Tanner Mortenson is the architect who created a snow fort which stands several feet tall on County Road 115. This season’s snow and temperatures appear to have combined to make for good fort-building conditions.
A program from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is inviting owners of 2006 and older heavy-duty diesel engine vehicles to apply for grants to upgrade or replace their engines.
The MPCA program, funded through a $150,000 federal grant, provides funding for installing pollution controls and idle reduction devices, or for replacing engines, vehicles or equipment.
According to an MPCA news release, diesel engines power Minnesota's economy, but older diesel engines are infamous for creating air pollution, and vehicles are responsible for 30 percent of the air pollution in Minnesota.
Older diesel engines create a higher proportion of fine particulate and nitrogen oxide pollution than gasoline engines. Both fine particle pollution and ozone can trigger respiratory and heart problems.
The EPA estimates every dollar spent on diesel emission reduction nets $13 in health benefits. Over the last seven years the MPCA’s clean diesel grant efforts have helped to directly fund emission-reducing improvements on 2,746 diesel engines in Minnesota including nearly 1,900 school buses.
In recent years, the MPCA has awarded grants to replace heavy duty engines on construction equipment, garbage trucks, delivery trucks, and retrofitted several long-haul trucks with diesel particulate filters.
“These grants usually provide around 40-50 percent of the cost, except vehicle replacement projects which would be funded up to 25 percent,” MPCA clean diesel grants manager, Mark Sulzbach, said in a release. “New diesel engine emissions are 90 percent cleaner than pre-2007 engines. The problem is old diesels last forever. Clean diesel grants contribute directly to improving public health including the engine operator’s health, while helping the owner’s bottom line through improved performance and or efficiency.”
Owners of older heavy duty diesel engines are encouraged to take the opportunity to improve their fleet through a variety of EPA approved technologies including:
- Idle reduction
- Pollution controls
- Engine replacements
- New vehicle /equipment replacements
Vehicles and equipment generally must be 2006 and older and trucks must be class 6 or larger to qualify. Vehicles and equipment must also be fully operational and not backup equipment.
Applications are due by March 31. Visit www.pca.state.mn.us/cleandiesel for more information.
Arn Kind role-plays in the upcoming event, Historical Experiences – Minnesota’s Civil War Experience, a free program being offered at the International Falls Public Library 6:30 p.m. Monday.
A Civil War experience is coming to International Falls Public Library.
The Arrowhead Library System will present Historical Experiences – Minnesota’s Civil War Experience, a free program being offered at the International Falls Public Library at 6:30 p.m. Monday.
This year is the final year of the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, according to a news release. Arn Kind will visit libraries across the Arrowhead region to share information about the events that threatened to break up the nation. The American Civil War was America’s bloodiest conflict, with 620,000 Americans losing their lives over the four years of the struggle.
Through drama, role-playing and living history experiences, Kind’s presentation will give participants an understanding of this turbulent time and bring history alive. What caused this horrific conflict? What events led to the war? What motivated young men to sign up and fight as soldiers for the Union? Was it just patriotism or were there other, more selfish motivations for enlisting? What was the everyday soldier’s experience? What were his uniform, equipment, weapons, and food like? What were his chances of surviving his 3-year term of enlistment?
Kind dresses in the uniform of a Union soldier and goes through the uniform, equipment, and weapons used by soldiers in the American Civil War.
A very important part of Kind’s presentations, the release said, are the artifacts, uniforms and equipment participants observe, handle, and interact with as part of this hands-on history experience. At the end, audience members may choose to play an active role in historical events by becoming recruits in the Union Army as they are sworn in and learn some of the basics of Hardee’s Light Infantry Tactics Drill Manual while handling wooden replicas of Civil War muskets.
Kind is a member of the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment; a reenactment group based out of Fort Snelling. Because this group is noted for its authenticity, they have appeared in many documentaries and historical feature films such as “The Blue and the Gray,” “North & South,” “Glory,” “Gettysburg,” “Dances With Wolves,” and “Gods and Generals.” Kind brings this authenticity to his presentations.
This program, sponsored by Arrowhead Library System, was funded in part or in whole with money from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. To learn more about Arrowhead Legacy Events, please see the organization’s calendar at www.arrowhead.lib.mn.us/whats-new, find it on Twitter www.twitter.com/ArrowheadLegacy or Facebook at www.facebook.com/ArrowheadLegacy.
