By Teri Knight, News Director
UPDATE 2:24pm
A St. Paul man is jailed after fleeing a State Trooper on i-35 in Rice County. Just after 8 o’clock Thursday evening, a Trooper was dispatched to a hit and run accident southbound on I-35 in Rice County. At Mile marker 54, the trooper noticed a Volkswagen (VW) with heavy front-end damage and sparks coming from under the car. The reporting party also went by and told dispatch that the VW was the vehicle that fled the scene. The trooper caught up with the VW and stopped near milepost 53. According to the criminal complaint, the driver, 29 year old Maximilian John Paitich looked at the trooper with a “1,000 yard stare” and told the trooper he had to keep the car moving or it would blow up. Paitich refused to stop and it became a pursuit. A 2nd stop occurred 2 miles down the road. Troopers and deputies conducted a high risk stop. As Troopers
approached, the defendant turned the car back on and attempted to drive away. The trooper and deputy were able to stop the defendant from driving away, turned the VW off, and removed Paitich. He had signs of narcotic use. A breath test indicated no alcohol. He refused a blood test, which is a crime. He’s also charged with fleeing an officer. Bails been set at $12,000. His court appearance is September 24th.
Last week the Northfield Council discussed the 2021 feasibility report on road projects. Administrator Ben Martig explained, “so our project this year includes three frontage roads down on south Hwy 3, then the Mayflower neighborhood is the other one. We did add some connections to the E. Cannon River Tr. near Babcock Park along the Hwy 3 there. On the west side there’s a sidewalk that kind of goes down so it connects around there near the dog park”. They also discussed an extension off of Honeylocust Dr. on the west side of Hwy 3. Not all councilors were in agreement for that one. Mayor Pownell said, “it’s just another opportunity for us to extend the usability and the connections for people to get from the trail to the other parts of our community”. Some of the land for that extension goes through private property. The feasibility report was approved by Council in a 5 to 2 vote. This is just one step in the process. There will be a public hearing on the 2021 road projects on October 6th. LINK to the full page with additional information.
Pond dredging for endangered turtle
City Engineer Dave Bennett gave an update on current projects including a Pond Dredging project at Parmeadow ponds and the golf course. The ponds need to be drawn down by Oct. 1 due to the endangered Blanding’s turtle. Concrete curb continues to go down this week at the Roundabout on Hwy 246 and Jefferson Pkwy, then final grading work will continue. The plan is to have it complete in the middle of October.
DJJD carries on, virtually and distantly
The Defeat of Jesse James Days may not have the normal 250,000 people coming to town over four days but there will be celebrating. DJJD Committee General Chair Galen Malecha said after the MN State Fair cancelled, they knew they needed to consider Plan B. Services were still held for Joseph Lee Heywood and Nicholas Gustafson on Wednesday and the 2019 Ambassadors agreed to stay on into 2021 as their normal 80 appearances were cancelled. As for what IS happening, there will be a virtual bank raid, the Riverfront Fine Arts festival will be virtual. Go to northfieldartsguild.org. Chad Johnson and his Band will play a virtual concert tomorrow night. Any monies they raise will go to the DJJD Committee. While the committee isn’t hosting all the events, they are still incurring costs. For many of our local nonprofits, DJJD is a large fundraiser for them as they raise dollars through food booths, raffles, serving beer at the Entertainment Center and the famous Fireman’s duck race which WILL take place after the car cruise tomorrow that begins at 4pm from the Northfield High School. The Great Northfield, MN Take Out will offer food booths at Ames Park and the Water St. parking lot from 10am to 8pm tomorrow. There will be no traditional parade on Sunday but there will be a community parade traveling throughout the city. For all the details go to djjd.org. All weekend you can check out the new exhibit at the Northfield Historical Society Museum. Go to northfieldhistory.org.
RCAUW has $ to regrant
Calling nonprofits, the Rice County Area United Way has received $20,000 from Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund of the MN Council on Foundations to regrant to local nonprofits who are experiencing needs specifically resulting from COVID-19. One hundred percent of the dollars will go directly to the nonprofits for general operating expenses. Penny Hillemann, executive director of RCAUW said, “Every effort will be made to expedite funding,”. The full press release is on kymnradio.net.
