national issues « Locally Grown Northfield

Tonight's public hearing on revision of flood plain ordinance CANCELLED

By Tracy Davis, on April 22, 2010, 1:09 pm

The Planning Commission will NOT be holding a public hearing on the proposed revisions to the City’s flood plain ordinance at their meeting tonight; the item has been pulled from the agenda due to some jurisdictional requirement that was not met. (Nothing to do with the City of Northfield, its ordinances, or procedures.)

When I asked City Planner Dan Olson for details, he responded,

Apparently FEMA did not give one community in Dakota County the “full right of notice and appeal” to according to the federal process. As such, FEMA is now ruling that all communities in Dakota County have to stop their adoption process while FEMA attends to the procedural oversight for the one community. This will take approximately 1 year.

Just in case anyone was going to attend tonight’s meeting just for the public hearing….

Stand up and be counted

By Griff Wigley, on April 2, 2010, 11:58 pm

Census 2010 banners and posters are appearing around town so send in those forms. The City of Northfield has a Census PDF on its site with details on where to get a blank form and help filling it out.

Health care bill signed. VP Biden says it's a big fucking deal.

By Griff Wigley, on March 23, 2010, 1:47 pm

I would agree, even if you opposed it. See this post on Ben Smith’s blog on Politico, The mother of all Biden moments. And Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tweets that he agrees with VP Biden. Here’s the video:

Continue reading Health care bill signed. VP Biden says it’s a big fucking deal.

State of the Union, 2010

By Griff Wigley, on January 27, 2010, 12:37 pm

President Barack Obama delivers his first State of the Union address tonight at 8 pm CT.

Let’s critique the speech and his first year in office.

Deciphering the paradox of declining female happiness

By Griff Wigley, on October 6, 2009, 9:15 am

The August publication of a 2007 paper titled The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness by Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson has created a bit of a media storm recently. Wolfers lists some of the coverage in his NY Times’ Freakonomics blog post: Happiness Trends Lead to Some Strange Places. Strib columnist Katherine Kersten wrote about it last weekend: Does greater equality mean less happiness? The authors, however, "…are still quite puzzled about just what lies behind [the paradox]". I’ve no clue but then I’ve not yet discussed it with Robbie or any other Northfield women. Here’s my chance.

Obama’s school proposals challenge the education establishment; what will Northfield do?

By Griff Wigley, on September 29, 2009, 12:06 pm

nea-obama I wonder how Northfield’s public education leaders will react to President Obama’s $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" fund competition. So far, the NEA is not happy. Among other reasons, they really don’t like charter schools, a fact noted by the Sunday Washington Post editorial titled Charter Success: Poor children learn. Teachers unions are not pleased (reprinted in the Strib today with the watered-down title More proof that charter schools work). More background: (continued)

Continue reading Obama’s school proposals challenge the education establishment; what will Northfield do?

Karl Rove to bring diversity to Northfield next week

By Griff Wigley, on September 26, 2009, 8:25 am

I got this email from a local resident:

I think it would be interesting to post something about St. Olaf’s decision to bring in Karl Rove on October 1st to speak. I am actually quite appalled that our hometown Lutheran college would do such a thing. Ann Coulter was one thing- she’s an over the top media freak who makes money by being just so. Karl Rove, kindly known as "Bush’s Brain" is a criminal with little regard for the law or the betterment of our society. Frankly, I think he’s evil and should be in jail!

The slightly defaced poster on the wall of the GBM (my photo above) has more to say, as well as the blog post on Oleville, by the Political Awareness Committee (PAC) of the St. Olaf Student Government Association (SGA) . (continued)

Continue reading Karl Rove to bring diversity to Northfield next week

Obama’s speech to students: show it live

By Griff Wigley, on September 4, 2009, 10:24 am

I spoke with Northfield Supt. Chris Richardson this morning. He’ll have a statement on the District’s web site around noon, basically stating that the District is leaving it up to the classrooms teachers on whether or not to show President Obama’s speech to students live, recorded, or not at all. I think that’s the best approach, unlike the recommendation from Northfielder Charlie Kyte, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, to show the speech later. I’m hoping teachers show it live, as events are always more compelling when they’re live. I still remember watching President Kennedy’s inaugural address live as an 8th grader. I suppose others remember President George H.W. Bush’s speech to students in 1991.

