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By Griff Wigley on June 30, 2009  |  Comments 0

Podcast: Ray Cox on the Safety Center Task Force

Ross Currier, Ray Cox, Griff WigleyOur guest this week was Ray Cox, member of the Northfield Safety Center Task Force (SCTF), discussing you-know-what. I’ve turned off comments on this post. Join the discussion on the April SCTF blog post where there are 40+ comments to-date.


Click play to listen. 30 minutes.

Popularity: 14% [?]

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By Griff Wigley on June 29, 2009  |  Comments 3

City ponders $100k forgivable loan for the Archer House; a royal flush for downtown?

Archer House

Last week, the Northfield EDA recommended that the City enter into a partnership with the Archer House: a $100k forgivable loan in exchange for ADA-compliant toilets for public use. I like the idea and I think Dallas Haas would, too. See pages 9-21 in the June 25 EDA packet; the June 27th Nfld News story; and the June 26 Friday Memo in which Joel Walinksi wrote: (continued)

Popularity: 20% [?]

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By Griff Wigley on June 27, 2009  |  Comments 3

Highland Bank and Dianne Kyte take over The Crossing

Diane Kyte The Crossing I waved Dianne Kyte, a realtor with Coldwell Banker South Metro, over to my corner office at GBM yesterday morning to ask her for an update on the status of the residential condo building at The Crossing where she lives. She confirmed that Highland Bank has taken over ownership of it from the developer, Mendota Homes. (The bank foreclosed on the property 6 months ago.)

Dianne has the listing for the seven unoccupied finished units (street address: 101 St Olaf Avenue N). And yes, the prices have been slashed. (continued)

Popularity: 26% [?]

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By Griff Wigley on June 25, 2009  |  Comments 92

An update on former Northfield City Administrator Al Roder

David Hvistendahl David Hvistendahl has a new weekly show on KYMN Radio called Law Review.  For this week’s show, he and associate attorney Britt Ackerman, discuss, among other things, legal matters involving former Northfield City Administrator Al Roder.  They revealed that Roder’s former home in Northfield is now in foreclosure. And they confirmed with the Goodhue County attorney’s office that the investigation of Roder is still open. The connection? “Follow the money…” they say.  For background, see these Oct. 2008 Northfield News articles:

Popularity: 38% [?]

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By Griff Wigley on June 16, 2009  |  Comments 1

Podcast: EDA President Rick Estenson

Rick Estenson Our guest this week was Northfield Economic Development Authority (EDA) President Rick Estenson, talking about… I’m actually not sure since I couldn’t be there and I’ve not yet listened to the show.  My guess the topics were: business parks development and the proposals for Master Planning Services.


Click play to listen. 30 minutes.

Popularity: 40% [?]

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By Griff Wigley on June 13, 2009  |  Comments 0

Has the patient-centered medical practice movement arrived in Northfield?

doctors2 This article in the NY Times last week caught my eye: If All Doctors Had More Time to Listen. Are there are any doctors in the Northfield area who are practicing this way?

By stepping off the big-clinic treadmill, where doctors are sometimes asked to see a different patient every 15 minutes, Dr. Batlle has joined the vanguard of physicians trying to redefine health care. These doctors spend more time with patients, emphasize prevention and education to keep them healthy and can handle many medical problems without referrals to specialists.

Popularity: 42% [?]

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RSSRecent Blog Posts

Dan Freeman again makes sure there will be fireworks and more this year for the 4th

Dan Freeman 4th of July poster
Dan Freeman has once again taken the lead on Northfield’s 4th of July festivities.  See the PDF poster for a schedule of all the fun. Note the new starting time for the Yankee Doodle kiddie parade: 12:00 pm in the EconoFoods parking lot.  And see the Nfld News article: Expect less pop on the Fourth of July.

See album of 100+ photos from last year, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:

And if that’s not enough, see the 3 albums from 2007: Part I, Part II, Part III.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Volunteers needed for the 10th annual 4th of July Northfield Criterium

Ben Witt 4th of July Criterium 4th of July Criterium

Ben Witt, Northfielder, blogger, and owner of Milltown Cycles in Faribault, is once again hosting the annual 4th of July Northfield Criterium in downtown Northfield on Saturday. Races start at 9 am and continue throughout the day… which brings a lot of people to downtown Northfield to participate and support/cheer the racers. And Ben could use a little help. From his blog:

At Northfield, the biggest challenge has always been find people willing to be corner marshals. The race has 8 corners, all of which need to be staffed all day with competent people from 9am to 6 pm. This is a big role to fill. If you’re coming down to watch, please consider volunteering. We really need your help to continue to make this race a success.

