Month: February 2023

Highland Elementary School is partnering with Safe Kids Grand Forks and Crookston Public Works Department to use a $1,600 Safe Routes to School Grant awarded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to help make the streets around the school safer.

Safe Kids Grand Forks helped Highland write the proposal for the grant after the school received multiple complaints about traffic not stopping for kids at the Barrette Street and North Central Avenue intersection and with the addition of preschool and kindergarten students coming to the school in 2024.
“With the addition coming a year from about this time, taking on Pre-K and K, and being a 1-5 grade building, with the students getting younger, you need to be safer because those kids are going to lack the ability to keep an eye on traffic and double-checking all those other things,” Highland Principal Chris Trostad explained. “I know Public Works Director Brandon Carlson is also working on some things, and one of the big issues is that intersection isn’t very well-lit. We even struggle during certain times of the year when it’s really dark in the mornings, like during the time changes. Even where the parents drop the kids off, it is extremely dark. That is going to be one advantage with the new addition, that’s going to be well-lit along there, but our biggest concern is the kids over here at this intersection. A couple of times a year, I get complaints that cars aren’t stopping for the kids, and the kids are standing there. There have probably been some close calls over the years because it’s so dark that they don’t see the kids.”
Another point of concern the city is looking to address is Barrette Street, as traffic comes from the houses, apartments, and new additions, and many students are walking down the route in the dark at certain times of the year.

With the grant, Safe Kids and Highland plan to have the Safe Routes to School program bring in experts that work specifically in making areas around school safer for children to travel and work in conjunction with the Crookston Public Works Department to make them happen. The grant will be used to cover engineering, enforcement, and equity needs for student safety on the roads by Highland School.
“Safe Kids Grand Forks’ participation in this is helping Highland secure that funding, and we’ll also be highly involved in the planning. Our focus is making sure that the streets around our school are safer here. We already do a lot of education, and encouragement activities with Highland,” Safe Kids Grand Forks Specialist Tina Sanders explained. “Safe Routes to School had awarded us a Boost Grant to Highland and Crookston to do some activities and education with the students, so they already trusted us to do some activities with them, to begin with. Now we have this planning grant, which will cover some engineering, equity, and enforcement needs in this area to make it safer for kids to walk and bicycle to school, have parents drop them off, and use our buses.”
Some of the changes that could be made include re-routing traffic or adding new road signals and street lighting.

The committee for the study is scheduled to begin meeting in late spring/early summer, but Safe Kids is already helping teach kids about traffic and pedestrian safety to keep them safe and have even worked with the school at the Barrette and North Central intersection with bus safety and other pedestrian safety training.
“Safe Kids is already in action out here, and we’re partnering with Highland. We just had our Winter Walk to School Day, which is a huge event for students, encouraging them to get out and walk, and we enjoy that because we have the opportunity to talk to kids about being good and safe pedestrians,” said Sanders. “We plan to have our Bike to School Day event in May, and before that, we get to come out for our Safety on Wheels and safety with bike helmets. Even though the grant activities aren’t going to start for a while, we’re already partnering and doing some things for safety to ensure that kids are safe on their way to and from school.”
Highland plans to continue partnering with Safe Kids Grand Forks for safety seminars and training to teach students to be safe on their way to school.

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Timothy, T.J. Sanchez was belted Mr. CHS on Sunday afternoon at the 24th annual competition at the Crookston High School auditorium. Sanchez is the son of Timothy Sanchez and Josey Katelyn. “I’m a little excited though it feels a little weird that I have to wear such a huge belt cause I’m always used to wearing small belts, but I think I’ll get used to carrying this around all week, inside my house,” said Sanchez. “But it feels great, and I can’t wait to be here next year, and I guess I’ll get to dance again, but that’ll be fun when the time comes.”

Sanchez and the other contestants had practiced over the week to learn the opening number and prepare for the Mr. CHS competition. “The girls of the Student Council did help us, it was a little funky with the dance, and we were a little hesitant, but we did really well. We practiced about an hour each day besides Wednesday when we had no school, so that put us back,” Sanchez explained. “Thankfully, yesterday and today, we were here for about two hours getting everything down to make sure there were no mistakes, and we were all ready. I want to give a shout-out to Mr. Torgerson for getting creampied in the face.” 

