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By Tracy Davis, on September 30, 2008, 6:15 am
 As a logical followup to my earlier post on the “Eat Local” challenge, I was reading a report of the Slow Food Nation conference in San Francisco earlier this month.
The “slow food” movement, which started in Italy in 1986 to protest a McDonald’s in central Rome, has picked up momentum, with foodie notables like Michael Pollan and Alice Waters actively involved.
In the United States, members of Slow Food USA’s 200 chapters celebrate the amazing bounty of food that is available and work to strengthen the connection between the food on our plates and the health of our planet. Our members are involved in activities such as:
- Raising public awareness, improving access and encouraging the enjoyment of foods that are local, seasonal and sustainably grown
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Caring for the land and protecting biodiversity for today’s communities and future generations
- Performing educational outreach within their communities and working with children in schools and through public programs
- Identifying, promoting and protecting fruits, vegetables, grains, animal breeds, wild foods and cooking traditions at risk of disappearance
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Advocating for farmers and artisans who grow, produce, market, prepare and serve wholesome food
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Promoting the celebration of food as a cornerstone of pleasure, culture and community
That’s a very large vision, but I’ll drink to that.
There’s a local chapter in Northfield, started last year by students at Carleton College. There could be a great town-and-gown opportunity here!
(Minnesota also has Slow Food chapters in Minneapolis, Rochester, and Duluth.) Any LoGro readers have any experience with any of these chapters?
By Bonnie Obremski, on September 23, 2008, 8:10 pm
A Carleton College student fell down a stairwell in Myers Hall just before 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Mark Taylor, Northfield Police Chief, said on Monday.
Taylor said emergency responders brought David Hecht, 18, of Knoxville, Tenn., to Northfield Hospital first. Hecht then transferred to Hennepin County Medical Center.
On Tuesday, medical center officials listed Hecht in satisfactory condition.“Satisfactory” is the hospital’s best rating for patients staying at the facility. College officials and police did not say how far the student fell.
Hudlin Wagner, vice president for student development and dean of students, released the following statement to the Carleton community on Monday.
“As some of you know or have heard, a Carleton student sustained an injury in a campus residence hall late on Saturday evening, September 20. Local paramedics responded to the scene and transported the student to Northfield Hospital. According to Northfield Hospital officials, the student was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis in stable condition.
The family wants to convey to the Carleton community that the student is being cared for and is with family, but no visitors are allowed at this time. Any further information that is available will be released as the student’s family wishes.
On behalf of the Carleton community, we will continue to offer support and communicate our best wishes to the family.”
Update 9/24
Dean Wagner said on Wednesday that no one determined what floor the student fell from. Wagner also said despite rumors, Hecht was not intoxicated at the time of the accident.
By Griff Wigley, on September 23, 2008, 8:20 am
 
A place for Northfielders to discuss the MN House District 25B race between David Bly and Tim Rud.
By Griff Wigley, on September 21, 2008, 7:45 am
 
A place for Northfielders to discuss the Minnesota U.S. House of Representative race for the Second Congressional District: John Kline vs. Steve Sarvi.
By Griff Wigley, on September 17, 2008, 7:04 am
KYMN Program Director Jeff Johnson emailed me yesterday morning, saying “Hey Griff, Attached is a news story we ran this morning. Call me if you have questions.”
Our lead story today involves us here at KYMN.
As we approach our 40th anniversary later this month, KYMN radio is being sold and local ownership will return to the station for the first time since 2002.
Jeff Johnson, KYMN’s current Program Director, has signed an agreement to purchase the station from Ingstad Brothers Broadcasting:
KYMN first went on the air on Sept. 27, 1968. Wayne Eddy had had at least a share of ownership and was full owner until selling it to Jim Ingstad in 2002. Most recently, the station has been owned by Ingstad Brothers Broadcasting, who aquired it in 2003.
As far as changes… Jeff says there will be some.
The sale still must be approved by the FCC to be final. That process will take about 90 days. Johnson will take over management of the station on October 1st with a Local Marketing Agreement until the deal is closed.
Today’s Nfld News has more: Program director will buy KYMN.
After he gets a handle on running the business end of a station, Johnson hopes to shift the focus of the programming more to local content and be less dependent on satellite and programming services. Though the type of music and selection of talk shows could change eventually, KYMN will continue to anchor itself in local news, weather and sports, Johnson explained.
I’m wondering:
- Will KYMN finally have a web site with audio streaming, podcasting, and digital archives?
- Will Locally Grown’s agent be able to negotiate a much fatter contract for the Triumvirate?
Find out more later this afternoon. We record this week’s Locally Grown segment/podcast at 4 pm. It’ll air at 5:30pm.
By Griff Wigley, on September 15, 2008, 6:44 am
  
