By Rich Larson, News Director
While the rest of the country remains focused on the Presidential election, closer to home questions still surround Minnesota’s Second Congressional District race.
The race had remained tight through Tuesday night, but by early Wednesday morning, with 100% of precincts reporting, it appeared that incumbent DFL Congresswoman Angie Craig had defeated her Republican challenger Tyler Kistner. In a statement issued around 10AM yesterday Craig declared victory saying “It has been the honor of my lifetime to represent the people of Minnesota’s Second District, and I look forward to fighting for them in the 117th Congress.
Kistner, however, chose not to concede. In a statement released by his campaign yesterday afternoon, Kistner said, “The race in the Second District still remains extremely close. Because of the unknown number of how many ballots are still outstanding, we owe it to the voters who waited for hours to cast their ballots before making any final judgements on this race.”
The CD2 election has been a tumultuous one since the death of Legalize Marijuana Now party candidate Adam Weeks. Questions of when the election would be held, and accusations of impropriety with regards to Weeks’ recruitment to run for Congress have dogged both campaigns right up until the end. The question of the legality of the election itself is still to be argued in front of the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals next week.
According to the Minnesota Secretary of State website, Craig has a 9300 vote lead on Kistner, with 48% of the vote versus Kistner’s 46%. Weeks, who remained on the ballot despite his death, received nearly 25,000 votes, which is just about 6% of all votes cast.
DJJD Committee concerned about development in Northfield Parks
The Defeat of Jesse James Days Planning Committee is publicizing their concerns over a plan for new features and 
development in North Babcock Park, Ames Park, Riverside Lions Park and Sechler Park.
On Saturday, members of the committee began circulating a statement and a petition objecting to the draft plan commissioned by the city. In their statement, the planning committee said that the Riverfront Enhancement Advisory Plan would “prevent the DJJD committee from hosting several events,” and would “call into question the future of the Defeat of Jesse James Days Celebration.”
The committee’s statement goes on to explain that development in Ames, Riverside and North Babcock Parks would force the relocation of the carnival, the car show, the tractor pull and the rodeo.
Meanwhile, the City of Northfield, while emphasizing the fact that it is a “proud partner” of the Defeat of Jesse James Days celebration released a statement on their its website stating “the 2020 Riverfront Action Plan is not a construction plan document. Alternatively, it is intended to create enthusiasm and key actions to further enhance Northfield’s riverfront parks into an exciting regional experience.” The city also said that any changes or development would happen incrementally over the course of many years.
Galen Malecha, the General Chair of the Defeat of Jesse James Days Celebration, said yesterday that part of the problem in moving or relocating any of the events would mean putting them in areas that are more spread apart, noting that revenues have decreased in years when flooding had necessitated the relocation of the carnival and the car show. The Committee feels it is very important to have all events within walking distance of each other.
He also said that the committee doesn’t necessarily disagree with the development plans, but they would like to have some input. “As far as the plan goes, it’s a great parks plan. There’s a lot of exciting things that the City of Northfield is looking at from kayaking and canoeing to rock climbing. Those are great things for Northfield because they will bring and add more tourism. And the Defeat of Jesse James Days is certainly in favor of seeing enhancements made. We just want to make sure we have a place at the table.”
The Riverfront Enhancement Advisory Committee draft action plan will go before the City Council on November 17th. The Council plans to vote on it sometime in December.
The Defeat of Jesse James Days Committee statement can be found HERE. The City of Northfield statement can be found HERE. The Riverfront Enhancement Draft Action Plan can be found HERE.
Northfield Shares Announces $150,000 in new grants
Northfield Shares announced yesterday that they will disperse over $150,000 in grants to 15 local non-profits. This is the result of a highly successful fundraising campaign for the Share in Northfield’s Future fund. The fund wa
s established in June as a response to the issues faced by not-for-profit corporations during the time of a global pandemic.
“This is a remarkable demonstration of Northfield’s ability to step up and help our non-profit community,” said Northfield Shares Board Chair, Mary Lynn Oglesbee. “We were hoping to raise $100,000 to help struggling organizations in our community. The fact that we raised more than $170,000 is noteworthy.”
The $150,000 in grants comes on the heels of the $20, 000 granted in June to six non-profits during phase one of the campaign around Covid-19 relief.
