Sexual assault subject of “Start By Believing” campaign
The Northfield News and the Star Tribune have done in depth articles on St. Olaf students launching a campaign to change the sexual assault policy on campus. It was started by student Madeline Wilson who tells her story of assault and the process in which her alleged attacker was never punished by the school on her website, mycollegeisprotectingrapists.com. Rice County Attorney John Fossum’s office, along with local law enforcement agencies and the Hope Center, kicked off their part in a national campaign this week called “Start by believing”. Fossum says the issue they have is that the majority of assaults never get reported. The numbers vary depending on who does the study from 5 to 25{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9}. He added that some are not reported in a time-frame that allows for an investigation and determination of what happened. It’s important to report it as soon as possible. The intent of the ‘Start by Believing” campaign is to make sure that the people who victims come into contact with will listen to them and give them the benefit of credibility to start with rather than to start by attacking and saying they don’t believe them. He says they want people have a confidence in the system that they’ll be listened to and their case ill be pursued. There is oftentimes embarrassment or shame, “and what we want to do is make sure that we’re not participating in any victim blaming activities. We’re not going to say it’s your fault because of the way you’re dressed, it’s not your fault because of the way you look, it’s not your fault because of where you were when something happened”. Wilson has filed a report with the Northfield Police department since not getting satisfaction from the college. I have links to Madeline’s website and to the Start By Believing campaign on our website kymn.net.
Wastewater treatment piping pulled for discussion
Northfield’s wastewater treatment facility is in need of Piping Replacement to start with. This particular portion of the project was estimated at $196,000 but the lowest bid came in at over $330,000. Council was being asked to award the bid and then approve an immediate change order this week. Mayor Graham said the change order will reduce the cost by $101,000. Bolten and Menk, engineering consultants do the estimates. Mayor Graham said, “I’ve questioned this several times about why do we have such gaps between engineers estimate and what bids come in and they’re working at trying to get better at it and I really don’t have all the answers for that”. The Bid was awarded to Faribo Plumbing and Heating and they approved the change order. More work on the wastewater facility will be taking place in increments.
Dahle pushes for facility funding
Senator Kevin Dahle has been working on a number of bills. He’s continuing his push for funding for school facilities, “it was about debt service equalization meaning state aid and property tax. We need more state aid and less of a burden on property taxes”. This bill would equalize that factor. Dahle says, when this was started 30 years ago, the state’s contribution was 11{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9}, it is now at 2{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9}. His entire interview is on kymn.net.
Distracted Driving enforcement starts Monday
Starting Monday, more than 300 law enforcement agencies across the state will participate in enhanced enforcement of distracted driving. Northfield Police Sgt. and TZD Coordinator Kevin Tussing said, “It’s not about how good of a driver you are. It’s about the five seconds you take your eyes off the road. Don’t risk it.” We have much more information including videos on kymn.net
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