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Northfield News
Cannon Valley Cinema teams with Merchants Bank to offer free Wednesday movies
What’s better than a hot summer day spent at the local pool? Perhaps a morning movie, watched inside an air-conditioned theater while munching popcorn and popping Skittles with family members. Dennis Haines, general manager of Cannon Valley Cinema 10, said a free summer movie series that screens a family-friendly movie once a week, was inspired from a similar venture done in Lakeville. The 10-week series was launched last year. Haines...
City leaders, artist dedicate City Chambers mosaic
At last week’s dedication ceremony for “River Connects Us,” the mosaic mural located in the council chambers at City Hall, commissioned artist Lori Green said one intention entwined in the tile work was to lift up voices that might not be otherwise heard. “I’m very interested in human relations and cultures,” said Greene. “As a Choctaw myself, I’m interested in honoring the land and its peoples, and featuring those who are often ignored or invisible.” ...
Merchants Bank sponsors free Wednesday movies
What’s better than a hot summer day spent at the local pool? Perhaps a morning movie, watched inside an air-conditioned theater while munching popcorn and popping Skittles with family members. Dennis Haines, general manager of Cannon Valley Cinema 10, said a free summer movie series that screens a family-friendly movie once a week, was inspired from a similar venture done in Lakeville. The 10-week series was launched last year. Haines...
School Board considers funding full-time nurse at NCEC
At the June meeting of the Northfield School Board, a proposal to hire a full-time nurse for the Northfield Community Education Center was floated by Superintendent Matt Hillmann. Hillmann told the board members that adding a medically trained person at NCEC would certainly help support students, especially those managing diabetes. Hiring substitute nurses has proven to be challenging, he said. “There is some funding coming from the state,” said Hillmann....
New hands-on event aims to keep kids safe on the farm
Youths put out fires, performed CPR and were enveloped in foam peanuts at the Rice County Fairgrounds Thursday. Those were just some of the hands-on learning activities at the inaugural Youth Farm Safety Day hosted by Rice and Steele Counties University of Minnesota Extension. Volunteers ranging from farmers to firefighters gave presentations teaching youths safety tools ranging from first aid to avoiding electrocution. ...
Scaled down ice arena project unveiled to Northfield City Council
Five years after voters rejected a referendum on building a $21.2 million community ice arena in southwest Northfield, a scaled back version of the long discussed project was unveiled on Tuesday to a lukewarm reception from Northfield’s City Council. A product of collaboration with Northfield Public Schools, the Northfield Hockey Association and private partners, the proposal could bring a fully modern 45,000 square foot arena with 500-600 seat bleachers and ample parking to Northfield by 2025. ...
Cookie House on Carleton campus to be renovated
Carleton College’s famous “cookie house” at 110 Union St. is getting a facelift beginning later this summer. Renovations to the Dacie Moses house that was willed to the Carleton Alumni Association after her death in 1981, will be begin after the college’s graduation and reunion weekends conclude in June. Erica Helgerud, news and social media manager in the college’s communications division, said the Dacie Moses house “was an ideal place...
Meet Northfield's Byzantine style icon artist
Centuries ago, iconographers painted figures onto wooden panels to tell a story. Today, Northfield artist Keith Homstad is continuing the tradition but adding a modern twist. On the walls of Homstad’s studio, located on the second floor above his backyard garage, hang panels depicting serious religious and historic figures, like Sister Annie Skau Berntsen, St. Benedict, Sister Scholastica and King Olav. But scattered among those revered figures are modern pop stars, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Lucy Ball and Fred Rogers. ...
Commissioners discuss cybersecurity, remote work, forums, plastic bags
Is Rice County’s data at risk when working remotely? County officials say not if employees follow the rules. Updating said remote work policy was among discussion topics at Tuesday morning’s Rice County Board of Commissioners’ work session. Other topics included the implementation of open forums, the information technology department and even brief mention of a countywide ban on plastic bags in the future. First on the agenda, the IT Department...
Northfield council talks marijuana legalization
For the first time since Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill legalizing recreational marijuana into law, Northfield’s City Council met on Tuesday night to discuss the bill’s potential implications, both for the city as a whole and, in particular, for the Northfield Municipal Liquor Store. City Attorney Chris Hood’s 10-page memo laid out some of the basics about the new law and what authorities it grants to local governments. Much of the responsibility of enforcing the law will lie with the Office of Cannabis Management,...
