Growing up in North Dakota during the 50s and 60s, I was privileged to experience something that's all too rare now - the old-fashioned family doctor. "Doc" delivered babies, set broken bones, treated pneumonia, and helped Grandpa with his newfangled hearing aid. Doc knew the community, the families, and the individuals whose basic medical needs he treated from birth through the end of life. Some of you who grew up in that time, and perhaps in smaller communities, may remember a Doc of your own. . . . → Read More: The Marcus Welby of law, by Lance Heisler | Lampe Law Group
Let’s talk about cats, cats and more cats! Why?? Because Prairie’s Edge Humane Society is full of cats and we have many more arriving daily. As of today, there are 44 cats on the adoption floor with more awaiting their surgeries so they are ready for adoption. There are cats in every corner of the shelter who need homes! We are in desperate need of homes for these cats. We cannot emphasize this enough. So we are having a cat sale and we are calling it Kitty Mania !
The free market does many things well, but we know it does not do everything. Even market fundamentalists concede that the public must build roads, put out fires, police streets, and provide national defense. Most people, at least those to the left of the Tea Party edge of political spectrum, accept that the government must also be involved in education, disaster relief, and health care. That is, certain services must be rendered — necessary services, universal services — whether or not those services are financially profitable. If your house is on fire, you do not have time to . . . → Read More: On Watermelons and Widgets, by Tom Swift
Okay, so most of the news about the Vintage Band Festival so far has been about the bands. But there’s a number of other events during the weekend. Like the VBF Contra Dance, for instance.
The Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance will feature music by The Dodworth Saxhorn Band of Ann Arbor, Michigan and will be led by dance instructor/caller Robin Nelson.
Dancing will begin at 8:30 p.m. with a “Grand March” led by 60 costumed members of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry Brigade, followed by a variety of period dances including polkas, contra dances, schottisches, reels and waltzes.
Even before I read the first word of this article I had a visceral reaction to it. The accompanying photographs — my eyes tend to skip over photographs in magazines — affected me in a manner that is difficult to articulate. I knew, immediately I knew, I was not going to like what I was about to read. In fact, for that reason I put the piece aside. Not now, I thought. Maybe tomorrow, I said to myself. But, then, I couldn’t not read it, either. If you have not done so already, I hope you will read . . . → Read More: The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome, by Tom Swift
June may be Adopt A Cat month here at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society and we have lots of wonderful cats, but we also have PUPPIES!
We have a male Newfoundland mix named Chong who is 6 months old, he was a stray so we don’t know a lot about him. He loves to play! We also have three Australian Cattle Dog mixes who are two months old. Marcia, Bobby and Cindy were born at the shelter and spent some time in one of our fabulous foster homes. They are now back at the shelter and ready to find . . . → Read More: Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Kathy Jasnoch
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay for Life, teams of people camp out at local parks or fairgrounds and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events.
Now Showing! Live Kittens playing! You can now watch our adoptable animals at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society (PEHS) live 24/7 on the new Critter Cam installed in conjunction with KYMN Radio. Thanks to the fine folks at KYMN radio we now have a live feed of our adoptable animals showing on our website and KYMN’s website, Tim and Jeff are AWESOME!
Currently the Critter Cam is featuring kittens available for adoption. Watch them play, sleep, eat, and everything else they do 24 hours a day 7 days a week! It’s better than anything you can see on TV! . . . → Read More: Critter Cam live from Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
A BIG Thanks to all of you who came to last Monday’s Volunteer Organization Meeting, and to those who contacted us saying you wanted to help but could not make the meeting.
We have pretty full support for Communications and Design and Build sub-committees, and we got a web graphic designer to help with the site. Alice Thomas is facilitating the Communications group, and Steve Edwins is facilitating the Design and Build group.
Thank you to all of those who came to Alexander Park on a beautiful Saturday morning in May to help support Prairie’s Edge Humane Society!
I have placed all of the fun photographs on my Bridgette Hallcock Photography Facebook page so that everyone can see how much fun we had! See the two 2010 Walk for the Animals albums here and here.
If you would like a print, please contact me, as the proceeds will benefit the animals at PEHS.
Someone asked me recently to explain why the Planning Commission “doesn’t like culs-de-sacs”. I have a fondness for culs-de-sac and used to live on one, but they do have some serious shortcomings which, to me, outweigh their pleasant aspect. I was interested to read some new research that clearly quantifies ways in which our American suburban street model, which so dominated the second half of the 20th century, is in fact more dangerous than the traditional grid. (continued) Continue reading Older streets are safer
In the Obama-Era, Plans Revive for a Northfield-Twin Cities Rail Line
By Logan Nash
With the national economy still a giant question mark, Northfield community leaders are pushing ahead to revive a long-delayed project to build a commuter rail line that would link the town to the Twin Cities metropolitan region.
