30 year old Erik Michael Akervik, of Burnsville, pled guilty yesterday to one count of 3rd degree Criminal Sexual Conduct in connection with having sex with a 16-year-old student and sending nude photos of himself to another. Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said at the time of these acts, Akervik was a teacher at Burnsville High School. Sentencing is set for June 14th in Hastings. Akervik made his first appearance on these charges last April. Bail was set at $100,000 with conditions. One of those being
that he have no contact with minors under 18. Burnsville Police discovered that he contacted another 15 year old boy on Instagram soon after bailing out of jail. He was then arrested for violation. The sexual encounter took place in late August of 2016.
No break on mental health calls for law enforcement
Mental health issues are a priority for law enforcement as they try to deal with no place to put those in need. There are simply no beds. Rice County sheriff Troy Dunn said they’re working with legislators, in particular, Representative David Bly. Last week, before his interview on KYMN, Dunn took a call regarding a mental health crisis. He said the issue is 24/7 and 365 days a year. “You never know when someone is going to hit that point. Fortunately, this person reached out for help before they did something irreversible”. Dunn said while overall crime is down, mental health issues are not.
Rural roads just “too tough” – school cancelled
After traveling the roads this morning Northfield Schools Superintendent Matt Hillmann called off school. It was just after 7 o’clock when he called to report that the rural road conditions were just too tough for the buses to travel and they didn’t want to risk it. Cannon Falls and Randolph followed suit. Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn reported one rollover yesterday but no injuries. There were some vehicles that slid off the road. He said mostly his deputies were driving people home as some folks were walking. Many cities remain under a snow emergency including Northfield and Lonsdale. Also note that Arcadia School’s Open House scheduled for tonight at 6:30 has been postponed to Thursday evening. Northfield Deputy Chief Dukatz reports: From 4:00pm – 10:00pm yesterday we had five calls regarding stuck motorists, one of the calls was a semi, just off Hwy 3 in Dundas. There were no Dundas cars on so we assited until County arrived.
Of the five calls:
- Two calls for semi-tractors stuck (one in Northfield and one in Dundas)
- Three calls for vehicles, none of the vehicles created road hazards, they were stuck on side streets.
Considering this became bad, just as people would have been coming home from work, I would say people did an excellent job at limiting their driving and were very careful/cautious if they did get caught in the storm.
This is always helpful for us, as we can focus on other public needs and it makes it easier for the plow drivers to move about the roadways. We are very thankful to those citizens who decided to remain home and stay off the roads.
Council votes on Street projects
The Northfield Council meets tonight. Mayor Pownell is in San Diego and will be attending the meeting via Skype. There are numerous items on their Consent Agenda including a nominations for the Climate Action Plan Advisory Board. Check HERE for the list of nominees and their bios. On the regular agenda are just two items including approval of plans and specs for the 2018 street projects totaling nearly $4.6 million and a resolution prohibiting parking on the east side of Division Street from Seventh Street south for 220 feet. The area is a Municipal State Aid road and MnDOT has required that the City pass the Resolution as a result of the proposed design of the street project. Administrator Martig will be in studio tomorrow morning with a full recap.