Continue reading Obama’s speech to students: show it live

Cash for Clunkers – Saaaaaweeeeeet!

By Griff Wigley, on August 6, 2009, 2:41 pm

Nicole Maloney of Sweet Pea’s Loft, has a new Cash for Clunkers (CARS) car – a Kia Rio. She managed to get her old POS into the dealer before it died.

I tried to qualify but my 1992 Camry doesn’t cut the mustard. The government sent me this Someecard, tho. Nice touch, Barry!

Pornographic wine: banned in Alabama, proudly sold at Northfield’s Muni

By Griff Wigley, on August 3, 2009, 11:42 pm

Close your eyes, children of Northfield.

Last Saturday, I took this photos of Northfield Municipal Liquor Store’s Bob ‘Fat Bastard’ Stangler proudly displaying the Cycles Gladiator wine that according to this NPR news blog post, was banned by the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

More of the story behind the Natalie Smead tragedy

By Griff Wigley, on May 8, 2009, 9:17 am

natalie perry smead A month ago I posted an update on the Natalie Smead story. Earlier this week, Natalie’s father, Pete Smead, let me know that the lawsuit had been settled earlier (see this Newsday article). And then he forwarded this letter (PDF) from the family’s attorney, Robert G. Sullivan to Mark Rosenker, Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The letter addresses the question: Why would Long Island Railroad (LIRR) spend millions of dollars on gap repairs if Natalie was at fault in her own death? (continued)

Continue reading More of the story behind the Natalie Smead tragedy

Guest blogger Bill Ostrem: The American streets renaissance

By Bill Ostrem, on March 5, 2009, 11:16 pm

In a February 6 post Tracy Davis referred to a short essay by the Project for Public Spaces titled “A Revolution in Transportation Planning.” It’s an excellent piece that discusses the history of transportation planning in the United States – how planners and leaders focused almost solely on the automobile for most of the twentieth century, often to the detriment of our cities and neighborhoods and our own health, and how they have recently begun to consider all modes of transportation, including transit, walking, and biking. (continued)
Continue reading Guest blogger Bill Ostrem: The American streets renaissance

How will the crash reshape Northfield?

By Griff Wigley, on February 18, 2009, 6:06 am

In the March ‘09 issue of Atlantic Monthly, urban theorist Richard Florida has a cover piece titled How the Crash Will Reshape America. It made me wonder what the long-term impact of the economic crash on Northfield will be. The lead-in to Florida’s piece:

The crash of 2008 continues to reverberate loudly nationwide—destroying jobs, bankrupting businesses, and displacing homeowners. But already, it has damaged some places much more severely than others. On the other side of the crisis, America’s economic landscape will look very different than it does today… Which cities and regions can come back strong? And which will never come back at all?

Continue reading How will the crash reshape Northfield?

Stimulus package could affect schools, unemployment rate

By Bonnie Obremski, on February 13, 2009, 9:59 pm

Federal dollars might soon funnel into communities across the nation if the Senate passes the $789 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and many people are already speculating about how the bill might affect their communities. This week, State Senator Kevin Dahle (D-Northfield), Christopher Richardson, superintendent of Northfield’s public schools, and Michael Hemesath, chairman of Carleton College’s Economics Department, talked about their understanding of the bill and what Northfield citizens might expect if it becomes law, which could happen as early as Friday night (update 2/14/09 8:15 a.m. the Senate did pass the bill).
Continue reading Stimulus package could affect schools, unemployment rate

Rick Warren: a good choice by Obama for the inaugural invocation

By Griff Wigley, on January 3, 2009, 7:07 am

I’ve been paying attention to the left’s reaction to Barack Obama’s choice of Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration in 3 weeks. For example: Continue reading Rick Warren: a good choice by Obama for the inaugural invocation

This year’s Crop Hunger Walk

By Tracy Davis, on September 28, 2008, 6:00 pm

Griff and Ross and I were all out of town this week, and we’ve missed a lot of the happenings. This afternoon I was driving west on 2nd street toward Hwy 3 and spotted a LARGE group of people participating in the Crop Hunger Walk fund-raiser. Since I was driving, I couldn’t get a good shot of the length of the crowd, but people stretched from Division Street across the highway up at least as far as Linden Street.

