The FBI has offered their services to St. Olaf College in the investigation into racist messages targeting black students. Vice President and general counsel, Carl Crosby Lehmann, told the Star Tribune, that some of the people “of interest” are affiliated with the college and others are not. Lehmann added that he reached out to the FBI, which will work through the Northfield Police Department should they require their services. NPD has not requested their assistance. School Spokeswoman Kari VanDerVeen said as part of the college’s own investigation, it has “retained a computer
forensic consultant who is analyzing evidence relating to one of the recent incidents”. Northfield Police Chief Monte Nelson said his department took two reports of the incidents, however, one has been closed “at the victim’s request” without charges, while another remains an active investigation. He remarked on KYMN earlier, “what we find is that many times our college students choose not to report to us. And with any of those things we honor what the victim wants”. He added that it’s more convenient for students and can be more expeditious to report to on-campus security. That’s not just St. Olaf but most campuses.
Nfld Council ingests plenty of data
Northfield City Council held the first of two Strategic Planning sessions last night at the Northfield Police station. They went over a lot of data last night from the staff Environmental scan of the City operations to the community survey to input from the Boards and Commissions. Mayor Pownell commented that when you add them all up, it’s over 600 people that took the time to give their input. That’s out of about 20,000 residents including college students. Forty of the surveys were from Spanish speaking residents. Administrator Martig said there were some key themes and also items such as affordable housing, workforce housing, environmental sustainability. Tonight they’ll be rolling into what they’ve learned, what their priorities are and challenges. The consultant, Craig Rapp, will facilitate direction. Council and staff each did a strengths/weaknesses, threats and opportunities exercise previously, they’ll compare them tonight. The meeting is from 4:30pm to 9pm at the Northfield Police station. Staff will then put together key work areas for a June work session. Consultant Craig Rapp is facilitating the meetings. One statement he made was,” If you don’t have an implementation plan, you have no plan. Attached are materials used last night. Environmental Scan PP for 5.9-10.17 FINAL DRAFT 2017_05_08 City Council Strategic Planning Session Supplemental Background Memo for May 9, 2017 No, 1 (1)
Believet benefit Friday
This Friday is Girls Nite Out in Northfield and there will be plenty to enjoy with store sales and samplings. There’s also a benefit for Believet. Believet is a non-profit that trains dogs for Veterans. Tracy Fossum explains it takes about 18 months and $25,000 to train a dog. Founder Sam Daly is a Northfield native who was on the front lines in Afghanistan to train bomb sniffing dogs. When he came back he chose to help Veterans. The benefit is at The Grand Event Center from 7 to 10 and will feature a silent auction, music by Bernie King and the Guilty Pleasures and then Sam will give a presentation on Believet. It’s free to get in, however, you’re encouraged to give a free-will offering.