A place for Northfielders to discuss the Minnesota U.S. Senate race: Dean Barkley, Norm Coleman, Al Franken.
By Griff Wigley, on September 14, 2008, 7:54 am
 
Discussion the presidential election race with your Northfield area fellow citizens here. (Previous blog post: DNC and the RNC: the good, the bad, the ugly has 365 comments.)
By Bonnie Obremski, on September 11, 2008, 8:25 am
 Customers sit at tables outside of the Cocoa Bean prior to the ordinance. Photo by Griff Wigley. At least one Division Street merchant is experiencing disappointment and some financial hardship because of an outdoor seating ordinance city councilmen approved in May, and she is hoping the councilmen will consider amending it before next summer.
Eileen Seeley said on Monday her customers were disappointed when she hauled her outdoor chairs and tables back inside the Cocoa Bean following the ordinance enactment. But, she could not afford to pay for the additional insurance coverage she would need to qualify for the new outdoor seating permit.
She pays for a $1 million policy now, she said. But, she would need to pay $500 more a year leap to the $1.5 million tier in order to qualify for a permit. Seeley explained she would technically only need a $1.2 million policy, but her insurance provider would not sell her a policy between standard tiers. Seeley said she felt city officials did not recognize how that repercussion could negatively affect businesses like hers.
 Eileen Seeley removed the tables and chairs mid-summer. Photo by Griff Wigley. When councilmen approved the ordinance in May, they did so with the knowledge that the ordinance might have to change later on to accommodate the concerns of at least three different downtown merchants, according to an article published at that time in the Northfield News.
The ordinance remains unchanged so far, but councilmen are scheduled to review the ordinance again in May, Brian O’Connell, Northfield Community Development Director, said on Wednesday.
“The ordinance was enacted for a period of one year, so it dies at end of that year,” O’Connell said.
The concerns Seeley had about the ordinance when councilmen first discussed it are largely the same today. The primary goals of the outdoor seating ordinance are to regulate the consumption of food and alcohol outdoors on public property, O’Connell said.
Seeley’s business serves food but not alcohol. She said the city should consider regulating only the consumption of alcohol. Food-vendors that do not serve alcohol, she said, should be considered more like the adjacent retail businesses, which may have outdoor seating and sidewalk displays without obtaining the new permit.
O’Connell said he has been aware of Seeley’s concerns and has recognized the unfairness of regulating the sidewalks in front food and alcohol vendors but not those in front of retail stores. O’Connell explained that at the time councilmen enacted the ordinance, they only had time to discuss regulating food and alcohol consumption. The matter of regulating the sidewalks in front of retail stores could be something the councilmen address in the future.
“First and foremost, it’s the city’s responsibility to manage property that the city owns,” O’Connell said of the ordinance. “The sidewalks are public property. The city wanted outdoor dining and wanted to have people sit outside and have a glass of wine or beer. But, we felt we needed to have some standard requirement in order to allow that to occur.”
Should the ordinance remain in place, Seeley said she would explore a possible loophole in the city’s statutes that could allow her to place objects within a 5-foot distance from the front of her store without additional permitting.
By Griff Wigley, on September 11, 2008, 7:15 am
It was just us yesterday, doing the post-mortem on Tuesday’s primary election results.
Click play to listen. 30 minutes. You can also subscribe to the podcast feed, or subscribe directly with iTunes. Our radio show/podcast, Locally Grown, usually airs Wednesdays at 5:30 PM on KYMN 1080 AM.
By Griff Wigley, on September 11, 2008, 7:05 am
In the next few days weeks, we’ll publish a series of blog posts on each of the upcoming general election races relevant to Northfield-area citizens – federal, state, and local. Our intent is for these blog posts to be a place for citizens to discuss the candidates and issues that are pertinent to each of the races.
For the local races, we hope that the candidates will also be willing to engage in the discussions.
And if you’re a local candidate, please let us know if you have a web site.
By Tracy Davis, on September 9, 2008, 8:48 am
 Just Food Co-op featured their third annual “Eat Local” challenge, running from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15.
Just Food Co-op is challenging community members to eat 80 percent of their diet –that’s four out of five ingredients–from food produced in the five-state region for four weeks. Those taking the 80% challenge are Leading Locavores. Folks not quite ready to do 80% can still take the Challenge by becoming Local Learners. Local Learners pledge to eat five local meals per week.
Just Food had some great handouts available to help with meal planning and menu ideas, as well as an easy-to-read chart highlighting the peak harvest for various types of produce.
I’m a very strong theoretical supporter of eating local, especially with such a generous definition of “local”, but I wasn’t up to the challenge this year. The timing of the challenge coincided with a lot of travel and some additional complications to meal planning. However, it would be very interesting to hear from others who took the challenge. Was this the first year you’d done it? What did you find to be the most difficult aspect of eating local, if any? What made the most impact? Will this make any difference in your long-term eating and shopping plans?
By Griff Wigley, on September 8, 2008, 3:29 pm
I’ve got a bunch more DJJD photos from Saturday to sort through/crop/upload. In the meantime, see these links for DJJD photos by:
I expect that the gang at DJJD will soon have theirs posted, too. Thus far, there’s only the Junior Royalty album on their home page.
By Griff Wigley, on September 8, 2008, 8:24 am
The City of Northfield’s election web page appears to be the best source for voter info for Tuesday’s primary. Among the links/resources:
 
