The City of Northfield has passed a resolution declaring a global climate emergency. 
The Northfield City Council joined a growing group of city governments across Minnesota and around the world by passing a resolution to bring attention to the detrimental effects of climate change and calling on both the state and federal governments to increase their attention to the threat that climate change poses for all communities in Minnesota and beyond.
A statement issued by the city said Northfield is part of an emerging non-partisan coalition of Minnesota cities focused on the adverse impact climate change has on the economic well-being and quality of life of cities across the state. Leaders from Minnesota cities of all sizes, the statement said, are taking action similar to the council’s resolution.
This action follows a Northfield policy that has been in place for several years. The city council adopted a Climate Action Plan in 2019 and added climate action as a strategic plan priority in 2021.
“Northfield is already taking steps to reduce our city’s carbon outputs and to position our community for a resilient future both economically and environmentally,” Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell said in the statement. “It’s heartening to see city leaders from communities around the state join in facing this issue head on.”
The cities of Crystal Bay, Duluth and Minneapolis were the first to declare climate emergencies with similar resolutions in 2021. Other cities that have made climate declarations, or are currently working one include Edina, Eden Prairie, Red Wing, Moorhead, Grand Marais, Rochester, and Bloomington.
According to the statement, this initiative is facilitated by Great Plains Institute, with funding from the Energy Foundation and the McKnight Foundation, toward the goal of “facilitating prompt and substantive action related to Climate Change on the part of leaders at all levels of government.”
For more information on these resolutions, visit betterenergy.org.
Lippert, Draheim call Covid workers comp law a bi-partisan victory
Since the end of the 2021 session, Minnesota legislators have been arguing over a pool of $250 million meant to give bonuses to front line workers dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Thursday night, in the first act of the new legislative session, the Democratic controlled House of Representatives and the Republican controlled Senate, renewed an expired law that allows for those workers to collect workers compensation should they contract the virus. The program does offer help, even if it does nothing to resolve the bonus debate.
Representative Todd Lippert said the quick passage of the law was a good showing of bi-partisan cooperation and he hopes it will set a good tone for the rest of the session. He said it was particularly important to get this law extended as soon as possible. The legislature had originally passed the law in April of 2020, but it expired at the end of 2021. The problem is Covid-19 is still hanging around.
“Covid is still a problem,” he said. “There were 60-70 frontline medical workers contracting the virus every day in January.”
Lippert said some 22,000 workers had benefited from the law since its inception. On average, those eligible under the now extended law receive about $9,000 if they require hospitalization, and about $1,000 if they do not.
Just as important as the benefit to those who contract the virus, he said, is the message it sends to frontline workers who might be feeling neglected in the face of the bonus stalemate.
“This is making sure that workers feel like, ‘When I’m putting myself out there, putting myself and my family at risk, that the state is with me and that my neighbors are with me too. We know that this benefit has been seen as important – because it is important – and extending it will make workers feel like the state has their back.”
For his part, State Senator Rich Draheim said, while he did not agree with everything in the bill, it is always important to support the efforts of the state’s Workers Comp Board.
“In the Senate, I think it was unanimous, and in the House I think there were eight votes against. But most people support the work of the working group, and the related agencies, who are the people involved in this day-to-day. So, we got that done, and I think it was something important to get done right away.”
Governor Walz signed the extension on Friday. It is scheduled to expire on January 13 of next year.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Todd Lippert can be heard here
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Senator Rich Draheim can be heard here
Northfield Public Library will no longer charge fines for late returns
And the Northfield Public Library will no longer collect fines on overdue materials. 
Northfield Director of Library Services Natalie Draper said overdue fines will no longer accrue on overdue materials, and cardholders with existing fines should call the library or stop in with their overdue materials to have staff waive past fines.
The new policy reflects a growing trend with libraries across the country. The American Library Association passed a resolution in 2019 citing mounting evidence that eliminating fines increases library card sign ups and library use. It also recognized fines as a form of social inequity and urged libraries to actively move toward ending them.
Draper said late fines were not a significant source of revenue to begin with and had been declining for decades. In fact, she said there were ancillary costs to charging fines, both in the labor they had to allocate to tracking the fines down, and in material loss.
“It cost us in materials loss, because sometimes people think they have a fine, or they know they have overdue books, so they just don’t bring them back sometimes. So, the materials cost us a lot more than a little fine. And there is a lot of data that shows libraries that have gone fine free have seen a lot more of their materials come back.”
She said dropping fines had been on her mind since she was hired to her position at the end of 2020. The Northfield Public Library Board voted in September to remove fines from the library’s circulation policy, and the City Council approved the updated fee schedule on January 18, reflecting the change in library policy.
Fees for lost or damaged items cannot be waived; however, long overdue material in good condition can be returned with no penalty.
The new policy went into effect last week. The library eliminated fines on children’s books and magazines in 2010.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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