Today, we are continuing coverage of the upcoming election with the two candidates for Ward 5 on the City Council, Wendy Ault and Derek Brekken. We asked them both the following questions.
Tell us a little about your family.
Ault – I’ve been married for ten years to my awesome husband Derek. I have four kids, three boys and the last one is a girl. She is amazing and perfect. They are ages 22 to 6, so I’ve got quite the range, busy.
Brekken—I live in Crookston with my two boys, Tristan and Thomas. They are ten and seven and attend Our Saviors School. I farm with my Dad and my Uncle South of Crookston and plan on spending my life in Crookston.
Why are you running for City Council?
Ault—I guess I just want to do whatever I can to support our community, so this was one way for me to do that.
Brekken – I’d like to see some change and be involved in that change. We can’t keep doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.
What experience do you have that will help you if you win?
Ault – I think my background in human resources is going to help me in some ways. Just communicating effectively and being kind, respectful, and following rules and laws. I did sit on a board of directors for a child care center for a while so I do feel like a lot of that experience I will be able to bring to the table when it comes time to deal with some of these child care issues that we are seeing.
Brekken – The experience I have that might correlate would be the time I’ve spent on the board for the Fire Fighters Association. The ways our meetings are run are very similar and how things get done and voted on are pretty close to the same.
Are there any issues/topics you are concerned about?
Ault – Childcare is the big one. To be honest, when I first came on garbage was my number one thing, so I’m real excited to have a resolution in place for that. The next things will be childcare, housing and that kind of thing. We are just seeing the shortages all over so we need to do something to address it for sure.
Brekken—Right now, the biggest thing I’m concerned about is the Levy being so high for another year in a row. We are taking in all this extra money, and just yesterday, I found out they are closing the pool. We can’t collect more tax money and do fewer things with it.
Is there anything you want the voters to know?
Ault – I appreciate your support.
Brekken – I hope you all get out and vote. Whether it’s me or Wendy we are both going to be new blood in the city council so either one of us I think will be a good change.
Zebra mussels have been confirmed in Long Lake in Todd County and in White Sand Lake in Crow Wing County. The MN DNR wants to remind residents that there are laws that are set in place to help prevent such invasive species and also offers additional steps to help reduce the risk of spreading the problem.
Whether or not a lake has any invasive species, Minnesota law requires people to:
Clean watercraft, trailers and equipment to remove aquatic plants and prohibited invasive species.
Drain all water and leave drain plugs out during transport.
Dispose of unwanted bait in the trash.
Never release bait, plants or aquarium pets into Minnesota waters.
Dry docks, lifts and rafts for 21 days before moving them from one water body to another.
These additional steps reduce the risk of spreading aquatic invasive species:
In an effort to keep our roadways safe, The Grand Forks Police Department will take part in a “Click it orTicket” Enforcement Campaign, which will involve selective traffic enforcement by several officerslooking specifically for seatbelt violations.
Law enforcement will be working targeted enforcement shifts from November 1st through December 12 2024. Our primary goal during this campaign is to ensure motorists are utilizing their safety belts while operating their vehicles within Grand Forks. This program is funded by the ND DOT and will allow additional officers to be assigned specifically to enforce this type of violation during this campaign.
The Grand Forks Police Department wants to remind the public seatbelt violations are a primary reason toconduct a traffic stop. All passengers inside a vehicle must be wearing a seatbelt as well.
North Dakota Seat Belt Law (Began August 1, 2023)
All front seat and back seat occupants must be buckled up regardless of age.
Children younger than eight years of age are required to ride in a child restraint (car seat or booster seat).
Primary vs. Secondary Law
Primary law allows law enforcement to stop and issue a seat belt citation tosomeone for not wearing a seat belt.
Secondary law allows law enforcement to issue a seat belt citation when a driveris pulled over for a different infraction.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Virginia can continue with its purge of more than 1,600 voter registrations ahead of next week’s general election, that state officials say are held by non-citizens. The emergency decision is considered a victory for conservatives in Virginia and can possibly affect other states.
In a 6-3 ruling, the high court reversed a lower court’s decision that put the program on hold and required the state to restore the voters in question to the rolls. The brief order noted that the three liberal justices on the court — Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor — dissented from the decision.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement: “This is a victory for commonsense and election fairness. Virginians can cast their ballots on Election Day knowing that Virginia’s elections are fair, secure, and free from politically-motivated interference.”