This is a race that is put on for the community at large, Jake and I don’t make any money and spend a lot of our time to put it on. Please consider helping out if you can, even if it’s for an hour or two. We also need help at the registration booth. This is a crucial point for getting the race running smoothly, and we really could use some good people to help us out.

Contact Ben at 507-331-2636 or benwitt11@hotmail.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

Building a Sustainable Economy – Austin Style

AustinTexasEconDvlpmntI stumbled on something interesting yesterday.  It’s called “Building a More Sustainable Economy – Economic Development Strategy and Public Incentives in Austin“.

The study is about public support of private initiatives.  It looks at the goals of the public support, the decision-making process, and the quantifiable results.  From my reading, it appears that things went pretty well in Austin until fairly recently and then there were some projects that, to say the least, did not achieve the desired results.  The study also includes recommendations for improving the economic development and public incentives processes in Austin.

I’m not sure that I agree with all of the objectives of the group that initiated the work or all their opinions on the causes and effects of the less than successful projects.  However, I thought their analysis of the economic development and  the evaluation/decision processes was quite useful.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Photo album: Celebrate Dundas

I missed much of Celebrate Dundas last weekend as I was on JuneBug duty. But I did get there for a few hours on Saturday afternoon.

See the album of 18 photos, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:

Popularity: 10% [?]

Photos: downtown Northfield, day and night

downtown Northfield - day downtown Northfield - day
Low humidity last week made for some good photo ops of downtown.

downtown Northfield - night downtown Northfield - night

Popularity: 14% [?]

Podcast: Ray Cox on the Safety Center Task Force

Ross Currier, Ray Cox, Griff WigleyOur guest this week was Ray Cox, member of the Northfield Safety Center Task Force (SCTF), discussing you-know-what. I’ve turned off comments on this post. Join the discussion on the April SCTF blog post where there are 40+ comments to-date.


Click play to listen. 30 minutes.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Sweet Pea’s ice cream cookie is now locally grown

Jerry Weber Jerry Weber I saw Jerry Weber, co-owner of Sweet Pea’s Loft/Toys & Treats, pedaling his ice cream bike in downtown Dundas on Saturday for Celebrate Dundas.

Robbie and I each ate one of his ice cream cookies. He gets the cookie dough from The Ole Cafe and the ice cream from Tiny’s. Yum!

Popularity: 18% [?]

City ponders $100k forgivable loan for the Archer House; a royal flush for downtown?

Archer House

Last week, the Northfield EDA recommended that the City enter into a partnership with the Archer House: a $100k forgivable loan in exchange for ADA-compliant toilets for public use. I like the idea and I think Dallas Haas would, too. See pages 9-21 in the June 25 EDA packet; the June 27th Nfld News story; and the June 26 Friday Memo in which Joel Walinksi wrote: (continued)

Popularity: 20% [?]

City Administrator Joel Walinkski’s Friday Memo of June 26

Joel-WalinskiThe Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week.

fridaymemothumbThe Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page. Friday’s memo and accompanying documents can be found on the memo page for the week.

This week’s memo includes information on a potential EDA loan to the owners of the Archer House to help with gap financing for a substantial and much-needed renovation. The memo also included a nice note of thanks to those, including yours truly, who have been intensely involved in the work of the draft Land Development Code (thank you, Joel!)

It’s a fairly slow week for meetings at City Hall this week, in part because there are five Mondays and Tuesdays in June (regular meetings are usually the 1st/3rd or 2nd/4th Mondays or Tuesdays of the month), and in part due to the July 4 holiday. You can view all City meetings here on the City calendar.

NOTE: The Library is closed on Friday, July 3, and Saturday, July 4 this week.

Popularity: 20% [?]

JuneBug 2009 photo album: musicians

See the album of all 99 JuneBug 2009 musical performance photos, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:

Popularity: 20% [?]

