Month: December 2021

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) held a session on Thursday night inside Bede Ballroom to discuss the John Martin Socha murals. The discussion was facilitated by Sandra McNichol of the Crookston Community. 

The issue at hand was if the John Martin Socha murals should be removed from the Kiehle Auditorium. The murals were created by John Martin Socha and the Northwest School of Agriculture Class of 1932, donated funds for the art materials, and presented the murals to the school on November 7, 1942. 

UMC’s land acknowledgment statement says, “The University of Minnesota Crookston is situated on the lands of the Native Nations and carries the legacy of their struggle for survival and identity. Elements of their story, represented in the murals in the Kiehle Auditorium, reflect painful events in history interpreted through the lens of a dominant culture. As a part of our core value to embrace the richness and value of differences, ideas, cultures, and communities, we acknowledge these Native Nations, to learn from their ways of knowing and being, and to work with them to create a more equitable and inclusive future for this region.”

Many community members attended the meeting, and Minnesota House Representative Deb Kiel of District 1B attended the meeting via zoom, along with other community members.

All in attendance gathered around in a circle and were given three to four minutes to speak their opinions. There were arguments made to keep the murals and get rid of them. UMC Vice-Chancellor John Hoffman shared why UMC feels the murals should be taken down and noted that they will not be destroyed. “We’re not planning on taking them down or destroying them. We do want to retain the art,” said Hoffman. “We also recognize several panels on the mural are problematic and harmful to our students. Many people spoke tonight and said they were hurt from seeing that space. Because of that, we want to create a space that when we do view the murals, we do so for educational purposes taking about the full history and context.”

One of the community members that attended the meeting was Allan Dragseth. Dragseth graduated from the Northwest School of Agriculture and believes the murals should remain in the auditorium. “I’ve never heard this being a problem until now. If you go through the pamphlet they handed out, what they say about the murals is slanted one way,” said Dragseth. “Because of that, I can see why people are getting worked up about it. Many people believe it’s whatever is in the eyes of the beholder, and I don’t know anyone who could say they knew what Socha thought when he made the murals. They were painted to give a history of that time, not from this day and age, and I think it’s important not to just forget about history.”

The session was used only for discussion, and a decision as to what will happen with the murals will be made sometime in January or February from a committee that has been put together by UMC. The comments from the public will be reviewed and considered in the coming weeks leading up to the decision.

Below are a couple of pictures of the murals that were being discussed –

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The post UMC HOLDS SESSION IN BEDE BALLROOM TO DISCUSS REMOVING KIEHLE AUDITORIUM SOCHA MURALS appeared first on KROX.

A second student has died this school year of a COVID-19 infection associated with schools, according to the weekly update of virus activity in the state released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Health. 

“This is tragic news and I hope Minnesotans can pull together and do all we can to prevent another student from dying of this virus,” said Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota. “We must stay strong and do all we can do to make school buildings safe places to learn and work.” 

The state health department reports three students have died of COVID-19 infections associated with schools since the pandemic began. Eighteen school staff members have also died, including 10 in the current school year. The data includes students and staff in all types of schools – traditional public, charter, and private. 

The weekly report does not include identifying information about the students and staff who have been sickened or died. However, since the previous weekly report, the health department reported a Beltrami County teenager with a pre-existing medical condition had died of COVID-19.  

Education Minnesota has called on the department to release anonymous summary information about the school staff members who have died and the more than 450 students and staff members who have been hospitalized with COVID-19. This information would help school district decision-makers improve safety protocols for students and staff. 

The health department’s weekly report is available here: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/stats/ 

The post BELTRAMI COUNTY TEENAGER IS SECOND STUDENT TO DIE FROM COVID-19 THIS SCHOOL YEAR appeared first on KROX.

