By Rich Larson, News Director
Owners Terry and Julie Heilman announced on Friday that Jesse James Lanes will be closed “until further notice” beginning June 1st. 
In an email to friends and supporters Terry Heilman wrote that the bowling alley, restaurant and event center had struggled through the pandemic. The business was closed for 5 months, and when it did re-open, they could only do so at 25% capacity. As a result, the events they had scheduled for most of 2020, including weddings, birthday parties and fundraisers, were canceled. Heilman indicated that nothing has been scheduled for 2021, and it is unclear when they might be able to host future events.He said the bowling alley lost quite of business during the league season as well.
As summer approaches, which for bowling alleys is the slow season, and with a lack of staff, and the continued problems with the pandemic, Heilman said it does not make sense to stay open.
“Due to the nature of our business, it will be one of the last to recover. It is different than most in that human contact is encouraged. The whole idea is to get people together to socialize, have fun, meet people, make friends and network… [It will] take a while for people to feel comfortable going out in public and coming in close contact with one another even after restrictions are lifted.”
While the bowling alley will close on June 1st, it is unclear if this will be a permanent closure, as the email said they will be closed until further notice.
The Heilman’s have owned Jesse James lanes for 45 years.
County board to vote on jail options
Tomorrow morning, the Rice County Board of Commissioners are scheduled to vote on options to resolve the Rice County Jail situation.
In 2019, the state Department of Corrections notified Rice County that the jail, which was built in 1975, is inadequate due to the lack of space for recreation and rehabilitative programming. At that time, the DOC told the county if nothing was done, the jail would be downgraded to a 90-day lockup facility.
Sheriff Troy Dunn said that the actions taken since then have constituted a long process. Dunn served on the jail study task force that was formed to examine the situation, which also included County Commissioners, staff, members of the law enforcement community, and members of the general public. Earlier this year, the task force recommended to the Board of Commissioners that the county build a new jail and law enforcement facility on a green space at a cost of $50-$60 million dollars.
Since the recommendation, the Board, led by Commissioner Galen Malecha, has looked into a joint powers agreement with Steele County that would establish a regional jail in the Owatonna area where Rice County inmates would be housed. The Department of Corrections, along with Sheriff Dunn, Rice County Attorney John Fossum, who also served on the jail study task force, and Northfield Police Chief Mark Elliott have all voiced their opposition to a regional jail. Public meetings have been held over the last few weeks with members of the Steele County Board of Commissioners, none of which resulted in a conclusive decision.
Sheriff Dunn said he is hopeful that tomorrow’s vote will end any further debate and, one way or another, resolve the decision. His preference, he said, is still to build a new facility.
“Unfortunately, public safety is not a cheap thing, but I think it’s a necessity. We need to provide for the [inmates] to have programming and recreation and safe places for people dealing with anger management, mental health and so many other issues. [We want to help these people] not come back to our jail.”
The Sheriff said, whatever the decision, he will continue to work with the five commissioners in the best interest of the county, but after granting the county two extensions, the DOC is losing its patience and action needs to be taken.
“We need to get out of this older jail,” he said, “and start doing things in this century.”
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Sheriff Troy Dunn can be heard here
Legislature taking budget talks to the deadline
And with one week left in the state legislative session, the members of the State House of Representatives and the State Senate are ready for some long
and difficult days ahead.
Representative Todd Lippert said that, while he is not privy to the conversations being held among the legislative leadership, he knows that budget talks are hard, and this year is no exception. The legislature is now beginning the final stage of budget negotiations, he said, which is what he characterized as a “puffing up stage.” Each side has positions staked out that don’t feel reasonable to the other at the moment. But he is hopeful that the leadership can come to agreements on budget targets, which had been promised on Friday but to this point have not been delivered.
The two sides are not far apart in their overall budget numbers; however, it is the way that the money should be spent that is in contention. The disagreements run wide between the DFL controlled House and the Republican controlled Senate. The two parties disagree on how much to allocate on everything from conservation and environmental issues to taxes on federal Covid relief programs to housing. Lippert said another big disagreement is in funding for education.
“Teachers in Farmington have received pink slips, which is just really hard right now with everything that has happened in schools. According to what I’ve been told it hasn’t happened in Northfield, but there is concern about cuts that may be coming unless funding changes. We need to fund schools in a way that keeps up with inflation.”
While the legislature is scheduled to adjourn one week from today on the 17th, should the two sides not be able to come to an agreement, the possibility always remains that a special session could be called before the end of the state fiscal year on June 30th. Failure to pass a budget before then would result in a state government shutdown.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Todd Lippert can be heard here
