Rice County News

When Senate District 25 DFL Chair Shawn Groth was asked to compare attendance at Tuesday's caucuses to the turnout in 2008, he said, "It's really not comparing apples to apples." More accurately, it might be comparing one apple to a bushel basket of oranges.

As Rice County went, so did Minnesota. Both backed former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in Tuesday's Minnesota caucuses.

Prosecutors in southern Minnesota say an ex-nurse was not participating in protected speech when he went online and encouraged two depressed people to kill themselves.

The fire that forced the evacuation of roughly 40 residents at Valleyview Assisted Living and Memory Care A and caused smoke damage throughout the Linden Street facility Sunday night was deliberating set, Northfield police said.

Residents at an assisted-living facility in Northfield all reportedly were evacuated safely Sunday night after a fire broke out.

Rice County's "Take it to the Box" program is leading the charge against prescription drug misuse and improper medication disposal.

Rice County Habitat for Humanity is holding a fundraising breakfast at the American Legion in Faribault on Sunday, February 19 from 8:30 a.m - 12:30 p.m. This is an omelet breakfast.

A Northfield man was sentenced Thursday in Rice County court to nearly 14 months of incarceration and five years probation after being convicted of one count of selling narcotics and a second count of sellingA marijuana -both in a subsidized public housing zone.

Faribault Police say Francis Pinc, 53 of Northfield, jumped to his death from Faribault's Viaduct on Wednesday night, according to the Northfield News.

"A fresh start", "time to get organized", "my cupboards are a disaster". Have you used any of these phrases lately? Why not begin the new year with a fresh look for your medicine cabinet by properly disposing of unneeded and expired medication? Disposing of medications in an environmentally safe way is easy for Rice County residents.

A Christmas Eve incident involving LSD use by inmates at the state prison in Faribault turned chaotic when six prisoners suffered violent drug reactions that sent two to the hospital by ambulance and four to the Twin Cities by medical helicopter.

The numbers are in for 2011 traffic safety and Rice County achieved the lowest numbers in 20 years in all categories: Total Crashes: 653 Fatal crashes: 2 Serious Injury: 14 DWIs: 268 As in golf, the lower the numbers the better you have done.

Jackson County 4-H members represented Minnesota at the American Royal 4-H Livestock Judging Contest in Kansas City, Mo., and the National 4-H General Livestock Judging Contest as part of the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Ky.