By Teri Knight, News Director
“I think we’re really lucky that we had a candidate as well qualified and educated as Mark Elliott”, that’s Northfield Police Chief Monte Nelson. Nelson had an idea of when he was going to retire and set in motion the move to find a candidate that could take over for Deputy Chief Mark Dukatz when he retired a year ago in March and then step up when Nelson retires. He said, “we had a really good process last year, a deep well vetted process with community groups that interviewed him and very thorough backgrounding and now we’ve had, essentially, a year to test drive him”. Nelson praised Administrator Martig for the process he and Council set up for a seamless transition. Saying, “leaving the department in limbo without the leadership actually in place can be extremely negative. It can be hard on the community, it can be hard on those programs, those relationships you’ve worked to build”.
In particular in this climate to have someone familiar lead the department is very important in continuing the relationship our Police Department has with the community. While all agencies of law enforcement in Rice County have worked on de-escalation and implicit bias training, Statewide there will be changes to officer training and our police department will continue to work with State leaders to make sure they are following all protocol. Nelson formally retires July 31st. His full interview is HERE. He will also be on the air with us Friday morning at 8:45.
It’s here, Hillmann comments on racism
The killing of George Floyd has left its mark everywhere including Northfield. Referring to George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann commented, “please, please do not underestimate these killings have on our black students, our black neighbors and our black colleagues. It’s personal and very hurtful”. He said, as a community, we need to stand together against systemic racism. He said there have been numerous incidents of racism right here, “our beloved Bridgewater Principal Nancy Antoine, in the last 18 months, has received two horrific cards that called her the ‘N’ word and told her to go back to a continent which she’s never lived. What’s right about that? There’s nothing right about that. Over winter break I got a call that I had to go to the Middle School to take a look. Someone took a tremendous amount of time to sketch out a white power symbol in the snow outside the Middle School”. There have been posters defaced with anti-immigrant statements. Hillmann added, “and if we don’t stand together against them both in our daily actions and the systems that we put together to support us as a community, then we’re just as complicit in those deaths”. He said the District has worked to train their staff in implicit bias and since January, all teachers have been trained in cultural competence. That was shared with Arcadia and the Area Learning Center teachers as well.
Zumbrota man caught with stolen vehicle from S. Dak.
A man with an arrest warrant out of South Dakota and driving a stolen car from that state was pulled over by a Rice County Deputy after a driving complaint on I-35 last Saturday. The Deputy found a small amount of methamphetamine in the vehicle. After 39 year old Jarod Scott Shoemaker of Zumbrota was arrested and placed in the back seat of the squad car, he told the Deputy that he swallowed 15 baggies of meth. Shoemaker was then taken to District One Emergency. Staff were told he was a flight risk and could be violent based on his criminal history. When the original Deputy went to relieve another officer sitting outside Shoemaker’s room, the defendant ran out of his hospital room. He stopped when commanded and was again, taken into custody. Shoemaker is charged with Receiving stolen property and gross misdemeanor 5th degree drugs. His bail was set at $20,000 with conditions. The charges out of South Dakota include four felonies; Forgery, Grand Theft, Grand Theft Firearm and Identity Theft. South Dakota has filed for extridition.
NDDC expands “Artists on Main Street”
The Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC), last year, was awarded a two-year $30,000 grant by Minnesota Main Street to fund an “Artists on Main Street” initiative in Downtown. Some projects last year included the selfie Shark and the totally tubular travelling tubulum, an interactive project. This is the 2nd year and along with Northfield’s Arts & Culture commission and the Northfield Arts Guild, they are going bigger. Ex. Director Greg Siems said last year the grants were capped at $1500, this year, they’ll go up to $10,000. That means they might end up funding fewer projects but they wanted to give people the opportunity to, “think bigger and think creatively about ways that they might impact the look and feel of the downtown”. Artists have until July 17th to apply. The ACC will review the submissions and make the decisions. Last year projects were temporary, this year, there could be more permanent selections. For more information go to downtownnorthfield.org.