Garlie shoots season low at state for Northfield girls golf
Northfield High School’s Emerson Garlie saved her best for last, as she finished out her junior season with a seventh-place finish at the 2023 Minnesota State High School League Class AAA girls golf championship. The two-day event was held at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Minneapolis on June 13-14. Garlie posted her top two-day tournament total of the year with a 150 on the challenging track at Bunker Hills. She opened on the first day with a 76 and finished day two with a 74....
More than two-dozen Raiders earn Big 9 Conference honors for spring
Spring brought another season of success for the athletic teams at Northfield High School, which saw 27 Raiders earn All-Big 9 honors in 2023. On the NHS girls lacrosse team, Gwen Tapper received All-Conference honors and Kellie O’Meara was named as an All-Big 9 Honorable Mention award recipient. On the boys lacrosse team, Cooper Rand, Trenton Shimota and Ty Frank were named to the All-Big 9 team and teammate Blake Foster gained All-Big Honorable Mention notice. ...
Shakespeare bus trip to Winona returns after COVID hibernation
To celebrate 20 years of professional, life-enriching Shakespeare in Winona, the popular play package bus tour returns this summer. After several years of “COVID hibernation,” Bill and Char Carlson are once again the leaders of a bus trip to the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona. This summer, “the Shakespeare trip” is back in business with plans to transport a group of Northfielders on Wednesday, July 12 to see “A Winter’s Tale.” ...
County outlines response, likely cause of landfill fire
At a public meeting Tuesday, June 13 evening about the Rice County Solid Waste Facility fire, county officials told a room full of concerned citizens that a number of complications created the “perfect storm” for a hard-to-control situation. Leading the presentation was Rice County Environmental Services Director Julie Runkel, who outlined the timeline of events following the fire, the compounding complications that made it difficult to extinguish, what likely caused the fire and how citizens can do their part in helping to prevent future fires. ...
Keepsake Cidery adds local offerings to its menu of beverages, food and events
On a hot, dry Sunday morning in early June, watering the pear trees imported from England and training new hires for the cider tasting room were only two of the dozens of tasks for Keepsake Cidery owners Nate and Tracy Jonkman. But those chores were delayed for an hour thanks to the morning yoga class taught by Sarah Bach-Bergs inside their events barn. With the barn doors thrown open to...
Rice County Board to hold open forums (copy)
Despite a call from the newest commissioner to postpone, the Rice County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted in some changes to its public comment policy. Most notably, the board will now hold open forums in which citizens can speak to commissioners about almost any issue. The forums will be limited to 30 minutes. The date and time of the forums have not yet been decided. County Administrator Sara Folsted...
Story Quilt Project teaches history lessons about women's empowerment
As the oldest child of seven growing up in Montana, Jean Wakely remembers her mother was always sewing, but never quilting. With five girls in the family, every daughter sewed her own clothes and participated in 4-H sewing projects. But it wasn’t until the youngest child left the nest that Jewel Wolk turned to quilting. When Wolk made that transition, she turned from using fabric perfunctory to using it as...
Cannon River log jam stuck under downtown Northfield bridges
A major log jam of deteris that was logged underneath the Fifth Street Bridge has floated downstream and is now lodged above the old Ames Mill Dam. Charlie Fredericks, city of Northfield streets and parks manager, said in a phone interview Monday a lot of the debris floated downstream and became lodged above the dam is now visible from the Third Street Bridge and Bridge Square. “On June 6, we...
Mahal earns podium spot at Class AAA track and field championships
In her first trip to the MSHSL Class AAA girls track and field championships on June 8-10 at St. Michael-Albertville High School, Northfield High School ninth grader Amber Mahal tied for 11th place in the high jump at 5-0. Mahal hit the 5-0 mark at the state meet on her third attempt and just missed advancing to the next mark at 5-2. “Amber had a great showing as a ninth...
Memoir writing workshop a tribute to volunteer writing coach Orlo Otteson
When Joan Ennis worked as a reference librarian at the Northfield Public Library, a patron, Orlo Otteson, who was a writer and editor, often talked about volunteering at the middle school. Otteson worked with teacher Earl Weinman, helping students write books about Northfield. Ennis said Otteson really enjoyed working with the students and talked about them often. “He also told me that he was working on a book about memoir...
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