Latest news with #EastGrandForks
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'We want safety for all users' as finish nears for Greater Grand Forks' streets plan
Jun. 14—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization will be opening public comment on the final draft of its Safe Streets for All Plan on June 16. The plan has been in the works for more than a year to identify community needs, actionable steps and projects that Grand Forks and East Grand Forks can take to address traffic safety. The Safe Streets For All, or SS4A, plan isn't just one by the MPO, but a plan for which both cities applied and received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to conduct. "A lot of work has gone into this, everything from lots of conversations from various entities and organizations across the region, but also just a lot of engagement," Blue Weber of Bolton and Menk, one of the consultants helping with the plan, told the East Grand Forks City Council on June 10. "It's been a blast." The public will be able to leave comments on the plan's website: . Once adopted by both cities, the plan will open funding opportunities for safe street improvements, along with potentially making grant and other traffic funding applications stronger. The SS4A program was established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021, which set aside $5 billion in funds between 2022 and 2026 to reduce roadway deaths across the country. "An important part with the safety action plan with the SS4A funding is to try to bundle some of these projects," Weber told the Grand Forks City Council on June 9. "You never want to just go after one, because this is an awesome, huge pot of money that you really want to try to sell this story of implementing safety within your community." Since starting the plan in May 2024, seven public engagement events have been held to allow residents to comment on their priorities for traffic safety and to learn more about the plan. Those ranged from traditional open houses where people could take in information and ask questions to staff and consultants, to more interactive events, like a walking audit of 17th Avenue South in Grand Forks. Final adoption of the plan is proposed for sometime in July or August after public comment and both city councils have met in a joint meeting to provide their input. Another in-person engagement event is planned for later in June to allow for more comments. The plan is split into eight chapters and follows a format similar to other traffic plans that the MPO has created, like the 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan. It includes an overview of demographics, peer community reviews, how it was created, data and implementation strategies. Roads like 32nd Avenue South and Washington Street in Grand Forks and Bygland Road in East Grand Forks received some of the most comments from the public about potential improvements. Additionally, creating better pedestrian and bike connections across Greater Grand Forks was desired. "This is a community plan. This is not just something that MPO filed for themselves. Both the communities of East Grand Forks and Grand Forks really had to partake in this," Weber said in East Grand Forks. "One of the biggest things that came out of all our engagement with the community is we want safety for all users."
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Cleanup week set to start in Grand Forks, East Grand Forks
May 10—GRAND FORKS — Residents in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks will be able to put items on the berm for city pickup starting Monday. The traditional cleanup week runs May 12-16. Crews will follow the street maintenance schedule for both cities and not the trash pickup schedule. Having crews follow the street maintenance allows easier access to the berm and minimizes the number of vehicles on the streets on those days. "The biggest thing some people don't understand is that we collect it with large equipment," Grand Forks Public Works Director Sharon Lipsh said. She urges residents to "not put it close to trees, fire hydrants or mailboxes so we can get in there and pick it up with our equipment." Residents also should avoid putting glass on the berm. "Line things up parallel to the street," East Grand Forks Public Works Supervisor Erika Perez said. "Don't lean it up against their mailbox or against a tree or a fire hydrant ... Just away from anything they don't want damaged." The Grand Forks street maintenance schedule is: * Monday: Both streets and avenues between 32nd Avenue South, 47th Avenue South, Washington Street South and the Red River. It also includes streets between 32nd Avenue South, DeMers Avenue, South Columbia Road and the Red River. * Tuesday: Streets and avenues between 32nd Avenue South, 47th Avenue South, Washington Street South and South Columbia Road. It also includes avenues between 32nd Avenue South, DeMers Avenue, South Columbia Road and the Red River. * Wednesday: Streets and avenues between 17th Avenue South, 32nd Avenue South, South Columbia Road and 42nd Street South. It also includes streets in neighborhoods north of DeMers Avenue. * Thursday: Streets and avenues between DeMers Avenue, 17th Avenue South, 42nd Street South and South Columbia Road. It also includes avenues in neighborhoods north of DeMers Avenue. * Friday: Streets and avenues south of 47th Avenue and the area south of 32nd Avenue South between Interstate 29 and South Columbia Road. More information can be found on the Grand Forks Public Works website, including an address search for exact street maintenance details, at The East Grand Forks street maintenance schedule is: * Monday: District 4 — areas of the point east of Bygland Road. * Tuesday: District 5 — areas of the point west of Bygland Road. * Wednesday: District 2 — areas between U.S. Highway 2 and 17th Street Northwest. * Thursday: District 1 — areas north of 17th Street Northwest. * Friday: District 3 — Central East Grand Forks, including downtown and parts of the city between U.S. Highway 2 and the Red Lake River. More information can be found on the East Grand Forks city website, East Grand Forks will also have a household hazardous waste drop off for residents on Saturday, May 17, at the Public Works facility, 1001 Second St. NE.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
East Grand Forks robotics heading to world competition with five invites from state