The national economic downturn is precisely why a serious reconsideration of the commuter line, called the Dan Patch Corridor, is especially warranted right now, the line’s advocates say.
Josh Rowan sent me this photo of barriers on one of the Mill Towns Trail bridges.
He notes that the barriers are very narrow, forcing bicyclists to put their feet down lest they risk scrunching their knuckles if one of their handlebar-mounted brake levers makes contact with the barrier as they pass through.
I noticed this Smart car parked outside the Grand Event Center a few weeks ago and didn’t have my camera ready. Today, I caught it on film…or in pixels.
I saw my first Smart Car a little over five years ago. My family and I were traveling in Italy and we saw one pull up in front of the sidewalk cafe where we were dining in Siena. At first I thought it was some kind of experimental vehicle.
Later, when we were in Rome, I saw at least a dozen of them. I was really impressed that they were about the same length as a motorcycle and so could park perpendicular to the curbs, basically taking up half the space of a typical car.
If you haven’t seen one up close yet, keep your eyes open for this one. Apparently, it’s in Northfield, at least now and then.
Do me a favor, if you see the driver, ask about the mileage.
An recent op-ed the Sacramento Bee had an interesting angle on some of the traffic and transportation issues facing many parts of the U.S., including Northfield.
We’re stuck with the landscape we’ve built over the past 60 years, much of which is literally uninhabitable without a car. Trying to make our communities less car-dependent simply by adding more buses, streetcars and light rail is like trying to make a bowl of chicken soup vegan simply by picking the chicken out.
The author goes on to explain how our built environment has stacked the deck in favor of the individual automobile, at the expense of community, human health, and the environment. He points out, “Cities and suburbs throughout Western Europe have proven for decades that people will choose walking, bicycling and public transit over personal cars if the price is right and the trip is pleasant.”
But unlike more militant voices, he doesn’t take a hard line against cars per se, instead focusing what we can regain by re-thinking the design of our cities and towns.
… how we use cars, how we plan our economies and communities around cars, and even how we build cars, all have to change. . . Millions upon millions of Europeans are living rich, modern lives without requiring a private car to meet their most basic needs. They’re in communities that function perfectly well with gasoline three times the price as at our pumps, and with the resilience to continue thriving if prices doubled tomorrow. How many places in America can say the same?
He concludes with the point that the way things were built prior to the mid-20th century may also make good sense in how we handle the increasing cost of oil and the fact that it’s a finite resource which is running out.
One of the things I’ve always appreciated about Northfield is the fact that most of it was built to what has come to be called “human scale”, without the speed and enclosure of automobiles to skew our sense of distance. This community is geographically compact, which gives us several advantages IF we make wise decisions about transportation and land use going forward.
What do you think of this whole idea? How is Northfield better or less prepared than other parts of the country to embrace changes like this?
Over the past few years, a number of prominent Northfielders have raised the possibility of creating a roundabout in town. I seem to recall Jim Pokorney and Victor Summa suggesting that we could consider one for Third Street and Dahomey Avenue and Vern Ripley and Bruce Anderson advocating for one at Prairie Street and Woodley Street.
Roundabouts are a contemporary variation of the traffic circle or rotary, a design form going back hundreds of years. Cited as statistically safer for vehicular traffic (although not for cyclists), the devices maintain slower speeds of travel without requiring a full stop.
They are common in Europe and New England, however, now there is one close to home. A roundabout was recently completed on Highway 3, just north of Farmington.
So, if you have any interest in the concept, head north and check it out.
… as more and more bicyclists and pedestrians take to the streets as a result of higher fuel prices, officials worry that they’ll see a corresponding rise in bicycle-related traffic accidents. It’s a dark side of bicycling of which Johnson, a member of the NMTTF, is well aware. He has been clipped by a car, shouted at and honked at.
…
“You can’t peacefully co-exist on the roads unless everybody is playing by the rules,” said Bruce Anderson, an avid bicyclist and member of the NMTTF. “It all gets back to education; there’s just so many things that people do that are unsafe.”
…
Bill Ostrem, the chair of the NMTTF, believes that a series of education programs would help mitigate crash statistics. To teach cyclists the rules of the road, Ostrem and the NMTTF hope to implement a series of bicycling safety courses in the future with the assistance of Officer Monroe and the Northfield Police Department.
Two related letters-to-the-editor subsequently appeared in the paper.
