Rice County law enforcement agencies began the annual wave of holiday DWI enforcement yesterday. The campaign, which is part of a larger statewide effort, will continue through New Year’s Eve.
The added enforcement, paid for with a grant from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety to Rice County law enforcement agencies, puts additional officers on the road looking for drivers impaired by any substance, including cannabis. Though legal to use and possess, driving under its influence remains illegal.
Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott said the point of the initiative is to force people to plan ahead.
“We’re trying to educate folks and we want them to have a plan before they go out. We know that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is a big night for folks going out, especially those young people coming home, and we want to make sure everybody has a plan before they go out. How are they going to get home safely? We don’t want folks driving impaired.”
2023 has been a particularly deadly year in Rice County. The 12 traffic deaths this year are the most since 2008.
A statement issued by Rice County said, while the number of traffic deaths in Rice County this year is troubling, the state has seen a 32% reduction in traffic fatalities between 2003 and 2022, due in part to the Toward Zero Deaths traffic safety program and the efforts of coalitions like Rice County’s, which are working to create a culture of traffic safety.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott can be heard here
Turkey Trot is ‘homecoming’ for many former Northfielders
Registration is still open for today’s Northfield Rotary Thanksgiving Turkey Trot.
Jim Loe, the chair of the Rotary committee that puts the race together, said the 5K run/walk is an important fundraiser for the Northfield Rotary Club. Money raised will support Rotary’s ongoing work with its youth exchange program and polio eradication. It also contributes to local and international service projects and club initiatives.
The Turkey Trot is a chip-timed event that will begin at the Weitz Center on the Carleton College campus at 9am this morning. Loe said the race has become a homecoming event for many people who have moved away from Northfield and return for the holiday. It not only gives runners a chance to reconnect with old friends, but with a winding course, it can be a nostalgic tour through the town they once called home.
Runners and walkers are encouraged to bring their dogs to the event. Kids in strollers are welcome to ride along with their parents. Loe said, because it is a chip timed event, runners can be as competitive or non-competitive as they would like. Some will look to improve on their best time, and others will make it more of a family event.
“We’re trying to educate folks and we want them to have a plan before they go out. We know that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is a big night for folks going out, especially those young people coming home, and we want to make sure everybody has a plan before they go out. How are they going to get home safely? We don’t want folks driving impaired.”
The Day-Of Registration is open at 8am this morning. Those who make the last-minute decision to participate need only to show up at the Weitz Center and be in line to register by 8:30. The cost of the race is $30.
For more information on the Northfield Rotary’s annual Turkey Trot, and on the Northfield Rotary Club itself, visit northfieldrotary.org.
Turkey Pardon is ‘silly,’ but wonderful tradition
Thanksgiving is, of course, a national holiday filled with customs and rituals, some formal and traditional, others that might seem strange or nonsensical outside of a person’s family or group of friends.
Earlier this week, Representative Kristi Pursell (D-Northfield) of District 58A was invited to attend one of this nation’s strangest, most tongue-in-cheek rituals. As the Vice Chair of the Minnesota House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, Pursell was invited to attend the annual Presidential Turkey Pardoning Ceremony.
Pursell is not the first Northfielder to be a part of the ceremony. Northfield turkey farmer Sanford “Sam” Haugen, who also holds the distinction of being the first Chair of what was then called the Jesse James Days celebration, presented a turkey to President Harry S. Truman in 1948, and another to President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1964.
Pursell was not there to present a Turkey, but to represent the State of Minnesota, as the two turkeys pardoned by President Biden this year, Liberty and Belle, were from a farm outside of Wilmar, and were the first turkeys from Minnesota to be pardoned in thirty years.
Pursell said she received an email from the White House last week and almost didn’t open it, thinking it was spam. It wasn’t until her counterpart in the State Senate, Robert Kupec, asked her if she was going that she realized this was indeed an official invitation.
Pursell and her two sons flew to Washington on Sunday, staying with friends, and then attended the ceremony on the South Lawn of the White house on Monday afternoon. She said just walking onto the White House grounds was a surreal experience.
“It was a little chilly. Not as chilly as it is here, but a little chilly for D.C., so they had people serving coffee and hot chocolate. And as we walked up the driveway all these Marines and staff people were saying, ‘Welcome! Thanks for coming to the White House!’ And I was just like, ‘What…? Um…you’re welcome. Thank you.’”
She said the ceremony was quaint, but formal. As a member of the Minnesota delegation, Pursell and her sons were afforded front row seats to watch President Biden make his address, the second time in a month she has done so as she was also present when the President visited Dutch Creek Farm on November 1st. She acknowledged the absurdity of the ceremony, but also said a little absurdity can be helpful in this day and age.
“There were two what I presume were White House staffers whose literal job was to get the turkeys to go places. I was just sort of laughing and asking another staffer, like, so is this the best day of their job or is this the worst day of their job? Because it’s so silly and light. It’s just nice to just have a silly little tradition like this.”
The two pardoned turkeys will, indeed, not be part of anyone’s Thanksgiving dinner this year, and will instead live out the rest of their days at the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Ag and National Resource Sciences.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Kristi Pursell can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
