Frank Balster « Locally Grown Northfield

The race for Northfield City Council: Buckheit vs. Ludescher; Balster vs. DeLong; Denison vs. Zweifel

By Griff Wigley, on October 12, 2012, 7:14 am

It’s one month till the election and the races for Northfield City Council are: At-Large, Betsey Buckheit vs. David Ludescher; 2nd Ward, Frank Balster vs. David DeLong; 3rd Ward, Jon Denison vs. Erica Zweifel.

If you’re looking for an online venue to discuss the race with your fellow Northfielders, this is it.

City Council candidates’ forum at the Cow: a much better format in a fun venue

By Griff Wigley, on August 3, 2012, 10:08 am

Contented Cow proprietor Norman Butler hosted a two-hour forum for Northfield City Council Ward 2 and At-Large candidates last night on the Cow’s outdoor patio.

At-Large Council candidates: Betsey Buckheit, Joe Gasior, David Ludescher
2nd Ward Council candidates: Frank Balster, Paul Reiland, Wade Schulz; David DeLong did not attend.

Steve Engler moderated the panel and made it much more interesting by interacting with the candidates when he thought their comments needed to be clarified. I loved it whenever he refused to accept empty platitudes.

Norman goaded citizen/patrons into expressing their opinions instead of just asking questions.

The primary election is Aug. 14. Absentee voting info here.

