Membership Sideblog
- The Marcus Welby of law, by Lance Heisler | Lampe Law Group
July 31, 2010 | 7:45 pmGrowing up in North Dakota during the 50s and 60s, I was privileged to experience something that's all too rare now - the old-fashioned family doctor. "Doc" delivered babies, set broken bones, treated pneumonia, and helped Grandpa with his newfangled hearing aid. Doc knew the community, the families, and the individuals whose basic medical needs he treated from birth through the end of life. Some of you who grew up in that time, and perhaps in smaller communities, may remember a Doc of your own. . . . → Read More: The Marcus Welby of law, by Lance Heisler | Lampe Law Group
- Kitty Mania at the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
July 28, 2010 | 10:51 pm
Let’s talk about cats, cats and more cats! Why?? Because Prairie’s Edge Humane Society is full of cats and we have many more arriving daily. As of today, there are 44 cats on the adoption floor with more awaiting their surgeries so they are ready for adoption. There are cats in every corner of the shelter who need homes! We are in desperate need of homes for these cats. We cannot emphasize this enough. So we are having a cat sale and we are calling it Kitty Mania ! Kitty Mania is this weekend, beginning Thursday, July . . . → Read More: Kitty Mania at the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
- On Watermelons and Widgets, by Tom Swift
July 12, 2010 | 11:50 am
The free market does many things well, but we know it does not do everything. Even market fundamentalists concede that the public must build roads, put out fires, police streets, and provide national defense. Most people, at least those to the left of the Tea Party edge of political spectrum, accept that the government must also be involved in education, disaster relief, and health care. That is, certain services must be rendered — necessary services, universal services — whether or not those services are financially profitable. If your house is on fire, you do not have time to . . . → Read More: On Watermelons and Widgets, by Tom Swift
- Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance, by Dan Bergeson
July 12, 2010 | 10:56 am
Okay, so most of the news about the Vintage Band Festival so far has been about the bands. But there’s a number of other events during the weekend. Like the VBF Contra Dance, for instance. The Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance will feature music by The Dodworth Saxhorn Band of Ann Arbor, Michigan and will be led by dance instructor/caller Robin Nelson. Dancing will begin at 8:30 p.m. with a “Grand March” led by 60 costumed members of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry Brigade, followed by a variety of period dances including polkas, contra dances, schottisches, reels and waltzes. . . . → Read More: Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance, by Dan Bergeson
- The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome, by Tom Swift
June 27, 2010 | 8:00 am
Even before I read the first word of this article I had a visceral reaction to it. The accompanying photographs — my eyes tend to skip over photographs in magazines — affected me in a manner that is difficult to articulate. I knew, immediately I knew, I was not going to like what I was about to read. In fact, for that reason I put the piece aside. Not now, I thought. Maybe tomorrow, I said to myself. But, then, I couldn’t not read it, either. If you have not done so already, I hope you will read . . . → Read More: The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome, by Tom Swift
- Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Kathy Jasnoch
June 27, 2010 | 7:54 am
June may be Adopt A Cat month here at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society and we have lots of wonderful cats, but we also have PUPPIES! We have a male Newfoundland mix named Chong who is 6 months old, he was a stray so we don’t know a lot about him. He loves to play! We also have three Australian Cattle Dog mixes who are two months old. Marcia, Bobby and Cindy were born at the shelter and spent some time in one of our fabulous foster homes. They are now back at the shelter and ready to find . . . → Read More: Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Kathy Jasnoch
- Relay for Life of Rice County, August 6th, Rice County Fairgrounds. By Sandy Vesledahl
June 23, 2010 | 9:35 pm
