Snowy roads may have been to blame for a crash this morning on Hwy 3 north of Faribault. Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn said they assisted with traffic for about 30 minutes this morning. The good news is there were no injuries. The State Patrol wrote the accident report but they have no listing of it at this time.
What banks say about Municipal ID’s
As the City of Northfield looks into becoming the first in Minnesota to offer Municipal ID’s, I spoke with Maria Crespo, the Librarian who issues the ID’s in Roselle, New Jersey. That is the city that Northfield is considering modeling their program on. There have been questions regarding the claim that banks accept municipal ID’s thus allowing undocumented people to open bank accounts. I checked with 3 local banks and Jeff Hatton, a compliance officer who told me that, because they are regulated by the Federal government, they cannot accept those ID’s. He gave the example that, while the State of Minnesota has legalized medical marijuana, the Federal government has not. So if a medical marijuana company wants a bank account, they will not allow it. https://www.ffiec.gov/bsa_aml_infobase/pages_manual/regulations/31CFR1020_220.pdf Crespo informed me that the ONLY bank that will accept them in their area, is the Bank of America. After speaking with local pharmacies, I contacted the MN Board of Pharmacy who, after looking into it, said they would accept the ID. Board of Pharmacy on ID They are not accepted to purchase liquor, vote or receive tax benefits. Crespo commented that in the two years of the program, she’s issued about 650 municipal ID’s, the majority to undocumented people. She accepts a government issued photo ID with a birthdate from a foreign country and verifies their local address but no background checks are done. The ID they present could be 20 years old. Crespo said the municipality pays for the equipment but the individual pays $15 in cash. Disabled and those under 17 pay $7. The cards are renewable after 3 years. She does keep records as they provide a receipt and keep one for the City. All the information is in a computer, she explained, for future renewals, but no one has access to it. Anyone in the community can purchase the ID. Northfield Neighbors United, described as an “umbrella group” of organizations working for the betterment of Northfield turned to the HRC to get the ball rolling on municipal ID’s. Angelique Dietz commented at a community meeting calling it a “tremendous tool for inclusion for all members of the community”, adding, “it is not going to be a magic wand in and of by itself. It does not give rights, it is not a driver’s license. It doesn’t give any rights at all”. She continued, “what it does do, I believe, is give confidence to people when they are being told, here, see, this is your card. You’re a Northfielder, you’re one of us and we want you to participate in our community”. The Mayor and most of the council seem ready to move forward. There are several organizations are on board. This is list is courtesy of Mar Valdecantos.
Community Action Center (Jim Blaha)
Laura Baker Services (Sandi Gerdes)
HealthFinders (Charlie Mandile)
ISAIAH (Alexa Horwart),
Carleton Students (SEED), (Sarah Trachtenberg)
Young People Action Coalition (Helen Forsythe, Bailey Shatz-Akin and Cliff Martin),
Freemasons of Social Lodge # 48 of Northfield (Jeramy Girard)
Northfield United in Love (Harmony Neal)
The LINK Center, (Teresa Stanley)
Minnesota Board of Pharmacy
NAIA, Northfield Area Interfaith Association, signed by several pastors
Mainstreet Project (Niel Ritchie,CEO)
Cannon Valley Friends (Linne Jensen and Corinne Smith)
Church of St. Dominic, with signatures of support as well
Council Candidate forum set for Oct. 30th
The Northfield Chamber, KYMN and the Northfield News will be sponsoring a Councilor-at-Large Candidate Forum on Monday morning, October 30th, at Northfield City Hall in Council Chambers. A special election will be held November 7th to complete the term left open when Rhonda Pownell became Mayor in January. The candidates are Greg Colby(appointed to fill out 2017), Don McGee and Jon Denison. Doors open at 7:45 for a meet and greet. The forum begins at 8 o’clock. The public is encouraged to attend. It will be recorded and KYMN will post it as soon as it’s available. All three candidates were on the Morning Show with Jeff Johnson this week. Their interviews are online at kymn.net.
