Yesterday, a Rice County Grand Jury indicted Cody Vernon Kolstad, 32, of Morristown on charges of first- and second-degree murder for the May 31 death of his housemate.
Kolstad was charged June 1 with second-degree murder for the shooting death of Brian Daniel Stoeckel, 41, after Kolstad reported the shooting. At that time, he told the dispatcher and the responding officers that he had pulled the trigger.
He told officers that he had “been doing a lot of drugs,” and was “stressed out,” and later told investigators that the prior evening someone told him either he or Stoeckel needed to die by midnight, so he took a shotgun to Stoeckel’s bedroom and fired twice.
Rice County Attorney John Fossum said he sought the indictment because “there is evidence (Kolstad) had enough premeditation to meet the statutory requirements” and that a charge of first-degree intentional murder is “appropriate in this case.”
In Minnesota, first-degree intentional murder carries a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release.
Kolstad must still be formally arraigned on the charges. That court date has not yet been set.
Financing decisions ahead for the school board and possibly district voters
As the Northfield School Board wrestles with the questions of what to do with the many issues at Northfield High School, how much to fix or
enhance, when to do it, and how best to go about it, one question rises above all others.
How does the district pay for it?
Last spring the board convened a group to study the building, identify the problems and make prioritized recommendations on how to proceed. The report they turned in offered a tiered series of recommendations that would cost about $87 million for the entire package.
As it is, the board has options in front of them. One is to push for a brand-new school at an estimated cost of $120 million, another is to do nothing and simply keep up with the maintenance on the building as they have for the past twenty-five years, they could act on part of the recommendations the task force made, or they could act on all of them.
Superintendent of Northfield Public Schools, Dr. Matt Hillmann, said after the work session on Monday, the board was leaning toward working on the first two tiers of the recommendations, which would fix the infrastructure of the building and enhance the educational experience for the students by updating classrooms, labs and learning spaces, at a cost of about $40 million. But that is not a decision they can make alone.
Hillmann said in the State of Minnesota, school finance is highly regulated, and any amount of money that goes into the remodeling or renovation of the building would come from voter approved bonding. That means putting a referendum on the ballot in November and making sure the public has a clear understanding of what the district is asking for.
Hillmann said there is about $40 million in debt that will come off of the district’s books in 2024, which could make things relatively convenient for financing the next project.
“That does mean that the first $40 million of any bond would have a very minimal – if any – tax impact. Now, of course, we have to be honest. If that was allowed to be retired without coming to the voters for something else, people’s taxes would go down. We’re going to be transparent [about that.] But it does mean about the first $40 million of any bond issue would be very close to tax neutral.”
The board has not made any decision as of yet. Hillmann said in order to put a referendum on the ballot, it must be approved by the board at least 79 days prior to election day, meaning a final decision would have to come by mid-August. The next board meeting is scheduled for July 11th.
Popular bubble tea spot owned and operated by a current St. Olaf student
This past weekend Tin Tea, a bubble tea shop on Jefferson Road, celebrated its one-year anniversary. The store has many unique qualities,
starting with its owner and founder, Chau Troung, who is also currently a student at St. Olaf College.
Tin Tea opened for business last summer, when Truong was just 19 years old. She’s a full-time student at St. Olaf, studying Psychology and Management. Originally from Faribault, Truong said she has always kept herself busy. In high school she was the captain of the math, science, and tennis teams, senior class president, president of the National Honors Society at her school, and she graduated valedictorian.
She began college during the pandemic when there weren’t many activities available for students. After discussions with her family about opening a bubble tea shop in Northfield, she decided to get her food safety license during her first semester of college and go from there.
Truong opened a bubble tea shop because bubble tea is very popular among young people on the East and West Coasts, and she said she wanted to be the first to take advantage of that trend in the Northfield area. Tin Tea is also unique because it combines bubble tea, or boba, which is a Taiwanese drink that can be made with tea, milk, fruit flavors, and tapioca pearls, with food like spring rolls from Truong’s own Vietnamese culture.
“My parents actually immigrated here… close to 30 years ago. When they came here, they were working really hard; they were working off of pennies in the very beginning… And then they decided to open up a rental property management company and they bought their first rental house. I’ve been involved in that business for a very long time.”
Truong said she understood entrepreneurship from a very young age.
“When I was really young I was already translating government papers and taking on a lot of responsibility for an eight-year-old. And then on the weekends I would spend a lot of time with my family fixing up houses or helping my mom in any way that I could to make her business successful. So yeah we have a lot of entrepreneurial blood in our family.”
Just as she supported her parents growing up, Truong’s family supports Tin Tea today. The shop is actually named after Truong’s 13-year-old brother, Tin, who works at the shop on the weekends. And by next summer Truong plans to open a second location in Mankato with her older brother.
Truong’s ultimate goal is to open her own property management company and she sees her experience with her family’s business, her education at St. Olaf, and Tin Tea as important steps to help launch her career.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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