Well, Josh and I thought we would be making a surprise visit to Northfield right around now on a road trip back north from Florida, but we had to take a different route! Josh, clutching his Contented Cow mug, was especially disappointed that we wouldn’t all be seeing you there soon.
Even though we haven’t been the best at keeping in touch, we’re always thinking about you all and telling everyone on our travels about you. We finally began rebuilding our boat last week in upstate New York and you can follow along on our blog.
Of course, Griff taught me everything I know about blogging so if you don’t like it, put your comment on Locally Grown!
Hope all is well with everyone and that we do make it out there for a visit soon. Everyone is welcome to come and see us as long as you don’t mind watching or maybe even helping helping us drive in a nail or two.
As RepJ reporter Bonnie Obremski and her fiancé, Josh Rowan, loaded up their car yesterday for their new life in Key West, their cat, Sarah Palin, registered her objection by hiding out above the street level door jam of their apartment. It took some acrobatics to fetch her.
Josh, my fiance, and I added two to the population when we arrived. Now, we're taking a Northfield native back out with us, our cat "Sarah Palin." Minus three!
Northfield, we’ve reached the hand off. The Representative Journalism Project has come to another turning point after eight months. Now, instead of reading the work of a transplanted, temporary journalist (me) you could soon have the opportunity to support the area’s indigenous writers. Those writers, sponsored by the public, would produce news material that could appear across a range of local media, including LocallyGrownNorthfield.org. (More about that coming soon).
As the Representative Journalism Project collaborators have been hashing out the details of that new evolution, I came to the conclusion this month that perhaps one of the best things I could do to ensure the success of our latest ideas would be to step out of the way, instead of remaining until my work contract expired in July.
Our guest today was Bonnie Obremski who announced that she’s resigned her position as the reporter for the Northfield Representative Journalism project effective Friday. She and her fiancé, Josh Rowan (pictured at right doing a finger puppet show in the KYMN studio window), depart Saturday for Key West, FL. Bonnie will post her own announcement tomorrow here on LG, so I’ve turned off comments on this post. Chime in on her post when you see it… and note the date, time and place of her going-away party on Friday eve.
The Northfield Blogosphere Roundup is a good way to see the latest information on many of the area’s blogs. The updates included here show blog posts added approximately within the previous 48 hours. See Northfield.org’s blogosphere aggregator page for an automated, comprehensive listing.
This is the title of an article at the Mankato Free Press article about the March 13th Regional Competitiveness Economic Development Summit. The Rural Enterprise Center’s agripreneurs development model was voted the second most important priority for the development of the Agriculture and Food Sector as it pertains to the incorporation and full utilization of skills, assets and visioning coming out from the Latino/Hispanic communities of the region.
We are currently developing the strategic plan for the large scale regional deployment of this model in the coming decade with a launch strategy focused in no more than 8 SE MN counties, but including strategic outreach to other highly promising targeted Hispanic/Latino entrepreneur in other areas of the region.
Northfield High School English teacher Tom McKown talks about what it took to create Rock n’ Roll Revival VIII this year. He sat in front of the camera for the interview on stage a few hours before Friday’s sold-out performance.
At the beginning of the spring semester, I met with Carleton College students who are taking a class taught by Professor John Schott. Schott had invited me to speak to his students about the Representative Journalism Project. Following that meeting, the students set out in the spirit of the project’s goals to cover local news. The stories they produced are showcased here, replicated from a page on Schott’s Ratchet Up blogsite for the project:
About twenty years ago, Northfielder Rob Martin (Rob Martin Insurancy Agency) hoped to build a 43-foot steel sailboat from scratch in three to five years in a lumber yard in Dundas, even though he had no prior boat-building experience. The process wound up taking a bit longer than that. Today, the vessel is about two years away from completion. Martin agreed to a video interview update on his progress this week.