JuneBug 2009 photo album: people and places

See the album of all 25 JuneBug 2009 miscellaneous people and places photos, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:

Popularity: 20% [?]

JuneBug wraps up today at four venues

J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘n’ Stein The Tavern Lounge The HideAway Coffeehouse & Winebar The Contented Cow Pub
All four venues for the 2009 JuneBug Festival of Music have performances scheduled today, the final day of the 4-day bash. See the schedule. Left to right in the photos above:

Popularity: 24% [?]

Highland Bank and Dianne Kyte take over The Crossing

Diane Kyte The Crossing I waved Dianne Kyte, a realtor with Coldwell Banker South Metro, over to my corner office at GBM yesterday morning to ask her for an update on the status of the residential condo building at The Crossing where she lives. She confirmed that Highland Bank has taken over ownership of it from the developer, Mendota Homes. (The bank foreclosed on the property 6 months ago.)

Dianne has the listing for the seven unoccupied finished units (street address: 101 St Olaf Avenue N). And yes, the prices have been slashed. (continued)

Popularity: 26% [?]

Video: A JuneBug happy birthday to Rob Schanilec from Toaster Fork!

Rob Schanilec and Felicia PetersRob Schanilec and Felicia PetersThe band, Toaster Fork!, sang Happy Birthday to Northfield Entertainment Guide head honcho Rob Schanilec at the Contented Cow last night during the JuneBug Festival of Music. Felicia Peters, Shop Manager & Gallery Coordinator at the NAG, apparently had something to do with it.


Click play to watch. 39 seconds.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Northfield CVB seeks to cash in on “Hiking the Appalachian Trail” euphemism

sex-alfresco Could “Walking the Carleton College Arb” have the same euphemistic cachet as “Hiking the Appalachian Trail” and be a boost for local tourism?

Northfield’s Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) launched a tourism campaign earlier today, hoping that its similarly catchy 8-syllable phrase will convey to out-of-towners that the Carleton Arb in summer is the perfect place for a little sex alfresco, with plenty of nearby restaurants and pubs in downtown Northfield to enhance one’s visit before and aft.

“Since the media is going crazy over this development right now, I thought we’d strike while our irons are hot,” said CVB Executive Director Red Ruffensor who created the campaign.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Art at City Hall

Art at City Hall Art at City Hall

I got a tip from Dean Kjerland on this new art installation at Northfield City Hall. The center panel reads:

Art at City Hall 2009
…inspiration; sufficiently enabled

art glass panels: American Opal Glass
commissioned by: Norman Butler
project chair: Dixon Bond
design: Dean Kjerland
special thanks: Joel Walinski

‘Twould be cool if there was more information about this (and other RAQ news) on the dormant Riverwalk Arts Quarter (RAQ) website.

Popularity: 28% [?]

An update on former Northfield City Administrator Al Roder

David Hvistendahl David Hvistendahl has a new weekly show on KYMN Radio called Law Review.  For this week’s show, he and associate attorney Britt Ackerman, discuss, among other things, legal matters involving former Northfield City Administrator Al Roder.  They revealed that Roder’s former home in Northfield is now in foreclosure. And they confirmed with the Goodhue County attorney’s office that the investigation of Roder is still open. The connection? “Follow the money…” they say.  For background, see these Oct. 2008 Northfield News articles:

Popularity: 38% [?]

Northfield youth kick-off for Gunnar and ASM4P on Thursday

I got this email and poster today from Sam Estenson, board member of the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, saying that he and his planning team are:

ASM4P kick-off poster… encouraging EVERY kid in Northfield to come down to central park at 2 o’clock tomorrow in order to raise money for ASM4P and that there will be a grill out, tie-dying, a dunk tank, henna tattoos, bracelets, break dancing, music, a rally march, and then a concert at The Key at 5 o’clock. All the money we raise goes directly to Gunnar. News and media will be there and we want 1000 kids to show up so invite/kidnap all of your friends and bring them with!

Gunnar Swanson

Popularity: 29% [?]

Busted! No biking on downtown Northfield sidewalks

No biking stencil No biking stencil Griff Wigley, Northfield Police Officer,

Left: Yesterday afternoon NHS Executive Director and blogger Hayes Scriven messaged me a photo of the new ‘no biking’ stencils painted on sidewalks all over downtown this week.