Any participants care to share their experiences, or tell how much money was raised this year?

Our nation’s financial crisis

By Griff Wigley, on September 14, 2008, 9:59 pm

Wall_Street

Tonight’s New York Times: In Frantic Day, Wall Street Banks Teeter; In one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street history, Merrill Lynch agreed to sell itself to Bank of America for about $50 billion, while Lehman Brothers headed toward bankruptcy.

Tonight’s Wall St. Journal: Crisis on Wall Street as Lehman Totters, Merrill Is Sold, AIG Seeks to Raise Cash. Fed Will Expand Its Lending Arsenal in a Bid to Calm Markets; Moves Cap a Momentous Weekend for American Finance.

Looks like a real meltdown. Let’s try to make sense of it… especially how it might impact things locally.

McCain was right. The surge worked. The war in Iraq is over. We won. Now what?

By Griff Wigley, on August 16, 2008, 7:14 am

Iraq_map I’m voting for Barack Obama but it’s increasingly clear (U.S. combat deaths in Iraq in July: 5) to me that John McCain was right about the surge and that the war in Iraq is essentially over.

The war was a huge mistake, but how to get out is the big issue now, as well as the growing threat of the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

How are the McCain and Obama campaigns dealing with these new realities?

NHS recommends trees be removed in front of Scriver Building; Council agrees (3)
- Griff Wigley: Steve, I’ve added a photo of the access siutation for the Holland Block at 5th and Division that you mentioned. What’s the width of the sidewalks in both locations?
- Steve Wilmot: Perhaps a distraction, but here is a Startribune story about tree loss in Plymouth from today’s edition: http://www.startribune.com/loc al/west/99285424.html?elr=KArk sUUUycaEacyU
- Steve Wilmot: Griff, The ADA accessibility issue is twofold here, one is to access the building and the new elevator inside. The other is for free passage on the sidewalk for those continuing down to the Post Office or the river. The similar...
Anonymous comments on the Northfield News website (312)
- William Siemers: Barb; I think I “get it”: A critical response to a person’s opinion should not refer to that person. It is best that we respond as if the person’s opinion we wish to criticize simply originated in...
- Michelle Hawkins: Wow, Kiffi, If you’re right it brings up all kinds of issues, legal, ethical, and moral. That’s a tough piece of meat to chew on! You’re correct in treading very carefully and caution is understandable,as...
- kiffi summa: Back in comment # 149, I said “more on “fandb” and duplicity, later… I’m finally getting back to it, after wondering how to say it; I guess I’ll just have to come right out with it: Back on...
Sand needed in brick paver crosswalks downtown: how to tell the city about it? (9)
- Phil Poyner: I see a downside to what you’re saying. Theoretically it may make sense to have a single problem submitted just once. But my experience has been that until a group of people submit the same problem, the problem can be...
- Griff Wigley: Phil/Kiffi, the reason that SeeClickFix works is because the information is public. Everyone gets to see what’s submitted. Why have 10 people make phone calls to report the same thing? Then everyone gets to see how and...
- mike paulsen: The city invites us to contact them via email and web forms. It is much more efficient than telephone, and should be the preferred method of contact. I sure hope that communications sent via email and the web form aren’t...
What’s a college degree worth in the Great Recession? (20)
- Griff Wigley: Athena, that is one hilarious cartoon. But you’re not over-educated tho it’s pretty fucking understandable (gee, where have I seen that phrase?) that you think that right now. Your way of approaching getting a job...
- Griff Wigley: David, it’s on Entenza’s website: He would also require every Minnesota student to apply to at least one accredited postsecondary institution in order to get their high school diploma. The idea is to make...
- David Ludescher: Curt: I have to question the accuracy of the reporting. That idea is just too dumb to be true.
LoGroNo site cleanup (53)
