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Locally Grown site traffic report for March, 2012

By Griff Wigley, on April 9, 2012, 8:43 am

According to Google Analytics, Locally Grown’s traffic for the month of March, 2012:

13,240 Unique Visitors
21,969 Visits
38,403 Pageviews

I’m pretty sure that this is the first time we’ve exceeded 13,000 unique visitors in a month.

If you’d like to access our Google Analytics account to view more details, contact me.

Thinner blog posts, fatter discussion

By Griff Wigley, on February 21, 2012, 11:45 pm

My consulting business (no, not my mountain biking, really!) has kept me busier than usual lately and that’s meant fewer blog posts here on LoGro. It bugs me if I don’t publish at least one new blog post here every day because I want the 500-1000 people who visit each day to always have something new to see. It’s not that I don’t have lots to blog about but rather my tendency to spend a lot of time on them, especially those that are issue-related.

So I’m going to experiment with publishing more blog posts that simply introduce a topic or issue, inviting y’all to chime in with comments, questions, links, and opinions. The topics will likely be a little more wide-ranging, with a mix of 75% Northfield-related and the rest state, national, international.

I also like tackling a difficult issue and spending weeks on it like I’m currently doing with the Northfield Fire Department. There aren’t many of those investigative-type stories that I take on but when I do, they really require a lot of work behind the scenes and then a lot of time to write them up, summarizing what I’ve learned and taking a position.

I’ve got some other ideas for new features here on LoGro but they’re not quite ready for prime time. In the meantime, let me know what ideas you have and give me your frank feedback on what you like and don’t like on the current state of LoGro affairs.

LoGro: social media, free subscriptions

By Griff Wigley, on February 15, 2012, 11:04 pm

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LoGro: social media, free subscriptions

By Griff Wigley, on January 24, 2012, 9:08 pm

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Three ways to get an announcement posted on Locally Grown

By Griff Wigley, on December 12, 2011, 11:01 am

Got something to announce to the 500-1,000 people per day who visit Locally Grown? Read on.

While we’re primarily an issues-oriented blog, we also keep connected to the Northfield community by blogging about area people, events, organizations, and businesses.

So if you have something of interest to announce, consider these options:

Arrange for a photo opp
People who are willing to show up at one of my offices (tables at area coffeehouses) and have their photo taken can usually get me to blog their announcement for free. See examples here, here, and here and then contact me.
Become a member of Locally Grown
You can post 2-4 announcements/month for a measly $2.50/post. You email us the content, we create the blog post for you and publish it under your name. See recent membership posts here.
Become an advertiser on Locally Grown
A banner ad costs $4-7/week. Your ad can then link to your announcement on your website or Facebook page

If it’s a PSA (public service announcement), consider submitting it to Northfield.org, KYMN, Northfield Patch, and the Northfield News.

LoGro: social media, free subscriptions

By Griff Wigley, on December 11, 2011, 11:40 pm

Just a reminder:

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Slideshow and video of photos used to make the 2011 fall photo banners

By Griff Wigley, on November 6, 2011, 1:13 pm

I’ve put up four new fall photo banners at the top of LoGro: two are downtown-related (one exception), one is colleges-related, one is all-Waterford Bridge.

See the album of photos that I used to make the banners (large slideshow), or watch this high-def, one-minute video of the photos with music (Nocturne No. 2 In E Flat Major by Chopin). You can click the full-screen icon anytime while the video is playing:

If your bandwidth isn’t sufficient for the high-def version of the video, you can watch a standard version here.

LoGro: social media, free subscriptions

By Griff Wigley, on October 20, 2011, 11:29 pm

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Fall photo banners coming Real Soon Now

By Griff Wigley, on October 15, 2011, 11:33 pm

Now that this year’s brilliant fall colors are pretty much gone, I’ve started work on some new fall-themed photo banners to replace the summer-themed ones that rotate at the top of the LoGro’s web pages.

But I’m not done. Here’s a preview of two from Bridge Square:

LoGro was unavailable for an hour last night

By Griff Wigley, on October 4, 2011, 7:06 am

My apologies to those of you who tried to visit here last night between approximately 10-11 pm CDT and found yourselves instead at my business blog site.

LoGro is hosted on a subdirectory of my business web hosting account at Tiger Technologies. In the process of moving their sites to a new data center, my domain aliases were not updated simultaneously.

All is well now, though.

Sabbatical week #5: What should Northfielders know about or discuss this week?

By Griff Wigley, on September 4, 2011, 8:57 am

current events I’m on a working LoGro sabbatical for the month of August (and now into the first week of September), so it’s up to you to help keep each other informed about whatever you think is important and optionally discuss it in the comment thread attached to this blog post.

Upcoming community events? Yep.

Local, state or national issues. You bet.

Links to interesting stuff? Sure.

Just make sure you abide by the Locally Grown Discussion Guidelines. I’ll be lurking.

Sabbatical week #4: What should Northfielders know about or discuss this week?

