Rice County Attorney John Fossum said last week that the case backlog his office has been dealing with since pandemic began has been
largely taken care of, although he does have some disagreement with the Third Judicial District on exactly how many cases are in the backlog.
Beginning in mid-2020, the Rice County courts were shut down as often as they were open for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During that time, the number of cases waiting to be adjudicated ballooned to nearly 350. This past spring, the county announced that retired judge John Cajacob would return to work on a limited basis to handle bail and probation violation hearings as well as first appearances. That has, in theory, allowed the county to run two jury trials simultaneously, although Fossum pointed out that has yet to happen. Once the possibility of a trial was back on the table, Fossum predicted the number of cases would dwindle relatively quickly, and indeed they have. In July, he said by his count the number of cases was down to where the state wanted it to be at the end of the year.
Fossum said, however, that as new cases are added to the county docket, the state seems to be counting them as a part of the backlog, which Fossum finds to be frustrating.
“The backlog should be the cases that were established during the pandemic,” he said. “Not the cases that we added today or last week, or the week after next.”
Nevertheless, his office continues to see progress in clearing the number. He said they have cleared some of the biggest cases and longest lasting cases in front of them, as most cases are resolved by plea agreement before they are brought to trial. But, he said, his office is taking plenty of them to trial as well.
“Sometimes a trial is the only way to resolve a case. And sometimes people don’t want to plead guilty either because they say they’re innocent or because they think there’s some hole in the evidence that would allow them to get an acquittal. People don’t have to plead guilty if they don’t want to. They are free to have a trial. They are free to make us prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt, and we are more than willing to do that. If we’ve gotten to the point that the case is going to trial, we should have a case that is ready.”
He added that some of the more high-profile cases that have been brought to his office, such as the road rage incident where one man died after being accosted by another at the end of June, or the St. Olaf Student who allegedly attacked four other students in May, will most likely go to trial.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Rice County Attorney John Fossum can be heard here
Anniversary event on Sunday will celebrate Laura Baker’s vision
In 2022, Laura Baker Services Association is celebrating its 125th anniversary. The organization will commemorate the occasion on Sunday
with a celebration they are calling the 125th Anniversary Summer Fun Day.
Laura Baker was a lifelong educator of those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Born in 1859, she took her first job at the Glenwood Asylum for Feeble Minded Children in 1878. In 1885, at 26 years old, she became the principal of the Minnesota State School for the Feeble Minded in Faribault.
Baker believed that simply shuttering away people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and warehousing them in an asylum setting was a disservice to everyone, and in 1897 she moved to Northfield and established the Laura Baker School. Her philosophy was to encourage members of the community to visit and interact with the students at her school, to help them lead richer and more productive lives. Her visionary approach 125 years later has become not just the standard for people with those disabilities, but the way society expects the disabled and people with special needs to be treated.
Today, the school has grown from an educational facility to the Laura Baker Services Association, which offers help for both the people with disabilities and their families in residential and non-residential roles. Acknowledged as a world-class organization, they continue to grow and find more ways to further Laura Baker’s idea that everyone should have dignity, respect and freedom of choice.
The Summer Fun Day will include a free lunch, horse and wagon rides, and a mini museum where people will be able to learn more about the history of the organization. A musical performance will be given by the Pan-Handlers Steel Drum Band. Therapy dogs Mags and Molly will be on hand, and there will be games to play as well.
The celebration of Baker’s vision and success will run from 11:30 Sunday morning until 2:30 in the afternoon. LBSA asks that those planning to attend RSVP by Wednesday to help with food planning.
For all the details on the event, or to register, visit laurabaker.org.
Council work session tonight will focus on capital improvements, preliminary levy
And the Northfield City Council will meet for a work session tomorrow night at the Northfield Police Department. 
The council as well as several members of city staff will discuss the city’s capital improvement plan, focusing on the pedestrian and bikeway recommendations. The city will make several recommendations to the council about how to move forward in making the city more pedestrian and bicycle friendly.
They will then continue the budgeting session for 2023-2024 as the council prepares to set the preliminary property tax levy for 2023 on September 21st.
As always, the City Council and the Northfield City Staff are eager to hear the opinions of the public on any matter, whether the subject is on the Council agenda or not. The meeting tomorrow night is a work session, so the Council will not hear from the public. However, those who do wish to make a point, air an opinion or ask a question can email their councilor directly or make use of the eComment function which can be found in the “Agendas” section of the city website.
The meeting will begin at 6pm.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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