There is, however, one glaring problem with the article, or rather, the photograph. Mr. Eric Johnson is improperly signaling his right turn. If a bicyclist chooses to signal, I’ve observed, this is the sort of signal they use. The right hand pointing haphazardly to the right or left. What am I to notice? A wad of gum? Perhaps a $5 bill the bicyclist feels I am deserving of. Maybe it’s the flock of flamingos coming down the street to their left. This is a huge safety issue.
I was saddened and angered when I read the Sept. 2 article about the death of Terry Miller on County Road 8 (130th St), south of Dundas. Saddened, of course, because of this gruesome and untimely death. Angered because it probably could have been prevented… Rice County must stop ignoring bicycles and pedestrians when it comes to their county roads. The county should not be laying 23-foot surfaces. Ever. If they have enough traffic on them to warrant pavement, they have enough traffic that they need some kind of paved shoulder.
Are Minnesotans willing to grant bicyclists limited immunity from stop signs and red lights? That question is posed by a legislative proposal introduced during Bike/Walk to Work Week earlier this month by Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, and Sen. Jim Carlson, DFL-Eagan, both bikers. Their proposal is based on an Idaho statute that allows bikers to proceed though stops in certain circumstances. It would require bikers approaching a stop signal or sign to slow to a speed that allows them to stop.
They’d be required to stop if a vehicle is in the vicinity. But they could proceed through a stop sign without stopping if there’s no traffic close enough to pose a hazard while they’d be moving through the intersection. At a red light, they could also make a right turn, or a left turn onto a one-way street, without stopping. And if there’s no vehicle nearby, they could proceed through the intersection after a full stop without waiting for a green light.
I like the idea of granting bicyclists the same judgment call that we currently give motorists for right-turn-on-red turns.
I got this from a local resident a week or so ago:
The city has dumped tons of gravel on nearly new streets, including Jefferson Parkway and Maple and others branching off Jefferson. I’ve never in my life seen dry gravel poured on new blacktop streets. I just don’t get it. It kicks up dust and nicks the paint on cars and gets bounced up in to yards, but serves no purpose at all. Seems a good rain tonight will wash much of it off the roadway.
I thought this was the usual gravel-on-oil-on-blacktop which then gets swept up after a couple of weeks… a way to extend the life of the blacktop.
But then today I noticed that the city has painted parking lines over the gravel in the NCRC parking lot. So it’s evidently permanent. Anybody know what’s going on?
Tonight’s the night (Thursday, July 31st) of the Open House on Transportation. The meeting will be held at the Northfield High School (1400 Division Street South) in the Upper Cafeteria, from 4 to 7 pm.
The purpose of this meeting will be to preview the recommendations for the City’s 2030 Transportation Plan. Information on both the Draft Updated Transportation Plan and the Northwest Corridor Study will be available.
Okeh, I will begin by “revealing” that I am the brother-in-law of Ray Cox. However, Ray isn’t running for elected office now, so find something else to get you excited.
Ray had a letter to the editor published in the June 24, 2008. It was unfortunately titled,”Widening not best Hwy. 19 plan”. A more accurate, if not better, title would have been “Widening not only Hwy. 19 plan”.
In it, Ray stated, “I believe it is more important for our city leaders to deal with traffic flow issues within the City of Northfield and in the adjacent planning boundaries than to call on MnDOT to rebuild Highway 19 as it exists.” This is crucial, and often repeated, advice that, I believe, must be heeded if we are to make progress on the east-west connection(s) between Interstate 35 and Northfield.
I think that Ray’s comments came in response to the front page article, “Lawmakers plead for state to widen Hwy. 19“, in the June 21-22, 2008 Northfield News. The article was illustrated with a picture of out-going City Administrator Al Roder with his quote, “It’s not good enough to be on their list. We need this to move forward.”
My first involvement with Highway 19 came about four years ago. The NDDC, at the request of then Chamber of Commerce President Robert Bierman, had agreed to support local efforts on achieving long-discussed improvements to the road. When I admitted that I had no background on the subject, Robert suggested that I get my hands on a copy of the Northfield Industrial Corporation’s July 2000 study, “A Recommendation for Improvements in Safety, Access and Quality of Life Issues for Northfield Transportation”. After striking out with a couple of prominent organizations in town, I finally got a copy…from Ray.
It is, in my opinion, an extremely valuable collection of information. I have brought it up, and distributed summaries, at two or three Comp Plan work sessions and at least one of the Transportation Advisory Committee meetings. Of particular interest to me is the fold-out map that is appended to the report. It illustrates the top twelve priority transportation projects for Northfield. But more on those later.
