Month: January 2023

Crookston Public Schools Early Childhood Family Education(ECFE) held their annual Build a Wood Project on Monday night in the Washington school gym!  Children and their parents or grandparents put together 32 treasure boxes!  Families brought hammers and screwdrivers to assemble the boxes that were cut and sanded by Crookston High school students in Mr. Oliver’s Woods class!  The children were excited to take their treasure boxes home to decorate and fill with their treasures!  ECFE’s next big event is “ECFE is Going to the Movies” on February 27th!  

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The post ECFE FAMILIES CREATE 32 TREASURE BOXES WITH THE HELP OF CHS WOODS CLASS appeared first on KROX.

Governor Tim Walz signed HF 1, the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act, into law today, establishing reproductive freedom as a fundamental right for every Minnesotan. The PRO Act establishes that every Minnesotan has a fundamental right to make decisions about their own reproductive health, including the right to use or refuse reproductive health care, to continue a pregnancy and give birth, and to obtain an abortion. Governor Walz was joined by over 100 legislators, advocates, and healthcare providers.

“Last November, Minnesotans spoke loud and clear: They want their reproductive rights protected – not stripped away,” said Governor Walz. “Today, we are delivering on our promise to put up a firewall against efforts to reverse reproductive freedom. No matter who sits on the Minnesota Supreme Court, this legislation will ensure Minnesotans have access to reproductive health care for generations to come. Here in Minnesota, your access to reproductive health care and your freedom to make your own health care decisions are preserved and protected.”

“This is a truly historic day for our state. This legislation signals to Minnesotans and everyone across the country that your access to abortion and right to reproductive freedom will be protected here in Minnesota,” said Lieutenant Governor Flanagan. “This legislation ensures all Minnesotans, including our Black, Native, and LGBTQ+ neighbors, have the freedom to make their own health care decisions about their own bodies. I am proud to have stood in this fight alongside so many powerful women and will continue to fight to expand access to affordable and comprehensive reproductive health care for everyone across the state. I am proud to be a Minnesotan.”

The bill codifies protections for all reproductive health care, including but not limited to contraception, sterilization, preconception care, maternity care, abortion care, family planning and fertility services, and counseling regarding reproductive health care. The bill also prohibits local government units from regulating a person’s ability to exercise their fundamental right to reproductive health care freely.

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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency are seeking applicants for a new Resident Work Group to help plan a grant process as part of the 3M Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances (PFAS) settlement.

About $20 million in grant funds will be available for projects designed to restore or enhance aquatic resources, wildlife, habitat, fishing, resource improvement, and outdoor recreational opportunities. These grants are Priority 2 of the 3M PFAS Natural Resource Damage Assessment settlement. Priority 1 is dedicated to drinking water projects in the Twin Cities east metropolitan area.

Priority 2 funding will focus on natural resource and outdoor recreation projects in the east metropolitan area and downstream areas of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers that have been affected by PFAS released by 3M. Priority 2 projects will be solicited and selected through a public Request for Proposals process. The DNR and MPCA will engage communities, stakeholders, and technical experts to gather feedback regarding Priority 2 goals and planning processes.

The Resident Work Group will complement separate community and technical groups, with all three groups providing feedback on the goals for Priority 2, the evaluation criteria that will be used to guide project selection, and Request for Proposals solicitation scope and language.

Applicants must:

• Reside in Washington, Ramsey, or Dakota counties.
• Attend meetings during business hours every other month for six months, with the possibility for additional meetings thereafter.
• Have experience or interest in engaging with government programs or projects.

Interested residents should complete and submit the application on the 3M PFAS Settlement web portal (3msettlement.state.mn.us). Applications will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 21. The DNR and the MPCA will review applications and select work group members. In addition to seeking the participation of individuals with relevant knowledge and experience, the DNR and the MPCA are seeking individuals with diverse backgrounds. To that end, the DNR and the MPCA will consider information related to the following aspects of an applicant’s background when selecting Resident Work Group members: race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical ability, life experience, ideas, knowledge, and learning styles.

Submit any questions about Priority 2 work groups or grant processes to 3MPriority2@state.mn.us.

The post MINNESOTA DNR AND MPCA FORMING WORK GROUPS TO PLAN 3M PFAS SETTLEMENT GRANT PROCESS appeared first on KROX.

Students from Mr. Oliver’s Community Projects Class (Jaime Brown, Johnna Porter, Javen Lund, Chase Proulx, and Koda Donarski) were a big help in the Crookston High School Auditorium by re-anchoring some of the loose seats.

With the auditorium being roughly 25 years old, some of the seating had started to pull loose from the ground. These students re-anchored any loose chairs throughout the auditorium using a hammer drill and some sleeve anchors. Hopefully, this will keep people that use the space to watch performances or attend meetings safe from injury.

A picture of the students in some of the seats they fixed can be seen below-

The post CHS COMMUNITY PROJECTS CLASS RE-ANCHORS LOOSE SEATS IN HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM appeared first on KROX.

The Crookston Public School is still accepting absentee voting for their upcoming referendum, with the official vote scheduled on Tuesday, February 14, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.

The Crookston Public School’s Absentee Ballot Board met on Monday afternoon to count and verify some of the absentee votes that had come to the district. The board reported it received 33 ballots last week and over the weekend for a total of 54 Absentee Ballots collected, which the board says was about the same as the previous referendum ballot they held in 2019. “This week, we got 33 ballots in, and they’ve been coming in steadily and about the same as our bus garage referendum,” said board member and Election Judge Beth Benoit.

Absentee ballots are still available for people if they cannot come and vote on February 14 and can be received at the Crookston High School District Office or mailed to them from the school. “The school would like the ballots in by Monday, February 13, the day before the actual election,” Beth Benoit explained. “If they get on the 14th, as long as they’re postmarked before that date, they’ll be good.” The board explained that any ballots that are postmarked on the 14th or later will not be accepted for the election. To ensure that everyone’s ballots get in in time, the board recommends that anyone looking to vote by an Absentee Ballot come in to get one as soon as possible. “Get one as soon as possible because if you come in person, you can come until the day before,” Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Marilyn Wahouske explained. “But if you want it mailed to you, you need to come in or let me know ASAP because you have to allow for the mail time.” For those who mail in their requested Absentee Ballots, the school asks you to allow up to seven business days for delivery time when mailing. To get a ballot, you can come into the High School and receive one from Wahouske, or you can call the school’s district office and have one mailed to your address. You can also vote in person at the District Office at the Crookston High School between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., from Monday to Friday.

Stay tuned to KROX and kroxam.com for more updates on the Absentee ballots and more information on the referendum. You can learn more about the upcoming referendum and your property tax credit at: https://sites.google.com/u/0/d/1VWmh_ToO8NBRQWTHBEEV5cHu8jDKF0CC/preview.

The post CROOKSTON SCHOOL ABSENTEE BALLOT BOARD RECEIVES ANOTHER 33 ABSENTEE BALLOTS FOR REFERENDUM appeared first on KROX.