Dave Emmanuel is the Crookston School District Indian Education Coordinator. He offers an after-school program for all 129 of his students. According to Emmanuel, the 129 native American students that qualify make up roughly 8-10% of the students in the Crookston School District. The after-school program, supplies, and even Emmanuel’s position are entirely funded by state and federal funds.

Emmanuel talked about how the after-school program got started. “I started the after-school program as an incentive for the kids who were doing well in school,” said Emmanuel. “They need to be behaving in class and trying their best. If they are having behavioral problems, they know they can’t attend. It usually takes place on Thursdays after school, and it’s exploded this year. I have kids at the High School that come over to Highland to be a part of it. A couple of years ago, I was probably around 12-14 kids, and last week I had 40 attend.”

Emmanuel also talked about what the students do in the after-school program every week. “What we do is work on cultural items during that time. If you look around my room, the shelves are filled with beads, leather, and different things we work on,” said Emmanuel. “We also work on different things that will help them in life moving forward. One thing that has been added this year is that I bought a karaoke machine, and I have the kids work on their public speaking. The reason I did that was that a few years ago when I had the kids do some impromptu public speaking, they ended up coming back to me and saying thank you because it helped them with their public speaking classes in High School.”

Outside of doing the after-school program and cultural exercises, Emmanuel also helps the students daily with motivation and ensures they are studying/learning in school. Emmanuel said his students MCA testing scores ranked above the average scores nationally for Native American students. “Typically, in the state of Minnesota and nationally, Native American testing scores are low,” said Emmanuel. “I’m so proud of these kids for the work they do. My students that tested in the MCA’s, performed at 72.5% in reading which was well above the national level for Native American’s. I’m extremely proud of that. They were also at 57.8% in math which is also above average.”

Emmanuel was sure to thank the teachers and parents who have dedicated their time and commitment to helping the students be their best. Emmanuel says he continues to run into students that qualify for the program each week. If students want to enroll in the program and qualify or have any questions, they can contact Dave Emmanuel on his cell phone, 218-289-4742. He says having an open-door policy with his phone and at school has continued to improve the program and everything they do.

For the entire conversation with Crookston School District Indian Education Coordinator Dave Emmanuel, you can tune in to KROX Saturday morning at 8:35 for the Focus on Education program. Emmanuel also discussed a few of the larger activities that will be taking place in the spring, how the program has developed, and how proud he is of all the students who continue to give their best each day. You can listen on 105.7 FM, 1260 AM, or by clicking “Listen Live” at the top of this page.

The post CROOKSTON SCHOOL DISTRICT’S NATIVE AMERICAN AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM FLOURISHING appeared first on KROX.

RiverView Health in Crookston will offer a variety of vaccination clinics next week for COVID-19 and influenza. They will be on the following days –

• Tuesday, Dec. 14, from 9 am to 4:30 pm, a Pfizer Vaccination Clinic for people 12 and older and an Influenza Vaccination Clinic will be held.  
• Thursday, Dec. 16, from 9 am to 3 pm, a Moderna Vaccination Clinic for people 18 and older and an Influenza Vaccination Clinic will be held.   
• Also on Thursday, from 3 to 4:30 pm, a Pfizer Vaccination Clinic for children ages 5-11 will be held, as well as an influenza vaccination clinic.  

A COVID vaccination and an influenza vaccination can be done at the same appointment. Walk-ins will not be accepted. To make an appointment, call 281.9595. 

The post RIVERVIEW HEALTH OFFERING MORE COVID-19 AND INFLUENZA CLINICS NEXT WEEK appeared first on KROX.

The Crookston Visitors Bureau (CVB) met inside the Crookston Inn on Thursday morning. The meeting began with the introduction of Macey Buker. Buker will be replacing Nell DeBoer as the UMC representative on the board, and he said he’s looking forward to being a part of the CVB. “I think the city has a lot to offer. We have a lot of great businesses in town,” said Buker. “We’re trying to encourage individuals to want to be here with tournaments and recreational activities. Hopefully, I can bring some ideas to help bring people in and some vitality to the city. Lots of great individuals on the board, and I look forward to participating.”