Other award winners –
First runner-up – Elliot Bartrum
Peoples Choice Award – Elliot Bartrum
Talent winner – Elliot Bartrum
Formal wear and Q and A winner – Thor Harbott

Pictures from the contest are below – 

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On the evening of Saturday, March 4, the Friends of Rydell and Glacial Ridge Refuges Association will host the 5th Annual Candlelight Ski and Owl Prowl event at Rydell National Wildlife Refuge near Erskine, MN. The timing of this event will coincide with the breeding season of several local owl species and, hopefully, good snow conditions, clear skies, and moderate temperatures! The Rydell Visitor Center will be open throughout the event, which will run from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The Refuge’s Golden Pond and Church Lake trails will be groomed and lighted for this event.

Visitors can ski, snowshoe, or even just walk the trails during this event. Even though luminaries will be distributed along these two trails, we recommend that visitors bring a headlamp if they have one. Along one of the groomed and lighted trails, an owl calling station will be set up where the calls of several owl species (e.g., saw-whet, barred, great horned) will be projected into the woods to try and generate a response from a resident owl. Who-who-who knows what you might hear! We will also have an owl education station set up inside the visitor center, where visitors can learn more about owls that call the Refuge home.

They will have several pairs of adult and child-size skis, as well as snowshoes, available for visitors to use – free of charge, on a first-come, first-served basis. When warming up in the Visitor Center, participants will be able to enjoy snacks and refreshments courtesy of the Friends of Rydell and Glacial Ridge Refuges Association.

If you have questions or want more information, contact Gregg Knutsen, Refuge Manager, at 218-686-4329 or gregg_knutsen@fws.gov. If forecasted temperatures for March 4 are below zero or wind chills in the double digits below zero, the event will be canceled and potentially rescheduled at a later date.

The post THE 5TH ANNUAL CANDLELIGHT SKI/OWL PROWL WILL BE AT RYDELL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ON SATURDAY appeared first on KROX.

The Crookston Fire Department would like to congratulate Jim “Mouse” Sullivan on being the Fourth Hydrant Hero of the season.

To show our appreciation we presented him with $25 in Chamber Bucks to be used at a local business in town. If there is a hydrant on your block and you would like to adopt it and keep it clear, you could be a Hydrant Hero and be in our next drawing. Please call the fire dept at 218-281-4584 or you can email CFD@crookston.mn.us if you have any questions.

The post CROOKSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES FOURTH HYDRANT HERO WINNER appeared first on KROX.

Crookston Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dave Kuehn released a letter to the families of the Crookston Public School District. The letter can be seen below-

In many ways, public schools in Minnesota are interwoven into the fabric of our state, yet they are often overlooked. Therefore, during the week of February 27-March 3, we celebrate public schools and consider how they affect us all. 

For generations, public schools in our state have been the center of our communities. Public schools are places where all families feel welcomed and where all children, regardless of their background, race, ethnicity, native language, zip code, or socioeconomic status, are loved, respected, and celebrated. 

In the Crookston Public School District, we are especially proud of the dedication of past generations of leaders who worked to ensure that our children received a quality education. Although our public schools have served our communities for decades, they are constantly evolving. In our district and in public schools across Minnesota, teachers, staff members, and administrators work with our families to ensure that the next generation of graduates has the knowledge and skills required for a successful future. 

As we celebrate Public Schools Week, we recognize the amazing individuals who teach students in the classroom, drive school buses, prepare nutritious meals, support students’ mental and emotional health, maintain and repair buildings, and give so much of themselves to support our schools and our students. 

We also recognize that public schools are a significant economic driver for our communities, as they prepare students for not only today’s jobs but also the future jobs required for our dynamic economy. It is no wonder that the state’s economy is connected to the quality of our public schools. 

We must not take the historical success of Minnesota’s public schools for granted. Instead, we must acknowledge that this success is the result of the hard work and investment of generations of Minnesotans who came before us. We must care for the gift of public school education that we will hand to future generations. 

