A fatal one-car crash closed Highway 19 for hours on Saturday. 
Just after 11am Saturday morning on Highway 19 in Northfield, reports say a vehicle heading West on Highway 19 left the roadway and struck several trees, killing the driver of the car. The Minnesota State Patrol is handling the investigation. The initial report identified the driver as 23-year-old Tristan Jaeckels, of Northfield.
One source said witnesses estimated the speed of the vehicle at 70-80 miles per hour in the 35-mph speed limit zone.
The report noted that Jaeckels was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Hillman, Pursell call Levy Renewal a way to stop wasteful spending
The Minnesota Legislature is constitutionally mandated to adjourn today. After convening nearly five months ago, this will be the final day of what has been the 
With the DFL party in control of the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Governor’s office, bills have been passed establishing two new governmental agencies, one that will oversee the paid family and medical leave insurance program, and the other that will oversee legalized cannabis. Other bills passed by the legislature in this session will provide free school breakfast and lunch to all students, give all immigrants access to a driver’s license, enact stricter gun control laws, and could still potentially pass a $2.6 billion bonding bill.
The K-12 Education funding and policy bill, with $2.2 billion in new spending and more than 40 new policy measures will have a long-lasting impact. One aspect of the bill that has not received as much attention as others but is no less important, is the new ability for a school board to renew the operating levy for its school district.
The new measure would allow for a one-time renewal of an existing levy at the same rates and conditions. This means the Northfield School board will have the ability to vote on whether to renew the current levy when it expires after giving public notice and holding a public hearing, and not have to put it to a public referendum. The current levy was passed in 2017 for a ten-year period.
Representative Kristi Pursell, who sits on the House Education Finance Committee said they heard testimony about the need for community outreach in the runup to an operating levy referendum, and how it could be considered wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars.
In Minnesota, it is very rare for a school district operating levy to not pass on a referendum vote. Indeed, between 2014 and 2020, 92 operating levies were put on school district ballots across the state, and every one of them passed.
Northfield School District Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann said this will be a useful tool that will help the Northfield School district operate more efficiently.
“What we know in Minnesota is that nearly every single operating levy renewal is passed by the public. So, the bill that allows school boards to renew one time – they can only renew an operating levy once – is another huge thing for schools to be able to predict their finances over a period of time.”
The Northfield School District’s Operating Levy is set to expire after the 2028-2029 school year.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann
HCI, Americorps offering positions
Healthy Community Initiative, working with the Minnesota Alliance for Youth, is looking to fill several Americorps Promise Fellow positions in the Rice County 
Area.
Americorps is a Federal Government Agency that offers stipended volunteer opportunities in a variety of service-oriented positions. HCI Program Manager Laura Turek said positions are available with the YMCA, Arcadia Charter School, Northfield and Faribault High Schools, and Northfield Middle School. Each position lasts for about 12 months.
Sebastian Lawler, a recent Americorps alum, spent two years with the organization, working with the Northfield Community College Collaborative and in Northfield High School. He said the experience gave him the opportunity to look for some direction after graduating from college. And while there is structure to the positions, he said there is plenty of room for someone to find the right path.
“There’s a lot of individual opportunities within the role, and sometimes for any given posting. You’ll have a lot of expectations from the place itself about, ‘Oh, what do you want? What do you want us to do? How do you want us to help out with students?’ Or ‘What kind of specific support do you want us to provide?’ But there’s a lot of opportunity to take your own initiative as well.”
Lawler said his experience with Americorps taught him about the expectations of working in a professional environment. Turek echoed that comment, saying these 
programs are an excellent opportunity to do some career evaluation with hands-on experience.
“You are paid and compensated, and it’s great for exploring. If you think you want to be an educator. If you think you want to be a social worker. If you aren’t sure, but you know you want to work with people, these kids are ready to connect with you and they would really benefit from your experience. And you get the professional chance to be in a school setting or be in a YMCA setting and see what it looks like up close on the day-to-day.”
While the majority of Americorps workers are young people, Turek said the only age restriction on the people that take a Promise Fellow position is that they must be 18 years old. They must also have a high school diploma or GED, be an American Citizen, and must also pass a basic background check.
She said Americorps members are paid $775 every two weeks and at the end of their term are awarded $5000 to put toward student loan debt.
For more information visit the Minnesota Alliance for Youth website at mnyouth.net, or HCI’s website at healthycommunityinitiative.org.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Laura Turek and Sebastian Lawler can be heard here
Final school board meeting of the school year is tonight
The Northfield School Board will meet tonight in the Northfield School District Office Boardroom, at the District Office building. 
This will be the final meeting of the school year, so the board will be asked to approve the full budget for the 2023-2024 school year. They will also be asked to approve the activity fees for next year, which will increase sharply.
The School Board will always invite public comment from those who live in the Northfield School District. Public comments for the regular school board meetings may be made in person at the beginning of the meeting. Those wishing to speak must sign up in person prior to the beginning of the meeting. The boardroom opens at 5:30 p.m.
Tonight’s meeting will begin at 6:00
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