A school calendar conversation with the Northfield community: back to square one (7)
- Griff Wigley: Vote now on the seven school calendar concepts. Details on the calendar conversation blog here.
- Griff Wigley: Northfield Schools Calendar Conversation Apr. 30 mtg results: benefits, concerns, votes
- Griff Wigley: The video of last night’s school calendar panel discussion is now up; blog comment thread now open thru Apr 30.
- Griff Wigley: I’m putting on my consulting hat again this week and inviting y’all to this panel discussion video conference/live chat/blog discussion thread on the school calendar scheduled for this Wed, April 24, 8 pm.
- Griff Wigley: Also in yesterday’s Northfield News, reporter Ashley Klemer (@AshleyKlemer) has an article titled Northfield Public Schools holds second school calendar meeting. You can comment on my Calendar Conversation blog post about the article...
Photos: May snow downtown (1)
- Angela Lauterbach: How about some photos? I’ve got some for you! [img]http://locallygrownnorthf ield.org/wp-content/uploads/20 13/05/IMG_20130502_085009.jpg[ /img] [img]http://locallygrownnorthf ield.org/wp-content/uploads...
Time to get engaged: help develop a parking management plan for downtown Northfield (8)
- Griff Wigley: The Draft Report on the Downtown Parking Conversation is now up. blog comment thread now open thru May 3.
- Griff Wigley: In yesterday’s Northfield News, reporter Kaitlyn Walsh (@NFNKaitlyn) has an article titled Downtown Northfield parking conversation nears its end. You can comment on my Downtown Parking blog post about the article here.
- Griff Wigley: Do you live downtown? Do you live near downtown? Then you’re invited to a meeting to discuss parking issues, Mar. 28, 8 pm at the library. Details here.
Photo album: April snow downtown (1)
- Curt Benson: Nice photos.
Locally Grown Northfield is for sale (16)
- Griff Wigley: Thanks, Bill. There are some things in the works that might make my announcement of a sale premature. Stay tuned!
- Bill Ostrem: Griff, Northfield has benefited greatly from the quality of LGN and the discussion it fosters. I hope it will continue to thrive after it is sold!
- Kathie Galotti: Kiffi, Agreed.
- kiffi summa: One only has to see how LG has been dormant in recent days/weeks to see how much energy it has to absorb to keep ‘alive’ , and how much of that energy has to be primed by its moderator. But it is sad to see how this forum...
- Griff Wigley: Thank you, Bill. It’s not over yet and I have no idea what’ll happen next.
Cannon River Outfitters vs. Cannon River Outfitters (2)
- Griff Wigley: Thanks for digging that up, Curt. Very strange.
- Curt Benson: The Minnesota Secretary of State website says the name was registered by Gehring in December, 2012: http://mblsportal.sos.state.mn .us/Business/SearchDetails?fil ingGuid=475f479d-c443-e211-bc4 3-001ec94ffe7f
Snow globe repairman Dick Heibel featured in Strib video (9)
- Griff Wigley: Just an FYI to those inquiring: Dick Heibel doesn’t check this blog, he does not have email that I know of, and his web page is no longer working. You’ll have to phone him. I’m not sure if this number is current but...
- Mary-Lynn Wigodsky: Hello Mr. Heibel, I would love to have my small snow globe repaired. It has a small figurine that is broken in just two places. The base looks solid. We had it in our home growing up in the 50′s -but it may be older than...
Guess who makes ‘Mom’s Best Naturals’ cereal? duh (4)
- Gary Val Tenuta: Just found out Mom’s Best Cereals contain GMOs. Big discussion about it on the Mom’s Best Cereal Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/MomsBe stFanPage?ref=ts&fref=ts
Teresa Jensen will soon be in control of all Northfield’s information. Can we hurry up and find her a decent house? (7)
- Griff Wigley: Arlen, I actually didn’t mention or link to a realtor in my blog post or comments. I just linked to the MLS listing for the two houses I spotted on Nevada.
- Arlen Malecha: Griff – As a Realtor I am glad to see you helping promote homes for sale within the Northfield community. However, I think it is prudent to advance the local realty websites such as www.coldwellbankernorthfield.c om vs the one...
- Jesse Steed: Hello Teresa, I’m a Realtor with Edina Realty based in Northfield. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know. My office number is 507-645-1179.
- Jesse Steed: Thanks for posting my listing! Here’s a link to 410 Nevada that includes the virtual tour (an audio tour of the home’s history) performed by the seller himself! http://www.edinarealty.com/jes se-steed-realtor/homes-for-...
- Teresa Jensen: Thanks, Bill; it looks like a lovely home, but my home search is limited to Northfield city limits. Thanks, too, Griff, for the Nevada house links– I will check out in person when I arrive in May!
Northfield Park & Rec Advisory Board approves ‘man boob’ swimsuit policy (7)
- Griff Wigley: Good to know, Andy, especially if you’re mountain biking.
- Andy Palmer: As someone with moobs, I’m more than happy to cover them.
How to make bicycling in downtown Northfield safer and more popular? Sharrows might work (63)
- Griff Wigley: See my Storify story blog post on bike sharrows.
- Griff Wigley: A helpful sharrows cartoon from Bikeyface.com:
- Griff Wigley: Strib: Wooddale Avenue’s pioneering bike lanes in Edina look doomed The street that has baffled Edinans since it was re-striped last fall may get an easier-to-understand painting fix this spring. Wooddale Avenue, a primary...
The pros and cons of forming a regional bicycle council (7)
- Griff Wigley: I wonder how this could have been avoided.
- Griff Wigley: In today’s Strib: Wooddale Avenue’s pioneering bike lanes in Edina look doomed The street that has baffled Edinans since it was re-striped last fall may get an easier-to-understand painting fix this spring. Wooddale...
- Griff Wigley: Kiffi, I don’t know that it would be practical to try to launch a Northfield Bike Task Force, a Dundas Bike Task Force, a Rice County Bike Task Force, a Bridgewater Township Bike Task Force, etc. Maybe at some point those...
- Griff Wigley: David, I don’t think the primary purpose of a regional bike council would be to secure taxpayer money for bike projects/infrastructure. It would be to study, recommend, plan, guide, educate, collaborate, etc.
- kiffi summa: Even though a knee injury when I was young has kept me from being a bicyclist, I definitely realize the importance of a bicycle culture to a community. I would hope that any bicycle task force would be created in each community, with...
Corey Butler resigns from Northfield Patch. What will the impact be? (12)
- Griff Wigley: Mary, the trend among hyperlocal online news entities seems to be heading towards the non-profit membership model where you get extra benefits (see, MinnPost members, Texas Tribune members). I’m not sure Northfield is big...
- Mary Schier: Patch (AOL) is under intense pressure from shareholders to make a profit this year. It’s had a hiring freeze for some time and with fewer people, it has been going to more regional coverage. This works OK (not great, but OK) in...
- kiffi summa: Agreed …I’m about to unsubscribe. There’s also a tinge of sensationalism, instead of serious news updates; for example: what’s with the story of the death of a 26 year old Lonsdale woman ‘above the...
- Griff Wigley: I agree, Jane. And they seem to be over-reaching to make the connection to Northfield on some stories, eg: Northfield State Sen. Dave Thompson Mulling Run for Governor. Next up: Dundas State Sen. Kevin Dahle?
- Jane McWilliams: My observation is that there is no local reporting . . . just as I feared!
Homeschooling and unschooling in the Northfield area (9)
- Donna Volkmann: I see this forum is pretty old from 2008. Does anyone know if there are any homeschool co-ops in Northfield for social interaction? I see there are many in the cities but can’t seem to find any in Northfield. Also, do you...
Southwest Neighborhood files discrimination lawsuit against the City of Northfield for misspelt street signs (7)
- Griff Wigley: Nfld News: Northfield orders new street signs to fix misspellings “Nineth” Street in Northfield will soon be back to Ninth Street. City staff recently ordered new sign blades from the city’s vendor to fix the...
- Susan Canon: yes, but at first I thought they were all in quotes from other people and you were pure…
- Griff Wigley: It’s Jose Staphylo! Joe, it took the eyes of Seebs and my daughter’s Facebook connections to wake me up to these signs. I love the idea of a fund raiser (or is it ‘fundrasier’?) but in the spirit of citizen...
- Griff Wigley: Susan, I inserted six grammatical/spelling errors. Can you find the others?
Change the Open Meeting Law to allow our public officials to discuss some issues online without fear (54)
- Griff Wigley: Today’s Nfld News: Proposed bill would take Northfield public meetings discussion online Minnesota Newspaper Association attorney Mark Anfinson said it’s “entirely sensible” to update existing law to reflect the advantages that...
What might it look like to ‘take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this’? (91)
- kiffi summa: another tragedy: in a middle school outside Detroit, amidst 800 students,a popular, non-bullied 14year old shoots himself in the head, fatally, with a 40 caliber Glock pistol…. School had no metal detectors; staff said he was...
- kiffi summa: Maybe I’m just too saddened by this story now, david… but I don’t think so… I have long thought that a total overhaul of our correctional system , with its many abuses, needs to be done… but that does not...
- David Henson: Kiffi, funny how we always see these stories differently. The USA has over 1 million people enslaved in our prison system. The criminal justice system is a sham. Corrections is big big business (some great stocks if you have the...
- kiffi summa: OK… if LG is going to ‘die’ … it should die in step with a deplorable part of American culture, and go out with a ‘BANG’… (don’t get all upset; that is just a metaphor, and contains no...

Locally Grown Northfield

The race for Northfield City Council: Buckheit vs. Ludescher; Balster vs. DeLong; Denison vs. Zweifel

City Council candidates’ forum at the Cow: a much better format in a fun venue

Northfield Schools Calendar Conversation

Northfield Downtown Parking Management project

Nfld League of Women Voters blog

School Board member Rob Hardy

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