Buker will officially be voted onto the board at the annual meeting on January 13, 2022.

There were not enough voting board members in attendance, so no action could be taken on the agenda items. Instead, DeBoer gave updates on all the agenda items for discussion.  

The board heard an update on an Ice Buster Daze grant request for $3,000. Last year the event was canceled due to Covid; the event will be back and held on February 11-12. The event is a fishing tournament on the Red Lake River followed by an awards banquet. While no action could be taken at the meeting, DeBoer expects the request to be approved. “I can’t determine for sure if the board will approve that request, but I will definitely recommend it,” said DeBoer. “Ice Buster Daze has been great, it’s a two-day event this year, and we have added a kids ice fishing tournament inside on the second day. So, again one of the things we do is work with smaller one-day events and try and turn them into two-day events that can create overnight stays.”

The board then heard an update on the annual CVB report to City Hall for 2021. DeBoer discussed what the annual report highlighted. “Basically, what we did was recap all the projects that we had done for this past year,” said DeBoer. “A lot of this first year was just getting everything set up, establishing a budget, and working through a few things. One thing I’m pleased with is that we did a good job of connecting with other businesses and organizations to work on projects with them. In a small town, we need to work together, so I think that’s been great.”

The board also heard an update on a Minnesota tourism grant application. The amount the CVB is requesting is $5,000, and the money could be used towards CVB projects. DeBoer said they would hear back if they received the grant sometime in late February.

The next item on the agenda was an update on the tourism coordinator position at the CVB. The position has officially been posted, and the board heard an update on the application process. Currently, there is one potential candidate, but no interviews have taken place. The CVB board voting members will serve as the hiring committee for the position.

DeBoer also gave an update on a new Visitor Guide design for January of 2022. “The format of it won’t change a lot,” said DeBoer. “We will have some new businesses in the guides for this upcoming year; we also will have a few other smaller changes. The overall content won’t change much, but we will include our new trail maps and map of Crookston now that we’ve completed those.”

Another item on the agenda was a “Welcome Home Bags collaboration” update. The collaboration is a group effort from the Downtown Crookston Development Partnership, The Crookston Area Chamber, and the Crookston Visitors Bureau. The Welcome Home Bags will be sent out to anyone who moves to Crookston and will include coupons and discounts to local businesses, as well as a few swag items and a CVB visitor guide. They will be handed out sometime in January.

The meeting ended with the “What Brings You to Crookston” campaign. For November, the most visits to Crookston were for construction with 118, followed by Business/work with 75. There was a total of 436 registered visits spanning over 14 different categories.

The next meeting will take place on January 13, and it will be the Annual meeting where new board members can be voted on. The items that could not be voted on during today’s meeting will be voted on in an email vote sent out from DeBoer later this week.

The post CROOKSTON VISITORS BUREAU HOLDS LAST MEETING OF 2021 appeared first on KROX.

Governor Tim Walz announced yesterday that he is preparing the Minnesota National Guard to provide public-safety assistance if necessary during the trial of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter. The mobilization to readiness follows a request made by the City of Brooklyn Center and Hennepin County.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we are prepared to ask members of the Minnesota National Guard to be available to support local law enforcement with the mission of allowing for peaceful demonstrations, keeping the peace, and ensuring public safety,” said Governor Walz. 

At this time, the Minnesota National Guard will not be proactively assuming posts throughout the Twin Cities. Should they be needed, Guard members will operate in support of local law enforcement. The state will provide additional law enforcement resources, including the Minnesota State Patrol if a coordinated response to aid local law enforcement is necessary. 

The Governor’s actions yesterday are authorized by Executive Order 21-06.

The post GOVERNOR WALZ PREPARES NATIONAL GUARD TO PROVIDE PUBLIC SAFETY ASSISTANCE appeared first on KROX.