Left: the City of Northfield voting map of Wards, Precincts (PDF)
Right: sample ballot
And the Secretary of State’s pollfinder website is very handy for plugging in your street address and finding out where to vote.
By Griff Wigley, on September 8, 2008, 7:39 am
There’s a primary for the Dakota County District 1 Commissioner’s race. Citizens in Northfield’s Ward 3, Precinct 3 can vote.
Candidates:
- Craig Altendorfer
- Dean Birnstengel
- Joseph Harris
- Doug Riles
Newspaper coverage:
By Griff Wigley, on September 8, 2008, 7:05 am
There’s a primary for the Rice County District 5 Commissioner’s race.
Citizens in Northfield’s Ward 3, Precincts 1 and 2 can vote, as well as those in Lonsdale and the townships of Bridgewater, Forest, Webster and Wheatland.
Candidates/websites:
- Jerry Anderson
- Gary Bruggenthies
- Jeff Docken
- Mike Piper
Northfield News interview links:
By Bonnie Obremski, on July 21, 2008, 1:51 pm
What is the toughest question Northfielders can think of to ask Mayor Lee Lansing regarding his announcement to seek reelection? Tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, I will be spending a few minutes with the mayor and record a short video interview on the subject.
By Bonnie Obremski, on July 18, 2008, 2:45 pm
Photo: Bonnie Obremski/RepJNorthfield
The owners of the new “a.renee salon” on Clinton Lane off Route 3 hosted hundreds of beauty-seekers on Thursday evening during its grand opening luau, with a few attendees even arriving in an ebony limousine.
Business partners Amanda Renee Mulligan of Apple Valley and Kim Swanson of Burnsville first opened the business in June. Swanson said during Thursday’s celebration the business offers services and an atmosphere arguably found nowhere else in Minnesota.
The salon’s two European Touch Murano pedicure spa chairs, for example, are likely the only ones of their kind for miles around, Swanson said. The chairs cost about $12,000 each according to Internet sales Web sites.
“We had some trouble getting them to meet building code,” Swanson said of the chairs, smiling on the salon’s rear patio.
Apparently, the luxurious footbaths at the bases of the chairs had fallen into the category of “wading pools,” which could present a drowning hazard for small children, Swanson said.
More than one lei-wearing party guest seemed to look forward to drowning daily worries while reclining in the chairs. Lina Schultz of Farmington, for example, said she planned to schedule a pedicure at the salon soon.
“This salon seems more elaborate and makes me feel like I would be more pampered than others I’ve been to,” Schultz said beside the “nail bar,” which is a manicure station next to the pedicure chairs designed to look like a martini bar.
Photo: Bonnie Obremski/RepJNorthfield; Caption: Lina Schultz examines a glass maraschino cherry in a decorative martini glass at the salon’s nail bar.
Swanson said he believes Northfield’s market is prime for supporting the new business. And, the salon is simultaneously lending a hand to other local entrepreneurs. Artist Barb Matz for one is displaying work there. One of her sculptures of a woman stands in a window facing the entrance sign with her hand raised in seeming triumph.
“It shows how my dream has come true,” Mulligan said of the figure.
For Discussion:
During our conversation, Mr. Swanson wondered aloud why higher-end restaurants in the Northfield area seem to come and go on a regular basis. Is there truly a demand in Northfield for cutting-edge cuisine? Or, for that matter, for a salon that offers (among many other things) a permanent lip make-up service priced at $525?
Photo: Bonnie Obremski/RepJNorthfield Caption: Alisa McCusker of Cannon Falls peruses jewelry sold at the salon.
By Griff Wigley, on July 9, 2008, 8:01 am
While visiting the bathroom at the Northfield Public Library last week, I noticed literacy signs and stickers scattered about.
  
Left: the use of car stickers with engaging signs
Center: urinal target practice. Hit that Early Literacy Spot!
Right: bladder control tactics. Red=stop. Green=go. Yellow=wait.
By Griff Wigley, on July 9, 2008, 7:19 am
Drive by Northfield’s car dealerships and look carefully.
 