Center: Queen of the Triumvirate Tracy Davis tweeted the photo of the stencil on the sidewalk in front of Rare Pair.

Right: I was riding my bike around downtown this morning taking photos for a blog post about all this when I got busted for, um, riding my bike on the sidewalk. Unlike last month’s citation, I didn’t swear.  See Ross, I’m learning.

Popularity: 29% [?]

It’s hot. It’s humid. Here comes a big storm. Cool!

A Paul Douglas’ blog post titled Severe storm warnings south/west of the Twin Cities, updated at 12:50 pm, includes a mention of Northfield:

062309one Severe storms with strong/violent straight-line winds are raging across southern Minnesota. This first batch of severe storms will probably pass off just south of the Twin Cities, affecting the far southern suburbs like Faribault, Waseca and even Northfield.

Popularity: 30% [?]

The music line-up for ‘Celebrate Dundas’ this weekend

Celebrate DUNDAS planning meeting 6-17-09

celebrate-dundas-posterDundas Mayor Glenn Switzer sent me this photo of last week’s Dundas Historical Society planning meeting where the musical line-up was being finalized for this weekend’s Celebrate Dundas community celebration. (See the PDF poster.)

Who’s performing?

Glenn says (the links are mine):

The Ditchlilies, Peter Lang, Aaron Anderson’s T.V &. yell-r-d bellers (Rice County All-Stars), Will Healy (KYMN – live show!!), and The Zillionaires – how cool is that…

Popularity: 31% [?]

JuneBug Festival of Music 2009: more acts, more venues, more social media, incl. Twitter

JuneBug 2009 poster JuneBug blog JuneBug 2009 schedule and venues
The JuneBug Festival of Music gets going in downtown Northfield this week on Wed. eve and runs through Saturday. (Click the thumbnail of the left for the PDF poster.)

 Tavern Lounge J. Grundy’s Rueb 'n' Stein The HideAway Coffeehouse & Winebar  
In addition to the Contented Cow, the Tavern Lounge, J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘n’ Stein, and The HideAway Coffeehouse & Winebar are all hosting performances this year. See the JuneBug 2009 schedule for details.

JuneBug is making the most of social media this year. See the JuneBug blog, subscribe to JuneBug RSS feed, follow JuneBug on Twitter, and join the JuneBug Facebook group.

nfldjunebug-twitter

Throughout the four days of JuneBug ‘09, Twitter will be used to announce upcoming acts and their venues, 30 minutes prior to each performance. So follow JuneBug on Twitter.

See Jessica’s Paxton’s blog post on Northfield.org for more JuneBug details.

Popularity: 32% [?]

City Administrator Friday Memo of June 19

Joel-WalinskiThe Friday Memo, written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and many of the department directors, managers, and supervisors, summarizes many of the staff activities for the week.

fridaymemothumbThe Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of Joel Walinski’s web page.  Friday’s memo and accompanying documents can be found on the memo page for the week.

Note: City Council special meeting and work session tonight. Agenda items include recommendations from the Safety Center Task Force and a joint meeting with the EDA regarding the Master Plan for Business Park(s).

You can view all City meetings here on the City calendar.

Popularity: 32% [?]

The limits of downtown law enforcement in the new world of social media

Ross Currier and Mark Taylor

Popularity: 33% [?]

Geocaching revisted

geocachinging-logoI dabbled with geocaching about 8 years ago when I bought an attachment for my old Palm V. With Robbie and I both owning a G1 now (AKA Google Android phone), I’m starting to get back into it.

Once I learned how to how to download waypoints from Geocaching.com to my PC (a current bug prevents downloading via the G1’s browser) and then import them into a $10 app called Geodroid, things got a lot easier.

There are currently 46 caches hidden within a 3-mile radius of Northfield’s 55057 zip code. On Thursday, I thought I’d try one in the Carleton Arb.

IMG_1653 IMG_1554
I failed to find one called In the Arb with a difficulty rating of 3 (left photo: a Google map of my tracks on the G1; see the actual map of my tracks here). So I tried an easier one, Geese Island Hunt, and put an AhaDiscounts card in it (right photo).

FYI, Carleton has some guidelines on hiding geocaches and letterboxes in the Arb. What’s letterboxing?

Popularity: 34% [?]