By Griff Wigley, on August 29, 2011, 6:13 pm

current events I’m on a working LoGro sabbatical for the month of August, so it’s up to you to help keep each other informed about whatever you think is important and optionally discuss it in the comment thread attached to this blog post.

Upcoming community events? Yep.

Local, state or national issues. You bet.

Links to interesting stuff? Sure.

Just make sure you abide by the Locally Grown Discussion Guidelines. I’ll be lurking.

Sabbatical week #3: What should Northfielders know about or discuss this week?

By Griff Wigley, on August 22, 2011, 6:35 am

Upcoming community events? Yep.

Local, state or national issues. You bet.

Links to interesting stuff? Sure.

Just make sure you abide by the Locally Grown Discussion Guidelines. I’ll be lurking.

Sabbatical week #2: What should Northfielders know about or discuss this week?

By Griff Wigley, on August 8, 2011, 7:50 am

Upcoming community events? Yep.

Local, state or national issues. You bet.

Links to interesting stuff? Sure.

Just make sure you abide by the Locally Grown Discussion Guidelines. I’ll be lurking.

Sabbatical week #1: What should Northfielders know about or discuss this week?

By Griff Wigley, on August 1, 2011, 7:52 am

Upcoming community events? Yep.

Local, state or national issues. You bet.

Links to interesting stuff? Sure.

Just make sure you abide by the Locally Grown Discussion Guidelines. I’ll be lurking.

It’s August. Time for a LoGro working sabbatical. Here’s how you can help.

By Griff Wigley, on August 1, 2011, 7:42 am

Last August, I took the month off for my LoGro ‘sabbatical.’ This year, however, I’ve got some ideas for a ‘working sabbatical.’

My plan is to put aside 99% of my usual daily blogging of Northfield-related issues, people, photos, organizations and fluff so that I can do some experimentation. Some of the experimentation will happen here on Locally Grown but some of it may occur elsewhere.

Rather than completely shutting down the blog and comments like last year, each week I’ll put up a What should Northfielders know about or discuss this week? blog post so that all of you can inform each other about whatever you think important and optionally discuss it in the comment thread attached to the post. Upcoming community events? Yep. Local, state or national issues. Yep. Links to interesting stuff? Sure. Just make sure you abide by the Locally Grown Discussion Guidelines.

I won’t be at my normal morning corner office at GBM, but you can generally follow my early morning whereabouts on Foursquare.

Locally Grown site traffic report for July, 2011

By Griff Wigley, on August 1, 2011, 7:06 am

According to Google Analytics, Locally Grown’s traffic for the month of July, 2011:

12,049 Unique Visitors
22,815 Visits
41,354 Pageviews

That’s virtually unchanged since April when I last blogged about traffic.

If you’d like to access our Google Analytics account to view more details, contact me.

LoGro: social media, free subscriptions

By Griff Wigley, on August 1, 2011, 6:41 am

Just a reminder:

Social Media

There are several ways to get Locally Grown content.

Feeds

Weekly updates of blog headlines via email

Daily automated dispatches (complete blog post content)

LoGro’s parents return for their class reunion

By Griff Wigley, on June 18, 2011, 11:27 pm

Cameron Nordholm and Morgan Weiland were in Northfield this week for Carleton College’s Reunion week. They graduated in 2006, got married last summer, and are now living in Silicon Valley. We had lunch with them at the HideAway Coffeehouse & Winebar on Friday.

So who cares? Well, we do, since they’re the parents of Locally Grown, and like all good parents, they keep track of us and regularly visit. See all our LoGro blog posts tagged with Cameron Nordholm or tagged with Morgan Weiland.

And you can keep track of them via their blogs, here and here.

Taking a break on the North Shore

By Griff Wigley, on May 7, 2011, 1:11 pm

You may have noticed that my blogging has negligible and my comments non-existent for the past few days. I’m up along the North Shore of Lake Superior with a few other guys from Northfield. Yeah, I brought my camera. Be back Monday.

LoGro: social media, free subscriptions

By Griff Wigley, on May 2, 2011, 6:00 am

Just a reminder:

Social Media

There are several ways to get Locally Grown content.

Feeds

Weekly updates of blog headlines via email

Daily automated dispatches (complete blog post content)

Locally Grown’s membership plan: feedback and ideas needed

By Griff Wigley, on January 30, 2011, 2:12 pm

I’m interested in getting feedback on the Locally Grown membership plan, as I’m planning to have a membership drive during February.

What feedback do you have on what we currently offer? What ideas do you have for improving our offering?

Locally Grown (the blog and the comments) now available on the Kindle and the Nook eReaders

By Griff Wigley, on January 7, 2011, 7:08 am

eRreaders are hot, especially the Kindle and the Nook. (We’re now a two-Kindle household.)

For a small monthly fee, you can now subscribe to Locally Grown on your Kindle and get the blog posts, the comments, or both:

If you have a Nook, you can install an application called NookFeed and subscribe to our blog’s RSS feed or the comments’ RSS feed for free.

