Today’s news update – No charges against Nfld woman involved in shooting death; Surprises shake up NAFRS Board; KYMN becomes The ONE

January 6, 2017
12:02 pm

No charges against Nfld woman involved in shooting death

“There’s not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was not a case of self-defense”…Northfield Police Chief Monte Nelson said that’s the conclusion from the Rice County Attorneys office in connection with the shooting death of 61 year old Lilly Kirckof last August. The public manner of death was ruled homicide, the cause of death multiple gunshot wounds. Northfield police were called by 75 year old Phyllis Anne Hall, the owner of the home on the 1200 block of Jefferson Rd., who told the 911

operator that Kirckof was trying to harm her, saying that Kirckof is upset and, because of that, she won’t put the gun down. The owner then said she shot Kirckof with a 357 magnum before calling them. Nelson said this isn’t something that happens in Northfield and it’s sad and shocking. He noted that, “our Investigators and the BCA Investigators did an excellent job. I’m very proud of how our responding officers dealt with it that day and what our investigators did. They gathered the very best evidence they could”. He said sometimes there’s a unique set of circumstances that leads to this kind of outcome. We’ll hear more from Rice County Attorney John Fossum when he’s in studio next week.

Surprises shake up NAFRS Board

There were a couple of surprises along the way as the NAFRS Joint Powers Board elected their new Board Chair and Vice Chair yesterday. With two new Northfield representatives, Jessica Peterson White and Anne Haddad, there was also a new vibe to the all male board. Member Dave Drenth nominated current Chair Glen Castore citing continuity as they move forward on the fire facility. Dundas Mayor Glenn Switzer put forth Dana Graham for Chair explaining, “Northfield is the largest member and hasn’t had a lead yet”. Graham agreed. But that wasn’t how everyone felt. Castore commented, “my only comment is I hope we would get to the point here when we step into the room we aren’t thinking of ourselves as representing Rural, Northfield or Dundas, we are representing the Fire District”. Police Chief Monte Nelson cautioned, “everyone needs to concerned about the Fire District first, but, I think we’re naive in not paying attention to all the bylaws and everything else if we think someone who’s coming from the State Representative side or the rural fire district naturally part of their concern is who they represent”. For example, if someone from Rural isn’t representing their community’s interests, they could be held accountable by the community. After listening to the Board, Graham said, “I’ll remove my from the nomination and make a motion to support Glen by acclamation”. That was the first surprise. As Castore accepted the continuation of his role as Chair, he nominated new member Anne Haddad as Vice Chair. There was a collective gasp including from Haddad, who then seconded herself saying her experience includes, “working with mostly non-profit organizations, some for profit entities to help advance critical decisions, sometimes capital projects, often funding projects. So I have a set of experience I think is valuable”. Castore added, “she would bring a different type of leadership to the board that would be more successful probably in addressing some of Glenn’s (Mayor Switzer) issues, some of our sustainability issues and so forth”. And with that, they voted 6 in favor of Haddad and 1 for Graham as Vice Chair.

KYMN becomes The ONE

KYMN radio is now The One! We’ve been in the midst of adding an FM signal and are re-branding. Owner Jeff Johnson announced the addition of FM 95.1, in November and we are now The One – real radio true variety. Johnson commented, “even though we’re changing the brand, we’re not changing the station. Everything you know about KYMN will be the same as far as our programming, so we’re still a friend you can count on since 1968”. The One has several meanings, Johnson said, first the obvious with our signal 95.1. But also the fact that we are under One owner, our music is singular in its vast library, all programmed locally, and as a small town radio station we are One of, perhaps a handful around the country to use all local talent. And we’ve been selected as Northfield’s 2017 Business of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce!