Straw Polls « Locally Grown Northfield

Straw poll, Election 2008: U.S. Congress, MN District 2

By Griff Wigley, on October 31, 2008, 9:46 am

[poll id="23"]

Straw poll, Election 2008: U.S. Senate

By Griff Wigley, on October 31, 2008, 9:34 am

[poll id="22"]

Straw poll, Election 2008: President

By Griff Wigley, on October 31, 2008, 9:29 am

[poll id="21"]

Locally Grown’s election night party at the Upstairs Rueb

By Griff Wigley, on October 30, 2008, 9:43 pm

election-2008

Some local candidates are having private and not-so-private parties around town on Nov. 4. The political parties might be doing likewise.

But we, the LoGroNo Triumvirate, are hosting an election night event where:

Citizens of all stripes, sizes, persuasions, and affiliations can come together in one place to watch the election returns
Citizens can gather together to goodnaturedly cheer and boo each other and each others’ candidates as the wins and losses pile up
Candidates and their ardent supporters can get away from each other after too much togetherness at their own parties

FAQ

WHERE IS THIS PARTY?
Upstairs at J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘n’ Stein, 503 Division St.

WHO’S INVITED?
Any Northfield-area citizen who’s old enough to vote and consume alcoholic beverages.

WHEN?
Anytime after 8 pm on Nov. 4

COVER CHARGE?
No. Just buy drinks and food.

TVS?
Yes, there are 6 TVs upstairs, all hooked up to cable. We’ll have them all tuned to election coverage.

INTERNET ACCESS?
Yes, there’s wi-fi so bring your laptop. We’ll also have a digital projector to beam local election results up on the wall.

CAN I ATTACH A COMMENT HERE TO PROMOTE ANOTHER ELECTION NIGHT PARTY?
If you’re having a party for a candidate or set of candidates or a political party, then sure, attach a comment here with the details. But if you’re having a generic election night party to compete with ours, then it would be bad form to promo your event here. If you do, we’ll send Joe the Plumber over to your party with a big wrench to work on your kneecaps.

WHAT IF I HAVE A QUESTION?
Use the comment box below.

Straw poll, Election 2008: Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment

By Griff Wigley, on October 20, 2008, 8:48 am

graph
The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment (DNR page) goes before Minnesota voters on Nov. 4th. The question on the ballot will read:

“Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to dedicate funding to protect our drinking water sources; to protect, enhance, and restore our wetlands, prairies, forests, and fish, game, and wildlife habitat; to preserve our arts and cultural heritage; to support our parks and trails; and to protect, enhance, and restore our lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater by increasing the sales and use tax rate beginning July 1, 2009, by three-eighths of one percent on taxable sales until the year 2034?“

Discuss the issue here and/or in the message thread attached to Ross’ blog post. And then take the straw poll.

[poll id="20"]

Revised look for Locally Grown blogsite; straw poll

By Griff Wigley, on October 14, 2008, 9:11 pm

lg-sshot sean

When things broke, we decided to put up a new theme for Locally Grown that we’d begun working on this past summer but never finished.

Sean Hayford O’Leary did the heavy lifting on the new theme, with some collaboration with Tracy.

So let us know what you like/don’t like, what problems you see, what suggestions you have.

And take the straw poll!

[poll id="19"]

Straw poll, resources, discussion: 2008 Northfield mayoral candidates for the Sept. 9 primary

By Griff Wigley, on September 3, 2008, 9:09 am

Who are you going vote for in the Northfield mayoral primary next Tuesday, Sept. 9?

(Image is a photo of the image that accompanies the Cows, Colleges and Consternation article in the Sept. MN Monthly by Northfielder Joy Riggs, blogged by Tracy Davis here.)

Take the straw poll below, add your comments and questions, and consider checking out these resources before you do either:

Tracy Davis July blog post and discussion: 2008 Mayoral Race: What are the Issues?

Candidate web sites:

Jon Denison (none)
Paul Hager
David Hvistendahl
Lee Lansing (none)
Mary Rossing
James Schlichting
Eduardo Wolle

(Alas, as a mayoral write-in candidate, Brendon Etter is not part of the primary.)

Bonnie Obremski’s RepJ video interviews:

Northfield News interviews:

NTV rebroadcast of Aug. 28 Candidate forum at City Hall, mayoral segment:

Friday, September 5, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 7, 9:31 p.m

[poll id="17"]

Straw poll: Applicants for the interim at-large Council seat

By Griff Wigley, on August 6, 2008, 6:50 am

Seven citizens have applied to be the interim at-large councilor for Noah Cashman’s Northfield City Council seat.