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay for Life, teams of people camp out at local parks or fairgrounds and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events. Relay for Life of Rice . . . → Read More: Relay for Life of Rice County, August 6th, Rice County Fairgrounds. By Sandy Vesledahl
- Critter Cam live from Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
June 16, 2010 | 9:04 amNow Showing! Live Kittens playing! You can now watch our adoptable animals at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society (PEHS) live 24/7 on the new Critter Cam installed in conjunction with KYMN Radio. Thanks to the fine folks at KYMN radio we now have a live feed of our adoptable animals showing on our website and KYMN’s website, Tim and Jeff are AWESOME! Currently the Critter Cam is featuring kittens available for adoption. Watch them play, sleep, eat, and everything else they do 24 hours a day 7 days a week! It’s better than anything you can see on TV! . . . → Read More: Critter Cam live from Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
- Save the Northfield Depot: fundraising help needed. By Lynn Vincent
June 11, 2010 | 11:34 am
A BIG Thanks to all of you who came to last Monday’s Volunteer Organization Meeting, and to those who contacted us saying you wanted to help but could not make the meeting. We have pretty full support for Communications and Design and Build sub-committees, and we got a web graphic designer to help with the site. Alice Thomas is facilitating the Communications group, and Steve Edwins is facilitating the Design and Build group. What we are missing and really need are Fund Raising people. We have two grant writiers, but we need folks who are committed to the . . . → Read More: Save the Northfield Depot: fundraising help needed. By Lynn Vincent
- Photo albums: 2010 Prairie’s Edge Humane Society Walk for the Animals, by Bridgette Hallcock Photography
June 11, 2010 | 8:09 am
Thank you to all of those who came to Alexander Park on a beautiful Saturday morning in May to help support Prairie’s Edge Humane Society! I have placed all of the fun photographs on my Bridgette Hallcock Photography Facebook page so that everyone can see how much fun we had! See the two 2010 Walk for the Animals albums here and here. If you would like a print, please contact me, as the proceeds will benefit the animals at PEHS.
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Senate District 25 race: the candidates, the issues, the campaigns
By Griff Wigley, on December 27, 2007, 6:43 am
A week from today, Jan. 3, citizens head to the polls to elect one of the above candidates to the Minnesota District 25 Senate seat: L to R: Vance Norgaard, Ray Cox, Kevin Dahle.
Use the comment thread attached to this blog post to weigh in on the candidates as individuals, where they stand on the issues, and how they’re conducting their campaigns.
In Wednesday’s Northfield News, Dahle and Cox each have guest columns.
The paper’s letter-to-the-editor section (Wed., last weekend) has many letters on the race.
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but I’d have a hard time during the sabbatical not paying attention to see if that was actually the case. I think the more places in Northfield...
US Senate candidate Al Franken was in Faribault last week, campaigning for himself, Dahle, and other DFL’ers. Gov. Tim Pawlenty is in Nfld today, campaigning for Cox.
Julie Bixby has confirmed on the Contented Cow blog that Cox and Dahle will appear on Sunday, Dec. 30th, 6pm for the Politics and a Pint series.
What about Vance Norgaard?
Julie evidently hasn’t confirmed Vance yet, Ross. He wasn’t at this morning’s long-term care forum and he didn’t have a guest column in this week’s paper so I’m not sure what’s happening with his campaign.
Griff & Ross,
I did email Vance and invite him but have not received a response yet.
Julie
How does Ray Cox get away with saying he is a fiscal conservative when promotes that ridiculous boondoggle “Personal Rapid Transit” (PRT)?
Ken, I remember Ray voicing some support for the idea of PRT after Vance Norgaard mentioned support for it in the debate. But has he promoted it in any substantive way lately? He last blogged about PRT in March, 2004.
Today’s Strib editorial endorses Cox: In District 25 special election: Ray Cox; Experience, bipartisanship distinguish the GOP candidate.
I checked with Ray Cox and he replied November 13th.
Too bad the election is the 3rd of January.
