Fifty years ago, the Scott County Board voted 3-2 to grant the sheriff's request for 24-hour dispatching service.

For more information, read the Looking Back column in the May 15 issue of the Jordan Independent. Read it online in the Print Edition section, or subscribe by going to www.jordannews.com/subscribe.

Here is a look at some of the numbers involved in the May 1 motorcycle accident that killed Jordan’s Walter L. Cobb:

2
fatal accidents along the Union Pacific track in Jordan in the past three years

3,300
feet, approximately, between the train crossing at which Cobb died and the crossing at which Scott Fahrenkamp died on Jan. 12, 2006

A press release from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, released following last week's fatal motorcycle accident in Jordan:

Public safety officials are encouraging all motorcyclists, even experienced riders, to tune up their riding skills just as they tune up their bikes for the riding season. Four motorcyclist fatalities this year underscore the need for proper safety training so riders learn – or relearn – how to control their bikes in an emergency.

A Jordan man died Thursday when the motorcycle he was driving was hit by a train near the intersection of County Road 9 and Highway 169 in Jordan.

Walter L. Cobb, 36, was traveling along County Road 9 toward Jordan at about 3:30 p.m. while the train was traveling south toward Belle Plaine. Cobb was pronounced dead on the scene. He was not wearing a helmet, according to the Minnesota State Patrol, who wrote the report on the accident.

Here's what's been going on in and around Belle Plaine lately, according to the Belle Plaine Herald:

Severe Weather Awareness Week takes place April 21-25 this year, with the statewide tornado drills next Thursday.

At 1:45 p.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service will issue a simulated tornado warning, and outdoor warning sirens will be activated. At 6:55 p.m., a second drill will take place in Scott County for families and second-shift workers.

Shannon Fiecke of the Shakopee Valley News reports:

A Jordan woman who fled a traffic stop last week led deputies on a chase through approximately 9 miles of country roads in Spring Lake Township, authorities said.

Anna Marie Schlink, 18, was charged this week with fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle, a felony, as well as driving while impaired, having an open bottle in her car and fleeing an officer on foot, all misdemeanors.

With a proposal for the state to borrow $960 million this year, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty line-item vetoed $243 million of projects suggested by the legislature. The regional public safety training facility in Sand Creek Township received a pledge of $1 million. 

Here's what state Sen. Claire Robling, R-Jordan, said about the results of the bonding bill, how the historic building made the governor's list of funded projects, and the county's willingness to decrease its original request of $3.2 million: