Janet Lee (Brolsma) Gawrylow, age 83, passed away peacefully at the Villa St. Vincent in Crookston, MN on January 29, 2025, with loving family by her side.
Janet was born the eldest of 3 daughters to George and Jessie (Epema) Brolsma on September 15, 1941 in Crookston. For much of Janet’s school age years her family farmed near the communities of Erskine and McIntosh. When Janet was a junior in high school, her family moved back to Crookston, where she graduated from Crookston Central High School with the class of 1959.
Following graduation, Janet attended the Bethesda School of Nursing in Crookston and became a Licensed Practical Nurse. She worked at Bethesda Hospital for a short time.
On October 26, 1963, Janet married her sweetheart, David Gawrylow, in Crookston. Early in their marriage, Janet and David lived briefly in Southern California. They returned to Crookston, where their daughter Jodi was born on January 15, 1965. David was employed as an over the road truck driver and in construction. Janet was a loving and attentive wife and mother and used her nurses training to care for her mother-in-law for several years. She also briefly worked at Camen Elementary School where her daughter attended school. Janet lovingly cared for her husband Daivd before his passing in 2011.
Janet will be remembered for her gentle demeaner and the kindness she showed to all she encountered.
Left to mourn Janet’s passing are her daughter Jodi of Crookston, sister Carol Sanders of Tulaby Lake, Waubun, MN, sister Cindy Conkins and brother-in-law Greg Conkins of Duluth, MN, sister-in-law Armella Nelson of Grand Forks, ND and nieces and nephews – among them, Scott, Susan and Steve Sanders, and Christopher and Corey Conkins.
In addition to her husband, David, Janet was preceded in death by her parents George and Jessie; her mother and father-in-law, Jim and Dorothy Gawrylow; brothers-in-law Donald Sanders and Kenneth Gawrylow; and sisters- in-law Ann Gawrylow and Elizabeth Wilson.
Janet’s family would like to thank the staff of the Villa St. Vincent for their compassionate care.
Stenshoel-Houske Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. A memorial service for Janet is being planned for this Spring. Condolences can be sent to Stenshoel-Houske Funeral Home at 615 S, Minnesota St. PO Box 584 Crookston, MN 56716.
The Trump’s administration is offering federal workers the chance to take a “deferred resignation,” which would mean they agree now to resign but get paid through September; the offer is meant to end work-from-home practices, per CBS News. Trump administration officials said that only about 6% of federal employees work full-time in office, and there are about 2 million federal government employees across the country, which means that the administration expects that as many as 200,000 may take the government’s offer. Senior administration officials told NBC News that the percentage of federal workers resigning could potentially lead to around $100 billion in savings.
News outlet Axios was first to report the news of the Trump administration’s buyout offer. The White House expects up to 10% of federal employees to quit, issuing a memo offering to pay federal workers who don’t want to return to the office through Sept. 30, as long as they resign by Feb. 6. The offer went out to the federal workforce through a new system the Trump administration set up that gives officials the ability to email all federal employees at once. All full-time federal employees are eligible, except for members of the military, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, positions related to immigration enforcement and national security and other jobs excluded by agencies. The email included a draft resignation letter for them to review; if an employee wishes to resign, they will be able to reply with the word “resign.
The email send to federal workers read (in part): “If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce. At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions. … you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason).”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: “American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers. If they don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of 8 months.”
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, criticized the program. AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement: “purging the federal government of dedicated career civil servants will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government. This offer should not be viewed as voluntary. Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policies, it is clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.”.
The Justice Department on Wednesday abandoned all criminal proceedings against the two co-defendants of President Donald Trump in the Florida classified documents case. U.S. Attorney Hayden O’Byrne requested that the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court dismiss the case against the co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, in a way that it could never be filed again.
Prosecutors informed the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it had withdrawn the appeal, formally ending the case: “The United States of America moves to voluntarily dismiss its appeal with prejudice. The government has conferred with counsel for Appellees Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who do not object to the voluntary dismissal.”
The DOJ had asked a federal appeals court to drop the criminal case against Nauta and De Oliveira, who were accused of conspiring to hide classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. Former special counsel Jack Smith had previously dropped two federal cases against Trump, on charges he tried to steal the 2020 election and that he unlawfully retained national defense records after leaving the White House, after he won the Nov. 5 election. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida dismissed the classified documents case against Trump, Nauta and De Oliveira in July, by ruling Smith was appointed illegitimately. Smith’s team ended its case against Trump after his November election win, citing longstanding department policy that says sitting presidents cannot be indicted.
