Northfield Noise Ordinance gets First Reading
The Northfield City Council approved a new Unlawful Noise Ordinance last night. This was carried over from 2 weeks ago. Co-owner of the Contented Cow, Diane Burry, spoke at the open mic reiterating the statistics she had brought forth from police data shows that downtown music accounts for a very small percentage of noise complaints. She added that the call report shows that only 10 of the 390 complaints in the last 18 months were related to downtown businesses. Don McGee called the last meeting “troublesome” adding that there were a number of people in the audience who were “troubling and maybe even embarrassed” . He chastised Council for trying to create the ordinance from the dais at their last meeting and confusing everyone. Police Chief Monte Nelson worked from the discussion and introduced 3 options for
Council. Option 2, which was what Burry advocated for, parceled out downtown and industrial districts with a shutdown of 10pm Sun. – Wed., 11pm on Thur. and midnight on Fri and Sat. Councilor DeLong moved a motion for Option 3 which simply moved the Thur shutdown back to 10pm. Zweifel and Peterson White preferred an 11:30pm shutdown for the weekends but supported the option. The vote was 5 to 2 with Ludescher and Mayor Graham voting no. He added that statistics show Thursday night to be a big night to go out and talked about the economic impact (26{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} of taxes) coming from the downtown bar/restaurant establishments. Graham wanted 11pm on Thursday. For Residential zones shutdown is 10pm Sun – Thur and 11pm on the weekend. This is the first reading of the ordinance. They can still change it at the 2nd reading. There’s no Council meeting next Tuesday, that is the Primary. Mayor Graham’s interview this morning is online at kymn.net.
Faribault man hits 123 mph on I-35
A Faribault man fleeing police topped out at a speed of 123 mph. 36 year old Larry Vannak Dang was arrested yesterday after leading Faribault Officer Johns on a chase from downtown to Hwy 60 where he blew through a stop sign. The officer activated his emergency lights and Dang accelerated, hitting 100 mph. According to the criminal complaint, Dang drove onto southbound I-35 where his speed 
reached “at least” 123 mph despite traffic. A state trooper deployed spike sticks but Dang had pulled over and Officer Johns pulled over and yelled for him to exit. He was arrested immediately. His girlfriend was in the passenger seat. A search of the car revealed a blue glass pipe with suspected meth residue and a machete tucked into the drivers seat. The pursuit lasted about 9 minutes. Dang has a revoked license and a warrant out for his arrest. Now he’s charged with a felony of fleeing a peace officer.
Night to Unite – just right!
Night to Unite turned out just right around Northfield. There were about 21 parties in total. Police Chief Monte Nelson and his officers tried to get to each one as did Fire Department personnel and emergency services. Mayor Graham attended several as did some Councilors. St. John’s Lutheran Church sponsored the west side community with a huge bounce house for the kids and a band, along with sloppy joes and all the fixin’s. Next year Council will consider moving their regular meeting so that they and City staff can attend the various parties. Chief Nelson wrote in an email: We registered 21 parties. Two of those were in Dundas, so our total was 18. The weather was great (a little hot) and attendance was also great at all the parties. We had parties as large as over 100 attendees and as small as 20-25. Members of Police, Fire (NAFRS), and Northfield Hospital EMS visited the parties. There was lots of good conversation, connections, questions and food. We want to thank all the people who organized and attended parties, as well as HCI, the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Drug and Alcohol Use, and the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition for their help with materials, supplies, and educational information for the parties.
The United Methodist Women’s Campaign for Children expects to serve 575 local students through Operation Backpack. The Community Action Center is registering families with children 4 to 18 to select their backpack and appropriate supplies. This year backpacks will be offered to 4 year olds enrolled in a preschool program. Registration or certification deadline is August 10th. For more information on registration,call the CAC at 507-664-3550. Tax deductible donations are also being accepted.
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