Ray Cox needs to explain why he is in favor of the taxpayers funding PRT, an infeasible boondoggle that is opposed by Transit for Livable Communities and the Sierra Club North Star:
Sierra Club North Star resolution against public funding of PRT:
http://www.northstar.sierraclub.org/campaigns/transportation/position200404.html
Transit for Livable Communities resolution against public funding of PRT:
http://www.tlcminnesota.org/Resources/Local_Issues/Local-Index.htm#NoStatePRT
In today’s Nfld News: Senate candidates speak on the issues
On the front page of today’s Strib Metro section: Voters’ choice: Highways vs. taxes
[...] I’ve turned off comments (not pingbacks) for this post. Discussion of the ads should take place in the candidates/issues/campaign blog post. [...]
I’ve blogged the audio of the Senate D25 radio ads that are running on KYMN AM 1080: one by Norgaard, three by Dahle, five by Cox, and two by the DFL.
Ouch. The Star and Trib endorsed Ray Cox on the 28th. I guess I’ll switch my blogroll to another news source.
Further, the Strib endorsement was incorrect about some of the issues. Cox was not a founder of the CRWP but was a financial supporter, for example.
Kevin
Dahle recently changed his website. He talks about the greatest fear– and also he goes more into the issues.
Endorsements do not tell the true story.
Cox, a champion of the environment? Not really. His voting record and communication skills may be better than most Republicans, but frankly, that is not saying much.
Under a Republican majority, the House Environment and Natural Resouces Committee (with Ray as co-chair), was more of an “anti-environment” committee than anything else. From my observations, the party leadership released him to vote with DFLers in that committee at times, depending on the numbers. After a particularly disappointing vote, I asked Cox why he voted the way he did. He said if he hadn’t done it, it would have been somebody else. He told me I knew how the game was played.
That is not the kind of representation I want at the Legislature.
Listen to how Ray Cox talks to the right-wing bloggers on the “Northern Alliance Radio Network” here (12/15/07 podcast):
http://www.townhall.com/talkradio/Show.aspx?RadioShowId=7
It’s interesting when he talks about spending taxpayers’ money “wisely” on transportation that he doesn’t mention his support for Rep. Mark Olson’s PRT boondoggle.
Will Ray Cox explain his support for the PRT boondoggle in the Northfield News, on this blog and his own blog before the election?
Hmm, I need to look up that boondoggle. I’d like us to have smart, public transportation options.
I think there is a growing need for the reliability public transportation offers.
Interesting points, Stephanie. Here here!
Holly, here are some links on PRT:
Light Rail Now’s article on PRT:
http://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_prt001.htm
My blog on PRT promoter Rep. Mark Olson:
http://dumpmarkolson.blogspot.com/
PRT is a Joke:
http://www.roadkillbill.com/PRTisaJoke.html
Okay, Ken, I followed your links. While I didn’t care for the “PRT is a joke” link, the rest did a nice job showing me what PRT is.
PRT does sound like a gigantic waste of money. I hope no elected official runs with the idea.
Thanks, Holly.
Incidentally, convicted felon Dean Zimmermann tried to use PRT to get $225, 000 from a developer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHWZl1eif8E
The Citizens for Personal Rapid transit still have Zimmermann’s PRT plan for MInneapolis up on their website:
http://www.cprt.org/Minneapolis/default.htm
That should give you an idea how bogus PRT is.
It is fairly obvious, to even a commoner like me, that PRT makes no sense.
We need a system to move large amounts of people, longer distances, and get them off the highways.
The first thing we need to do is to develop a plan, and work towards it. This can start with more actively funding pooling and ride sharing, as well as longer distance transit lines from the farther out burbs to Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Ideally, my long range plan would be to have rail from St. Cloud, through the cities, to Rochester, and another from Duluth to Albert Lea.
There should also be a east-west rail from the Valley-Fair/Casino area to either Hudson, or Red Wing. (Red Wing could be a branch into the Rochester line).
Also, as a newcomer to Northfield (2001), I would like someone to explain to me the history behind the Dan Patch line, and why this is supposedly no longer an option. It is my perception that the railbed is still there, and would only need to be refurbished to carry passenger traffic.
