Month: September 2022

On September 21, 2022, at approximately 12:58 AM, Officers of the Grand Forks Police Department were dispatched to the 800 block of 18th Ave. S. for a report of a Domestic Disturbance with injury. Responding officers arrived on the scene and located a female suffering from lacerations and a puncture wound.

Responding officers quickly located and identified a suspect, identified as 28-year-old Jenna Woinarowicz of Grand Forks, ND, who is the daughter of the victim, identified as 61-year-old Robin Hendrickson of Grand Forks, ND. Officers learned Woinarowicz was upset with her mother, Hendrickson, and was causing a disturbance. Hendrickson attempted to remove herself from the argument and went outside. Woinarowicz followed Hendrickson and assaulted her with an edged weapon, causing the injuries to Hendrickson.

Hendrickson was transported to Altru for medical attention, and it is believed that her injuries are not life-threatening at this time. Woinarowicz was arrested and confined on charges of Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Interfering with a telephone During an Emergency Call.

This is an active investigation. Anyone with information or who may have witnessed the incident is encouraged to contact the Grand Forks Police Department by calling 701-787-8000 or submitting a tip via the GFPD’s Facebook page, website, or the Tip411 app.

The post GRAND FORKS POLICE RESPOND TO EARLY CALL OF ATTEMPTED MURDER appeared first on KROX.

The Crookston Fire Department (CFD) responded to the following calls on 9/20/2022 –

At 3:46 p.m., the CDF responded to the 1500 block of Stephens drive for a Carbon Monoxide detector activation. Upon arrival, the CFD used gas monitoring tools and no Carbon Monoxide was found. It was determined that the detector was at the end of its life. The CFD replaced the detector and cleared the scene.

At 9:55 p.m., the CFD responded to the 1600 block of N Broadway for a sprinkler activation. Upon arrival, it was found to be a sprinkler malfunction, and there was no danger present. The CFD shut down the system, turned over control to staff, and cleared the scene.

The post ARREST/FIRE REPORT- SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 appeared first on KROX.

The Polk County Board of Commissioners met inside the Polk County Government Center on Tuesday morning.

CONSENT ITEMS

The board began the meeting by approving the Auditor Warrants and the board minutes from their meeting on September 6. The Consent Agenda included approving the payment to the US Bank in St. Louis, MO, in the amount of $67,751.72 for procurement card purchases. It also included approving payments of Lost Warrants dated on January 25, for Altru Health System in the amount of $125, on December 18, 2020, February 19, and June 18, 2021, for Angel Korynta in the amount of $14.95, $245.84 and $156.80. The board approved the agenda unanimously.

COUNTY ATTORNEY- GREG WIDSETH

The board first heard from Polk County Attorney Greg Widseth, who came forward to ratify a Professional Services Agreement between Minnesota Counties Computer Cooperative (MCCC) and Strategic Technologies Inc. (STI) for the maintenance, and support of MCAPS to be effective from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2025. Widseth reported that their current support agreement would expire at the end of the year. The new contract allows them to receive support and other services at a fixed, annual, per-attorney rate of $2,200 with a BETA testing fee that will remain at $150 per office with a new option for a licensing fee for licensees at the rate of $2,300 per attorney, and a $118,772.50 quarterly support payment for the first year. Widseth also requested the replacement of a Clerk Typist Cashier III-A. The board approved both motions unanimously.

SOCIAL SERVICES-KAREN WARMACK

The board then heard from Social Services Director Karen Warmack on a request for the board to approve the replacement of the Office Support Specialist position under the supervision of Betty Solie. The board approved the motion unanimously.

PLANNING AND ZONING-JACOB SNYDER

The board was then approached by Assistant Environmental Services Administrator Jacob Snyder on a resolution to adopt and implement the Middle Snake Tamarac Rivers Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan. Snyder explained that the Watershed District is represented by Mark Holy on the Policy Committee, and the district and its partners have been developing a One Watershed One Plan (1W1P) for the watershed as the State of MN. Specifically, the Board of Soil & Water Resources (BWSR) wanted to develop water plans instead of counties as their boundaries. “The Board of Soil & Water Resources has gotten away from each county having their own ten-year water plan. The reason being is that watershed districts’ boundaries don’t follow county boundaries. We follow certain features like a road, river, or something, while watershed districts are a beast of their own,” Snyder explained. “There are four watershed districts in Polk County, and they’re not following lines like a county does. So, the aim was with these plans is to encompass them into watershed districts and not to have each county run their own water plan.” Snyder requested the board to adopt and implement the district’s 10-year watershed district plan. The board approved the motion unanimously.