Trump was charged with mishandling classified documents, including by willfully retaining national defense information after his presidency. Those documents allegedly included information on U.S. and foreign military capabilities. Trump valet Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager De Oliveira were charged with conspiring with Trump to obstruct an FBI investigation into the hoarding of classified documents that Tru,p took with him when he left the White House after his first term.
Trevor Noah is set to host the upcoming 67th Annual Grammy Awards for his fifth consecutive year as emcee of the awards show, airing on CBS.
The recording academy announced: “ Returning as host, the GRAMMY nominee @TrevorNoah is set to take us into Music’s Biggest Night to honor music and amplify support for the music community impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires. Join us on Feb. 2 on @CBS and @ParamountPlus for the 2025 #GRAMMYs.”
The Grammy Awards will take place at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on February 2, airing at 8:00 p.m. EDT on CBS. Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers can watch live, while subscribers without the Showtime plan can stream the show the following day.
Apple TV+ recently debuted the new series Prime Target, a conspiracy thriller featuring Leo Woodall (The White Lotus) and Quintessa Swindell (Trinkets). Prime Target had a two-episode premiere Jan. 22 on Apple TV+, with subsequent episodes released each Wednesday.
Created by writer Steve Thompson, the eight-episode drama follows Edward Brooks (Woodall), a young math genius on the verge of a major breakthrough. A show synopsis reads: “If he succeeds in finding a pattern in prime numbers, he will hold the key to every computer in the world. Soon, he begins to realize an unseen enemy is trying to destroy his idea before it’s even born, which throws him into the orbit of Taylah Sanders (Swindell), an NSA agent who’s been tasked with watching and reporting on mathematicians’ behavior. Together, they start to unravel the troubling conspiracy Edward is at the heart of.”
Other cast members include Stephen Rea, David Morrissey, Martha Plimpton, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Jason Flemyng, Harry Lloyd, Ali Suliman, Fra Fee and Joseph Mydell.
We have updated the latest Minnesota WINTER SPORTS Polls. To check them out, CLICK HERE.
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Here is information on the winter tournament dates for Northwest Minnesota sections-
Section 8A Girls Hockey – February 3 – Seeding meeting February 6 – Quarterfinals (at high seed) February 8 – Semi-finals (at REA in TRF) 1:00 and 3:30 PM February 13 – Section Championship (at REA in TRF) 7:00 PM
Section 8A Team Wrestling – February 7 – Team seeding February 11 – Quarterfinals (at high seed) February 14 – Semi-finals and Championship (at Fertile-Beltrami High School) 6:00 and 7:30 PM
Section 8A Individual Wrestling – February 21 and 22 – at Crookston High School
Section 8A Boys Hockey – February 12 – Seeding meeting February 15 – Play-in games (at high seed) 7:00 PM February 18 – Quarterfinals (at high seed) 7:00 PM February 22 – Semifinals (at EGF) 1:00 and 3:30 PM February 27 – Section Championship (at EGF) 7:00 PM
Section 8A Girls Basketball – Seeding done by QRF February 24 – Pigtail games (at high seed) February 27 – Play-in games (East at high seeds, West at UMC and NCTC) March 1 – Quarterfinals (at REA in TRF) Noon, 1:45, 3:30, and 5:15 PM March 4 – Semi-finals (at REA in TRF) 6:00 and 7:45 PM March 7 – Section Championship (REA in TRF) 7:00 PM
Section 8A Boys Basketball – Seeding done by QRF March 3 – Pigtail games (at high seed) March 6 – Play-in games (East at high seeds, West at UMC and NCTC) March 8 – Quarterfinals (at REA in TRF) Noon, 1:45, 3:30, and 5:15 PM March 12 – Semi-finals (at REA in TRF) 6:00 and 7:45 PM March 14 – Section Championship (REA in TRF) 7:00 PM
Section 8AA Girls Basketball – Seeding done by QRF February 27 – Play-in (at high seeds) #1 and #2 seed get a bye March 1 – Quarterfinals (at high seeds) 7:00 PM March 4 – Semi-finals (Concordia College) 6:00 and 7:45 PM March 7 – Championship (Concordia College) 7:00 PM
Section 8AA Boys Basketball – Seeding by QRF March 6 – Play-in games (at high seeds) 7:00 PM March 8 – Quarterfinals (at high seeds) 7:00 PM (times subject to change) March 12 – Semifinals (at Concordia College) 6:00 and 7:45 PM March 14 – Section Championship (at Concordia College) 7:00 PM
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Taking a look at the Section 8A Girls Basketball standings. Things are starting to take shape as we get into the final month of the regular season.