This interim term would be from Aug. 18 to the end of 2008.

The Council evidently will interview the applicants at the Aug. 11 mtg, and then select someone (round-robin style, possibly) at the Aug. 18 mtg.

Vote for one, two or three. Feel free to discuss the applicants before or after you take the straw poll.

[poll id="16"]

A Locally Grown Straw Poll on the 2008 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)

By Griff Wigley, on July 21, 2008, 12:59 pm

One result of our Locally Grown podcast with City of Northfield Finance Director Kathleen ‘Mac’ McBride back in June: this Locally Grown CIP draft Straw Poll.

The primary purpose of this CIP draft Straw Poll is to encourage more of the citizenry to get engaged in thinking and talking about the CIP so that more poeple will use whatever other means (phone, email, F2F, open mic, etc.) to communicate with Northfield City Council members about it.

It can be completed in 5 minutes or less.
We’ll keep it open for the next week or so, probably ending it on June 29 so we can discuss the results on next week’s podcast. We’ll use the comment thread to post alerts as it comes to a close, or if we change our collective minds about ending it on a different date.
There are some techie tools in place to prevent people from taking the straw poll more than once. But you wouldn’t anyway, would you?
There are comment boxes for each section, so feel free to take your time to opinionate and make suggestions. If you’ve been reluctant to participate in our online discussion about the CIP, yet have some comments you’d like to make known, this is the perfect opportunity for you.
The results of the CIP straw poll, including all civil comments, will be packaged up into a PDF for city staff and the Council to read, as well as posted here on LoGroNo.
This straw poll is for whoever chooses to take it (among the visitors to Locally Grown Northfield, obviously), not a scientifically-determined public opinion survey based on a random sample of the population. So don’t argue that the results should directly impact decision-making at the Council level or we’ll ask the math police to track you down and have you lobotomized.

Here’s the link to the CIP draft (PDF). Feel free to peruse it before, during, or after you take the CIP draft Straw Poll.

Straw poll: Ames vs. Memorial for the skate plaza

By Griff Wigley, on February 3, 2008, 8:44 am

We’ve blogged about and have been discussing the best place for the skate plaza.

The Northfield News did an online poll on this issue a week or so ago so I thought it might be interesting to see how results here would compare.

I’ve closed comments here (but not pingbacks). The poll tool we use prevents users from voting more than once from the same IP address, so in general, that means only one voter per location.

Continue the discussion of this issue here.

[poll=15]

Straw poll: Best of Northfield 2007

By Griff Wigley, on December 28, 2007, 10:20 am

The Northfield Entertainment Guide and Locally Grown bring you

Best of Northfield 2007
VOTE FOR THE BEST!

Every February, the Northfield Entertainment Guide (NEG) will bring you the best of Northfield as determined by you, the reader.

Vote by filling out this online survey or by filling out the paper forms around town and putting them in the drop boxes or dropping them off at By All Means Graphics, 17 Bridge Square.

The NEG team of experts will calculate the results on their Super Awesome Tally Calculator 5000 and print the results in the Feb. issue of the NEG.

I was working at an unnamed establishment (‘unnamed’ in the interest of fairness!) this morning when Nick Sinclair, project manager for this survey at NEG publisher By All Means Graphics, stopped by to drop off the “Vote for the best” poster, voting forms, and a drop box.

Update, 3:30 PM: As of today, ballot boxes are located at the Goodbye Blue Monday, Sisters Ugly, James Gang HideAway, Quality Bakery, Rueb ‘n’ Stein, Present Perfect, Monkey See Monkey Read, and Glass Garden. If you own a Northfield-area business and would like some ballots and boxes, contact us and we will get you the stuff.

Results: Northfield Community Straw Poll on Illegal Use of Drugs

By Griff Wigley, on July 11, 2007, 9:48 pm

Here are the results (PDF) of the Northfield Community Straw Poll on Illegal Use of Drugs. (See original blog post.)

82 people responded in two days.

(See this slideshow of the results, another way to view the results instead of the PDF. Click the “FULL” button in the lower right corner to enlarge the view.)

Among the graphs are the comments and questions which, IMHO, are the most important part of the poll since it wasn’t a scientific survey. Remember: a straw poll is like saying, “Okay, everyone in the room, raise your hand if you’re in favor of…”

Feel free to discuss the results here or in the main discussion thread.

Soooo, what sense do you make of any of the graphs? What comments resonate with/infuriate you?

