Last night, a Rice County Jury convicted 27 year old Abdiaziz Ali Adan of Faribault, of Third Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. Adan was convicted of forcible rape involving a woman who had come to the house. Her son, waiting in the car for her, reported that she ran out of the house naked. The incident occurred on December 5, 2016 in Faribault. Rice County Attorney, John Fossum, said Adan fled the scene and was not found until five weeks later. He has a number of prior convictions and because of his significant criminal history faces a sentence at the statutory maximum of 15 years in prison. The case was tried by Assistant Rice County Attorney Kristine Word. “Adan is a dangerous offender, the community will be safer with him in prison,” said Fossum. “We appreciate the jury’s willingness to take the
case seriously and deliberate after hours this week,” Fossum added. The case was investigated by the Faribault Police Department which made significant efforts to locate Adan and gather evidence in the case. “The diligence and follow through by the police was key to securing a conviction of Adan,” Fossum said. Adan remains in jail awaiting sentencing on February 13. Adan Press Release
Peterson’s wishlist includes Ice Arena and flush toilets
The Minnesota Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (MACVB) announced that Lisa Peterson, Director of Tourism for the Northfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, has been elected to the MACVB Board of Directors. There are over 50 CVB member Cities. Peterson said their focus is on education and industry legislation as tourism is big business in Minnesota. What’s on Peterson’s wishlist for Northfield? A 2 sheet Ice Arena, “that would be so great for our community to be able to hold tournaments and get those people here to Northfield that are spending ice time in other communities. I would love to have flush toilets at Sechler Park so we could hold big baseball tournaments out there”. Sports tourism brings in a lot of dollars to host communities. Her full interview is on kymn.net. The press release for her State Board appointment is: L Peterson_BOD
Governor appoints Northfielder to Task Force
Northfielder, Mar Valdecantos, is named among members of a newly formed Task Force on Housing. Yesterday, Governor Mark Dayton, (click on the link for the full press release) issued an executive order, creating the nonpartisan task force. Comprised of experts and advocates from across Minnesota, they’ll develop solutions to alleviate Minnesota’s housing challenge. I have the full press release on kymn.net. Valdecantos is Vice Chair of the Human Rights Commission in Northfield and is a member of KYMN’s El Super Barrio Latino radio show on Sunday evenings.
Congrats Sgt. Johnson
The Northfield Police Department recognized Police Reserve Sergeant Tyler Johnson. He was named Reserve Officer of the year for 2017. Tyler has been with the Police Reserves since April of 2015 and prior to that, he had been a Police Explorer with the City of Faribault. We hope to have Tyler and Sgt. Tussing in to talk about the Explorer program after the holidays. Click here for link to full story.
Keller lights the night with “over a million lights!”
The Keller Farm in Nerstrand is famous for their Christmas light display. Craig Keller has been putting up the lights for more than 50 years. Over the years they’ve gradually added, Keller says, about a million lights! He uses no timers and makes 33 stops turning on and off circuit breakers, switches and plug-ins. It takes 20 minutes. As for the electric bill. Normally it’s about $200 a month for the farm, “but when the January bill comes, it’s about $1100 to $1200”. They added a circle drive so you can slowly tour the whole light show. They also added a guest book which Keller says is “his most fun thing” as they read it each night to see where people have come from. Near the guestbook is a donation box, if you so choose. Keller says they do it for the fun of it, to see the smiles and hear the laughter. The show goes on nightly through Epiphany January 6th. If it’s not too cold, roll your windows down and enjoy the music. The address is 10557 190th St. E.
