An Owatonna woman is charged with 1st degree Arson. In August, NAFRS responded to an early morning fire near Fox Lake in Forest Township in which 2 people were reportedly trapped. The fire was in the basement occupied by family. When Rice County deputies arrived the homeowner was found spraying water into the open window where the fire started. An adult son was not home but 32 year old Jennifer Dawn Ohm, aka Jennifer Marx and Jennifer Bjorge was in the room when it started. She was found in a ditch near the road. She told law enforcement that she went out the window to get help. There were occupants upstairs and family in a trailer nearer. 911 wasn’t called until nearly 2 hours after the fire reportedly started. Ohm said she fell asleep with a cigarette. The family’s
teenage son was awakened by smoke and alerted his parents. Robin Voracek told the Faribault Daily that she believed her other son was in the basement room with his dog. But that door was locked. She threw herself at the door but couldn’t’ open it. Unable to get in touch with him by phone, she thought he had died. Ohm later told a friend that she deliberately started the fire to get back at her boyfriend and kill his dog. The body of the dog, Kane, was found in a locked closet. She failed to meet with the Fire Marshall on 3 separate occasions. He determined the fire was intentionally set. Victim impact statements were taken September 6th, Ohm failed to appear in court September 21st and a warrant was issued. She was taken into custody last Friday. Ohm’s first court appearance is November 8th. She was released on her own recognizance. Marx-Ohm complaint
Candidate final forum
Northfield Chamber of Commerce President Todd Bornhauser and I were the moderators for the final candidate forum for Northfield Councilor-at-Large. Greg Colby, Jon Denison and Don McGee answered about a dozen questions ranging from the Waterford Township agreement to a possible new municipal liquor store, economic development to workforce housing and more. Opinions varied on the recently adopted strategic plan and the preliminary 8.5{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} levy. The forum was recorded and KYMN plans to have it up on our website later this afternoon.
Nfld Youth Bank first of it’s kind in U.S.
Northfield was the first City in the U.S. to start a Youth Bank. HCI Director Zach Pruitt explains the Youth Bank is youth philanthropy where high school students are trained to be philanthropists. It’s essentially a yearlong training to identify needs in the community and then issuing RFP’s (Request for Proposal) to be able to address those needs. From that other young people, ages 14 and up are able to apply to submit joint proposals to address those needs and then the youth on the Youth Bank are the ones who actually make the decisions on how to allocate those funds. It’s an international model. The program, in it’s 3rd year, is made possible by a partnership with YouthPrise.