Section 8A – West Standings
Kittson County Central has proven they are the top team. They are averaging 78 points per game and are a perfect 10-0 against Section 8A opponents. They combine outstanding defense with great offense and they are a team nobody wants to see at playoff time, unless it is the championship. Sacred Heart has taken over second place in the standings by 2.4 QRF points. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo is in third. Sacred Heart and WAO split during the regular season so the tie-breaker will come down to more than head-to-head! So every win is big at this point. It looks like the next tie-breaker is conference record. Sacred Heart has a one game advantage there.
Team
Section
Overall
QRF Value
Kittson County Central
10-0
16-1
81.3
Sacred Heart
9-2
14-4
74.7
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
12-2
14-4
72.3
Northern Freeze
6-5
9-6
58.2
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
6-5
8-8
52.7
Stephen-Argyle
4-7
7-8
50.8
Red Lake County Central
6-8
7-8
45.0
Fertile-Beltrami
8-7
9-10
42.1
Goodridge/Grygla
3-9
6-10
34.4
Climax/Fisher
3-9
4-12
33.3
Section 8A – East Standings
The Section 8A East sub-section has a two-team battle for the top seed, and right now, Kelliher/Northome is leading the way by 4.4 points over Cass Lake-Bena. Kelliher/Northome is averaging 83 points per game and lost to Cass Lake-Bena in the first meeting, but then bounced back to beat the Panthers easily in the second meeting. They are the real deal and my top team and the QRF’s top team in the sub-section. Fosston has had an impressive season, with 11 wins already this year. That is impressive after all the talent they lost from last year’s team.
Team
Section
Overall
QRF Value
Kelliher/Northome
6-1
10-3
77.6
Cass Lake-Bena
7-1
16-6
73.2
Fosston
9-4
11-6
61.2
Mahnomen/Waubun
5-3
9-9
53.6
Blackduck
5-7
10-9
43.1
Bagley
5-7
9-9
39.8
Clearbrook-Gonvick
3-10
5-11
30.3
Win-E-Mac
1-11
2-15
25.9
Red Lake
0-4
1-10
19.6
Lake of the Woods
1-7
1-13
18.6
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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.
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.
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 Blake Bergeron is the head Pirate Wrestling Coach. 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 Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach Ben Trostad is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach Ethan Magsam is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant 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 North Dakota.
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.
The University of Minnesota-Crookston women’s basketball team’s offense went cold in the final minutes and lost to the Minot State Beavers 59-56 in a Northern Sun Conference game played on Gary Senske court in Lysaker Gymnasium on the University of Minnesota Crookston campus.
FIRST QUARTER – UMC opened up the game with an Emma Miller (Jr. Albertville) three-pointer. Minot State responded with five straight points before the Golden Eagles’ Nicole Hernandez (Sr. Oak Creek, Wis) basket to tie the game at 5-5. Minot State answered with a basket before Halle Winjum (Fresh. Crookston) made a three-pointer for an 8-7 lead three minutes into the game. Minot State dominated the final seven minutes of the quarter on an 11-3 run to take an 18-11 lead.
SECOND QUARTER – Minot State continued to build on their lead at the start of the second quarter with a 6-3 run for a 24-14 lead. UMC’s offense finally started to click as they went on a 6-0 run with baskets from Willow Thiel (Fresh. Perham), and Hope Dudycha (Soph. Austin), and two free throws by Riley Jenkins (Soph. Galesburg, Ill.) to get within a 24-20 deficit. The teams exchanged baskets and Minot State built a 33-24 lead. With three minutes left in the half, the Golden Eagles started a 6-0 run with four points from Rayna Klejeski (Soph. Barnum) and a basket from Miller to bring UMC within a 33-30 deficit going into halftime.
