By Rich Larson, News Director
As the country continues to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, Rice County attorney John Fossum said the Rice County Courts are slowly returning
to a more normal footing. The County began holding in-person jury trials at the beginning of May and beginning next week contested hearings, which are hearings that involve witness testimony, will return as well.
Last year, the pandemic caused the courts across the state to shut down for the spring and early summer. They were able to open and resume trials for a short time in the fall, but after cases began to spike across the state, Supreme Court Chief Justice Lori Gildea ordered a moratorium on all in-person trials until Mid-March, and the three county district judges extended that moratorium until the beginning of May. The result was, at one point, a backlog of nearly 250 cases awaiting resolution.
Fossum said they are now making progress through that backlog. Most cases resolve before they go to trial, and with the ability to take things that far, many of the backlogged cases are seeing plea agreements.
The cases that do go to trial are happening in the specialized courtroom that the county built last year in the Government Services Center. The new Courtroom 5 has space enough for all necessary participants in a trial, including a properly distanced 15-person jury. Fossum said that despite the exaggerated spacing, the trials happening in that room aren’t very different from trials of the pre-Covid days.
“From the standpoint of how they do it, it’s a relatively normal process. Having 15 people in the jury box all spaced six-feet apart sort of changed the dynamics, but not the function and not the way we do things. So, I think it all worked out relatively well.”
He said there is state developed criteria for when trials can resume in the formal courtrooms. He hopes to see that happening sometime in September.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Rice County Attorney John Fossum can be heard here
American Rescue Plan will provide $2.3 million to Northfield
On Tuesday night, the city council began to discuss how to best use the money the city will receive from the American Rescue Plan.
City Administrator Ben Martig said Northfield will receive approximately $2.3 million from the Federal Government, and this round of Covid Relief funds does not come with quite as many detailed parameters as the money from the CARES relief act did last year.
He said there are four main categories in which the money can be used, Public Health Emergency Response, Addressing Negative Economic Impact, Helping the Hardest Hit Individuals, and Improving Access to Infrastructure. Within those categories, that could mean lost revenue replacement to the Convention and Visitors Bureau who collected very little lodging tax because of the pandemic, addressing cyber security threats, aiding sewer projects, improving the broadband accessibility throughout the city, or giving more aid to the Hillcrest Village project.
Martig said a large part of the process will be addressing community needs and the city is looking specifically for the direst situations.
“If there are any immediate crisis situations for businesses or individuals – we want to take our time – but if there are truly some needs out there, we want to be able to be fairly nimble to be able to respond and get some assistance right away. If people do recognize that they are really challenged, if a business is in a situation where they might have to close the doors, we might be able to move some things a little more quickly.”
The city, and the council itself, intends to be relatively deliberate in this process. They have until December of 2024 to decide how best to spend the money and have a stated goal to be thoughtful about its allocation.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with City Administrator Ben Martig can be heard here
Underdahl calls NH+C Wound Healing Center ‘life changing’
Steve Underdahl, President and CEO of Northfield Hospital & Clinics said the hospital’s new Wound Healing Center is off to a very positive start. 
With the addition built at the hospital last year for the new birth center, Underdahl said there was space to add a program such as this. The hospital has partnered with an organization called Healogics for treatment techniques and protocol, and the results have been everything they had hoped for. The new addition, which opened this past spring, has seen about 70 patients, and he said they are seeing a 90% effectiveness rate.
The center treats patients with chronic and slow healing wounds, a condition according to the hospital website, that annually affects nearly 7 million people in the U.S., particularly among those dealing with obesity and diabetes. The new addition offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy, debridement, and a host of topical and dressing techniques that can create positive results when nothing else has worked.
“It can really be life-changing for people. It’s a service that folks who have this need can really benefit from. Between the hyperbaric chamber, which delivers an oxygen therapy to these wounds and other collateral therapies, these people really do often have really great outcomes.”
Patients coming to the wound healing center do not require a referral. They can reach the clinic directly by calling (507) 646-6900. For more information, visit northfieldhospital.org.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Steve Underdahl can be heard here
