demand.

The Walz-Flanagan Administration is working with the state Legislature, foundations, and nonprofits to launch new programs to provide people in Minnesota – especially those in communities that have been inequitably impacted by COVID-19 – real-time incentives to get their shot.

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After a two-year hiatus, storyteller Jan Smith will return to the Chautauqua and French- Canadian/Metis Festival. She will be in the big tent on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 28 and 29, at 3:30 p.m. daily in the big tent at Old Crossing and Treaty Park near Huot.

“I intend to talk about midwifery and early medical techniques used by those who settled the area,” she said. Smith has a collection of pharmacy items and has done extensive research on the information and means early settlers used to share with the audience. “As usual for me, I will interact with the audience too,” Smith added. The Clitherall woman is a professional storyteller, lecturer, and author. She has written and published eight books on Red River Valley history.

Smith, a retired English and speech teacher, spends her time public speaking, storytelling, writing, and paper cutting. “I am a paper cutting artist and instruct the Polish and German techniques,” she explained. Festival admission is free, and the public is welcome to all events in the park. The Old Crossing and Treaty Park are on Red Lake Co. Road 3 and seven miles northeast of Gentilly on County Road 11 or 10 miles southwest of Red Lake Falls.

The festival, presented by AFRAN (Association of the French of the North), emphasizes the French heritage and celebrates the multi-cultural heritage of the Red River Valley. For more information on the Chautauqua and French Festival at Huot, MN., visit www.frenchcanadianfran.org or contact Jerry Amiot at 218-289-8889 or Virgil Benoit at 218-253- 2270.

This activity is funded, in part, by a grant from the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council and the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature from the vote on Nov. 4, 2008.

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