Local musicians Meredith Fierke, Steve and Dylan Mckinstry, and photographer Dan Iverson are arriving in Austin, Texas today to participate in the South by Southwest music and film festival. Fierke is performing at the Touche bar on Saturday and will play “Train’s Song,” a song inspired by the trains traveling through Northfield, Minn. Below are video interviews with Fierke and Iverson shot in Fierke’s home on Monday.
The Goodsell Observatory at Carleton College is open to the public the first Friday of every month. At the previous open house, a Brownie troop saw Venus and Saturn. See the video below.
The Northfield Blogosphere Roundup is a good way to see the latest information on many of the area’s blogs. The updates included here show blog posts added approximately within the previous 48 hours. See Northfield.org’s blogosphere aggregator page for an automated, comprehensive listing.
Food and energy is something we cannot go without, and the farther these two come from where we use them, the less sustainable they are, this is a matter of logic and economic fact not a matter of opinion, or political leaning, or weather we agree or disagree on global trade.
The fact is that we don’t account for the full cost of our foods and have been living under the illusion that a banana is really only $0.75 cents a pound. It isn’t, what happens is that we are only paying for a small part of the full cost of producing it, bringing it from Brazil or Central America and delivering it to our stores and picking it up. The carbon emitted, the water, soil and air pollution in the production cycle, and many other costs are just being passed on for others to pay, either down the rivers and oceans, or down to the next generation.
The Northfield Blogosphere Roundup is a good way to see the latest information on many of the area’s blogs. The updates included here show blog posts added approximately within the previous 48 hours. See Northfield.org’s blogosphere aggregator page for an automated, comprehensive listing.
By Bonnie Obremski, on February 27, 2009, 10:25 am
The Northfield Blogosphere Roundup is a good way to see the latest information on many of the area’s blogs. The updates included here show blog posts added approximately within the previous 24 hours. See Northfield.org’s blogosphere aggregator page for an automated, comprehensive listing.
At a meeting at Plaza Morena Restaurant in Owatonna on February 17 2009, a diverse group of restaurant and food business owners from Red Wing, Waseca, Albert Lee, Owatonna and Faribault meet to discuss an organizing process to secure higher level of cooperation and organization in the food business owners sector of the Southern Minnesota region (more).
Megan Rossow (left), "Petey," the parrot, and Leah Erickson display locally produced merchandise at the Cannon Valley Veterinary Clinic
Local governments and independent non-profits can be resources for business owners in need of support, especially in today’s tougher economic times. In Northfield, however, not everyone agrees on what the government and non-profits should do in order to offer the most help to the most business owners. The Representative Journalism Project attempted to collect more information about the matter by issuing a survey in January to 60 business owners or managers from a variety of fields. (continued)
Greenvale Township’s three supervisors met briefly Tuesday night to sign the final draft of an annexation agreement with Northfield after nearly seven months of negotiation.
The annexation agreement, among other things, indicates how much Northfield would reimburse Greenvale for the property taxes the township will lose when 530 acres of undeveloped farmland goes onto the city’s tax rolls. Northfield is annexing the land to attract industrial developers in the hopes of widening the tax base and creating jobs.
I don’t know the Nieman Journalism Lab guys personally but Mathew Ingram’s blog post today, “Locally grown” news gets a boost acknowledged the good stuff happening here. The ‘boost’ to hyperlocal sites like ours that he’s referring to is the new funding that RepJ founder Len Witt just got from the Harnisch Foundation to create a new Center for Sustainable Journalism (CSJ) at KSU in Georgia. No, that doesn’t mean a cash infusion into LG or RepJ Northfield. It’s just that we’re going to be a part of something much bigger. Mathew had this to say about LG after a quick look around here. (continued)
The last week in January, I interviewed three professionals who are trading their know-how for the ingenuity (and, to a certain extent, free labor) of interns from Northfield’s two colleges. One partnership has already led to an art project, transforming discarded steel breadboxes into women’s breastplate armor. And there is promise that another trade could result in two new Web sites that could help boost the careers of local ceramic artists and rock stars. Continue reading Deal or no deal? An intern story
Griff Wigley: I’ll forgive you eventually for that, Phil. I fixed your ‘thought.’