Northfield Community Straw Poll on Illegal Use of Drugs (ended)

By Griff Wigley, on July 9, 2007, 2:59 pm

This is an informal straw poll (unscientific) designed to better understand the problem of illegal drug use in the Northfield Minnesota area and engage local citizens in helping to work on it.

I’m the sole author, though I got help from several people via email and the discussion thread on heroin use.

I’ll post the results of the straw poll (including comments) here on Locally Grown in a week or so. And I’ll make them available via PDF summary to interested public officials, community organizations, and members of the media.

Feel free to discuss the pros and cons of this straw poll or any of its questions by attaching a comment to this blog post. Other comments should be added to the discussion thread on heroin use which as of this afternoon has over 150 comments attached to it.

Update 7/11 9:15 pm: I’ve ended the straw poll. Results coming soon.

Sex al fresco in Northfield

By Griff Wigley, on June 18, 2007, 7:50 pm

The StarTribune’s entertainment tabloid, VitaMN, ran a story last week titled Sex … al fresco by Alexis McKinnis.

“When the weather warms up, Minnesotans can’t get enough sex — outdoor sex, that is.”

It caused enough of a stir that Kate Parry, Star Tribune Reader’s Representative, devoted her Sunday column to it: Reality check needed on ‘Sex al fresco.’

McKinnis has her own blog, Girl Friday – Confessions of a Concierge, and she’s blogged her response to Parry: Oops, There Goes My Skirt Droppin’ to My Feet. MNSpeak has a long discussion thread on the topic.

Since McKinnis’ neighborhood is Northeast, and since she grew up in North Branch where she says “It’s just something we always did growing up,” I’m thinking that Northfield must be ranked highly in this al fresco activity that dates back to the Garden of Eden.

So I’ve set up a straw poll and added it to ~~upper~~ lower right sidebar. And I’ve temporarily suspended our unwritten rule about using your real name when attaching a comment to a blog post.

STRAW POLL: How many times have you had sex outdoors in the Northfield area?
(See poll in ~~upper~~ lower right sidebar.)

Tell us your stories of your outdoor sex al fresco escapades by attaching a comment here, either using your real name or a pseudonym with a fake email address.

Since the topic might be controversial, I’ve added another poll:

What’s your opinion of sex al fresco?
(See poll in ~~upper~~ lower right sidebar.)

Weigh in with your comments about this post, pro or con.

And now, a little exerpt from Greg Brown’s “The Poet Game“:

Down by the river junior year
walking with my girl,
and we came upon a place
there in the tall grass where a couple had been making love
and left the mark of their embrace.
I said to her, “Looks like they had some fun.”
She said to me, “Let’s do the same.”
and still I taste her kisses
and her freckles in the sun
when I play the poet game.

Straw poll: loss of virginity announcement

By Griff Wigley, on January 12, 2007, 5:34 am

I’ve gotten considerable support and a good measure of criticism on my recent blog post, Loss of virginity announcement: Barbara Cew, 19.

So here’s a straw poll to give me some more feedback on it. And if you’d like to discuss the poll or the blog post, attach comments.

[poll=3]

Straw poll: Do you support or oppose the proposed ethanol plant?

By Griff Wigley, on January 5, 2007, 3:44 pm

We’ve had several blog entries and dozens of discussion comments the past few weeks about ethanol and the proposed ethanol plant in Bridgewater township. (Clicking the ‘ethanol‘ tag in our tag cloud at anytime will fetch those posts and their attached comments.)

Time to take a straw poll to see which way the wind is blowing among the readers of this blog and the listeners of our podcast.

You can attach comments to this blog entry to let us know why you voted as you did. If you hate straw polls, won’t take this one, but still want to comment, that’s fine, too.
[poll=2]

