Booker gets backing
The Northfield Public Library will get a new bookmobile but the discussion wasn’t a slam dunk. The Minneapolis Foundation offered a grant but wanted a tangible goal with a service component as well as City and community involvement. Library Director Theresa Jensen came up with replacing Booker, the 26 year old bus with repair costs more than it’s worth, with a smaller brand new Sprinter mobile library and a part-time Outreach librarian to operate it. Administrator Martig said the
bookmobile is more than just books, it’s outreach into our Senior communities, daycares, to under served populations that might have a harder challenges. The argument came, not over the cost to the City, but rather the size of the vehicle. Councilor DeLong, ” and it really pains me that the City has to go out begging to handle core services and that the City is going to settle for a bookmobile that’s smaller than what we need”. DeLong advocated for a step van which, he says, can carry more, costs less, doesn’t require a special license and is handicapped accessible. Other councilors said they would defer to Jensen’s request, she specifically stated they didn’t need something bigger. DeLong said, “as much as I want to support this I’m going to vote no because I think the City could do better”. The vote was 5 to 1. The Foundation will pay 50{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} of the cost of the Sprinter and 2 years salary for an Outreach Librarian at $28,000 per year. The City will pay 40{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} of the cost of Sprinter, which is $54,400 and the remaining 10{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} will come from other donations. The Foundation will also provide $5,000 in matching funds for new books.
“Saved by the Belt” – Teen and Grandfather survive horrific crash
A boy and his grandfather are alive because they wore their seatbelts and today, they were honored with the “Saved by the Belt” award from the Rice County Safe Roads Coalition and TZD and Rice County Law Enforcement. Sheriff Troy Dunn said if they weren’t wearing their seatbelts the outcome would’ve been very different. The photos showed their vehicle was rolled over with the top crushed down. kathy-cooper-proof-2
Dunn said they’re alive because they made the right choice. TZD Coordinator Kathy Cooper commented that even though the percentage of those who wear seatbelts is at 94{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} but in Rural Minnesota it’s less and if you take that percentage times Minnesota’s population, it’s thousands and thousands of people. When the seatbelt law was first enacted in 1986, police couldn’t stop someone just for that reason. Cooper called the “fake law”. The federal government at the time, demanded states enact the law to receive federal funding for roads. It was the only safety law of about 1200 like that. 13 year old Logan Sterling Meyers said the accident was “pretty terrible”, his grandfather, Sterling Sibley was emotional, “it was quite a ride, yeah, it’s been a year but it’s not over yet, I guess”. He still relives the crash which happened in September of last year when a pickup ran the stop sign. They thanked the emergency responders, who were all at the ceremony. Not until 2009, was a law passed that allowed police to pull you over simply for not wearing your seatbelt and that includes everyone in the vehicle. Ninety-one people that were killed last year, were not wearing belts. Northfield Sgt. Kevin Tussing said you are 6 times more likely to be injured if you’re not wearing a seatbelt. He added that you never know when another driver will make a poor decision and put your life in danger. Seatbealt enforcement is on now through October 30th. The crash occurred at Hwy 246 and Co. Rd. 1.
LWV hosts Northfield Mayoral and Council candidate forum Saturday
The Northfield League of Women Voters is holding their final forum for the Mayoral and Councilor candidates on Saturday at the Northfield Community Resource Center. They’ll start with the Mayoral candidates at 9 am followed by the Council candidates at 10:30am. All the candidate forums hosted by the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce and their media partners KYMN radio and the Northfield News are now posted online at kymn.net. They include the State, Northfield School Board and Northfield Mayoral and Council forums.
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