By Teri Knight, News Director
A Rosemount man is in the Rice County jail charged with a felony after police get a tip. According to the criminal complaint, 35 year old Brandon Jerome Doby has repeatedly threatened a person who lives in Faribault, with violence. The reporting party knew that Doby had a silver gun he kept in a camouflage bag and was headed to Faribault to meet the person at the high school. Officers were informed and responded to the described vehicle and pulled him over. Doby was driving on a revoked license. Officers found a loaded handgun between the driver’s seat and center console, well within reach of the defendant. Doby has previously been convicted of crimes of violence. Bail has been set at $50,000 with conditions. His first court appearance is September 30th.
Nfld applies for Fed $ to assist in flood study
The City of Northfield, over the last 10 years, has had numerous flooding events of the Cannon River causing damage to properties and public infrastructure. Adjacent businesses continue to request improvements to mitigate future flooding. In 2018 the City included a capital project in the storm fund in 2023 for west river wall flood improvements. Right now, there is funding available through MN Homeland Security and Emergency Management for a downtown flood study. Administrator Martig explained, “we’re applying for federal dollars in order to assist in some new stormwater management studies to take more analysis of what’s going on with the river and our flood levels and what we need to do as a community as it relates to investing with that”. Some improvements, “could include enhancements to the flood wall area. Again that could lead to some enhancements to the riverwalk components to that”. The Advanced Assistance from Homeland Security will pay 75% of the study cost, and the other 25% is coming from the City’s Stormwater Fund. The funding will determine if the proposed improvement projects are eligible for FEMA assistance. This all ties into the Riverfront Enhancement plan Council just heard a presentation on last week. Martig said, “it was a combination of a flood control measure, the community also looked at it as an opportunity for investment to make it (river) an amenity while they’re doing that improvement. So we’ll continue to look at those alternatives”. The City is currently taking input on the Riverfront plan on their website. There will be more on coming up. Other photos from four years ago today.
Nerstrand Fire to hold Open House at new Fire Hall and receives grant for rescue equipment
There’s a lot happening at the Nerstrand Fire Department. They’re celebrating their new fire house on Sunday with an Open House from noon to 4pm. The public is invited to 2 Cherry St. and they will be following CDC and MDH Guidelines, requiring facemasks and social distancing. Additionally, the Nerstrand Fire Department is one of 41 fire departments around the country to receive a grant from Nationwide Insurance and the National Education Center for Agriculture Safety. Every year, thousands of farmers and commercial grain handlers risk their lives by entering grain bins to remove clumped or rotted grain. As rural communities know, an accident in a grain bin can quickly turn deadly. In just seconds, adults can sink to their waist in flowing grain becoming trapped. Deaths have spiked in 2019 and early 2020 due to the wet harvest. On Monday the 28th, they’ll receive life-saving grain rescue tubes and hands-on training to prepare them to respond when grain accidents occur. Nationwide received 1006 nominations for the award. Two other fire departments in Minnesota, Jordan and Miesville, also received the award.
Roadwork on Hwy 52
Expect roadwork on Hwy 52 between Hampton Township and Cannon Falls. The project includes construction crossovers, concrete overlay, updated guardrail, cable median barrier, update signals and repair joints on two bridges. It’s expected to be complete by November of 2021. Full press release HERE.
This just in from MnDot:
Southbound Interstate 35 motorists north of Faribault are likely to experience traffic delays beginning Thursday, Sept. 24 when concrete pavement repairs begin on the highway, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The concrete pavement repairs require closing one lane of traffic in the southbound lanes approximately 4 miles north of Faribault, so crews can replace the damaged concrete panels and failed joints in the lane. The project is expected to be completed in October.