Props to the Northfield News for the Fire Relief Association ethics story (12)
- Curt Benson: Kiffi, I agree that the $75/hour ambulance time section was incomplete and confusing. However, I wouldn’t negate the whole article because of one weak section. What do you think about the city paying overtime for rescue squad...
- kiffi summa: Griff: here’s why I used the word “vendetta”: there has been discord between the firefighters since the Dept of Public Safety was created with one Dept Head, i.e. Police Chief Taylor. That’s close to two years...
- kiffi summa: Curt: Once again the NFNews article has left a confusion instead of a clarification, because it says that Elko paid $75 dollars an hour to have a rescue squad presence (and that seems very low to me), and then it says the city was...
- Curt Benson: Griff and Kiffi–is this a reasonable recap? The city was paying city employees overtime to be on site at Elko’s events, using the Rescue Squad’s truck. Elko didn’t reimburse the city for it’s overtime...
- Griff Wigley: I chose that excerpt from Rook’s article because it’s a good example of the financial problems associated with the two activities funds (Fire Relief Association and the Rescue Squad Association) about which we still know...
Sidewalk poetry: is it worth $12,000 of taxpayer money? (11)
- kiffi summa: What does “aesthetic” mean to you, Griff? The engineering dept and the public works dept walked the downtown sidewalks to see what sections needed to be replaced, and that is where the poetry stamps were then used....
- Hayes Scriven: Griff: You are correct that none of the TIF money went to the Harvest sculpture, most of it came from MOM Brands (Malt-O-Meal). But you can argue that without the TIF money going to the SLP the sculpture would not have happened.
- Griff Wigley: Jane/Hayes/Kiffi, I support sidewalk poetry as a legitimate artistic enhancement to downtown. But I don’t think Streetscape (downtown TIF) money should be used for art projects. “Aesthetic improvement of the...
- Barry Cipra: Hayes, I agree. I remember thinking Wallace’s work would fit wonderfully well in Northfield’s historic downtown.
- Hayes Scriven: Barry, that is great idea! It pulls together both history and art!
Carbone’s Pizza and Sports Bar, opening Aug. 1, is now hiring (1)
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): Awesome! Now if we can just get Italian Pie Shoppe, I’ll never again have cause to drive to Eagan.
The skate park will open in Riverside Park this week (3)
- Kathie Galotti: I’m glad the kids will have this for this summer. I recognize it’s not ideal. Unfortunately, there seems to be NO ideal place.
- rob hardy: The PRAB met on Thursday, and the subcommittee on siting a permanent skatepark was on the agenda. Does anyone know what was discussed, and whether the process is moving forward in a timely manner?
- Susan Hvistendahl: This is IMBY, Griff! We’ll see how it goes.
Dylanfest ’12 is a week from today (1)
- Brenton Balvin: Wish I could attend this and listen to the tunes Blowing in the Wind. Unfortunately I’ll be dealing with a Hurricane of issues at work.
Proposed: City of Northfield Statement for Our Safe and Welcoming Community (204)
- john george: Peter- I’ll be glad to do that, if I can figure out how. I’m technologically challenged, to say the least.
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): John, that sounds lovely. I will try to remember to call. If I don’t, ping me (email is usually good for reaching me) to remind me, because I have a really bad memory for things I was going to do.
- john george: Peter- I was just thinking that I would enjoy a cup of coffee with you sometime. You can ask Grifff- I don’t bite! My days off are Monday & Tuesday. I’ve bee a little tied up recently with new grandchildren being born...
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): I think we are probably pretty close to agreement on that one. One of my hobbies is nudging things along to get people out of some of the various poverty loops. It is amazing how little money it takes to move someone from...
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): A clarifying note: Consequences of Gay Marriage. No one is proposing making homosexuality a civil right. Marriage is already a civil right, and gays are already a protected class for discrimination purposes in most cases....
Why is the Northfield Rescue Squad Association retaining attorney David Hvistendahl? (6)
- Curt Benson: Hvistendahl’s strange request for omerta from the Rescue Squad’s auditors doesn’t seem so strange today, after Suzy Rook’s NFN article: http://www.southernminn.com/no rthfield_news/news/article_...
- Griff Wigley: Props to the newspaper and Suzy Rook for mentioning LoGro twice in the story: Fire Department officials, including Fire Chief Gerry Franek, did not respond to several requests from the News for association financial records or...
- Griff Wigley: Posted to Northfield News at 1pm: Ethical questions arise over Northfield Fire Relief Association expenses Donations made to Northfield Fire Relief Association aren’t public dollars, but that hasn’t extinguished city...
- Griff Wigley: Curt/Robert, There’s a summary of the Rescue Squad on Page 21 of the 2009 NFD report to the City. It doesn’t mention that there’s a Rescue Squad Association. The last paragraph states: The Northfield Rescue Squad is...
- Robert Palmquist: If Hvistendahl’s motivation was to keep the financials from getting known, his submitting a memo like that just really backfired. I agree, why would these financials be such a secret??? And why did the NRSA hire a lawyer to...
