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Northfield News
New owners pledge to keep steering Grand Event Center on steady course
With history comes responsibility. While Jake Mulford and Lindsay Ness, new owners of the Grand Event Center in Northfield, acknowledge the gravity of that statement, they also know that owning the historic building housing the restaurant and event business is firmly in their wheelhouse. “We sort of just hit the ground running,” said Mulford, who has previously been a manager at The Tavern of Northfield, Loon Liquors and Reunion, where...
Historical Society director stepping down; curator to take over
Sue Garwood has dedicated decades of her life, not only to telling the history of Rice County, but knowing when it’s not her story to tell. The longtime executive director of the Rice County Historical Society is retiring on Feb. 17. “It’s time for a new generation,” she said. She is passing the baton to...
New partnership for Carleton students builds career connections
Making connections and forming partnerships. The Career Center at Carleton College is connecting current students and recent graduates to career opportunities in the high-demand HR technology field with a new collaboration. Known as the Rise apprenticeship program, the initiative was designed with Helios Consulting, a St. Paul-based services partner of Workday, the HR tech platform of choice for nearly 10,000 companies worldwide, including half of the Fortune 500. “Navigating today’s...
Northfield boys basketball picks up pair of Big 9 wins
In a busy week on the hardcourt for the Northfield High School boys basketball team (6-4, 4-2 Big 9), the Raiders chalked up a 2-1 record, which included a pair of wins over Big 9 opponents Albert Lea and Winona. Northfield capped the week on Friday, Jan. 13 with a solid 71-52 win at Winona (4-4, 3-3 Big 9). The Raiders owned a 35-27 lead at the half and went on to outscore Winona 36-25 in the second half to seal the deal. ...
Mara Hvistendahl joins New York Times Asia bureau
Mara Hvistendahl, who grew up in Northfield and attended Prairie Creek Community School, has joined The New York Times as a new investigative correspondent focused on Asia. Hvistendahl joins the Times from “The Intercept,” where she has been an investigative reporter for the past three years, writing revealing stories on subjects, such as how Oracle marketed its software to the Chinese police for surveillance and how big box stores are connected to Uyghur forced labor. ...
Northfield Fire Department honors year's top firefighter and retirees
On Jan. 14, Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service held its annual relief association banquet. During the dinner and recognition program at the Grand Event Center, 316 Washington St., Ben Simpson was named the 2022 Firefighter of the Year. Five firefighters headed for retirement before 2023 included Gerry Franek, TJ Dvorak, Brian Redfield, Pete Jirik and Jeff Ostberg.
NHS boys swim and dive defends True Team title
The Northfield High School boys swim and dive team returned to the top of the podium at the MSHSCA Boys 1A True Team Section meet, which was held in Northfield Jan. 13-14. The Raiders defended their True Team Section title and led the field with 1,372 points while Simley High School was second at 1,131 and Mankato East/Loyola was third at 1,128. Winona/Cotter (949), Mankato West (893), New Prague (854), Austin (799) and Faribault (613) completed the field. ...
Over 2,500 pounds of meds collected in secure boxes
Safe use. Safe storage. Safe disposal. That is the motto of the Rice County Chemical and Mental Health Coalition's promotion of the program known as Take It to the Box. The program was started in September of 2009 by the Healthy Community Initiative (HCI). It stations safe vessels for the disposal of unused prescriptions at several locations. People can bring their unused medication to disposal boxes located in Faribault, Northfield and Lonsdale. ...
Northfield School Board swears in temporary member, welcomes two new members
While much of last Monday’s meeting was taken up with organizational details, the Northfield School Board did handle some real business, such as the special education child count, the annual reports from Northfield’s two charter schools, and the first reading on dissolving a cooperative sponsorship of a sports team with Randolph. But much of the meeting was taken up with personnel issues. Robert Coleman was eventually elected in a roll...
Raiders endure setbacks against Rochester teams
The No. 5 ranked Northfield High School boys hockey team (10-4, 4-2 Big 9) lost its first conference games of the season with a 3-2 overtime setback at home against Rochester Century (8-6, 6-0 Big 9) on Friday, Jan. 13 and a 4-2 loss at Rochester Mayo (10-3-1, 5-1 Big 9) on Monday, Jan. 16. In the match-up against league leader Rochester Mayo, the two teams played shutout hockey during the first 22 minutes of play before Mayo’s Ethan Dennis scored a power play goal...
