Today’s news update | Suspect questioned in early morning fires at City Hall; College Street (UPDATED)

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• UPDATE……Police have taken 43-year-old Mark Allen Cole into custody in connection with this morning’s fires. He is the lone resident of the home that exploded earlier this morning on 611 College Street. Another fire occurred just a few blocks away a short time later at City Hall. Northfield Police Chief Mark Taylor says authorities are still getting details about a motive for the fires, but he says Cole didn’t necessarily have an axe to grind with the city, and that Cole may have had other reasons for why he did what he did.
• Police have a suspect in custody in connection with two early morning Northfield fires. One fire occurred at 611 College Street; the other in the parking lot at Northfield City Hall. Northfield police chief Mark Taylor says arson is suspected, though no motive is clear at this point. The suspect, seen fleeing the scene at the city hall fire, is being questioned at the Rice County jail. Chief Taylor says the house on College Street is a total loss. No one was home at the time of the fire. Two city vehicles were severely burned in the city hall fire, and another vehicle at that scene is believed to be the suspect’s. KYMN will have continuing coverage of the story as there are developments.
• The Northfield school board has voted to make significant changes to its Spanish immersion program—Companeros. School superintendent Dr. Chris Richardson says the so-called 50-50 program will be more rigorous than the current 35-65 ratio for the program–with an emphasis on on learning to read, write and speak a second language. Dr. Richardson says the program for 1^st through 5^th graders will have self-contained Compenaros classrooms and will be available at all three elementary schools next year. Students in the first grade will be selected for the program by a controlled lottery system. Dr. Richardson says the middle school Spanish program will also be re-evaluated within the next year or so.