Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie is asking the public for patience as the Minnesota State Patrol assists in the investigation of a deadly crash that took the lives of two fathers the day before Father’s Day. Leslie said 36 year old Jon Fontaine, of Farmington, was driving on Goodwin Avenue around 8:30 that night when he ran through a stop sign at 190th Street East in Vermillion, colliding with a Chevy Traverse. Witnesses said Fontaine never slowed down. The impact caused the Traverse to roll over, and killed both Fontaine and the other car’s front seat passenger, 34-year-old Jared Lazer. Lazer’s wife and three small children
were in the car, while Fontaine’s 12-year-old son was in the pickup. All five were taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries. Leslie thanked the Hastings Fire Department, Miesville Rescue, Hampton/Randolph Rescue, Rosemount Fire Department, North Air Care, and Life Link for their assistance.
Bill not passed addressed cell phone use and vehicle fatalities
Criminal vehicular homicide has generally meant that someone was driving under the influence or with gross negligence. Rice County Attorney John Fossum explained, “grossly negligent means driving without even scant care”. He said something that law enforcement struggles with is distracted driving that causes a fatality. Legislators had a bill this past session, Fossum explains, “that if you are driving and using a cell phone and not using a hands-free feature, that would be the same as being grossly negligent and so that would be a criminal act if you caused a death”. That bill did not pass. Fossum believes it will come back to legislators next year.
Nfld Council votes on ballot question
The Northfield Council is scheduled to vote tonight on adding a question to the local November ballot regarding a sales tax and vehicle excise tax as well as bonding dollars for the proposed Cannon River Civic Center. You can expect a crowded Chambers. Also on the agenda is approval of the NAFRS cost allocation change, raising Northfield’s share by about 3{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} and dropping Rural’s by the same. The last item is approval of documents related to the Northfield Benedictine Senior Housing project across from the Hospital. Meetings are open to the public. Public Works Director Dave Bennett and Finance Director Brenda Angelstad will be in studio tomorrow morning at 7:20 with a recap.
“Lighten Up” Garage Sale this weekend
Carleton College’s annual “Lighten Up! Garage Sale is this Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The sale site has been moved to Laird Stadium, off Highway 19 on the Carleton campus. The popular sale converts the unwanted year-end possessions of Carleton students into bargains for area residents and cash for local charities. Proceeds are split between Project Friendship, a youth mentoring program; The Key (Northfield Union of Youth), and the Northfield Area Special Olympics. Last year’s sale raised over $31,000. Donated items include clothing, winter gear, books, sporting goods, household items, furniture, bedding, electronics, and much more. Free parking is offered in the lot to the south of the stadium.
