Hotel guests were evacuated after a call of a suicidal male with a gun. The Northfield Police Department received a call just after 12:30 Saturday morning of a possible suicidal male, in possession of multiple handguns. Police Chief Monte Nelson said the man was staying at America’s Best Value Inn, not far from the police station. The caller, someone close to the man, reported hearing two gunshots while on the phone with him and then contact was lost. When Officers arrived they secured the building and, with assistance from Rice County Deputies and
State Troopers, evacuated guests to a safe location. They continued efforts to make contact with the man and then called in the Dakota/Rice MAAG Team, similar to a SWAT team. A couple of hours later, MAAG Team Officers made entry through a ground floor window, and the man was taken into custody without further incident. Officers recovered a loaded handgun from the man, whether it was actually fired, Nelson wouldn’t confirm. The man was treated at the scene for minor injuries, by EMS and to the ER for evaluation. He was later released. An Investigation by the Northfield Police Department continues.
All’s well at Aldi’s
There were lots of flashing lights headed to the Aldi’s Warehouse in Faribault but, gratefully, there was no fire. Construction crews apparently hit a wire. Faribault Fire responded routine and found it was a freezer unit wire that had been hit, no fire, and they cleared the scene quickly.
Peer Helper program for Social/Emotional curriculum
The Northfield School District adopted a social/emotional learning curriculum for grades K through 8 over the last year. The board heard from Kerri Duba, the High School’s school psychologist with a piece of the plan to expand on it. Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann explains that one of the evidence-based practices is something they’re very excited about, it’s called the Peer Helper program. They plan on starting it this Fall with grant money. The program is modeled after their academic student coaches program which has been very successful. They’ll be recruiting about 25 students this coming year to get a very intense 2 day training. Hillmann said they’ll be called “natural helpers”. They will be asking kids who THEY go to in their Peer group for help and then they’ll look at how those circles connect and who are those students that seem to be “natural helpers”. The program, developed by Hazelden, will provide the training. They will also train the students in identifying when they may need to seek out an adult for the appropriate help. It’s not a common practice but Hudson, WI has been doing it for 20 years, Hastings for 5 years.
Solar is on Council agenda
The Northfield City Council meets at 6 tonight. Subscription to solar power for the City’s operations is back on the agenda. Three potential developers, MN Community Solar, ReneSola and Innovative Power Systems, were asked to draft proposals based on 1.5MW power usage and a 2.75{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} annual Xcel rate increases. The proposals are on the City’s website. MN Community Solar has a subscription deadline of today in order to meet their financing and construction timelines. Meetings are streamed live on the website. Mayor Pownell and Administrator Martig will be in studio tomorrow morning with a recap.
