Hiawathaland Transit sees increased ridership as Nfld considers Transit Hub
Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig attended a “Rice County Joint Administrators Meeting” in Faribault recently and received an update from Amy Repinski. She’s the Director of Transportation for Hiawathaland Transit. Ridership in Northfield has been increasing since they took over in 2012. The 2015 statistics show annual ridership at just over 94,000 for 2015 and expect to exceed 100,000 in 2016. A current priority for our area includes adding a route between Northfield and Faribault. They’re also looking at adding service in Lonsdale which could lead to a route between Lonsdale and Northfield. This information comes as City officials consider a Transit Hub at the Depot site on 3rd street in Northfield.
Northfield Council seats and Congress position on the Primary ballot August 9th
The Primary is August 9th. There are 4 people running for Northfield’s Ward 2 seat including incumbent David DeLong, Kenneth Engen, Jack Hoschouer and Mark J. Hofstad. There are 3 candidates for the 3rd Ward including incumbent Erica Zweifel, Norman Butler and Jon Denison. Six are vying for the 2nd Congressional District seat held by John Kline. There are four Republicans, Matthew Erickson, John Howe, Jason Lewis, Darlene Miller, one Democrat, Angie Craig and Independent Paula Overby. Polls are open from 7am to 8pm. Go to your local City website for more information on voting and polling locations. Click on the link to the Secretary of State which lists all the candidates and their contact information.
Co-chair bringing Vietnam Wall replica to Faribault encourages the Community to escort the Memorial to the Fairgrounds
A replica of the Vietnam Wall in the nation’s capital is coming to Faribault. Co-chair, Virginia Van Sluis, said the wall, the largest of 4 such replicas that travel the country, will arrive at the Steele County fairgrounds on August 31st. From there, a contingent including County Sheriff’s Office, Fire departments and more will escort the Memorial along County Road 45 to Faribault. It will be on display from September 1st – 5th, 24 hours a day. It’s a stirring tribute to those who gave all in an unpopular war, “the stories that we hear are that they were told when they came back from combat to bury their uniforms, don’t let anybody know that you served”. Van Sluis, who grew up during that era, wanted to do something for those Veterans. As a member of the Elks Lodge, she approached the local VFW and American Legion as well as the Marine Corp League and the Disabled Vets to be able to bring the Memorial to Rice County. She said it took 10 minutes to raise the funds to get the wall here. She said the community has been very supportive. Her committee of five, chose not to have any politicians involved, “this is strictly people who have served in that particular war. They will be the speakers, they will be the honored guests, they will be the people laying the wreaths at the wall, so it is for them”. This is an 80{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} replica which includes the names of every fallen soldier as does the granite one in Washington. Van Sluis is encouraging as many people as possible to join the escort or line up along Co. Rd 45 as the wall moves from Steele Co. to Rice County August 31st. They’ll leave about 3pm and should arrive about an hour later at Rice Co. fairgrounds. They’ll have a soft opening and then a Grand Opening at 6:30pm on Sept. 1st. For further information go to travelingwallfaribault2016.org. They are also holding a breakfast at the Northfield VFW on August 7th from 8 to 11:30 to benefit local veterans.
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