THIRD QUARTER – UMC started the third quarter on a 6-3 run with four points from Miller and a basket from Jenkins to tie the game at 36-36 two minutes into the half. Minot State slowly built a lead and had a 45-40 lead with 2:06 left in the quarter. UMC’s Miller made a basket, and after a Minot State basket, the Golden Eagles Brynlea Mahlen (Fresh. Fosston) made a three-pointer, and Minot State took a 47-45 lead into the fourth quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER – Minot State started the fourth quarter with a basket before UMC’s offense started to heat up. Natalie Mikrot (Jr. Willow River) made a three-pointer, Jenkins made a jump shot, and Miller made another three-pointer to cap an 8-0 run for a 55-49 lead with 4:48 left in the game. As good as UMC’s offense was to start the quarter, it went cold the rest of the game as Minot State went on a 10-0 run to take a 59-55 lead with 22 seconds remaining. UMC missed all seven shots they took during the Beaver run. The Golden Eagles tried three three-pointers in the final 15 seconds and Miller was fouled on a shot attempt with two seconds remaining. She made the first free throw and tried to miss the second free throw, but missed the rim and Minot State got the ball and won the game 59-56.
UMC drops to 7-14 overall and 5-10 in the NSIC and will travel to Bismarck, North Dakota on Saturday. Minot State improves to 7-15 overall and 6-9 in the NSIC.
The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball team continued its outstanding play as they knocked off the #17 ranked Minot State Beavers in a Northern Sun Conference (NSIC) game on Gary Senske Court in Lysaker Gymnasium on the University of Minnesota Crookston campus.
FIRST HALF – The first half started with both teams scoring at a quick rate. UMC scored the first four points of the game on two backdoor layups, but the Beavers quickly answered with six points from Caleb Van De Griend, who made his presence felt in this first half immediately, on both sides of the ball. UMC would not back down, however, as a Micah Garrett 3-pointer gave the Golden Eagles an 11-10 lead. The lead would continue to toss back and forth throughout the half, as there were a combined 11 lead changes in the half, and no team had a larger lead than four. Minot State had the advantage in free throws, going 7-8 from the line while UMC went 2-2. Van De Griend ended up with 15 of the team’s 29 first half points, but when he was off the floor, Reid Grant and Jordan Mitchell were able to capitalize on drives, both of which giving UMC a small lead. However, at 26-25 UMC with 1:10 to go, Minot State was able to hold off the Golden Eagle offense while scoring the final 4 points of the half, all of which from the free throw line, giving the Beavers a 29-26 lead into the break.
SECOND HALF – UMC came out on fire to start the second half, as they started the first 5 minutes of the half on a 14-7 run to take a 40-36 lead. They were led on this run by Andrew Stokes and Reid Grant, who each hit multiple buckets in the run, leading to the Golden Eagles’ 4 point lead. Another bucket made the score 42-37, making 5 points the largest lead for either side in the entire contest to this point. The Beavers were able to respond in kind, as Van De Griend continued to score, leading to Minot State tying the game at 44.From there, the game continued to go back and forth, as there were a combined 14 ties and 20 lead changes in the contest. At 56-54, Minot State hit their first and only 3-pointer of the contest, giving them a 57-56 lead. Andrew Stokes then fouled out after scoring 19 points, and UMC needed somebody to step up in a big way. The Dengs became the ones to step up, with Aguek Deng causing a turnover and then hitting two massive free throws with 1:42 remaining to put UMC up 64-61. Then, at 66-65, GD Deng was fouled with 6.1 seconds remaining, and he came up clutch hitting both free throws, and then defending the final shot by the Beavers, allowing the Golden Eagles to hold on for a 68-65 victory, their first win against a ranked opponent in over a decade.
UMC improves to 5-16 overall and 4-11 in the NSIC, earning their first conference winning streak of the season. Minot State falls to 20-4, dropping to 11-4 in the conference. To hear postgame comments from junior Micah Garrett, redshirt senior Aguek Deng and head coach Bryan Beamish, click below.
Returning as host, the GRAMMY nominee @TrevorNoah is set to take us into Music’s Biggest Night to honor music and amplify support for the music community impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires. 
Join us on Feb. 2 on @CBS and @ParamountPlus for the 2025 #GRAMMYs.”
