Multiple crashes and cars in the ditches yesterday made for a very long and trying day and night for residents and Emergency responders. Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn reported this morning that they responded to 50 calls for service yesterday, that’s a very large number for them. While there were jackknife semis and lots of folks in the ditch, the good news is no serious injuries, in fact, mostly no injuries. Northfield Public Works Director, Dave Bennett, was in studio this morning. He said, “it was an uphill battle, battling against the storm yesterday. It seemed like we were out plowing
the streets, really not making progress because after we left the street, hours later you didn’t even notice the plows had been there”. In fact, snow totals range from 13 to 16 inches across the area. Staff started back plowing at 2 this morning. The biggest issue is piles of snow. If your street hasn’t been plowed by now, call Public Works at 645-3020. Most cities are under a snow emergency including Northfield. For parking information, there is none on city streets right now, go to the City’s website. Pull garbage cans off the road and do NOT plow your snow and leave it in the roadway. Municipal parking lots will be plowed tonight, so you can’t park in them. Bennett said there will be a lot of work yet to come with clearing site lines from intersections and clearing the corners. The City has a crew of 12 drivers in trucks, loaders and plows. Administrator Ben Martig went on a ride-along with one of the plow drivers yesterday, he said “safety is first”, for the plow drivers and the citizens. He added that it was “stressful”. The full interview is online at kymn.net
A 2nd snowday and the first time a school board meeting cancelled
Northfield School Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann called in this morning as the district went into the 2nd day of no school. The amount of snow and the weight of the snow created a dangerous situation, especially in rural areas in those school buses. He’s very confident school will be in session tomorrow! In the meantime, if you have any questions, go to the District’s website. It’s Senior Finals week, Hillmann said Principal Joel Leer has posted a revised schedule in Schoology. While not ideal, he said, they felt it was the best they could do while still starting the 2nd semester next week. A note, for the first time ever, the School Board meeting was cancelled last night. It is rescheduled for next Monday night, the 29th.
Police seek help in burglaries
There were 2 burglaries in Northfield Saturday night. Northfield Police Chief Monte Nelson reports someone forced entry into a business on the 300 block of Division Street. They also forced entry on the 200 Block of Water Street. Police are asking for anyone who believes they saw someone or something suspicious around 8pm, in particular in the municipal lot near Larson’s Printing, to please call their non-emergency number at 507-645-4475.
Haddad takes over as NAFRS Chair
The NAFRS joint powers board met last week. Fire Chief Gerry Franek was in studio yesterday. New members were installed as terms expired. Franek said, “So we have a new board chair, was Anne Haddad, she took over Glen Castore’s job. And I can’t say enough good things about Glen Castore. He is such an advocate for the fire department”. He added that Castore has worked tirelessly for them. He is now Vice Chair. As for Haddad, he said, “Anne will be stepping up to the plate now and filling in his position and she is quite an asset to our department as well so we’re looking forward to having her at the helm and taking over responsibilities as well”. Two members were added, Lee Runzheimer, who replaces Dave Drenth and Kevin Estrem takes over for Jerry Anderson as an ex-officio member.
