Month: February 2023

The Crookston Public School Board met in the Crookston High School District Office Conference Room on Thursday afternoon to continue discussing a special meeting.

MAIN AGENDA

The meeting consisted of the board canvassing the election results of the school’s public multiuse facility referendum on February 14. They had received a total of 1,717 ballots, with 1,010 voting yes, 706 voting no, and one defective ballot. They had also received over 200 absentee ballots. The board voiced there was a good turnout of voters for the election, with them receiving nearly 300 more ballots than the primary election in August.

Board member Dave Davidson asked if they believed their actions to reach out to the public about the referendum in various ways (City Council, meetings with local organizations, and public meetings at local restaurants) was a major impact on the election’s results. Interim Superintendent Dave Kuehn answered that he believed it did, as there was a higher turnout for it, and they were able to answer many questions the public was concerned about.
“I think it gave people information, it showed people that it isn’t going to make a huge impact on their taxes. I can’t speak for sure if that’s what made the difference, but I know we had more turnout this time, and was a steady turnout all day. Every time I popped in, there were a lot of people there, so it was an intentional vote, and people that came meant to vote for this question and this question only,” Election Clerk Marilyn Wahouske explained. “We did have, and I’ve never seen this many absentees come in, I had over 200 absentees, I’ve never seen that before. There were a lot of people that were not in town that made a point to request their absentee ballot and vote. I don’t know if just getting the information out prompted all those people to vote, whether they voted yes or no, but it was very surprising to me to see that many absentee ballots come in.”

Board member Tim Dufault mentioned that more people should have voted for the referendum in the election in August than now, so wondered if there was something that changed for the amount they received. Washouske answered that in general elections, many voters pass on voting for the referendum due to other important elections they are making at the time.
“When it’s piggybacked on a general election, people often are there to vote for something else. Whether it’s the candidate that they choose, some other party affiliation thing, or other reasons, a lot of times our question gets lost in the shuffle, and they don’t really care,” Wahouske explained. “Where this one, when it’s by itself, the only voters that came were voting for this question and this question only, so it’s an intentional vote. It probably is more of an accurate depiction of what people really want.”
The board passed the canvassed results.

The Crookston Public School Board will next meet on Monday, February 27, in the Crookston High School’s Choir/Orchestra Room.

The post CROOKSTON SCHOOL BOARD CANVASSES MULTIUSE FACITILY REFERENDUM VOTES appeared first on KROX.

The Crookston Public Library is inviting readers to join its Reading by the Red book club, which invites adults of all ages to meet in the library’s beautiful River Room to discuss a variety of widely-read books. The selected title for February will be “Sea of Tranquility” by Emily St. John Mandel, with a discussion to be held Tuesday, February 28, at 6:30 p.m. 

Sea of Tranquility takes place on Vancouver Island in 1912, and a colony on the moon three hundred years later. In this part historical fiction, part science fiction novel, Emily Mandel writes about art, pandemic, love, time, and what really matters. 

The Crookston Public Library is a location of Lake Agassiz Regional Library, which is a consolidated LINK Site system comprised of 13 branch libraries and nine LINK sites serving the residents of seven counties in northwest Minnesota. More information is available at www.larl.org, and the library’s app, LARL Mobile, is available in the iTunes and Google Play stores for free download.

The post CROOKSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY’S READING BY THE RED CLUB TO DISCUSS “SEA OF TRANQUILITY” ON TUESDAY appeared first on KROX.

On Saturday, January 28, three Crookston students participated in the Bemidji State Honor Band event at Bemidji State University.

Grace Smith (10th-grade oboe), Mareile Meyer (11th-grade flute), and David Threatt (11th-grade horn) were selected to attend this event along with students from several other Minnesota schools.

The post THREE CROOKSTON STUDENTS PARTAKE IN BEMIDJI STATE HONOR BAND IN BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY appeared first on KROX.