Phil Poyner: Pavers of concrete poetry carved into them undies are twisted!
Barry Cipra: Paul, Iamb de(street)lighted to add this to the mix: Should taxpayers foot The bill for poetic feet, Or should verse be free?
Paul Zorn: Griff, Perhaps the TIF district should not pay for just any old public art. But sidewalk art of the type under discussion here seems so patently part of the streetscape itself that it might well fall under the meaning of the act, as...
Phil Poyner: There once was a blog called LoGro With info we thought you should know As cement you do ponder We won’t blame if you wonder “The newsday today, it was slow?” Sorry…couldn’t resist!
Griff Wigley: Rob, I’ve not heard. In the minutes from the previous PRAB mtg: Permanent Site for Skateboard Park Chair Knutson recommended that a small committee be formed to investigate sites for possible permanent sites and liaison with...
Griff Wigley: Nfld News: Northfield Skate Park Coalition becomes subject of documentary With plans in place, the Skate Park Coalition’s next step is to move their equipment to the layout they want in their space by Riverside Park. The skate park...
Griff Wigley: MPR: For volunteer fire departments, recruits can be hard to find
Griff Wigley: Nfld News: Northfield EMS manager: Rescue Squad contract doesn’t affect emergency preparedness Northfield Hospital’s EMS manager says a contract between Northfield Rescue Squad and Elko Speedway doesn’t impact the safety of...
kiffi summa: Curt: obviously I thought there was more in the article that was less than fully informative: see above… But as far as the city paying overtime etc, i.e., all the issues you mention above.. the question is why the city was doing...
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...
Sean Hayford Oleary: Brendan: Didn’t see your comment at first. Actually the main thing that opened my eyes to helmets and urban cycling was seeing bike culture in Copenhagen. There, in one of the top bike cities in the world, I would guess...
Sean Hayford Oleary: I agree with Griff. I think helmets are the wrong focus, and definitely should not be a legal requirement. If you want to wear a helmet: great. If you feel more comfortable bicycling with one on, even better. But for anyone...
Christopher Tassava: I’ll comment again when I have more time, but this article is germane: http://www.theatlanticcities.c om/commute/2012/05/what-will-n ew-york-citys-bike-share-progr am-mean-rider-safety/2079/
Brenton Balvin: Interesting discussion. As a kid growing up in the country I had to ride my bike all over the place. I never wore a helmet, and I wonder if I would have ridden less if my parents required me to. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t...
Gabe Meerts: Absolutely. I would argue that there is probably a large number of people thy wouldn’t even drive with their window down much less bike with or without helmets. I don’t think we should make laws enforcing them but I think...
Griff Wigley: And David Ludescher is running for Ivan Imm’s At-Large seat. See the left sidebar of this story in the Nfld News: New mayor in Northfield’s future: Rossing isn’t running
Jane McWilliams: And at the work session tonight, Mary Rossing announced that she is NOT running for reelection.
David Beimers: The Northfield News has a story saying that Suzie Nakasian is also planning to run for mayor.
Peter Seebach (Seebs): WOO! Go Betsey! As the Ward 2 rep, she has indeed worked for exactly these sorts of things, and was extremely helpful when I was trying to get a bit of paperwork untangled. So, yeah, looks like my vote is clear.
Griff Wigley: Councilor Betsey Buckheit just filed to run for mayor. She sent out this email: Good morning, media folks! I just returned from City Hall where I filed to run for Mayor. Here’s a little information, but there’s much more...
Griff Wigley: Today’s Strib: A sobering era for municipal booze The forces that create winner and loser cities in the metro are complex, and they involve clashes with other “muni” cities as well as private operators. Farmington,...
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.
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.
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...
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