By Rich Larson, News Director
The Supreme court yesterday denied Republican candidate Tyler Kistner’s emergency appeal to delay the election for Minnesota’s Second Congressional District. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who handles emergency requests from the federal appeals court that oversees Minnesota, issued the decision without comment. While the case is still active in a lower court of appeals, Gorsuch’s decision ends the question of whether the election will go forward next week as planned.
The death of Adam Weeks, a graduate of Northfield High School and the Legal Marijuana Now party candidate for the second district, on September 21st triggered a Minnesota state law that pushes an election to the second Tuesday in February. Congresswoman Angie Craig, the incumbent in the second district, sued in federal court, arguing that federal election laws supersede state law. The court agreed and reinstated the election on November 3rd. Kistner has now appealed that decision three separate times. The Eighth
Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case, but not until after the November 3. Kistner’s appeal to the Supreme Court was for an emergency injunction to stop the election next week.
A statement released from Congresswoman Craig’s office said in part “The real win today is for the voters of Minnesota’s Second Congressional District – who will have their voices heard as part of the November general election and have continuous representation in Congress.”
The Kistner campaign said in their statement “As we have said before, we continue to urge Minnesotans to vote in the November 3rd election, and we look forward to debating the merits of this law in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in November.”
Hillmann asks for vigilance against Coronavirus
The Superintendent of Northfield schools is making an impassioned plea to the community for vigilance in the battle against the Coronavirus.
Dr. Matt Hillmann said yesterday that he attended a news conference on Saturday at the Mayo Clinic given by Dr. Deborah Birx, a top advisor to President Trump and a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Hillman said that Dr. Birx is concerned about the rise in cases in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest as a whole. The Minnesota Department of Health has said that cases are spreading quicker in the rural areas of Minnesota now, and has predicted that the next three months could be difficult with regard to fighting this disease. Hillmann believes that everyone has a responsibility right now. The data shows that the virus is being spread in small gatherings where people know each other and are more relaxed and therefore do not follow Covid protocols.
Hillmann said that Northfield has done a good job of keeping cases to a minimum, but with Covid-19 fatigue taking hold across the country, that could change. He said it is more important than ever to follow the health protocols in place since last spring, which include wearing masks, keeping a safe distance from people, hand washing and staying home when sick in order to keep the virus at bay.
“If we want our kids to stay in school,’ he said, “then these things are essential. Wearing a mask and following the protocols that we know work is not a political issue. We have to do it.”
Dundas City Council weighs options with remaining CARES funds
The Dundas City Council met on Tuesday night. Among the items on the agenda was consideration on how to
spend the remaining funds the city received from the federal CARES Act. City administrator Jennelle Teppen said that the city was considering three options. One was buying equipment that would allow the city to live stream city council meetings, the second was acquiring a Bobcat that would be used for many tasks including snow removal and the sanitizing of park equipment in the summer, and the third was purchasing iPadsfor City Councilors to use.
Teppen went on to say that, at $68,000.00, the live streaming equipment was prohibitively expensive, and she recommended to the Council that they not move forward with that option. She did remind people, however, that improving the city governments communications is a priority, pointing to the approval to revamp the Dundas city website.