PUBLIC HEALTH-SARAH REESE

The board then heard from Public Health Director Sarah Reese, who requested the board to approve an emergency contract between the State of Minnesota, the acting commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health, and Polk County to partner/co-host a series of indoor public flu and bivalent COVID-19 vaccination events at predetermined/agreed upon venues from September to December. “We will be working with the Minnesota Department of Health to offer some clinics in East Grand Forks, Crookston, and hopefully one in Fertile to offer the bivalent vaccine,” Reese explained. “So, people can get it at that open clinic or at a clinic that Polk County Public Health hosts through our traditional flu shot clinics.” Reese noted that she believed that the state resources for the clinics would be coming in October, but Public Health extended the contract to December in case they wanted to add any extra dates and events. The official schedule of the vaccination events will be confirmed and released later this week. The board approved the contract unanimously.

PROPERTY RECORDS-SAM MELBYE

The board then heard from Director of Property Records Sam Melbye to request the authorization to enter into an eNotice Online Services contract for the TNT notices, Property Statements, and Valuation notices from The Master’s Touch, LLC, which will allow taxpayers to elect to receive notifications and exact statements electronically within five days after final proof approval. Melbye revealed that an advertisement would be included on the next TNT notice that the county sends out that will include a notice and code that will direct people on how they can sign up for it if they are interested. The board approved the contract unanimously.

COUNTY HIGHWAY ENGINEER-RICHARD SANDERS

The board then heard from County Engineer Richard Sanders, who requested the board to award SAP 060-646-009 to Knife River Materials-Northern for $3,013,424.30. Sanders noted that this, along with some changes to the budget, would move at least one project in 2023 to 2024-25 and would push some parts of his “five-year plan” to six or seven years. The board approved the bid unanimously.

The Polk County Board of Commissioners will next meet on Wednesday, September 21, in the Polk County Government Center at 8:00 a.m. to discuss other departments’ budgets.

The post POLK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS APPROVE EMERGENCY CONTRACT FOR FLU AND BIVALENT VACCINATION CLINICS appeared first on KROX.

The Crookston Area Chamber Ambassadors gathered this week to recognize and congratulate Jane Freeman, Executive Director for the Crookston Care & Share.

Jane Freeman, Executive Director for the Crookston Care & Share, has been in her new role since July of 2022. She has experience advocating for people with disabilities and the human resources field as of the latest. Jane then stepped into retirement for a short time enjoying the title of “grandma”.

Jane came out of retirement to work at Care and Share about 6 years ago.  In her new role as Executive Director, her goal is to create a well-run organization before she hands the role off to someone else. She does not intend to be in this position for a long period of time but wants to ensure the organization is running at its best before she retires again. She shares that she can safely say that she’s held every position within the organization, so she is very knowledgeable about the operations.

Freeman explains, “each day here is different. Issues might be similar, but never the same. I have to be concerned about the residents, the food shelf, and emergency requests that come in. Those are the three types of service that we offer. I also have the facilities to worry about. This summer, we had a very full HOPE Center. As of recently, most of the families have found homes. Now I am focused on taking a second look at refreshing the HOPE Center. I also focus on the cash flow and what that looks like. Where are the grants coming from? What do they require? How do you get the grant dollars, and how do you spend the money? This has been a learning curve and how it works at Care & Share.”

Right now, the census averages between 25-30 people, and the average stay can be anywhere from a couple of days to several months. Part of the culture and approach is to keep them safe and warm.

When asked, what ways are you looking for the community to help and donate? Freeman responded, “we had a board meeting last week and right now we would like to have 1-2 people on the food shelf. It doesn’t need to be the same people all the time. Luckily our food shelf isn’t running low on food, which is the case for many other facilities alike. I’m proud to say that the residents have a choice in what types of food they want. Generous donations come in from Hugo’s and Walmart. It’s empowering to people when you have choices. It’s not wasteful, because they aren’t taking things they aren’t going to use.” The food shelf is open Monday & Wednesday from 1:00-4:00.

When asked what her dream or vision is for the next five years, Freeman responded with determination, “when people come here, we do work really hard to connect with them with the right resources, rather than having a lifestyle of being homeless. Our goal is to house people as this is not a place to live. I would like to see the HOPE Center facility upgraded, the computer system upgraded, and a good succession plan to be in place.”

It’s apparent that Freeman is very passionate about the Care & Share. She appreciates the community support and shares that 1/3 of the donations come from the community. “This really says a lot about our community. And it’s not just Crookston, it’s the tri-county area. People don’t want people to be homeless, and we are good people. When you come here, you are assigned a bed. You can come and go during the day, you can use the phone, bus rides are available. There is a lot of support that folks receive. We have a good success rate of getting people into homes. We have good landlords to work with, they defiantly take a risk.”

#td_uid_1_632a9755b9a02 .td-doubleSlider-2 .td-item1 {
background: url(https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.235/182.80d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/9.20.22-e1663724076907-80×60.jpg) 0 0 no-repeat;
}

The post CROOKSTON AREA CHAMBER AMBASSADORS RECOGNIZE AND CONGRATULATE NEW CARE AND SHARE DIRECTOR JANE FREEMAN appeared first on KROX.