Northfield police: Suspect arrested after alleged downtown robbery
A man was arrested, Northfield police say, after he allegedly robbed a downtown Northfield store with a BB gun. The suspect, 18-year-old Seveth Owen Baker, of Northfield, is currently being held for potential charges from the Rice County Attorney’s Office. On Friday Jan. 13 at at 2:37 p.m., the Northfield Police Department received a 911 call reporting a male was robbing the Downtown Tobacco store located at 429 Division St....
Early, late runs aids Northfield in holding off Owatonna
The Northfield wrestling team sits on the throne of the Big 9 Conference and Section 1AAA, and the Owatonna Huskies are among the teams battling to dethrone the Raiders. The Huskies rolled out the mat and lowered the lamp inside Owatonna High School Thursday to host the reigning conference and section champion. Despite a strong run during the middle weights, Northfield capitalized on early and late bonus points to earn a 36-30 dual win over Owatonna. ...
Northfield Area Chamber announces 2023 award winners
Last week, the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism announced this year’s award winners for Business of the Year, Businessperson of the Year, and Ambassador of the Year. Nominating and naming Business of the Year, Businessperson of the Year and Ambassador of the Year has been a longstanding tradition of the Chamber, explained President Jane Bartho. The Board of Directors discusses and evaluates the nominations carefully. “This was my...
Local leading ladies voice 19-song show at Guild Theater
If you are a sucker for a singalong with showtunes, a tearful ballad or a heartwarming duet, don’t miss the encore presentation of “CASTastrophe 3: The Diva Edition” at Northfield Arts Guild Theater Jan. 20-22. Actress, director and producer Pauline Jennings said the 19-song show was brought back by popular demand. This year’s third edition picks up on the theme from the 2018 and 2019 shows that the cast members perform show tunes from roles in which they would never be cast, hence, a catastrophe. ...
La Ninas bring the cold, snow
A third consecutive La Nina pattern has thus far delivered intense winter weather to southern Minnesota, with colder than average temperatures in December and snowfall totals that could be on pace to break records. Marked by colder than normal waters off of the coast of South America, La Nina is a climate phenomenon with wide-reaching effects. In the Upper Midwest, it has typically fueled jet stream patterns producing mild weather in the fall, followed by cold and snowy winters. ...
Veteran theater director pivots from stage to folklore class
Students enrolled in Sylvia Langworthy’s January class at FiftyNorth in Northfield will meet a cast of folklore figures wildly different from the Shakespearean characters the longtime theater director usually works with. Instead of introducing Hamlet, Othello or Lady Macbeth to her students, Langworthy will be discussing little creatures who have made their literary mark over the years. Titled “Gnomes, Trolls, Nissen and Tomten, oh my” the class will introduce students to these sometimes beloved, sometimes feared, fictional figures that have historically populated literary works across...
Veteran theater director pivots from stage to folklore class
Students enrolled in Sylvia Langworthy’s January class at FiftyNorth will certainly meet a cast of folklore figures wildly different from the Shakespearean characters the longtime theater director usually works with. Instead of introducing Hamlet, Othello or Lady Macbeth to her students, Langworthy will be discussing little creatures who have made their literary mark over the years. Titled “Gnomes, Trolls, Nissen & Tomten, oh my!” the class at FiftyNorth, 1651 Jefferson Pkwy. will introduce students to these often beloved, sometimes feared, fictional figures that have historically...
Historical Society requests land for new displays, traveling exhibits
Rice County Historical Society leaders say the ever-expanding historical record of the county presents the need for an addition to the Rice County History Museum. They are asking county commissioners to give them a parcel of land for their expansion. The majority of Rice County Board of Commissioners support the idea, but have not yet cast their vote. ...
First responders demonstrate response to hostile event at Saturday training session
First responders from the southeastern region of Minnesota gathered at Northfield Middle School for an all-day multi-discipline training event to train in response to a hostile event. More than 50 responders participated in the training session Saturday, Jan. 7, which is one of four training sessions responders attend each year. The training session included responders from Northfield and Faribault police, fire and EMS, and it focused on coordinating response from all three disciplines to an immediate threat. Northfield Police Chief Mark Elliott, Fire Chief Tom...
Neighbors raise safety concerns regarding bike overlay project
Safety. That word was repeated by each of the nine community members who braved the winter storm last Tuesday night to attend the first meeting of the Northfield City Council in 2023. Those community members attended the meeting specifically to speak out against the proposed bike/trail project that would add a proposed off-street bikeway on Heritage Drive, Lincoln Street and Adams Street. The 2023 reclamation and overlay project includes the...
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Northfield News has been serving Rice County, MN since 1876 and publishes Wednesdays and online at www.NorthfieldNews.com
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