- Griff Wigley: Would there be a combination of colors that might make the site more agreeable to the eyes? Lots of gray and blue now. Tracy, want to take a whack at it?
- Griff Wigley: Not sure, Kiffi. It might have just been a slow connection on your end.
- kiffi summa: OOPS ! it just came back, but hadn’t ben there all morning. Whassup ?
Cycle America’s cross-country tour: a day of rest in Northfield (2)
- Griff Wigley: Hey Don, great to hear from you… and that you’re still doing the outdoor thing. I’d never heard of water cycling.
- Don Haugo: Cycle America was started in 1988. In 1997 Greg Walsh took it over and has been running it since. I live in Bloomington, Minnesota and am about to start marketing a couple of new outdoor adventure events for next year, the...
Let’s use a Border Collie to solve the geese problem now (24)
- Phil Poyner: Excerpt from “Development of a Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard Program at Langley AFB, Virginia.” Canada geese- In June 1999, more than 225 resident Canada geese were molting at Eaglewood golf course adjacent to the...
- Griff Wigley: Librarian Kathy Ness noted in her blog post on Northfield.org that the original location for tonight’s Books and Stars finale "was Ames Park- we moved across the river to a "goose free" Bridge Square."...
- Griff Wigley: David, the vegetation can work in some cases but in this case, it isn’t. But it makes no sense to me that we should quit using 3 parks (Ames, Riverside, Babcock) plus the trails and bridge for which we just spent a half...
Friday night’s thunderstorm did some damage (9)
- Griff Wigley: Nfld News: Corrosion may be behind light pole collapses
- Griff Wigley: Josh, use our Contact form. It has a file upload feature: http://locallygrownnorthfield. org/contact/
- Josh Dale: my sister took a couple pictures I believe DURING the storm of the tree fall on Highland ave…How do I get them to you?
Aug. 10 Northfield City Council primary election: what do we know about the candidates? (20)
- Griff Wigley: Nfld News: Engler: Now a time for caution Video: Steve Engler: at large council candidate
- Griff Wigley: Rob, there’s a space in the URL of the link to Rhonda’s blog, so the link doesn’t work.
- Tracy Davis: Thanks, Rob!
Using blogs and Twitter to leverage your influence as a Northfield community leader (8)
- David Ludescher: Tracy: Look at the city processes. There is a small percentage of Northfield clamoring for more and more electronic information. Time spent catering to folks like us is less time for the rest of Northfield.
- Tracy Davis: David, I think your observation is flawed. Electronic communication has been one of the great democratizing forces worldwide over the past decade. The idea of technology “haves” and “have-nots” has been...
- David Ludescher: Tracy: Another observation is that electronic communication has created social class structures that are unhealthy for democracy and its representatives, especially in a small community like Northfield. Not only do we now...
Pedestrian signals with countdowns now up (30)
- Sean Hayford O'Leary: That’s a shame, Erica. But since we now know that a (brief) crossing period can be accommodated without interrupting traffic at that particular intersection (which has the shortest crossing distance and relatively...
- Erica Zweifel: It appears that the automatic crossing was temporary, this Saturday I had to push the button to get the pedestrian signal at 5th Street.
- Griff Wigley: Sean, I’ll try to capture the audio at a low traffic time so everyone can hear the loud beep-beep and the quiet messages. And I’ll check the 5th St. intersection but all the improvements there look to be the same as...
Storm sirens: deployed too quickly? (110)
- Griff Wigley: MPR’s Question of the day: Do you depend on sirens to alert you to severe weather?
- Griff Wigley: Jane/Josh, thanks for the reports. I’ve blogged your comments with some photos at: http://locallygrownnorthfield. org/post/18720/
- Josh Dale: I live on the north-east corner of St. Olaf property, off Highland Ave. The power went out shortly after 1am. No power=no warnings, other than a lightning strike, blown transformers or downed power lines…it was a good...
Crazy! Team Coldwell Banker South Metro hugs for the food shelf (2)