Our schools cannot do it alone. They need the assistance of our families and communities to provide the resources and support needed to help students thrive. During Public Schools Week, let’s show our support for the Crookston Public School District and the dedicated people who work tirelessly to provide a high-quality education for all of our children.

Dave Kuehn, Interim Superintendent

Crookston Public School District

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States passed The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which allowed states to request additional Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for households in response to COVID-19. Since April 2020, The Minnesota Department of Human Services, in partnership with the Minnesota Information Technology (MNIT), has been issuing emergency SNAP benefits for eligible SNAP households. Now, the emergency boost to SNAP benefits will end nationwide after February 2023.
“That was a program that the federal government issued supplements for individuals receiving SNAP to help them during the pandemic,” Polk County Social Services Financial Assistance Supervisor Jon Street. “The program will be ending, and their last benefits will be received in March, and those are approved this month of February, so the benefits that are being approved for this month will be received by the clients and recipients of the SNAP program at that time.”
Starting in April, the Emergency SNAP benefits will return to the standard amount they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, if a household’s February approval is delayed, they may receive their last E-SNAP payment in a later month.

In preparation for the end of E-SNAP, the department is sending notices to all SNAP and MFIP Food households that will be affected.
“Right now, the Department of Human Services is doing messaging by text to clients that have received E-SNAP. They are also doing direct mailings to the clients and a broad media campaign with notifying individuals that E-SNAP will be ending for them,” Street explained. “At this time, that is how the messaging is going out through the state to the recipients, from text messaging to direct mailing notices, to media attention, and they can also call our office and get more information on that program ending, what they can do, and what other programs will be available to them.”

Households will continue to receive regular SNAP benefits for as long as they are eligible but will return to the standard allotted amount according to their income and household size.
“They will be receiving before COVID is what it will be reverting back to if all things remain the same in terms of their income and assets. If it was with E-SNAP, they didn’t receive that prior, and they won’t be receiving it after this date, so it’s that supplement and that emergency piece that’s coming to an end,” said Street. “What individuals have relied on for the over the past three years, it will be difficult for them because the price of food and those things have gone up substantially with inflation, and everyone is feeling the impact of that, and the end of this will be a dramatic impact on the budgets of the residents of our county and statewide as well.”
If there have been any changes to your household’s income, rental payments, or utilities, you can contact Polk County Social Services or your SNAP worker to redo or have them see if you’re eligible for any benefit increases.

If you are unsure if your final E-SNAP has been approved or need to report any changes to your household’s income, you can call Polk County Social Services at 218-281-3127 or their toll-free number at 877-281-3127 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to learn the timing and amounts of your benefits. You can also call the number on your EBT card to learn when and if your benefits are included. If you want to apply for SNAP benefits, you can call Polk County Social Services, complete an application at www.mnbenefits.mn.gov, or request an application at the Social Services office at the Polk County Government Center. For information about the end of Emergency SNAP, you can visit www.MN.gov/dhs/end-of-e-snap.

The post EMERGENCY SNAP BENEFITS END NATIONWIDE ON WEDNESDAY, LAST E-SNAP BENEFITS WILL BE RECEIVED IN MARCH appeared first on KROX.

Earlier today, the CHS Speech Team competed at the 18th Annual Bemidji Lumberjack Invitational. Crookston was one of 32 schools competing at the tournament, and several students brought home awards.

Winners included:

Zara Baig 1^st place in Humor
Sam Rezac 3^rd place in Storytelling
Brandon Wandrie 3^rd place in Honor Finals for Original Oratory
Zara Baig and Sam Rezac 4^th place in Honor Finals for Duo
Zac Plante 4^th place in Honor Finals for Humor

Red ribbon awards were received by:

Mareile Meyer in Poetry
Maddie Harbott in Discussion

Also competing

Thor Harbott and Jack Anderson – Duo
Shayla Azure – Drama and Humor
Ciaran Mulvey – Prose
Ivan Luckow – Creative Expression
John Lisov – Humor

Next week the team will compete at Walker-Hackensack-Akeley.

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