A fire yesterday destroyed a duplex in Dundas. Police Chief Gordy Mincke said he got a call around 1:35 yesterday afternoon about a house fire at 112/116 Forest Ave. N. On arrival he saw an active fire on the upper deck of the 116 unit. He said the neighbor who called it in was on scene as was Jana Greene, who rents 116. An elderly handicapped woman lives in the 112 unit. No one knew if she was home but there was a dog inside. Mincke said, “so I forced entry into that unit, got the large boxer dog out of there, I did a complete sweep of the apartment at 112, didn’t find anybody home however the tv was on”. As they weren’t able to account for her, Mincke asked
Northfield Sgt Tussing to take another sweep of the unit with him. It was empty. They found out later that the woman had been picked up earlier and was unaware of the fire. The last person known to be in the units was Greene’s mother who gets her 3 children off to school. She left the home at about 12:40. Mincke believes the fire started around 1:20pm. NAFRS was on scene at 1:40, they thought they had the fire out but it flared again and Faribault Fire was called in to assist. The fire rekindled this morning, NAFRS responded around 6:45 and were there for about 45 minutes. Mincke said, “but we’ll continue to have officers watch it throughout the day just because this can happen, you know, hotspots and fires like this because it was a pretty active fire yesterday”. They don’t know what started the fire yet but the State Fire Marshall is investigating. One of the owners of the duplex arrived on scene yesterday. Speaking of the elderly woman, Mincke said he sees the woman often walking with a walker and her dog. He she has family in the Kenyon area. Greene and her children are believed to be staying with her mother. While no one was injured, Greene has no renters insurance. Pauline Thibodeau, owner of the L&M Bar & Grill, where Greene works, is already putting together a fundraiser for the family. Rice County deputies and Dundas and Northfield police assisted with traffic control.
Faribo man faces 5th DWI while on Parole
A Faribault man faces his 5th DWI while on parole for 1st degree DWI. 31 year old Corey Allen Jablinske was found slumped over in the driver’s seat of his girlfriends vehicle in a driveway on Prairie Avenue last Thursday evening. The officer observed the car parked diagonally across the side of the house with a wheel in the landscaping. An EMT arrived first on scene and said Jablinske was unconscious and didn’t wake until she opened the door. His speech was slurred, he couldn’t stand without help and he smelled like alcohol but told the officer he hadn’t drank. He did ask to call his attorney who told him to decline a breath test. The girlfriend told officers he was “extremely intoxicated” and that he’d been drinking at work, got home at 6am and had been drinking all day. Jablinske is charged with 1st degree DWI and 1st degree refusal to submit, both felonies. His initial court appearance is May 21st. He remains in the Rice County jail. Jablinske complaint
Strategic plan planning
The Northfield Council met for a work session last night. There were 4 items of discussion all regarding elements of their Strategic Plan including affordable housing, diversity, including implicit and explicit bias and riverfront enhancement, how to utilize our natural asset better. Administrator Ben Martig was in studio with a recap this morning, his interview is on kymn.net.
