CHILDREN’S GARDEN CAMP
MOORHEAD – Clay County 4-H presents a Children’s Garden Camp open to all youth 1st – 6th grades.
We will get our hands dirty in the soil, study the science about growing plants and learn about healthy snacks from the garden. This will be an active and fun class with hands on activities.
When: August 9- 12 from 10:00am – 11:30 am
Led by: Master Gardener Alecia Hultgren
Where: Held at the Grateful Garden, behind the First Presbyterian Church, 2900 5th St Moorhead.
Cost: $10 per youth. Scholarships available upon request. Cash or check for the correct amount accepted at the first meeting.
Registration: Call Heather at 218-299-5020 to register by Friday July 30.
Bring your own water. Class canceled if it rains.
ENERGY ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE TO HELP MINNESOTANS WITH UTILITY BILLS
ST. PAUL – Hundreds of millions in financial assistance is available to help Minnesotans pay for electricity, natural gas, propane, and other delivered fuels.
The nonprofit Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota (CUB), along with many others across the state, is spreading the word that grants are available to households who qualify based on income, as are special protections from shutoffs as the state transitions out of the COVID emergency. While the state’s regulated electric and gas utilities had been under a shutoff moratorium, they are permitted to resume disconnecting residential customers for unpaid bills beginning August 2. Many cooperative and municipal utilities have already resumed shutoffs.
“Even though we’re coming out of the official state of emergency, a lot of people are really struggling to afford energy bills,” said CUB’s Outreach Director, Carmen Carruthers. “The good news is that there are resources and protections available.”
Any Minnesotan who has earned 60% of the state median income or less over the past three months is qualified to receive Energy Assistance. For a household of three, that equates to $13,697 in the past three months or an annual income of $54,791. You do not need to be behind on energy bills to qualify, but there is additional assistance for customers at risk of having their service disconnected or running out of delivered fuel.
To apply for Energy Assistance, contact your local provider. You can find your provider at https://cubminnesota.org/shutoff or by calling 1-800-657-3710.
Receiving Energy Assistance provides additional protection for many Minnesotans worried about an electricity or natural gas shutoff. No state-regulated utility is permitted to disconnect service to a home that has received Energy Assistance through April 30, 2022. This applies to CenterPoint Energy, Dakota Electric Association, Great Plains Natural Gas, Greater Minnesota Gas, Minnesota Energy Resources, Minnesota Power, Otter Tail Power, and Xcel Energy.
Finally, utility customers who receive Energy Assistance can also qualify for significantly reduced electric and natural gas rates. CenterPoint, Great Plains Natural Gas, Greater Minnesota Gas, Minnesota Energy Resources, Minnesota Power, and Xcel all offer affordability programs that cap utility bills at a percentage of a customer’s income, including forgiving a portion of any overdue amount that might remain on a customer’s bill after receiving Energy Assistance.
More information about how to get Energy Assistance, shutoff protections, affordability programs, and other resources to help with utility bills can be found at https://cubminnesota.org/shutoff.
People may also contact the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota for personalized assistance at 651-300-4701 or info@cubminnesota.org.
POST TRAUMATIC FUNK SYNDROME TO PLAY MOORHEAD PUBLIC LIBRARY CONCERT AUGUST 7
MOORHEAD – Lake Agassiz Regional Library is celebrating its 60th Anniversary by inviting the community to enjoy an outdoor concert at the Moorhead Public Library featuring the area’s premiere classic rock band. On Saturday, August 7, Post Traumatic Funk Syndrome will take the stage from 7-9 p.m. outside the library. The band, which boasts a swinging horn section and some serious funk, will play a set of classic 60s’ and 70s’ hits. Audience members are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Admission is offered free-of-charge.
Additional offerings for all ages will be available during the event, including book art activities hosted by the Rourke Art Museum in the museum’s courtyard. The Rourke Art Museum will also extend their hours and will be open (free-of-charge) for visitors from 7-9 p.m. and attendees will have the option to purchase food from the Casa Delicia food cart. This event is made possible thanks to funding from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
MSU MOORHEAD JOINS COVID-19 COLLEGE VACCINE CHALLENGE
MOORHEAD – Minnesota State University Moorhead is participating in the White House and the U.S. Department of Education’s COVID-19 College Vaccine Challenge. Several thousand U.S. colleges and universities have committed to raising awareness of vaccine resources to students, faculty and staff and encouraging the campus community to take advantage of on-site vaccine clinics.
MSUM will offer incentives for students and employees who tell us why they’ve been vaccinated, including parking passes and $100 in Dragon Dollars or Bookstore credit. To date, more than 110 students or employees have shared their ‘why’ on social media.
“We look forward to students and faculty returning to campus. You can feel the energy ramping up,” said Ryan Nelson, MSUM’s director of public safety. “The more members of our campus community who are vaccinated, the safer we’ll keep all members of our Dragon family and the sooner we’ll get back to normal.”
As part of the challenge, MSUM and Clay County Public Health will host three COVID-19 drop-in vaccine clinics on campus during August. They will be held outside Dahl Hall on the east side of the building by the sand volleyball courts. The clinics are open to all students, employees and their families and the general public. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccines will be available. No pre-registration or appointments are needed.
Sunday, August 8 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, August 12 from 3 to 7 p.m.
Saturday, August 21 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
General parking is available in lots G6, G7, G10 or G11.
MDA TO OFFER FREE WASTE PESTICIDE COLLECTIONS IN NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is hosting a series of free waste pesticide collections available to eleven northwestern Minnesota counties. Residents from Beltrami, Cass, Clay, Clearwater, Lake of the Woods, Kittson, Marshall, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau counties may attend any of the five collection sites in August.
The program accepts unwanted, unusable agricultural and consumer-type pesticides including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and rodenticides. However, crop oils, adjuvants, pesticide rinsate, fertilizer, treated seed, contaminated soil, and empty pesticide containers will not be accepted. The collections are open to farmers, homeowners, commercial pesticide applicators, golf courses, lawn care companies, structural pest control operators, and other pesticide users. No pre-registration for the MDA events is required.
The 2021 MDA collections will be held at the following local location August 3 at West Central Ag, 334 1st St. SE, Ulen from 2 – 4 p.m.
Collection sites will accept up to 300 pounds of eligible product at no cost. The MDA requests that citizens call 612-214-6843 to provide advance notification if they wish to drop off more than 300 pounds of product.
The MDA has collected over 8 million pounds of pesticides around the state since the Waste Pesticide Collection Program started in 1990.