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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Water Street parking lot construction begins. What’s it going to look like?
By Griff Wigley, on May 28, 2008, 6:59 pm
 Work has begun on the Water Street parking lot this week, part of the 5th Street and Water Street Parking Lot Improvement Project.
What’s it going to look like?
I tried to find the latest PDF sketches on the consultant’s web site and on the City of Northfield’s engineering project web site but I can’t seem to find them.
All I have are the photos I took of the paper sketches that were handed out at an NDDC forum last August when Jake Jacobsen presented his Harvest sculpture, blogged here on LG.
 
Can anyone help find ‘em?
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Work has begun on the Water Street parking lot this week, part of the 5th Street and Water Street Parking Lot Improvement Project.
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...
No mailbox?
These plans look really nice, though I do have to wonder if the money (
around $1.5almost $2 million if I correctly remember the N-News article from a year ago) could have been put to better use. I really appreciate the increase in pedestrian space — it kinds of extends Bridge Square southward.Griff,
If I remember right, you blogged about the big beautiful cottonwood tree the city cut down. I think this is why it was cut down.
Sean,
What would you have spent the money on?
Sean, that’s an interesting way to think of it: extending Bridge Square southward.
$1.74 million is the pricetag, reported in the paper here.
I found the latest PDFs… on the Meetings Page of the consultant’s web site.
The price of the work includes a lot of the stuff no one ever sees….like new water mains, sewer piping, storm sewer piping, etc. But, it also includes some very nice features that we will all enjoy, such as a permanent home for Ray Jacobsen’s sculpture.
Northfield Construction Company will be doing work in this area shortly. Once Heselton gets the ‘old work’ removed and out of the way we will be doing things like installing steps and seats, railings, stone walls, etc.
Marcea, I did blog about the cottonwood trees being taken down… but not because of this project. It was because that evil arborist Anna Hovland and her merry band of henchmen at H and H Tree Service in Dundas just love murdering innocent trees.
Joel Walinski reminded me that the first “Construction Coffee” is scheduled for Saturday, June 7th at 8am. Anyone interested in hearing about progress on the 5th and Water St. projects is invited to meet at the corner of 5th and Division with your beverage to go.
Don’t know what all the “hoo-ha” is about: there have been innumerable, well, at least half a dozen, announced public meetings where the plans for this area have been shown. And for about two years, maybe more, with various iterations.
Yes, it would be great for these plans to be easily found on the city’s website WHEN the work is actually ocurring, but they have been very adequately publicly presented. Not ALL is in a “virtual” world; you do have to go to some publicly announced meetings to know what’s going on.
I think Joel Walinski has generally done a good job of this; and you know me… I’m always on the “city’s” case.
Hopefully, people who are interested will take a bit of their Saturday morning, next week and go, in person, to find out more.
Marcea
I think you are partially correct when you say the construction project was the reason the cottonwood tree was cut down. First and foremost, however, the tree was in a mortality spiral; there is no saving a tree that is in such severe decline. I had been watching the slow deterioration of that tree for some time, and was surprised that it was not removed before Jesse James Days. If the declining tree was still there during the construction project I can say with absolute certainty that it would not have survived such a disturbance to its root system. We removed that tree while it still had some dignity.
Also, in response to Kiffi Summa’s November 7th report that I called her a tree-hugger, I apologize if that was how she interpreted my words. I remember saying verbatim “Everybody is a tree hugger when it’s time to take a tree down, but where were you five years ago when this tree really needed you?”. My point being that, yes, nobody likes seeing trees cut down, but we need to be more proactive when it comes to taking care of this resource. Trees in the urban forest need special attention. Research has shown that the costs associated with caring for urban trees are exceeded by the benefits. Check out http://www.treelink.org/linx/factoid.php
Anna, great to have you here with detailed input. Is there a good way for citizens to know about the trees in town that do need special attention? I think we assume that city staff take care of it but evidently not always.
Hayes,
I would have put the money toward recreational trails along the riverside. I don’t know exactly how far 1.9 (or 1.74) million dollars would go, but I have to believe it would go a lot further than the area affected by the Water Street lot.
The city owns a significant amount of land along the Cannon River, in Campostella, Babcock, and Sechler parks. There’s beautiful nature there, but it’s completely inaccessible right now. The Park System Master Plan contains proposed trails in that area. We should start building those trails.
I don’t mean to say that improving the Water Street lot is flushing money down the toilet. Certainly not; I just think that we could have done a more modest project (say, just refinishing the lot and widening the sidewalk to add space for the Harvest sculpture) and put the rest of the money toward another cause.
It also appears that 3 more trees on 5th, between Water and the bridge are marked for cutting.
They are nice healthy trees. It is too bad they cannot be moved to another city park or something.
At least give someone the opportunity to move them. I am sure someone would gladly take them for the cost of moving them.
Sean- I think Ray’s perspective is pretty accurate. We need more than just surface enhancement. The utilities under the street are of greater cost and importance, especially with the river being as close as it is.
Anna- It’s great to have some expert perspective on urban forests. My son is a certified arborist in North Dakota, so I have gotten some very similar perspectives from him. Trees are pretty long term, and skipped care over the early years can have irreversible effects later on. I’m sure the city does as much as it can with the limited resources it has, so any way private involvement could happen would have great results. It’s always a sacrifice to put your money where your mouth is. Just having a care plan could be a great help in soliciting and directing extra resources.
John,
Surely there are still things that could be cut to save money. Though I realize the sketch may not be the exact way the final site turns out, it’s all we have to go on now, and there are definitely things we could do without: the limestone, the curving sidewalk, and the paving stone crosswalks to name a few.
Maybe this is all worth it, but it’s just frustrating to see an obsession with making the already-terrific downtown more and more beautiful when we seem to be neglecting much of the town.
Sean,
You would have to agree though, that the 5th and Water location as it was, was quite the eyesore. Correct?
John T.,
You’re right — it wasn’t exactly postcard material. Still, the plainness had some charm. I think it would have been best to fix it up, but keep it simple.
Getting rid of all the cars, and making it all parkland would have been a start.
What I would really like to see is the Farmer’s Market migrate down here when it is completed.
John,
When designing the new lot, that was one of the hopes!
Is something amiss with the construction on Water St.? All the heavy equipment’s gone and work has halted. This project is on a tight deadline, both because of local business impact and DJJD.
This is just a guess, but I think that it has to do with all the rain that has been coming down. It might be to wet, but just a guess…