At Furlong and Dokmo’s, they’ve reduced their inventory dramatically due to the recession but they’re camouflaging it by spacing the vehicles further apart.
 
At the Northfield News, they’re expanding the size of the graphics and photos, enlarging the font size in many places, using larger header and footer banners, adding advertising banners to the bottom of the front page, reducing the total number of pages, etc. Compare two recent front pages (left) with the front page of the last issue of 2007 (right).
 Here at Locally Grown, we’re having to adopt similar strategies.
We’ve cut the number of fluff photos posted to the blog by 50%.
For those that we do include, like this one of copulating squirrels outside my home office window, we’re reducing the size of the linked popup from 1100 pixels wide to 999. And we’ve expanded the margins around the thumbnail from 5 pixels on one side to 15 pixels on both sides.
I could have used a videoclip of the sex al fresco but that’s just cost-prohibitive these days.
On our Locally Grown podcast, discerning listeners will notice another space-saving strategy, requested by KYMN news manager Jeff Johnson. Our contractual arrangement with station forbids us from blogging about this but we will be able to discuss in on the air today.
By Tracy Davis, on June 27, 2008, 5:19 pm
(I saw this tonight on the way to the Contented Cow and couldn’t help myself.)
By Griff Wigley, on June 21, 2008, 7:49 am
 Now that Robbie and I have switched our Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance policy to a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) & Health Savings Accounts (HSA) called Options Blue, it’s in my interest to start thinking like an informed consumer.
I hurt my shoulder (landed on it while snowboarding a few months ago) and all the usual remedies have not worked. Next step, sayeth Dr. Bob Shepley, is a shoulder MRI.
It seems to me that a shoulder MRI is a commodity, like getting a throat culture. Price and convenience are primary factors.
I started shopping earlier this week, but rather than describing what I’ve been learning ahead of time, I thought I’d post it for discussion first.
As a Northfielder, how would you shop for a MRI?
By Tracy Davis, on June 19, 2008, 7:44 pm
I’m sure Griff will have plenty of pics in this year’s “Taste of Northfield” album after tonight, but I wanted to post live from the scene – because I can. Come on down and join the fun, it’s going on till 11.
By Griff Wigley, on May 31, 2008, 7:40 am
 Northfield City Administrator Al Roder publishes a memo to the mayor and city council each week on Friday. It summarizes many of the staff activities for the week.  The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of his web page.
See his Friday memo for this past week and then comment or ask questions about it here.
See the Northfield city calendar for public meetings that are scheduled this week.
NOTE: There’s a Council meeting on Monday.
By Griff Wigley, on May 27, 2008, 9:08 am
 Last Friday, Patrick and Felicity Enders paid a visit to the GBM and introduced me to Adam Ailabouni (right in photo). Patrick and Adam are both new family docs at Northfield Hospital’s new Lakeville medical clinic. Adam and his family will be moving to Northfield in the next month.
I saw another newcomer, Liz Reppe, at Art on Water‘s ChARTonnay Thursday last week. Liz recently married local attorney Jonathan Reppe and she just moved to town. We chatted about this issue, as Liz emailed us recently:
Hi, I’m in the beginning stages of forming a Northfield Newcomers group (open to all). The plan is to get together once a month to experience what Northfield has to offer, and to meet new people. Is there a way I, or you, can post something about it on your page?
A few months back, Robbie and I received this packet from Welcome Wagon, as we recently moved from Linden St. to Heritage Drive:
 
The packet is pretty much just advertising offers, most of them not local.
While Locally Grown isn’t the place for organizing groups, this is a community issue. What can/should be done to make newcomers feel more welcome and help them get networked in ways they find helpful? What was helpful/unhelpful when you moved to town?
By Griff Wigley, on May 13, 2008, 8:47 am
 I saw Northfield News photographer Dan Iverson last Thursday night at the Sequi event. He told me that Friday was his last day at the paper, as he and other photographers at Mainstream Publications LLC newspapers (parent company of Northfield News) had been given layoff notices on last Monday.
 As an amateur photographer, I’ve long-admired Dan’s work. Whenever I’d notice him at an event where I was also taking photos, I’d watch where he’d position himself and try to learn from it.
Last summer, I wrote in a blog comment that “I’d really like to see a photo gallery where lots more of Dan Iverson’s photos could be displayed, esp. ones that DON’T make the paper.” That finally happened last month with the creation of a Northfield News photo gallery where 9 albums of Dan’s work now reside. I wonder if the reporters who’ll evidently now be expected to take the photos will continue to contribute to the gallery.
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