Who’s running for mayor and City Council? (2)
- Tom Kotula: Despite rumors you may have heard to the contrary, I have not thrown my hat into the ring.
- Sean Hayford Oleary: I was glad to hear Erica Zweifel is running again. She’s done an excellent job and has advocated well for her ward. I’m eager to see some filings for mayor.
Save the date: May 15 high school mountain bike racing team information mtg for student-athletes & parents (5)
- Griff Wigley: Good turnout last night for the Cannon Valley Mountain Bike Team meeting at the high school. I’ve blogged a summary with the ppt presentations.
- Griff Wigley: Jordan Osterman, the new Sports Editor for the Northfield News, scooped me on Saturday. I’m glad! Northfield high school mountain bike team forming As a club sport, mountain biking would have no official affiliation with either...
- Griff Wigley: Good suggestion, Curt. I’ll do that for next week’s blurb. I have been verbally emphasizing the importance of having girls on the team, especially since their points on race days count more than boys’ points. Other...
- Curt Benson: Hey Griff, I wonder if you shouldn’t put a bit more emphasis on the idea that you’re recruiting both boys and girls for this team. And that the scores for both the boys and girls make up a team score. I think that in the...
- Griff Wigley: It should be noted that this team does not yet exist! So this meeting is for those student-athletes (and their parents) who might be interested in joining this new team.
George Kinney wants you at Saturday’s solar energy workshop (1)
- Adam Elg: Keep up the good work George!
A backyard campfire: one of my favorite simple pleasures of spring (2)
- john george: Living where we do, it is only a few blocks walk to North Street and a grand view of the sunsets. Also, with our neighbors’ mature white pines & spruce, our covered deck affords outdoor enjoyment with a fair amount of...
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): Mmm, fire.
Two build-outs underway on downtown’s West side. Guess the businesses; guess the media coverage (6)
- Griff Wigley: Nfld Patch: Denmark-based Firm to Set Up U.S. Headquarters in Northfield
Never mind that NEG cover, Girls Nite Out is Friday (3)
- Jim Haas: Happens to me a lot. So much that my lovely wife had to coin a term for it: she says I have datelexia.
- norman butler: Since coming to my adopted country 16 years ago I have observed, amongst other things, that not putting the day with the date is both common and peculiar to Northfield (MN? USA?).
- John Thomas: Just a reminder, advance tickets for Girls Night Out 2012 can be purchased on The Grand’s website at http://www.thegrandnorthfield. com/public-events. Your tickets will then be available at a special “Will Call” at...
Howie and Jeni’s downtown gem: Eco Gardens (2)
- Liz Reppe: This is a great place to buy plants! Jeni is very knowledgeable and they are both really helpful. You get great service and plant expertise, but the prices are not higher than other places in town.
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): Awesome place. We get plants there.
R.I.P. Ray ‘Jake’ Jacobson. His legacy of public sculptures has helped to make Northfield a vibrant place (3)
- bill metz: While most of how Jake is being remembered revolves around, and rightly so, his great and wonderful talent as an artist and teacher and the works of sculpture he has left for our and the next generations enjoyment, I have had the...
- Ross Currier: It was an honor for me and the NDDC to work with Jake. His pieces of sculpture in our community send a powerful visual message that Northfield is an Art Town. I still marvel at his clever and creative approach to building social and...
- paul krause: The memorial service will be held at 11am. Doors to the Chapel will open at 10am for a chance to visit with family members and friends to share memories of our dear friend. Anyone who would like to view the documentary Harvest (which...
Now that we know Northfield’s firefighters aren’t really volunteers, more transparency is needed on their fundraising activities (22)
- kiffi summa: Come on, Griff… you say you’re “more than a little clueless about about investments” but you “just happened to notice”… and from what you said, were reading analytically, etc etc… Once...
- Griff Wigley: I’m more than a little clueless about investments but I noticed on page 14 in the April 24 Council packet that the Fire Relief Association has 85% of its pension portfolio in stocks. Isn’t that a bit risky/aggressive for...
- Griff Wigley: Has there been any media reporting on the intergovernmental meeting in Bridgewater Township that was held on April 25 re: the Rural Fire Protection District and the City of Northfield?
South Hwy 3 is much less ugly (2)
- Jim Mangan: I noticed this morning that a few of the newly planted trees along South Highway 3 have a pronounced lean. Could it be storm damage?
Construction underway at Rejoice!; citizen group trying to get sanctuary restored (33)
- Raymond Daniels: Just saw on NN that the City of Dundas and Rejoice! prevailed in the lawsuit.
Cliff and Sofie want you Out of the Silence & Onto the Streets for a LGBT rights march on Sat. May 5 (3)
- Vicki Serreno: I wish I’d known – this is my neighborhood since I left Northfield in 2010. I’d have shown up to support them.

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