Significant right of way is already available for a east west corridor as well.
We REALLY need to get off of our dependency for more and more highway lanes. By the time we get these lanes built, there will not be enough oil, and no one will be able to commute to the cities due to the high costs involved.
I am already doing all I can by vanpooling with 9 other people, but, I still want more. We need to look at telecommuting centers, where folks can go, and have a cube and bandwidth… but not have to travel to the cities to be in the office. Voice over IP, and other technologies will help to make this possible.
We need to be looking at viable, proven alternatives, not more of the same, and not more lanes. We need to look at being more efficient. PRT’s from Northfield to the cities are just not going to happen. It just does not seem to be economically viable.
So, my question to the candidates is… what do you feel that you can do to improve transit for residents of District 25, in your FIRST term in office, if you are elected?
Ethanol, Big Oil, and more lanes are not answers I am looking for.
Thanks for your time.
-John Thomas
Ack! According to his blog, Brodkorb is in Northfield campaigning for Ray Cox! Do any of you read Minnesota Democrats Exposed? Why would Brodkorb campaign for Ray? I find Brodkorb insulting and tabloidian.
Ray Cox tells PRT promoter David Gow (Mr_Grant) that he “mispoke” about the PRT facility in Duluth:
http://innovative-transit.blogspot.com/2008/01/mock-journalist-part-iii.html
He mispoke? Is that the end of the story?
Does anyone remember Judy Dutcher’s E85 flap?
Why the double standard?
Holly:
Brodkorb is the son of a close personal friend of my uncle. And yes, “insulting and tabloidian” are a few good adjectives for the blog for starters.
Maybe they were trying to energize the base? And alienate those across the aisle? In Northfield? They should have tried to get BrodKorb and Ray on KYMN or something….
That blog title is especially clever: DemocratSEXposed. It’s very Limbaugh/Coulter/Hannity, in-your-face, but also clever and concise. The bleeding-heart liberals have never quite been able to muster up the same sort of un-civility on a consistent basis.
Whatever wins elections, huh?
“Whatever wins elections, huh?”
It didn’t… not this election.
Congrats to Kevin Dahle.
Paul! No way! Brodkorb’s uncle? Small world.
Hey, if any of you can post to Brodkorb’s site, my IP is tagged or I am using disallowed words. So, can you post the following to this entry
http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2008/01/04/negative-politics-works/
(start)
Brodkorb blocked me too.
I suspect it’s because of this:
http://minnesotamobstersexposed.blogspot.com/
More about Brodkorb at the Cucking Stool blog.
Hmm, that’s interesting, Ken. I wonder if you’ll reach the fame that Brodkorb has by commenting on only Brodkorb. Brodkorb reached fame status by using “rumors” and “ifs” against ALL DEMS. Nasty Nasty Nasty.
Your blog will only help if people read it… ah, I see. That is why you are blogging on http://locallygrownnorthfield.org?
Are you from Northfield?
No, I’m not from Northfield. I’m from MInneapolis.
I think its important that voters know the facts about PRT. Ray Cox gave out some false information about PRT. I know from experience that the media doesn’t know enough or care enough about PRT to correct Cox’s misinformation.
Why is that important?
Rep. Mark Olson and Michele Bachmann promoted PRT with Dean Zimmermann in 2004.
Both are up for re-election this year.
Holly: My uncle is his mother’s boyfriend, so Mike and I are… almost cousins-in-law.
Ken: I was joking about whatever wins, of course. Seems very strange (and counter-productive) to bring Brodkorb in.
Thanks for your attention to PRT.
[...] Exactly one month later, December 27, Mpls Star Tribune endorsed Cox and complained that while Dahle was a good man, he simply lacked any experience as a politician. Ray Cox, the Trib claimed, although a Republican, was a moderate in his politics. They cited his stand on environmental issues among other things. (Thanks to Northfield blogger site Locally Grown.) [...]