Yesterday, Rice County conducted a very successful, state mandated recount of votes cast in two randomly selected 
precincts within the county from the election earlier this month.
After the 2020 election, the Rice County Department of Property Tax and Elections received quite a bit of scrutiny over unfounded accusations of election fraud. As a result, the county took extra care this year in handling the midterm election and adding as much transparency to the process as possible. In a continued effort to foster that policy, the county has announced that the votes counted yesterday perfectly matched the machine count from the November 8th election.
The review, required by Minnesota statute after every general election, looked this year at the races for Minnesota Governor and the US Congress. The two precincts, Morristown City and Northfield Township Precinct 2, were selected at random during the November 14th Canvassing Board meeting.
The manual recount, done by hand, is an audit to determine if the accuracy of the voting system meets the defined standard. The process, while straightforward, is specific and requires ballots secured following the November 8th election to be unsealed for counting and resealed when the review is complete.
In every case, the counts were an exact match to the machine counts reported to the Secretary of State after polls closed on November 8th.
Northfield School Board examining school choice numbers
Last week, the Northfield School Board took a look at the student enrollment numbers to identify the number of 
students who live in the Northfield School District who are choosing to attend a school that is not a Northfield Public School, as well as the number of students coming from other districts to attend Northfield schools.
The Northfield School District will be facing declining enrollment numbers for the better part of the next decade. While the initial enrollment numbers do show more students than expected this year, Northfield Superintendent of Public Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann said the district loses students over the course of every school year, so it will be the final numbers that are especially important.
Hillmann said the district has long been a proponent of public-school choice. In fact, Northfield is one of only two public school districts left in the state that will certify public charter schools, and while the presence of Prairie Creek Community School and Arcadia Charter School can be seen as detrimental to the district’s funding, Hillmann said t is important to support those schools and give parents a choice for where they send their kids to school, so Northfield is proud to certify both schools.
Because of Prairie Creek and Arcadia, as well as St. Dominicks’s School, and a strong homeschooling community, Hillmann said the district will always see a net loss of students. This current school year saw 375 students choose to attend a school other than one of Northfeld’s public schools, but that number is down from 399 students last year, with 10 fewer homeschooled students, and 26 fewer charter school students.
“That does not mean that the charter schools are suffering though,” he said. “That just means there are more students coming from outside of the district and choosing Prairie Creek or Arcadia.”
There are 270 students, 20 more than last year, from the Northfield area who have chosen to open enroll to another district, while there are 464 students, 10 more than last year, who have chosen to attend a Northfield public school from outside of the district.
Hillmann said the open enrollment numbers are starting to level off, but Northfield remains a solid choice for students around the state.
“We will see if there’s any further resurgence of that. We do know that the Northfield School District is a destination district. There are people who want their children to be here. They aren’t always able to find housing, so sometimes they’re in a neighboring community and open enroll to Northfield, or there’s a specific program here for which folks would like to join our district. We welcome that.”
The numbers have yet to completely play out, but Hillmann said they will continue to look at the effects of post-pandemic school choice in the community as they plan for the future.
Meal delivery volunteers still needed for LBSA Thanksgiving dinner
Three years after Laura Baker Services Association was last able to hold their annual Community Thanksgiving dinner,
the tradition will return tomorrow with a full meal of turkey and all the trimmings.
LBSA Director of Community Relations Andrei Sivanich said LBSA does this to thank the community for the support they receive all year long. And as a special thank-you they are also offering in-home meal delivery as well.
“We could probably use one or two more drivers to help deliver meals,” he said. “It’s not all that different from delivering meals on wheels.”
Volunteers are an important part of the event, said Sivanich, and it is something people have returned to over the years. Even after a three-year hiatus, there are still plenty of people willing to lend a hand.
“People were contacting us months ago asking if we were going to do this Thanksgiving dinner this year,” he said, “and they were asking if they could volunteer.”
The event is not something LBSA is able to do on their own, in fact Sivanich called it a “team effort,” and was gracious in thanking all of the organizations that have offered their help.
“We have a lot of great partners that donate to the event so that we can put it on. So, thanks to Holden Farms, Reinhart Foodservice, Just Food Co-op, Brick Oven Bakery, and Cub Foods. The Scott and Lesueur County Dairy donated milk for us. And the Northfield VFW made a nice donation, and they’re also providing some volunteer drivers for us.”
While he did not have all the details on the menu, Sivanich said it will be a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings. LBSA will host the meal from 11am until 1pm tomorrow at Millis Dining Hall located at 211 Oak Street on the main LBSA campus. No reservations are needed. Those interested in volunteering to help with the in-home portion of the event should call the main switchboard at 507-645-8866.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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