Category Archives: RepJ Stories

Gleason offering land for liquor store to city for $1

December 2, 2008 – 8:35 am

(Update log 12/2 11:30 a.m.) One Northfield resident is concerned the City Council could dismiss a good opportunity for a new liquor store location because it would lie beyond the area specified in September’s request for proposals.
Virginia Gleason of Oak Street proposed to sell the city a nearly 50,000-square-foot vacant lot across from Target on [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Government | Comments (11)

St. Olaf students address drinking on and off “dry” campus

November 25, 2008 – 4:46 pm

Members of the Saint Olaf College community have been talking about underage binge drinking this month after a student wrote a column titled, “Hi, my name is Ole and I’m an alcoholic” in the student paper, and after a group of students collected enough liquor bottles and beer cans strewn around the campus (which has [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Colleges | Comments (0)

City asks Lansing to dismantle Christmas-tree housing structure

November 24, 2008 – 4:20 pm

City officials have ordered David Lansing to dismantle a structure that houses Christmas trees on the Division Street property where his family operates a decorative plant-selling business.
Dan Olson, staff liaison to the Planning Commission, said in an email on Monday that David Lansing had a permit for outdoor sales and for a temporary greenhouse-type structure [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Government | Comments (18)

Two EDA members score liquor store proposals

November 21, 2008 – 3:12 pm

Victor Summa and Steve Engler, members of the Northfield Economic Development Authority (EDA), reviewed five municipal liquor store proposals at 3 p.m. on Thursday and scored them on 28 criteria, which were devised by City Council and city staff.

Click play to listen to the EDA’s discussion on the liquor store proposals. 23 minutes.
Jody Gunderson, [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Government | Comments (4)

Northfield offers about $96K in tax reimbursement to Greenvale in annexation deal

November 20, 2008 – 2:22 pm

Greenvale Township’s supervisors and Northfield city officials drew closer to reaching an agreement at the end of a fifth annexation negotiation meeting at the township hall on Tuesday night.
“I think we’re looking at a win-win,” Brian O’Connell, Northfield’s community development director, said after the meeting.
O’Connell and Joel Walinski, Northfield’s interim city administrator, offered a [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Government | Comments (0)

Judge schedules a second hearing for Mayor

November 19, 2008 – 7:04 pm

Northfield Mayor Joseph Lee Lansing will attend his omnibus hearing on Dec. 17 at 1:30 p.m. in Rice County District Court in Faribault. District Court Judge Warren E. Litynski set the date Wednesday afternoon after an arraignment that lasted about 10 minutes. The mayor is facing five charges of misconduct by a public official and [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Government | Comments (2)

Video of questions and answers about drug use in Northfield

November 19, 2008 – 8:25 am

Main Street Moravian Church meeting on drug use in Northfield from Bonnie Obremski on Vimeo.
Note: This is an edited video of the question and answer portion of Sunday’s meeting at the Main Street Moravian Church. I edited out images of the undercover sheriff’s deputy and any audience member. I also shortened the length of some [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Video | Comments (0)

Nationwide project soliciting participation from Northfield youth

November 17, 2008 – 6:44 pm

A Minnesota-based non-profit is spending the next few months partnering children in New York City, Washington D.C., and Northfield with children in Iraq in an effort to build closer ties between the nations.
“We thought about Minneapolis, but decided on Northfield,” said Pam Middleton, executive director of War Kids Relief, which is a program of the [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in K-12 Education | Comments (5)

EDA talks about trust between elected officials and paid staff

November 13, 2008 – 6:25 pm

A discussion about the role of Northfield’s City Council versus the city’s paid staff in decision-making emerged during the Economic Development Authority meeting on Thursday morning.
The topic came up when the board members addressed the process of building a new municipal liquor store to replace the old one on Fifth Street.
“This is a political hot [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Government | Comments (77)

Mexican food business doubles in size since opening in June

November 12, 2008 – 7:51 pm

Guadalupe Flores Calderon and her business partner Yuma Gonzalez Gonzalez have seen their enterprise double in size since opening in June, Calderon said last week, and the place does not even have an outdoor sign or full menu.
Their Mexican store and deli has a name, La Vencedora, and most people are drawn into the stark-looking [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Businesses | Comments (10)

Northfield bumps up offer a second time

November 11, 2008 – 6:23 pm

Update log: 11/12 8 p.m.
Click here to download a PDF file of the most recent draft of the annexation proposal
Brian O’Connell, Northfield’s community development director, offered to extend the amount of time the city would pay tax reimbursement fees to Greenvale Township during an annexation negotiation meeting on Wednesday night.
But, the township’s supervisors said they [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Government | Comments (0)

Pownell and former opponents explain results

November 11, 2008 – 11:00 am

Rhonda Pownell said she wasn’t surprised to come out on top in a four-way race to fill an unexpired two-year term for an at-large seat on the Northfield City Council.
“I have energy and excitement and I’m encouraging others to come along,” Pownell said over a cup of herbal tea at the Bittersweet eatery on Thursday.
She [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Elections | Comments (0)

Northfield Police Chief Mark Taylor talks about heroin investigation

November 6, 2008 – 6:23 pm

Northfield Police Chief Mark Taylor spoke with me this week to answer some questions about the ongoing investigation of suspected heroin dealing in the city. Unfortunately, my wireless microphone gave me some trouble and the sound quality isn’t what it usually is. The video is 12 minutes, 28 seconds long. The pauses in the [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Video | Comments (0)

Friend of alleged dealer offers perspective

November 5, 2008 – 10:59 pm

Last week, I spoke to a friend of one of Northfield’s alleged heroin dealers. Since she is 15 years old and talking about a sensitive matter, I decided to keep her name and the name of her friend anonymous, even though she gave me permission to use her name.

Click play to listen. 1 minute, [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Health, People | Comments (3)

Preschool and daycare enrollment down

November 4, 2008 – 6:12 pm

Barbara Howe, director of Open Door Nursery School on West Third Street, is worried about the number of vacancies in daycares and preschools citywide.
“I think a lot of parents are having to make decisions financially,” Howe said on Tuesday. “There are things that have to go and unfortunately, nursery school is one of them.”
Howe said [...]

By Bonnie Obremski | Also posted in Businesses, K-12 Education | Comments (1)