- Griff Wigley: You’re welcome, Jeanette. The slimy handshake was memorable!
- Jeanette Nelson: Hi Griff, Thanks so much for receiving so graciously, however reluctantly, a hug from a fellow Norwegian! Oh, and also for the wet slimy handshake.
Where’s the public process on City’s budget cuts? (75)
- Tracy Davis: You can view this part of Tuesday’s meeting here. It’s evident from the discussion that it was not Councillor Pownell’s intent to do things surreptitiously or behind the backs of the other councillors; it was...
- Griff Wigley: "A lack of transparency continues to plague the Northfield City Council" says Nfld News Jaci Smith in a tweet about Suzi Rook’s column re: the layoff of Marj Evans-de-Carpio : On Tuesday, City Councilor Rhonda...
Let’s Wiki a City Budget (42)
- kiffi summa: If you look at the disbursements in the Council packets, you will see the janitorial work IS being contracted out; here’s some numbers from the July 6 disbursement list: 6/11/10 May City Hall Cleaning – 1282.50...
- Tracy Davis: From the Wall Street Journal, 7/19: Cities Rent Police, Janitors to Save Cash
- Ross Currier: Hey Tracy - Thanks for offering your priorities. I really appreciate it. Although I may not necessarily agree with your every priority, I greatly admire the philosophical base which gives a solid structure to your...
Should Crazy Daze be two days? (3)
- Kathie Galotti: What Rob said–about Crazy Days. I kinda like the new layout of LoGroNo, though, myself.
- Rob Hardy: No. I LOVE downtown Northfield, but I prefer its charming everyday self, not the hyped-up crazy version. I grinchily observed Crazy Daze this year by riding my bike out to Target. Also: while I’m being a Grinch, I hate the...
- Bright Spencer: You mean have Crazy,Crazy Daze? Always have a plan B and maybe even C. C?
Podcast: Jane McWilliams on the proposed police and fire facilities (11)
- kiffi summa: Jane: you are correct about the randomness of the discussion that followed… in some ways that is understandable as someone (MNDOT) had just thrown a big wrench into the works of the Council’s fast moving train. I...
- Jane McWilliams: I was pleased to read that the council has decided against a November referendum, but I was dismayed at the randomness of the discussion which followed. It would serve them well to put the whole project on ice for a few...
- David Ludescher: Ray, It might happen now with a number of new Council members and a new City Administrator, especially if this Division Street site is a real, and not a fanciful, option. It sounds as if the City Council still doesn’t...
Relay for Life of Rice County, August 6th, Rice County Fairgrounds. By Sandy Vesledahl (3)
- Sandy Vesledahl: We will be selling luminaria’s on Bridge Square during Crazy Daze for Relay for Life of Rice County. If you would like to purchase one to be lit at this year’s event to honor a loved one who has been affected by...
Budget cuts: an opportunity for local government to deliver services WITH citizens. Social media can help. (40)
- kiffi summa: Forgot to mention that I believe this agenda item was titled specifically to avoid controversy. It is true that the position also entailed the Welcome Center duties , that may have been the majority of the job’s hours, but...
- kiffi summa: Was doing the Observing for the LWV… so yeah… Council voted 4-3 to table ’til the Aug 3 meeting. C. Pownell had asked C. Zweifel to table the issue (Zweifel had asked for the reconsideration) because C. Pownell...
- Tracy Davis: Funny, Griff, I posted this link on the wiki thread before I saw you put it here!
Fourth Street reconstruction Phase 1B way behind schedule; NDDC’s unskilled workforce to blame? (18)
- Griff Wigley: 4th St. between Division and Washington was paved and striped yesterday.
40 days and counting: a floating yellow barrier in the Cannon River with nothing to do (4)
- Griff Wigley: Thanks, Bart. FYI, 4th St. between Division and Washington was paved and striped yesterday.
- Bart de Malignon: On June 25, Joel Walinski responded to my query about the yellow “boom” (which is probably not effective any longer as it’s been dislodged by a large, floating tree branch and moved downstream). Joel...
