By Rich Larson, News Director
After 32 years, more than 1000 players coached, numerous Prep Bowls, and one state title, Northfield High School
head varsity football coach Bubba Sullivan announced on Wednesday that he is retiring.
Sullivan was hired to be the head football coach in 1989. Just four years earlier, Sullivan had been the quarterback of the Northfield team and then went on to play for coaching legend John Gagliardi at St. John’s University. Sullivan said his early seasons were rocky ones. “My first goal was survival,” he said, “but I had hoped to build a competitive program, and we started to see progress in our third season.”
Indeed, beginning in 1993, Sullivan’s teams made a habit of playing in the State Prep Bowl, capping the run with a Class 4a, Section 1 State Championship, beating county rival Faribault for the title. But as important as the on the field success has been, Sullivan is even more proud of his teams’ habit of making Academic All-Conference. Sullivan said he did not know how many of his teams were tops in academics, but he said, since the state started to keeping track of these things, his teams have only missed All-Conference status one time.
Sullivan said he does not know who will succeed him as Varsity head coach, but as an English teacher, he hopes the district will hire a coach who is also a classroom educator.
“I know there are some teaching positions that will be open in the district, and I hope that they take a hard look at that. I think having coaches that are also teachers is an important piece of having stable athletic programs. That doesn’t always happen, but I hope in this case they are able to do that.”
The coach said he does not know what he will do next. He does intend to teach for several more years but is unsure if he will remain connected to the football program in a reduced role.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Coach Bubba Sullivan can be heard here
Passenger Rail offers ‘opportunity’
The long-debated issue of a passenger rail line that would run from the Twin Cities, through Northfield to Albert Lea and possibly points further south has been a topic of conversation over the past two weeks among Northfield and Rice County elected officials. Representative Todd Lippert has introduced a bill into the House of Representatives that would earmark $500,000 dollars for a study into the proposed South-Central Corridor, and the Northfield City Council has passed a resolution supporting the measure.
Northfield City Councilor Suzie Nakasian and Rice County Commissioner Galen Malecha both support the implementation of the line that would use existing tracks owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. And they say there are innumerable reasons to support this project.
Malecha said the line gives people an alternative for mass transit. He said the cost of owning and operating a car will only continue to rise, road construction and maintenance costs are already too high, and he believes many Americans are ready to find other ways to get around.
“What passenger rail does is it takes vehicles off of the road system. And it also gives people an opportunity to choose an alternative mode of transportation. As we are an aging nation, people are going to want to drive less. And so, we have to offer opportunities for them to be able to travel by rail.”
Councilor Nakasian pointed out that there is $90 billion dollars earmarked for passenger rail in President Biden’s
proposed $2 trillion dollar Infrastructure plan. However, she said, Minnesota would not be eligible to receive any of that money if a rail study was not already in place. The money must be in the budget for the coming biennium, she said, and, local legislative support is imperative.
Senator Rich Draheim has said he does not support the study because companies like Union Pacific are already facing a backlog of freight to be hauled. The tracks simply do not have the capacity for passenger rail. Companies like Union Pacific would have no interest in sharing the tracks that they need, so the study would be a waste of $500,000 dollars.
But Nakasian countered that Union Pacific has recently entered into a partnership that will restore passenger rail service from St. Paul to Eau Claire, and that there are government dollars available to Union Pacific for track upgrades if they agree to the South-Central corridor. Nakasian said the study is necessary, “so we know what we’re offering.”
Malecha said that this is not an issue where politics should even come into play.
“There should not be a partisan divide on this,” he said. “This is not a political issue. This is about helping people. This is about everybody.”
For more information on the proposed rail line, visit www.mnrail.org
And as the weather continues to warm and high winds continue through the area, the DNR has issued burning bans and warnings in several counties throughout the state.
Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn said that his department has responded to at least half-a-dozen grass fires in the last few days. The Sheriff said while the ground may still be thawing out, the conditions are deceptively ripe for groundfires right now.
“Especially the last few days with these high winds. People are doing their spring clean ups, and there’s still a little moisture in the ground, but the top stuff, a lot of that grass that sat there dormant over the winter, especially in the rural areas is very dry. So that will burn like crazy across the top and can spread quite quickly.”
The Sheriff said that now is the time for those inclined to burn on their property to go get a burning permit for the year. Burning permits are available through township fire wardens, local fire departments, the DNR, or he said, the Sheriff’s office will issue permits in an emergency.
Sheriff Dunn said the restrictions on burning remain in place. No burning of garbage or petroleum-based products like tires and shingles is allowed. Please limit the burning to brush and yard waste. Violation of the restrictions, he said, is a misdemeanor that can carry a fine of $250 dollars.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn can be heard here
