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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Audio and photo album: Moravian Church town hall forum on heroin
By Griff Wigley, on November 16, 2008, 8:26 pm
Amy Gohdes-Luhman, pastor of the Main Street Moravian Church, organized and hosted a town hall forum on heroin today. Panelists included:
Cick play to listen or download the MP3.
- Podium presentations: 0 to 1 hr, 24 minutes.
- Panelist Q&A: 1:24:00 to 2 hr 42 min.
See the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition’s Chemical Health Resource Directory on the Northfield HCI site for a huge listing of area services.
See the album of 10 photos or this slideshow:
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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...
I attended the event yesterday and also listened to the podcast.
what I came away with is that prescription pain pills are the main problem.
I don’t know if there is enough education that links pain pills to heroin.
I went to the event Sunday too. Here’s my summary of what the speakers said about prescription pain pills.
The typical Northfielder that has problems with opiate addiction first exposure to opiates was in the form of prescription pain pills. The pills may have been prescribed to them for dental procedures or sports related injuries. The pills may have come from the medicine chests of family or friends.
People perceive prescription pain pills to be “safe”. After all, they’re prescribed by doctors, and manufactured in factories.
Some people really like the feeling they get with pain pills. They may seek more pills on the street market. Prescription pain pills are available on the street in Northfield. But their supply is unreliable and they are very expensive. However, heroin is reliably and readily available. And it is cheaper than pain pills.
Anthony, you are correct. There is not enough education linking pain pills to heroin.
I was also at this meeting, and I also am an addict and alcoholic in recovery formerly from Northfield. I would have to partially disagree that pills are the problem, at least in Northfield. Pills were more of an instigator to Northfield’s problem. There was a time in town where pain pills were the problem, there was enough availability for people to become physically addicted. When those pills lost their availability, heroin took over.
There was a time when there were about three main pill dealers, between these three, the availability of oxy contin was constant, two of these dealers lost their connections and after their use of heroin, they went into recovery (and are doing very well). The other one went to jail in April or May after being caught with these pills. There may still be a small-time availability of these pills but, as of now, Northfield’s main problem is heroin.
I do however agree that pills may be part of the problem in the sense that many heroin users may experience opiates for the first time in the form of pain killers. This may play a part in opening the door for heroin, but I think that was more the case when heroin was first being introduced to Northfield. Now, having been around for some time, I believe heroin is more widely accepted by Northfield’s drug community. I am sure most heroin users first experienced opiates in pill form, and this is a problem that can be made better, but can never be fixed based on the fact that there will always be people that require pain killers for legitimate medical purposes.
Parents can help lessen this problem by doing a few things. They can start by disposing of left over pills (properly- not flushing them down the toilet) after they are no longer needed. They can control their kid’s use of pain killers when they receive them for a medical issue. Also, when their children receive pain killers for medical issues, they can explain to their children that their pills will do more than kill pain (for more information, consult a physician). These are just some easy things that can be done to help curb opiate use, there are many more of course.
However, there are many sleazy drug dealers out there, like the one who first sold heroin in Northfield, he placed the heroin powder in capsules and told his buyers they were a pain killer called Dilaudid, and that they came from Mexico. There are many ways people get mixed up with opiates, and yes, pain killers may have been a large instigator in the past, but I believe this is not nearly the case now that heroin is more widely accepted around Northfield. I also think that anything that can be done to educate people and anything that can be done to prevent the availability of pain killers will help the problem, but there are still those out there that need help with their heroin problems.
I’ve got google news alerts set to turn up news about heroin use in suburbs and small towns, ie Northfieldish places. If you care to check it out yourself, google the following places with the word “heroin” and you’ll find lots of info: Fairfax County, Pewaukee, Portage Michigan.
Here’s a website from a suburb of Hartford, CT that is experiencing a heroin problem. It has links to ABC news stories that reinforce the idea that heroin can be a consequence of the easy availability of prescription narcotics:
http://www.parents4achange.net/Home_Page.html