Hwy 19 between Northfield and I-35 closed starting today, July 21 (1)
- Griff Wigley: The detour barricades at Old Dutch Road were being put up at 6 am.
Running without running shoes (41)
- Griff Wigley: NPR yesterday: For Humans, Slow And Steady Running Won The Race Be sure to watch the video: Running With And Without Shoes
On Watermelons and Widgets, by Tom Swift (6)
- David Henson: Tom, food prices have fallen for years and years (decades and decades) in the USA (free market). And the government in every country mentioned for riots has grown so your cause and effect seems either driven by an emotional...
- Griff Wigley: I forgot to tell Tom to link to his Writer’s Notebook blog: http://tom-swift.com/weblog/ I’ve added it to the bottom of his blog post above.
- Griff Wigley: Kaufman has a blog and he’s got the pdf of his Food Bubble article on it. His blog has links to other media that have covered the article.
Google to help get The Monkey off my back (9)
- Tom Swift: Here’s one response to those numbers, Griff: “If we use the ratio from the last quarter, it implies Amazon has sold around 22 million Kindle books so far this year. That’s just the equivalent of 6 percent of the...
- Griff Wigley: NY Times: E-Books Top Hardcovers at Amazon Amazon.com, one of the nation’s largest booksellers, announced Monday that for the last three months, sales of books for its e-reader, the Kindle, outnumbered sales of hardcover...
- Bright Spencer: Rob, I read about half and skimmed thru the other, I have never liked to read through the excess of words that are often set before us because people are getting paid by each word they write. I will give myself a chance to...
Community event in-kind grant program: What needs fixing? How to control costs? (14)
- Tracy Davis: I met with Rhonda Pownell yesterday on another issue and asked her about this. From her comments I wondered again whether the Council was given adequate and thorough enough information upon which to base their decision....
Photo album: thunderheads south of Northfield (2)
- Griff Wigley: Penny Hillemann has some thunderhead photos on her blog at: http://penelopedia.blogspot.co m/2010/07/southern-cloudmass.h tml
Photo album: downtown 4th of July fireworks by Mark Heiman (3)
- Jessica Paxton: Wow. These are stunning. Too bad the City didn’t consider looking in its own back yard and hire someone like Mark to produce its promotional video….
- Bright Spencer: it sure is a nice bunch of photos, plus a lovely day and event.
Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski resigns; accepts position in Leavenworth, Washington (11)
- Griff Wigley: Suzy Rook’s column is titled Another Farewell: http://northfieldnews.com/news .php?viewStory=53575
- kiffi summa: On the NFNews website, 8:15 Saturday night, so not in the print version of the paper, Suzy Rook writes in her column, “Writer’s Block”, a provocative article about Joel Walinski’s departure. The first sentence is: “What, if...
Northfield School Board election: Which seats are up? Who’s filing? Anyone? Anyone? (4)
- Griff Wigley: Rob, have you heard if any of the incumbents intend to file?
- Griff Wigley: I found your comment in the spam bucket, Rob. Not sure why it ended up there, tho. The link looked fine to me.
- Rob Hardy: According to Jan MItchell’s LWV notes from the June 14, 2010 school board meeting, the terms of Kari Nelson, Noel Stratmoen, Mike Berthelsen and Julie Pritchard expire at the end of the year. Because Pritchard was appointed...
One antidote to the disengagement, disinterest and disruption of schooling: working with your hands (8)
- Curt Benson: Griff, author Mathew Crawford will be on MPR 91.1 this am. http://minnesota.publicradio.o rg/display/web/2010/07/19/midm orning2/
Photo album: Riverside Trail dedication (25)
- David Ludescher: Paul: I suggested to the Streetscape Committee that it develop a quantifiable methodology or a rubric to determine value. In the simplest terms, I suggested a three part test. First, compared to non-Streetscape government...
- Paul Zorn: David, You said above (in 6.1): … Then again, common sense requires that the project have value. Agreed. The live question is whether the project offers good value for money. And then: This is a non-essential, pork-barrel...