By Rich Larson, News Director
The Minnesota State Legislature passed a $216 million-dollar Covid-19 relief package on Monday designed to give aid to small businesses, particularly those in the service industry, who have been most impacted by the emergency state shutdown order.
Representative Todd Lippert was among those voting in favor of the package. Calling it a “desperately needed lifeline,” Rep. Lippert said that this aid is necessary and overdue, and more help is needed.
“Minnesota could no longer afford to wait for assistance from the federal government. But those resources are still required in order to adequately address the needs of those in long-term care, housing assistance, and child-care.”
The bill also extends unemployment benefits to more than 100,000 Minnesotans for up to 13 weeks, after benefits under the Federal CARES Act expire on December 26. Should the federal government extend those unemployment benefits, the state extension would be dropped.
In a statement issued by Lippert’s office, the Representative was direct in stating that the State has done what it can, and he now looks to the federal government to step up.
“We cannot afford to leave [our citizens] out in the cold,” he said. “More needs to be done.”
Governor Tim Walz is expected to sign the bill into law this afternoon.
NHS to “refresh” Raiders mascot
Among the motions passed during the Northfield School Board meeting on Monday night, was the re-designing and “refreshing” of the Northfield High School Raiders mascot.
Northfield Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann said that the current mascot was designed in 1956 and is a “cartoonish” figure that can be seen as a derogatory symbol to members of the Asian community, and “no longer represents the students who are currently attending Northfield High School.”
The NHS Student Council approached the School Board last spring asking that they consider retiring the current mascot. The conversation was tabled when the Covid-19 pandemic forced the emergency school shutdown but was raised again this fall. With the passing of the motion, the high school administration will now set about asking for submissions on a newly designed mascot and will then select up to four finalists. During the meeting, School Board Member Noel Stratmoen questioned whether a mascot was even necessary, which is an idea that will now become part of the conversation. Dr. Hillmann said that the process will be taken very seriously in order to honor both Northfield’s history and all members of the community.
“We do think that symbols matter. The mascot will be refreshed. High school principal Joel Leer and activities director Joel Olson will now take this process. They will work with a broad variety of stakeholders to get a process in place to request submissions from people with their creative ideas. The motion actually included that we would prioritize designs that highlight the community’s defense against the James Younger Gang. We obviously think the term ‘Raiders’ came from that, and we really think that the mascot should be prioritized to represent the heroic actions of the people standing against the James Younger Gang in the 1870’s.”
Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann’s full conversation with Jeff Johnson can be heard HERE.
City Council approves new Library Director
And the Northfield City Council convened last night to approve the City Administrator’s nomination of Natalie Draper to take the position of Northfield Library Director.
City Administrator Ben Martig said that there was a very strong pool of candidates for the position, and that he was especially excited to bring Ms. Draper’s nomination to the council.
“Ms. Draper has a diverse background with over ten years of experience in library systems and eight years of managerial rolls with an emphasis in arts & culture projects for the Richmond Virginia Public Library. She is currently the Library and community services manager where she also serves on the Richmond Arts District Board. Of course, this is a little bit of a unique library director position in Northfield, where the also serve the Arts & Culture Commission in addition to the Library Board. Natalie Draper has a unique set of skills and qualifications and experience and personal attributes that I think will be a strong foundation and provide a strong likelihood of success serving as Northfield’s Library Director.”
The council unanimously approved Ms. Draper’s nomination. Martig said she is already making progress in finding a home in Northfield, and that she intends to assume the position of February 1st.
Teresa Jensen, the current Library Director is retiring at the end of the month after a distinguished career.
