By Teri Knight, News Director
Update with comment from Township Supervisor Glen Castore at the end of the story.
It was a tragic fourth for a local family and community. Chair of the Bridgewater Township Board of Supervisors, 71 year old Gary Ebling, was identified as the man who died on Saturday when the tractor he was driving rolled over. According to the Rice County Sheriff’s office, around 4:30 Saturday afternoon, they were called to the 9000 block of Albers Avenue in Bridgewater Township on report of a tractor rolled over down an embankment. Ebling was trapped underneath the implement and died before law enforcement arrived. He was a strong advocate for the Township and the community and was supportive of Bridgewater incorporating. Media Release07042020- UPDATED Tractor rollover fatality (1)
Castore writes: His contributions to township governance were significant. He had a strong sense of community that drove his desire to find ways for the cities, townships and county to cooperate on issues ranging from transportation infrastructure to business development. His willingness and ability to bring sensitive issues to the table while keeping participants focused on solving the problem will be sorely missed.
Defunding Mpls Police “scares” Rice Co. Sheriff Dunn
With the Minneapolis City Council voting to defund the Minneapolis Police Department, KYMN asked Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn, who is the President of the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, what his thoughts were. He said, “everything that Minneapolis is hearing now is like, get rid of the police department, it’s all dirty and things like that. Personally I think that’s unfair to them because they’re all good officers”. Dunn said one of the ideas he read from the group discussing how to move forward, was that the Director of a new law enforcement agency wouldn’t have any law enforcement background. His comment, “that kind of scares me”. With recent multiple homicides and shootings, he asks, who’s going to respond? Right now, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s department is doing what they can but they don’t have a lot of patrol deputies, Dunn said, “and now you’re asking them to take the spots of all these Minneapolis Officers and respond to those calls?”. He knows that the Hennepin County Sheriff has been trying to work with the city of Minneapolis, Metropolitan transit police and U of MN police but he doesn’t believe that’s the solution and wonders where the money will come from to pay for that. He feels everyone needs to slow down and discuss the situation. With all the negativity around Minneapolis police officers, he asked who would want the job? Even his own deputies are questioning whether they want to stay in the profession. Dunn said, “Everything you see they say that law enforcement’s bad, law enforcement needs to change and it’s not all of law enforcement. We all need to work together to deal with the issues that we have, like we always have. And that’s one thing that we’ve done really well here in Rice County”. In Rice County, the Sheriff’s Dept. is involved in a pilot project using a mobile crisis team based out of Mankato. Therapists that respond via a number of ways, including on the scene. They’re now in their second year, “we’ve used that more, I think, than we expected and I think it’s shown promise. And we’d like to keep going”. These situations, by their nature, can turn quickly if the subject pulls a weapon. With no trained officer to respond in the moment, it could end up badly. All Rice County law enforcement including local police departments hold extensive scenario based training in de-escalation, implicit bias and more. Dunn said turning away from licensed officers is a bad idea, “because then I think you’re going to have mayhem”. His full interview is HERE.
Littles named Rice Co. 2020 Farm Family of the Year
The Tim and Tami Little family has been named Rice County’s “2020 Farm Family of the Year” by the University of Minnesota. Tim grew up on a generational working dairy, hog, and crop farm west of Dundas. When the pair married in 1979, they bought their own place and began a farming and trucking business. The Littles currently run a cash crop operation rotating corn and soybeans along with implementing the practices of no-till and incorporating cover crops on 300 acres. They also give back plenty! The full press release is on kymnradio.net. The Littles will be recognized during a virtual, state-wide Farm Family of the Year recognition ceremony at 1:00 p.m. August 6th. Tim and Tami Little name 2020 Rice County Farm Family of the Year
NHS opens with new Raid exhibit
The Northfield Historical Society is OPEN and has a brand new Raid exhibit. After months of delays due to floods and the pandemic, Tour guides are available to tell you the story of the raid and escort you through the museum. Open every day at various hours all, find all the information you need at northfieldhistory.org.
