By Teri Knight, News Director
A Faribault man is charged in connection with a heroin overdose. Faribault police were called to a residence on Tischler Avenue last Thursday on report of a man slumped in a chair and turning blue. There was drug paraphernalia surrounding him. First Responders administered naloxone and eventually stabilized him to transport him to the hospital. 20 year old Bidong Pock Tut is accused of supplying the heroin that law enforcement believe contained fentanyl. Tut is charged with Great Bodily Harm by Supplying a Schedule 1 or 2 drug. The maximum sentence possible is 10 years. Bail was set at $20,000 with no conditions. His first court appearance is September 2nd.
Council grapples with land acknowledgement statement
The Northfield Council heard a lengthy presentation by HRC President Mar Valdecantos regarding a land acknowledgement statement. Mayor Pownell commented, “this has really been a collaborative effort between our colleges, our Human Rights Commission members and some interested community members”. They were in discussions for about a year putting together a
formal statement from the City of Northfield that recognizes indigenous peoples living on this land. The full statement reads: We stand on the homelands of the Wahpekute Band of the Dakota Nation. We honor with gratitude the people who have stewarded the land throughout the generations and their ongoing contributions to this region. We acknowledge the ongoing injustices that we have committed against the Dakota Nation, and we wish to interrupt this legacy, beginning with acts of healing and honest storytelling about this place. That last statement regarding “ongoing injustices that we have committed” led to some lengthy discussion. To Councilor DeLong it implies we continue to commit injustices which he said haven’t been explained to him. He would like to support it but, “I would welcome more information about this but it needs to be done in a respectful manner not in a blaming manner. And I feel that those words are a blaming statement, they’re an inflammatory statement”. The St. Olaf student government used the whole statement, however the Board of Regents only approved the first two sentences, removing the ongoing injustices portion. Pownell asked why they used the word “ongoing”. Valdecantos said the indigenous people, of which there are 21 in Northfield Schools, don’t feel like they’re full members of our community, saying, “the ongoing injustices, what it means is that when we see those students that they don’t see their history well presented in the classroom and the Dakota War is always most of the time presented from the optics of the white people”. She continued by broadening the “ongoing” to around the State for peoples of color. While there’s no proof of any genocide on the land Northfield is on, that was a focal point. Councilor Zweifel said, “I think it’s incredibly important, as I stated last time this came to us, that we adopt the entire statement”. Councilors Nakisian and Grabau were all in as well. Councilor Ness wanted the words changed to “injustices that HAVE BEEN committed”. Pownell and Valdecantos will be in studio tomorrow morning at 7:20. Here is the presentation from the HRC: 2- Presentation to Northfield City Council on the Land Acknowledgement August 4 2020 (2)
Local artist gives Hope and Welcome with sculpture
An exciting project has been awarded through the Artists on Main Street project through the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation. Members of the artist community were asked to submit their ideas. Geralyn Thelen won the first project. During this period in our history she said, “I wanted to build a sculpture that would help people find hope”. Thelen, who works in glass, teamed up with a metal artist, Dale Lewis, to create, “the sculpture I designed was it’s a tree. And to me tree represents life, it represents family, it represents community”. She added, “the glass hearts will be the leaves on the tree. They’re a 6 inch heart, they’re all different colors. And that represents all people are welcome in our community”. She felt that without this community, she would not have become an artist. Listen to her full interview with much more HERE. Dan Groll and Louis Epstein from the Invisible Band are creating the second project titled “Musical Portraits of Northfield”, a series of songs to capture the sights and sounds of Northfield. Epstein was also on KYMN yesterday. That interview is HERE. Here’s the full press release with more: Main Street grant 2020