Free subscriptions to Locally Grown

By Griff Wigley, on December 19, 2010, 8:43 am

There are several ways to get Locally Grown content delivered to you:

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Sidewalk poetry: is it worth $12,000 of taxpayer money? (4)
- Hayes Scriven: Griff, the money the Arts and Culture Commission got from SEMAC is to go for projects like this! That is why the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment was passed! Now, yes there are some programing projects I have heard bout that I...
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): There may well be better things the money could be spent on, but there are certainly many worse things. I do think that things like this contribute to a feeling of community, and I think they dovetail nicely with the...
- kiffi summa: I must wonder, Griff, what your opinion on this ”investment” is… I sense your opinion is questioning the wisdom of the expenditure; or are you just “stirring the pot”? I personally think it is a teriffic...
- Jane McWilliams: Griff – I think the poetry project is a good investment. As you see from the quote below from the Streetscape Task Force page on the city web site, money comes from the Master Development Fund which is designated for...
Proposed: City of Northfield Statement for Our Safe and Welcoming Community (191)
- kiffi summa: To follow up on Peter’s You Tube video recommendation, read the May 12th article in the New York Times (search archives) entitled “Harming the Troops”. Republicans on the Armed Services Committee, led by Rep. Todd...
- Griff Wigley: I’ve removed those 5 ‘orphaned’ comments that were mucking up the hierarchy. All’s good now?
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): John, someone forwarded me a thing which helps explain why I do not believe the current situation provides adequate legal protections: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =ah4ke16g1DI Watch that, and then tell me with a straight...
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): California in general has very high rates of “drug use”. And frankly, there is no place in the US that can be meaningfully called “very accepting” to gays. More accepting than others, sure. Why, I...
- David Henson: Peter, you have the Internet you do the research. Use San Francisco as a baseline (an accepting place) – gays there have very high rates of depression and drug use.
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.
Props to the Northfield News for the Fire Relief Association ethics story (1)
- Griff Wigley: Suzy Rook has a sidebar to today’s Nfld News update on last night’s Council meeting. Excerpt: The city administrator and finance director say they have asked for the information on several occasions, including last month...
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
Why is the Northfield Rescue Squad Association retaining attorney David Hvistendahl? (5)
- 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...
- Curt Benson: So Hvistendahl has found another place to wet his beak. You ask a good question, “Why is it important that the City not know the Northfield Rescue Squad Association financials?”
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?
- Ross Currier: It’s great that someone is enhancing the connection between downtown and uptown. I know they coordinated their work with MNDoT, City staff, and the Streetscape Task Force. Uh, raise your trowels in a toast to the Northfield...
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.
- Kathie Galotti: My neighbor and sometimes babysitter Maggie Kennedy appears in this video as well! Go Maggie, and Cliff and Sophie and Parker and everyone else! Well done, guys!
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): Heh, we had those when I was in college. Guess we’re making progress, they’re starting years earlier now!
Prairie’s Edge Humane Society is one of 15 sites for the Great Northfield Rummage Raid for Charity (1)
- Sandy Vesledahl: Thanks for blogging our garage sale Griff! We are at 2018 Jefferson Rd, Suite 1, thanks to the Jasnoch Family for allowing us to use the space. We will be there until 5:00 today and again from 8-2 on Saturday. We’ve had a...
Sheena Basness wants you to know about the cheap spay/neuter clinic coming to Northfield on April 30th (2)
- Bright Spencer: I have an 8 year old dog that has not been neutered, has not reproduced and never been out unleashed except in our yard. It costs nothing to care for your pet properly.
Peter and Jesse are putting up a geodesic greenhouse in their backyard (6)
- Bright Spencer: To see this makes me so happy! Best of luck to you!
- Peter Seebach (Seebs): For what it’s worth, I’m pretty happy with the whole process so far, although we found exciting new things out about the land development code, such as “the rules for calculating how tall a building is for...
Sidewalk dining in Northfield: Why is The HideAway still the only one? (4)
- Arlen Malecha: I wish more establishments had outdoor seating & dining. Now that our offices (Coldwell Banker South Metro www.CBSouthMetro.com are downtown, I love to see people sitting and dining outside. It is fun to walk up and down...
- Sean Hayford O'Leary: I would say the current configuration of Division Street makes me grateful not everyone is doing it. Sidewalk dining brings a lot of livelihood to the street — but I’ll admit that I’ve been occasionally...
- Griff Wigley: Rebecca, there are several Northfield eating and drinking establishments that have outdoor dining with tables and chairs, serving alcohol, but not SIDEWALK dining. Downtown ones that come to mind: The Tavern, Chapati, The Cow, Froggy...
- Rebecca Bliss: Timely post, Griff -I didn’t realize this. I was just commenting to my husband about how nice it would be to dine al fresco now that the weather is getting warmer. Guess this is another discovery for the new...
Jim Spaulding has a new sealcoating business, a division of The HideAway (1)
- Arlen Malecha: As long as his coffee is not as thick as tar and his tar is not as thin as coffee I would say all is good in Jim’s world.

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