By Teri Knight, News Director
The Northfield School District will receive $380,000 in Federal stimulus money. Northfield Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann said the School Board last week, approved using $43,000 each year over the next two years to furnish one to one iPads. Right now there is one iPad for every two students from Kindergarten through second grade. Hillmann said that they made it through long distance learning as many families had a device the child could use. However that waned over time as parents realized they can’t really maintain that situation. Due to the pandemic, students each
need to have one for two reasons, long distance learning and also not sharing.
There will be four School Board seats opening. Filing opens July 28th through August 11th at 5pm. Here is the link to the page regarding how to apply.
CR 48/Hwy 21 intersection change to alleviate crashes
The Cities of Faribault, Lonsdale and Northfield have plenty of road construction projects, however, Rice County Commissioner, Galen Malecha said within the County jurisdiction there are fewer than last year. There is the wrap up of CR 46 near the Flying J Truck Stop. That is a 2 year project. The other major project is within the City limits of Faribault, Malecha said, “at County Road 48 and Hwy 21, right there by the Arby’s. It’s a right in, right out situation. It was an uncontrolled intersection that you could go across Hwy 21 and unfortunately there’s been a lot of fender benders at that intersection”. One project to look forward to, he said, is a joint project to pave 320th St. through Dakota and Rice Counties in 2022.
Local brothers called out on pushing far right volatility
Mara Hvistendahl, a former Northfielder and longtime journalist, has penned an interesting article in The Intercept regarding men who have a connection to Northfield. It’s not a pretty picture of the brothers Dorr, Aaron, Chris, Matthew and Ben as they helped launch protests to reopen states across the country shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic this spring. Alone or together, the four Dorr brothers, Hvistendahl writes, started a slew of Facebook groups, joined by hundreds of thousands of members, that have helped to fuel skepticism about health precautions and pushed for states to open prematurely. In a country where the simple act of wearing a mask has become a political statement, the people who organize against masks are worth watching. While many have dismissed them, Hvistendahl says, they need to be scrutinized. While they may not be linked directly to carrying out violence, they are inciting it through fear. They’ve amassed an estimated 325,000 followers, who also send them money. Even the National Rifle Association has denounced them as scammers. Here is the link to her article which includes a number of sources. Hvistendahl was interviewed on KYMN for her book, “The Scientist and The Spy – a true story of China, the FBI and industrial espionage”.
Chief Nelson reflects on his career
Northfield Police Chief Monte Nelson is retiring on July 31st. Jeff Johnson and I had an opportunity to talk with him about his career, the changes he’s seen, what he sees moving forward for law enforcement and what some of his best moments were here in Northfield. His full interview, with much more, is HERE.
