Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann said he will ask the Northfield School Board to relax the Covid-19 health protocols
that have been in place since the beginning of the current school year.
In a letter to Northfield School District families on Friday Hillmann said he will ask that masks be recommended for use in all Northfield School District facilities but not be required, and that the district end the practice of contact tracing.
He said these changes are possible because the number of positive cases in Rice County due to the Omicron variant has now dropped well below the 5% threshold, and because vaccinations for children ages 5 and older have been widely available since early November, giving everyone ample opportunity to become fully vaccinated.
While these changes are likely, there will still be many of the safety protocols that will remain.
Students and staff who show symptoms of Covid-19 should still get tested, and those testing positive will need to isolate. The Transportation Security Administration still requires face coverings be worn by all individuals on school buses. Volunteers will still have to show proof of vaccination, and hygiene practices like hand washing, covering of mouths when coughing, and staying home when sick will be strongly encouraged to all students and staff.
If a dramatic deterioration in the public health situation re-occurs, Hillmann said the district will consider reactivating all districtwide safety protocols.
If the changes are approved, contact tracing will end at the end of the school day on Friday. The new mask recommendations will go into effect on the 21st.
Rice County Attorney’s office will not determine if prosecution of Rice County Deputy is necessary
Rice County Attorney John Fossum said that his office will not make the decision about what prosecutorial action, if any, will be taken in the case regarding the Faribault woman who was killed when she was hit by a Rice County Deputy’s squad car.
According to the Rice County Sherriff’s Department, 52-year-old Stephanie Marie Wesley of Faribault was struck by a squad car driven by Sergeant Trevor Peterson at approximately 2am on Saturday, January 28 on Highway 60 just east of Morristown.
The Rice County Sheriff’s Office has released 16 seconds of footage from Sgt. Peterson’s squad car camera, showing what appears to be Wesley lying on the road just before being struck. Peterson was not responding to an emergency call at the time of the incident, and according to data released by the Sheriff’s Office, he was traveling at 59 mph in a 60 mph zone.
Fossum said the video shows that it would have been difficult for anyone to take the proper evasive action to keep from colliding with Wesley.
“It seems likely that there wasn’t any time for him to react or do anything. You’re travelling at 86 feet per second at 60 miles per hour. And a car takes 130 feet to stop, so if you have two seconds that isn’t enough time for the car to stop or do anything.”
Rice County Deputies, along with EMT’s from Morristown Rescue and North Ambulance, all attempted lifesaving efforts at the scene. However, they were unable to revive Wesley. An autopsy investigation is underway to determine the cause of Wesley’s death.
The Minnesota State Patrol is handling the investigation. Fossum said his office is waiting for quite a bit of information.
“We will be waiting for that report from the state patrol, and we’ll be waiting for that autopsy report from the medical examiner’s office,” he said. “And then, because it involves a Rice County Sheriff’s sergeant, we will be referring it out to another County Attorney’s office for review. It will not be up to me if there is going to be any prosecution.”
Fossum said his office will see that they follow a fair process, and everything is investigated appropriately.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Rice County Attorney John Fossum can be heard here
Lippert extolls the virtues of a ‘Smart Grid’
State Representative Todd Lippert has introduced a bill into the state House of Representatives that would provide $4.5 million to upgrade
and modernize Northfield’s power grid.
Over the last few years, Northfield has added more and more solar power to the grid, and with the City’s Climate Action Plan calling for the use of only carbon-free electricity by 2030, the growth of solar in Northfield will only pick up speed.
In order for that to happen, however, the power grid must be modernized. Right now, Xcel Energy is charging an “Interconnection Fee” of $15,000 for newly installed solar panels to connect to the power grid or saying the connection will not be able to happen for 2-3 years.
“We need to move from what Public Utilities Commissioner John Tuma, who is a Northfield local calls a dumb grid,” said Lippert, “to a smart grid” that will be able to adapt to and handle the type of energy expanded solar power use will bring. Beyond that, he said, he said there are several more benefits to modernizing the grid.
“This would allow for more software on the grid to move power in multiple directions instead of just one direction. It would allow for more storage, which we need to be integrating, and it would allow Northfield to be a model to other communities about what can a smart grid look like for communities in the future. And this is a role Northfield often plays, being a leader for other communities in the state.
Lippert said this type of utility work, modernization of infrastructure for a municipality is a pilot project, so the money to pay for it would come from the state’s Renewable Development Account, which among other things was established to encourage grid modernization, including, projects that implement electricity storage, load control, and smart meter technology.
Lippert believes his bill has a very good chance of making it through the legislature. He said it has the support of Representative Jamie Long, the Chair of the House Climate & Energy Committee and a graduate of Carleton College who has an excellent understanding of the needs of the people of Northfield, and he said the Chair of the Senate Energy & Utilities Committee, Senator David Senjem.
“We have a good chance of having a receptive audience in the legislature,” he said. “The bill is off to a good start.”
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Todd Lippert can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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