By Teri Knight, News Director
Northfield Police continue to seek witnesses to a bicycle crash on Monday at Greenvale Avenue and Water St. Chief Mark Elliott said they received a call around 5:30 that evening of a man down in the intersection. Officers found 65 year old Allen J. Hansen on the ground next to an E-Bicycle with obvious signs of head trauma. He died Tuesday at HCMC. There appeared to be no damage to the bicycle. NPD is investigating the incident in cooperation with the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office. At this point they have no known witnesses. If anyone saw something, please contact the Northfield Police Department at 507-645-4477.
Woman located safe
Last night there was quite a bit of law enforcement activity in the area near Sheldahl which lit up Facebook speculation and rumor. NPD Chief Elliott told KYMN that they were looking for a missing adult female and that she was eventually located safe.
Nfld Council vote on CARES covid funding
The City of Northfield received $1.53 million in funding through the CARES Act. Those dollars must be used for covid related expenses. Last night the Council voted to approve $145,000 to the Community Action Center to build out and establish a satellite food shelf and mobile distribution site at the Northfield Community Education Center. Typically they serve between 3 and 400 families, that number has risen to as high as 600 families in June and July. HCI will receive $40,500 to support distance learning education for adults, those seeking their GED and family access to technology for early childhood education. The City will use $75,000 for downtown area outdoor furnishings and equipment for added physical spacing. They’ll also be evaluating the use of parklets and other expansions for outdoor seating for restaurant/coffee shop businesses. Administrator Martig said last night, “this money would not include anything related to our past regular meeting discussion around barriers for the Water St. closure or for the bridge pedestrian lanes. That was left as an open motion (this item did not get voted on as time ran out) and we’re planning on bringing that back up on September 1st so if the council wanted to consider additional acquisition for things for that we recommend some additional financial resources to fund through that at that time”. Martig said it could be through CARES funding or capital expenditure. Either way it will be on their agenda September 1st. Martig’s recap of the work session is HERE.
Hillmann update on District const., school start and family visits
They’re going through some punch list items at the new Greenvale Elementary School but teachers are already starting to move in. Northfield Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann said they took occupancy last week. The former Greenvale School right next door, now called Northfield Community Education Center, will support pre-school kids and adult learning. Hillmann said they’re moving in this week. Go to the District website for a lot more information on all things district wide and also Covid related items. Hillmann said the District will start school on September 14th to allow time to meet with each family, to check in on the students’ lives, to see where they’re at. He added, “school buildings will be reaching out to their families to schedule those meetings, they’ll be available face to face or over Zoom or even over a phone call. Our goal is to meet with every family so that we can make sure we can best serve them”. Benjamin bus is working to handle the changes and working on routes. There are a number of families that are also going to be driving their kids themselves, reducing the number of riders to about 1600. Some students will also bike or walk too. There could be start time swings. Hillmann’s full interview is HERE.
