More than two years after a collision claimed the life of Father Dennis Dempsey, the man driving the vehicle that killed him has pled guilty to causing his death.
The Dakota County Attorney’s office announced yesterday that 28-year-old Trejean Derrell Curry, of Minneapolis, pled guilty to one count of grossly negligent criminal vehicular homicide.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Dakota County, on the afternoon of Monday, October 25th, 2021, the Rosemount Police Department responded to a call of a crash that involved a vehicle, driven by Curry, and a bicyclist on County Road 42. Upon arrival, officers found a non-responsive male who was later identified as 73-year-old Dennis Keith Dempsey and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dempsey was a beloved figure in Northfield.
Father Denny, as he liked to be called, was the pastor at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in Northfield from 2004-2019. While there, Dempsey was renowned as a man who connected the Spanish speaking population of Northfield with the greater community. His kind nature and good humor made him enormously popular with his congregation and far beyond.
After leaving St. Dominic’s, Father Denny did missionary work in Venezuela, where he had previously worked, and then took a position as a priest at the Church of the Risen Savior in Burnsville. He had been in that position for just a few months before he passed away.
Dakota County Circuit Judge Dannia Edwards has ordered a pre-sentence investigation and has set the sentencing hearing for 1:30pm on February 15th at the Dakota County Courthouse in Hastings.
Pursell’s experience informs ‘Outdoor School for All’ bill
While the 2024 State legislature will not convene until February 12th, Representative Kristi Pursell (D-Northfield) is already promoting a bill she has chief authored that will provide outdoor school for all.
The term “outdoor school” might not be recognizable to many people, but those who have had fifth grade students in the Northfield school system – or have been a fifth grader in the Northfield School system – will recognize Wolf Ridge or Eagle Bluff as outdoor learning centers that they or their child attended for a few days to receive some education on life in the outdoors in Minnesota. Representative Pursell’s bill would encourage more schools to offer the same opportunity by creating a fund to which schools could apply for grants helping to defer the cost to families that might not otherwise be able to afford an experience like this for their student.
The education students receive at an accredited learning center like Eagle Bluff or Wolf Ridge can run the gamut from rock climbing and ropes courses to firearm safety and winter survival classes. According to the bill, the experience of outdoor education will promote leadership skills, critical thinking skills, self-sufficiency, decision-making skills, social and emotional skills. Pursell, who was an instructor at Wolf Ridge, and has also taught at learning centers in Washington and Oregon, said learning how to navigate and participate in outdoor activities is a part of every Minnesotan’s heritage.
“In the Minnesota Constitution, we have fishing and hunting as literally part of our rights and our culture. Kids spend an average of seven hours a day on screens and an average of 7 minutes a day outside. And so, to preserve our culture and our heritage as Minnesotans, let’s give the opportunity for fifth graders to be at a residential environmental learning center.”
The bill itself will simply create a fund from which schools may apply for grants. She said the point is to, among other things, address the accessibility of outdoor educational opportunities for underserved students, including students with disabilities, but it does not mandate that every school system work outdoor education into its curriculum.
“The bill is structured so that there’s a pool of money that schools can access to help reduce the cost to families. So, we’re not mandating that this. We’re not saying, ‘It has to be done.’ We’re trying to offer funds, especially for schools that might not otherwise have this opportunity.”
The 2024 session will not be a budgeting year, so Pursell said the bill is unlikely to be worked into a larger policy or omnibus bill. However, she said, there is a tremendous amount of bipartisan support for the idea, and she expects the bill to attract much more attention during the session and will likely have its moment in 2025.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Kristi Pursell can be heard here
Informational meeting for Food Waste Challenge set for next week
Rice County is once again asking residents to think about the food that they throw away by participating in a county-wide food waste challenge beginning on January 21st.
According to U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates, 30% – 40% of the country’s food supply is wasted. At approximately 131 billion pounds annually, it is the largest category of material in municipal landfills.
Delia Denis, who is coordinating the challenge for the county in partnership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Minnesota GreenCorps, said when people think about food, they should approach it with thoughts of reducing, reusing and recycling.
Denis is preparing to host a pair of meetings on January 13th, one in the morning at Buckham Memorial Library in Faribault, and the second in the afternoon at the Northfield Public Library to educate people about food waste and encourage them to participate in the program. The county has also connected with local businesses, food shelves, and Carleton College’s Food Recovery Network to see what systems can further reduce waste and get food that’s still edible into the hands of those in need.
The Northfield meeting is scheduled for 1:00 on January 13th at the Northfield Public Library. The meeting will also be streamed on the Rice County website. To register for the Food Waste Challenge, visit the Food Waste Reduction page on the Rice County website. For more information, contact Delia Denis at Delia.Denis@ricecountymn.gov.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
