By Rich Larson, News Director
Northfield has declared a snow emergency, effective until 9am on Sunday. There is no parking allowed on any city street during the emergency until
the street is plowed curb-to-curb. Vehicles parked on the street before they are plowed will be ticketed and are subject to towing.
There is also no parking allowed in public parking lots from 2am-6am before they are plowed. The City has released a plowing schedule for the next two days:
Residential streets will be plowed on today and tomorrow.
All downtown lots will be plowed on today, except for the 5th & Washington lot, which will be plowed tomorrow.
Downtown snow will be removed tomorrow and Sunday.
For updated information, call the City of Northfield parking hotline at 507-645-3080 or check at the Snow Emergency page on the Northfield city website.
County Sheriff warns against dangerous counterfeit pills
Rice County Law Enforcement is sounding the alarm to a series of overdoses being suffered across the country from pills that appear to be oxycodone but are, in reality, laced with fentanyl or other powerful narcotics.
Last Saturday, 28-year-old Luis Carillo and 33-year-old Amber Low both of Faribault, were found dead in their home of suspected overdoses. Pills found at the residence are consistent with those found with other overdoses nationwide that are also under investigation. The pills are round white pills imprinted with an “M” on one side and “30” on the other, similar to legitimate prescription Oxycodone pills, which are blue.
Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn said people who buy pills like this on the street are taking a very big risk.
“You don’t know what you’re getting when you buy these drugs on the street. It may look like Oxycodone, or it may look like a Xanax pill, but a lot of these pills are not made in labs, they’re not necessarily from a pharmacy. And they can be laced with fentanyl or carfentanil.”
Carfentanil is a drug used by veterinarians to sedate large animals such as moose or cattle. Even a small dose can be fatal to humans.
Sheriff Dunn said the amount of Naloxone and Narcan, which are drugs used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, was at an all-time high in 2020. The Sheriff who has taken a special interest in issues of addiction and mental health, said there is help available in Rice County for those fighting addiction.
“If you need help, there is help out there. Rice County has this great program called MOST, and they will reach out to you, they will help set up a treatment program, they will help you get the things that you need whether it’s transportation to get to an appointment or whatever, but just like with driving, there are people out there who love you and want you to be around for a long time. If we can help you combat and beat this addiction, we want to do that.”
The Rice County Mobile Opioid Support Team, or MOST, is a service designed to help those struggling with drug use and addiction. According to their website, members of the team will meet with individuals anywhere in the community, with visits continuing as long as that individual asks for support.
For more information call 507-299-0204, or email MOSTlead@ricecountycmhc.org. The MOST website can be found by clicking here.
Sheriff Dunn’s full conversation with Jeff Johnson can be heard here.
Fossum says Rice County elections are well run
Meanwhile, as the country continues to reel from the riot at the Nation’s Capital and the subsequent impeachment of President Donald Trump, Rice
County Attorney John Fossum said things are much more docile in our area.
Fossum said that two months past the election, there has been no litigation about the voting procedures. He said there have been some complaints that came in about an irregularity or the possibility of an ineligible voter casting a vote, but those are common with every election, and in his six years as county attorney he has prosecuted just four or five of such cases. Having been a candidate for office three times, he said, he is continually impressed by how professional and secure elections are within the county.
“We use the Gold Standard. We have paper ballots that we can go back and look at, if there’s an issue. You probably recall that we’ve had recounts in legislative races, where they go back and they can look at the paper ballots and they can confirm, or decide, or argue about what the intent of the voter. So, our elections in Rice County are certainly pretty secure and well run.”
Fossum said voter fraud is something that his office takes very seriously, and every complaint they receive is investigated.
County Attorney John Fossum’s full conversation with Jeff Johnson can be heard here.
DNR unveils pollinator license plate
And the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources unveiled a brand new critical habitat license plate yesterday. This is the 10th specialty plate created for the program. D-N-R commissioner Sarah Strommen
said the colorful new plate features native pollinators including a bee and butterflies.
“We’re very excited about this new Pollinator Critical Habitat license plate. It’s the first new Critical Habitat license plate since 2015. And it’s a lovely plate that helps our pollinators which are really important to Minnesota.”
The pollinator license plate was designed by artist Timothy Turenne. It depicts the monarch butterfly – which is Minnesota’s state butterfly – and the rusty patched bumble bee, which was recently named the state bee by the Minnesota Legislature.