The Biden administration and purge opponents had won at the district court and federal appeals court levels before the Supreme Court reversed the injunction on Wednesday, allowing the purge to move forward. The DOJ and other challengers said the purge was against federal law because it actually stripped eligible voters of their ability to vote, while opponents said those purged never knew they were taken off the rolls.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday said she ‘strongly disagrees with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” with her remarks coming after President Joe Biden received backlash after his remarks in which he appeared to call Trump supporters “garbage” on a video call with Latino activists.
Speaking to reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews before leaving for campaign events, Harris said that while Biden had “clarified his comments,” she added, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they voted for. You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career: I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not. And as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not.” (per NBC News).
In a video call with Latino activists Tuesday evening, Biden commented about the a joke made at a Trump rally Sunday at Madison Square Garden by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, in which Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Biden seemed to reply: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable.”
After Biden’s comments drew heavy criticism from Republicans, the White House went on to send out a transcript in an attempt to clarify that Biden was not saying that Trump supporters were “garbage”, but simply tripped over his lines while meaning to say he was condemning Hinchcliffe’s remarks specifically.
Later in a post on X later Tuesday, Biden reiterated that what he said was in reference to Hinchcliffe: “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
Apple TV+ has ordered a third season of its comedy, Shrinking, starring Jason Segal, Harrison Ford, Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell and Ted McGinley.
The show kicked off its second season on the streaming service last week. Co-creator and executive producer Bill Lawrence said in a statement: “I’m so lucky to work on Shrinking with actors, writers and a crew so talented that they all elevate the material. I’m even luckier that they are people I’d want to spend time with anyway. Huge thanks to to Apple TV+ and Warner Bros. for the amazing partnership and support. So grateful we get to keep making this show. Onward!”
Mason Dye, who portrayed Jason Carver in Stranger Things, is joining the final season of The Boys. Daveed Diggs had also previously been confirmed for the final season, but his role has not yet been revealed.
Dye will star as Bombsight in Season 5, the show announced: “Let’s give a warm welcome to Mason Dye, joining as Bombsight in Season 5. More details, you ask? Ya know better by now.”
Daveed Diggs had also previously been confirmed for the final season, but his role has not yet been revealed. Exact character details for Dye are being kept under wraps, but the character of Bombsight was previously mentioned in Season 4 of “The Boys” as a Supe who starred in the early Vought superhero film “The Curse of Fu Manchu” in the 1950’s.
The Boys pits a group of vigilantes against amoral superheroes and was inspired by the comic book created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erian Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell and Colby Minifie also star.
Winter Sports is officially underway with Dance and Girls Hockey already practicing!!!!!
The first practice of Girls Hockey in Minnesota was Monday. Dance started on October 21st! Boys Hockey and Girls Basketball will start practice on November 11. Wrestling and Boys Basketball will start practice on November 18.
With that said, Football and Volleyball section playoffs wrap up this week with state starting next week!
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I hate to say I told you so last week, but I correctly picked Warren-Alvarado-Oslo beating Goodridge/Grygla and I also predicted that Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton would beat Morris. I wasn’t exactly going out on a limb, with both teams playing great football right now. Congrats to both teams and all the teams in their section championships.
The area Section Football championship games are being played this Thursday and Friday. I will take a look at all the area games.
SECTION 6 9-MAN- Fertile-Beltrami vs Fosston. Both teams are undefeated at 9-0, but Fertile-Beltrami comes in as the three-time defending champion and has everybody but two players back from last years team. Fosston has pulled off an amazing season and just a few years ago they struggled to field a varsity team. What an amazing transformation for the program, and dropping to 9-player has obviously been beneficial. Fertile-Beltrami will be too much and will win comfortably. WATCH THE GAME ON KROX TV by clicking below
SECTION 8 9-MAN- The Stephen-Argyle Storm are back again and they still have a pretty young team, but they have been impressive all season long with a 9-1 record! Warren-Alvarado-Oslo has finished the season strong by winning their last five games! Two of their losses were by 20-18 scores and one of them being to Stephen-Argyle. This game is going to be a great game and it is too close to call at this time. Turnovers and extra points will be a factor in this game. WATCH THE GAME LIVE ON KROX TV by clicking below around 4:00 PM
SECTION 8A – The three-time defending section champion Mahnomen-Waubun Thunderbirds are back in the championship game with their 9-0 record. They take on the Red Lake County Rebels (Red Lake Falls/Red Lake County Central) who is 8-1 on the year. Both teams are extremely well coached. Red Lake County has one of their best teams in a few years with so many weapons. The teams had a great game earlier this year with Mahnomen/Waubun winning 13-12 and you can expect another tight game. The big factor to me is Red Lake County and Chervestad and Knott and their speed. That could be a big factor on the turf! I am picking Red Lake County by single-digits. WATCH THE GAME LIVE ON KROX TV by clicking below around 6:30 PM
SECTION 8AA – The Barnesville Trojans are ranked #1 in the state, which means nothing now that the playoffs are underway but they have been outstanding in their 10-0 season. Hawley had a great semi-final win at Pelican Rapids and now is 7-3 while winning their last four games while avenging an 18-15 loss to Pelican Rapids during the regular season. Hawley is good, but Barnesville is great. It could be a decent game, but I am picking Barnesville to pull away for the win.
