INTERNATIONAL FALLS, MN (trfnews.i234.me) A news wrap up of COVID-19 related stories in Northeast Minnesota.
representative Rob Eklund joined us for let’s talk about it to discuss how the state is addressing the coronavirus and its effects for example the budget surplus we had talked about just weeks ago is that in danger of disappearing well I would suspect it longer this goes with better chances that we have of that happening for instance the first the first day after the hospitality industry shut down bars restaurants that sort of thing the unemployment insurance group was processing 2,000 claims an hour so I mean that’s and and it’s amazing the work that they’ve done under these situations but that’s just the kind of stress that’s going to put on this of this budget surplus and we have we are seeing how the virus is affecting us all on the community level as well for instance there’s a group of things that they’re called environmental learning centers we have one in in district 3 over at Wolf Ridge Northland Minnesota well they’re normally booked solid right now with school tours and that’s how they make their income there the people those schools pay to have the kids come over for a week three days or two days or whatever door learning experiences all sudden they’ve had a layoff staff they’ve never laid off staff in the history of the organization and so they’re called what’s called a reimbursing employer because they’ve never had to lay off staff they they they don’t have to pay into the trust fund so what happens is their staff will you know an employment insurance and then they have to reimburse the state for that for those those fees so and there’s a bunch of those type situations around the state small cities that have municipal liquor stores I mean who would ever thought that immunity or checked out for our listeners down in Orin cook I spoke with st. Louis County Superintendent dr. Reggie Ingebrigtsen about current plans at the Northwood school they are still awaiting instruction past the March 30th date but like many schools around the borderland they are offering school meals yes it is so the governor is also asked us to provide child care for those health care workers or emergency responders to families like that that needs child care so we are providing that other school and then we are providing a bagged lunch that includes breakfast and lunch for any student in our district and so we I sent out a survey to all families last Sunday when we received word that the governor was closing school and if parents don’t have access to the Internet or are hearing this on the radio they could certainly call their school if it’s the Northwood school and talk to the secretary and let them know that if they would like bag lunches we are working through our bus drivers to get those dropped off to families either at their home or in central locations without a lot of people around certainly following social distancing but yes that’s something we’re offering the school is also looking into e-learning and possibly providing technology to students who may not have a suitable set up at home from the lbf public schools the little fort big fall staff have been very busy working distance learning plans and preparing materials for students should that take place on Monday March 30th from our distance learning plans our teaching staff is working diligently to find innovative ways to keep the burden on families as low as possible during this time we will publish all information on how this will work as soon as it is complete we know that many parents are worried about the burden of distance learning on their families but rest assured your child’s teacher will be available for you and your student as we work through whatever changes are coming our way we anticipate that there will be unforeseen obstacles and other bumps along the way but we are decidedly working through them to provide quality education to all of our students in the most seamless way possible the food delivery and pickup program is working well and families interested in this service can still sign up by filling out our survey online that can be found under recent news on their Facebook page the surface is free for any lvf student who would like to participate child care for emergency or emergency personnel is also in place for families if you are interested in the service go ahead and go to the lbf page online under recent news and also on their Facebook page I’m Chris Norton reporting for Rjay broadcasting calm
Northeast Minnesota COVID-19 News Summary