Mar. 9—EAST GRAND FORKS — Following a good showing at the Minnesota State VEX Robotics Competition, the East Grand Forks team is preparing to head to the VEX World Championship this spring. "We had a very good year, all year, and it has been very exciting to see the team the whole time," Coach Nathan Blair said. "I knew they were going to do well (at the competition). ... It's been a pretty big year for them." The Minnesota State VEX Robotics Competition was held Feb. 27 through March 1 in St. Cloud, and is the state's largest competition for K-12 robotics. The East Grand Forks Robotics program came home with five invites across its three teams to the Worlds Competition. The teams also earned four awards recognizing their design, coding and team skills. Sixty high school-level teams and 54 middle school-level teams competed. This was the fourth year qualifying for the state competition for the East Grand Forks senior team SynthWave. The team made it to the quarterfinal round of the head-to-head competition and won the skills tournament with the highest score of any team throughout the season, breaking its own season record, qualifying them for Worlds. The team also won the Think Award, which recognizes the most effective use of coding techniques and design for game challenges, also qualifying them for Worlds. The team made up of Nolan Blair, Luke Massmann and Sebastian Olson got two invites to Worlds. East Grand Forks had two teams competing in the Metal Robot middle school division. The Constructors made it to finals in the head-to-head tournament and won the skills tournament, qualifying for Worlds from both. The Constructors team is made up of Braiden Anhorn, Asher Blair, Andrew Cassanelli and Aiden Kazmierczak. The Robo Turtles made it to the quarterfinals in the head-to-head tournament, and also won the Design Award, recognizing their team's approach to engineering its robot, qualifying them for Worlds. The Robo Turtles team is made up of Zoe Baez, Eli Bowman, Kylen Driscoll and Zaiden Olson. Nathan Blair also won the Mentor of the Year award and Jessica Johnson won Volunteer of the Year for the time she has put into helping the team compete. The team is currently fundraising to help fund its trip to the world competition in early May. Around 800 high school teams and 500 middle school teams from across the world will be competing in the VEX V5RC Worlds Competition in Dallas. More information on the fundraising can be found on the East Grand Forks Robotics Facebook page.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
East Grand Forks beats St. Cloud Cathedral in OT for Minnesota 1A state hockey title
For the first time in a decade, East Grand Forks is the Class A boys state hockey champion in Minnesota — and they did it in dramatic fashion. After surrendering the game-tying goal to St. Cloud Cathedral with 47 seconds left in regulation, East Grand Forks delivered a winner less than two minutes into overtime. Senior forward Jace Van Eps was the hero, as his banked-in rebound goal from deep in the corner secured a 2-1 victory for the Green Wave at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday afternoon. Jace Panzer had the assist on the game-winning goal. It's the first championship for EGF (16-13-2) since they won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015. They had a sub-.500 record in the regular season this year, but their difficult schedule helped prepare them for an incredible six-game run through the postseason. Just to get to this stage, they rallied from a 5-2 deficit in Friday's semifinal against Hibbing/Chisholm, scoring five consecutive goals in a 7-5 win. East Grand Forks appeared to be headed for a 1-0 win in this title game until Cathedral freshman Bo Schmidt tied it when his shot deflected off of goaltender Noah Schindele's glove and into the net. The goal came with the Crusaders on a power play. Cooper Hills opened the scoring for EGF midway through the second period when he crashed the net and buried a loose puck on a rebound. It was his seventh tally of the season, assisted by Panzer and Tucker Lovejoy. That was the only goal either team could scratch across until the final minute of regulation. St. Cloud Cathedral (20-9-2) had beaten Orono 4-1 in the other semifinal on Friday. Orono beat Hibbing/Chisholm 5-1 in third-place game earlier on Saturday. The Class 2A title game between Moorhead and Stillwater is at 7 p.m.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Six organizations in Grand Forks to receive Community Development Grant dollars this year
Feb. 24—GRAND FORKS — Six organizations across Grand Forks were selected to receive funds through the city's annual Community Development Grant programs. A total of $569,135 was available in the competitive grant pool for the capital improvement and operational fund programs. The Grand Forks City Council approved the allocation of the funds at two meetings in February with the goal of helping ease homelessness and housing insecurity in the city. "We have some exciting notes too," Collin Hanson, community development manager for the city told the council earlier this month. "We may have seen that the Grand Forks Senior Center is well on its way. ... The United Way was recently in the Herald as well with opening their brand-new family shelters, all things that the city is proud to help support those agencies (with) and continue to serve those folks." Funds are given through two programs — the Community Development Block Grant program and the Community Services Grant program . Applications opened in November and were reviewed by the Community Advisory Committee in January. The CDBG program, the capital project grant program, has $410,000 available for use this year. The program is funded through federal funds the city receives from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. There was less money than there was in 2024, but the program has had higher amounts than usual, due to the sale of the Corporate Centers downtown. A total of $904,357 was requested by organizations for capital funds. Northlands Rescue Mission; United Way of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Area; and Grand Forks Homes were given funds for infrastructure rehabilitation. Priority has been given to projects that are shovel-ready. The CSG program, the operating grant program, had $159,235 available for 2025. This was about the same that was available in the program last year, but this year the maximum grant award amount was increased to $50,000 from $30,000. These funds come from sales tax revenue. A total of $285,000 was requested by organizations in Grand Forks for operational funds. Funds were given to Grand Forks Homeless Helpers; St. Joseph's Social Care; Northlands Rescue Mission; United Way of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Area; and Spectra Health. At the same time, the city is looking toward the final stages of its next consolidated action plan for HUD. The plan sets out the city's priorities and plans for the allocation of federal funds and is a requirement to be done every five years. However, with the change to a new president, guidelines change. "In four years we don't know what the next administration is going to be between the Obama administration, the Trump administration, the Biden Administration and now a Trump administration," Hanson said. "We've seen about four or five different versions of a fair housing requirement come and go." There's a public hearing on the plan scheduled for April 7. The public can comment and view the draft plan on the city's website.