SECTION 8AAA The Fergus Falls Otters are a perfect 9-0 on the year and DGF is 7-3 on the year and have won six games in a row. DGF finished the regular season, only giving up 22 points in their last three games (9 to DL, 6 to EGF, and 7 to Perham). They beat Perham 46-12 in the first round of the playoffs and beat Morris Area 31-27 on Saturday. Fergus Falls is playing some great football, but I expect this to be a great game and come down to the wire.
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The Section 8A Volleyball Championship is a battle of the two #1 seeds with Kittson County Central Bearcats taking on the Ada-Borup-West Cougars at UMC on Friday at 7:30 p.m. This is a battle of two of the top hitters in the Section with KCC’s Kadence White and ABW’s Malayna Syverson. While those two will be huge factors in their team’s victory, I think it will come down to the other five on the court. Volleyball always comes down to passing and who can make the least mistakes. I am picking Kittson County Central to win 3-2!
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Congratulations to the following area athletes that have committed to play sports in college.
Crookston’s Matthew Contreras has committed to play baseball at Concordia College next year.
Roseau’s Eli Wensloff has committed to play baseball at the University of Minnesota Crookston, making him the fourth Wensloff to play at UMC!
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JOKES
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How are former Crookston Pirates athletes doing in college or elsewhere?
****LET ME KNOW OF OTHERS TO ADD TO THE LIST. Email me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com
Reese Swanson is a freshman playing hockey at St. Olaf.
Carter Coauette is a freshman playing football at Minot State.
Isabelle Smith is a freshman playing Tennis at Concordia College.
Isaac Thomforde is a freshman playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Emilee Tate is a Sophomore playing Softball at Northland Community and Technical College.
Halle Bruggeman is a Sophomore on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.
Ethan Boll is a Red-shirt Freshman on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Junior on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Emma Osborn is a Junior playing basketball at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
Jacey Larson is a Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Junior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Joslynn Leach is a Senior playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brady Butt is a Senior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Brooks Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Ty Hamre is redshirt Junior playing football at Bemidji State University.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches Ben Parkin is the head Pirate Baseball Coach. Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach Marley Melbye is an assistant girls golf coach Jeff Perreault is the Pirate Girls Golf head coach Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach Sam Melbye is the Pirate Boys J.V. Hockey coach Chris Dufault is a youth wrestling Coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching/Admin/etc
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson is the head Little Falls Volleyball coach.
Tim Desrosier is an Assistant Coach for Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Pony Boys Basketball
Pat Wolfe is the head wrestling coach for Fosston/Bagley.
Austin Sommerfeld is an Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communication at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.
Collin Reynolds is the head baseball coach for the University of Colorado Buffalo Club Baseball team.
Trent Stahlecker is a School Security Specialist & he works for the Brevard Public Schools, Florida.
Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown.
Josh Edlund is the head football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach at Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is the Head Wrestling Coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Matt Harris is an Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Marty Bratrud is the Superintendent and High School Principal at Westhope High School.
Gordie Haug is an assistant football coach at the University of Wyoming.
Mike Hastings is the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s head Hockey coach.
Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Grand Forks Schools.
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football, volleyball, and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for Bison media relations.
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College.
Chris Myrold is the Director and Fitness at Mission Ranch and Fitness in Camel, California. Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
Jarrett Butenhoff is serving our country with the U.S. Navy.
Joshua Butenhoff is serving our country on a Submarine with the Pacific Fleet with the US Navy.
Peter Cournia is a 2002 Crookston High School Graduate and a grad of West Point and currently serving in the U.S. Army.
Philip Kujawa class of 2004, from Crookston High School. He is an Army recruiter in Rochester.
Rob Sobolik is the General Manager of the Fargodome
That’s it for this week. Thanks for the comments, and if you have anything to add or share, please e-mail chrisjfee@yahoo.com or call. Thanks for reading and listening to KROX RADIO and kroxam.com.
