UPDATED AT 2:07PM
Carleton College to complete Spring term remotely, Commencement and in-person Reunion canceled
Carleton College President Steve Poskanzer announced today that remote classes will continue for the entire Spring 2020 Term and will not be holding Commencement in June. Poskanzer wrote: We will still officially confer your degrees in June and will work with your Class leadership to bring you together in the future to honor your academic achievements—and now also to salute the exceptional character and perseverance you are demonstrating during a wrenching moment. Additionally, in-person Reunion 2020 has been cancelled, however they will work on putting together a virtual reunion.
By Teri Knight, News Director
Justice has slowed. Rice County Attorney John Fossum said the Chief Justice issued an order 3 weeks ago wherein, “we’re going to not have hearings for anybody who’s not in custody or if we’re not talking about the custody of a child. So basically, the court calendar has been more or less cancel for about three weeks now”. His staff of 20 are mostly working from home, “they are reviewing cases, charging new cases, reviewing your old cases and preparing for trial“. At this point, more than 1100 cases have been continued without any kind of hearing. Fossum expects that to double. He added, “the court is going to be very backlogged for a long time as a result of this”. One case moving
forward this morning is the sentencing of 38 year old Aaron Mathew Hubert of Montgomery who was convicted on ten of eleven charges of varying degrees of the
kidnap and rape of a former girlfriend. Judge Jeffrey Johnson sentenced Hubert to 30 years in prison for First degree criminal sexual assault and 13 years for kidnapping to run concurrently. He served just over 3 years. Fossum’s full interview is HERE. Here is the press release from Fossum regarding Hubert: Media Release Aaron Hubert
Lippert on new way to legislate
It’s a different way of conducting legislation in light of Covid-19. District 20b Representative Todd Lippert explained that the majority of legislators were voting remotely with just a few on the floor, those who had questions or needed to speak to the bill in particular. They needed as many people in the seat of government as possible so those who could, drove to St. Paul, “there was a group of us that was we’re in our cars on the roof of the state office building parking ramp on our phones, looking at each other through the windshields. And just saying, well, isn’t this kind of a strange way to me having a drive in legislative sessions”. But, they passed the law to protect front line workers. They also had a chance afterward to get out of their cars, at a safe distance, and greet each other. He added that there’s some unusual moments being a representative but this was the most unusual. As a democrat he commented on the republicans push back on extending the Stay At Home order, saying, “I don’t think these two questions are separate that we have a choice of either trying to keep people from being sick and saying saving lives or trying to get the economy going. Again, they’re they’re interrelated. If we have this huge spike in people getting sick and more and more people are dying, we overwhelm our health system. That’s not going to be good for our economy either”. His full interview is HERE.
Nfld vs Dundas on 2020 census challenge
Northfield and Dundas have thrown down the gloves! The challenge is on as to which city’s citizens will respond the most to the 2020 Census. Mayor Pownell said right now, “I believe Dundas has 59.8% response and the city of Northfield has 57.2% response rate”. As you’ve heard on KYMN, it’s very important to fill out your census in terms of federal funding and Congressional representation which trickles down in a number of ways. So, in an effort to boost those responses, Dundas and Northfield have laid down a challenge wherein if Dundas wins, Bridge Square would be renamed Dundas Square for a day and if Northfield wins, the Dundas dog park would become the Northfield Dog park for a day.
Burn restrictions update
Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn updated the Burning Restrictions: Updated Burning Restrictions 04102020
Faribo Winter Farmers’ Mkt moves outdoors
Tomorrow the Faribault Winter Farmers’ Market will be held outdoors at the Rice County Fairgrounds from 1:00-4:00pm. Market vendors will set-up under the carport between the Grandstand and the 4-H Building. Traditionally the Faribault Winter Farmers’ Market is held at the Paradise Center for the Arts, but Market Manager Tiffany Tripp decided the indoor space was too limited to assure the 6’ of physical distancing. There is more information on the additional protections they’re doing on our website under the updated covid19 page – scroll to local.