After educating myself thanks to Ray’s copy of the NIC Transportation study, I ended up having meetings with a number of people, including then State Representative Ray Cox, then Council Member Dixon Bond, and a small conference room full of MNDoT folks. All of them said, repeatedly, that any progress on Highway 19 would have to be part of a plan that encompassed all of Northfield’s transportation network, including connections to and from Highway 19 as well as northern and southern alternatives to Highway 19.
The twelve priority transportation projects in the NIC study are all about those connections and alternatives. When we discussed them as part of a Comp Plan work session, at best you could suggest that we’ve addressed one and half of the twelve. At that rate, it will take far more than ten years to complete all twelve projects.
At the close of the article, Roder states, according to the Northfield News, that “being the squeaky wheel is a good start..but that if the city could help with funding, he believes MnDOT would give the project an even more favored status”. Based on what I’ve heard from elected officials and MNDoT staff, I think that instead of squeaks and funds for Highway 19, we might be more successful if we came forward with schedules and budgets for elements of the broader transportation network.
Steadily and systematically addressing long-identified local transportation needs would just be an added benefit.
I don’t remember what year it was revamped and made narrow. (Anyone?) And I don’t remember which city staffers were instrumental in the change. But I do remember hearing lots of complaints about it after it was done, eg, from farmers about its inaccessibility for large farm equipment.
I don’t use the Parkway during school rush hours so I don’t know if it works well during those times. But it otherwise seems to work and the traffic-calming aspects of a narrow roadway seems to work, too.
As the price of gas keeps escalating, I’m starting to see a lot more bikes downtown, including more weird ones like the Xtracycle that I blogged about last week.
Left: the crowded bike rack in front of the Goodbye Blue Monday on Tues. morn around 7 am. Center: my wife’s Giant Revive, a super comfy bike (lumbar support!) for around-town/bike trail riding Right: an E-Go electric cycle
As for how the price of gas has been changing my life:
I’ve been taking the Revive to get to my morning coffeehouse offices in the past week, once I figured out how to easily haul my laptop on it.
We’ve gone to two movies in the past 3 weeks, both at Northfield’s Southgate theater instead of driving to the Lakeville 21.
As I mentioned at the tail end of our podcast a couple of weeks ago, I’m thinking that a little civil disobedience might be in order in re the outdoor dining situation in Northfield.
Let’s pick a date and stage a “sit-out”! The restaurants in town could put out tables and chairs, citizens would be encouraged to bring their lawn chairs downtown and we’d fill up the sidewalks. If we got enough of the businesses to participate, I doubt that the City Council would hold their liquor license renewals hostage, or whatever consequences are being dreamed up for violating our current prohibitions.
Friends, Romans, Countrymen….. lend me your chairs. Any takers? Suggested dates?
Someone has a new Xtracycle (sport utility bicycle) here in Northfield:
Imagine your favorite bike, with the rear wheel stretched out behind the seat, a big, stable platform for a load or a passenger, and elegant saddlebags on either side that are expandable when you need them and are cleanly out of the way when you don’t. Best of all, your bike is still lightweight and fast, and because the load is centered between your two wheels, the whole package handles with ease. Suddenly you have much less need or desire to drive around town for your errands. Picture this: a breezy unloaded ride to your favorite grocery store, coasting reliably around corners; arriving ahead of traffic; parking at the rack directly in front of the entrance; shopping and easily loading your four bags of groceries; then pedaling home, care-free on a bike that handles just as swiftly now that it’s loaded.
Some very sad news – a pedestrian was killed, and another injured, this morning at the intersection of Hwy 246 (Division Street) and Jefferson Parkway. Names have not yet been released. Both the Northfield News and the StarTribune have reported on the incident.
The intersection is under review as part of a $30,000 Safe Routes to Schools grant awarded last month to the city and its Non-motorized Transportation Task Force. The task force, in its grant application, said that the intersection, which is adjacent to three schools, is unsafe.
I’m sure Bill Ostrem and others on the Task Force will keep us apprised of the developments. It is truly sad that it often seems to take a tragedy of some magnitude to get people’s attention about pedestrian and bicycle safety, and make them realize that streets aren’t just for cars and trucks.
Downtown building owner and resident Bart ‘put your money where your mouth is’ de Malignon has a letter to the editor in this week’s Northfield News titled, Downtown streets aren’t that clean.
With all due respect to our city workers and their late-night shifts, our downtown streets are a mess. Intersections, crosswalks and curbs are full of snow and slush. According to Joel Walinski, “The city’s standard is to plow streets – curb to curb – within twelve hours after the snow ends.” Saying it doesn’t make it so.
I walked through Bridge Square at noon on Thursday, the 24th, and the streets are still a mess. Friends and family visiting from other communities ask me, “What gives with the snow removal?” If downtown building owners, tenants and residents are required to park off-street at night from December to March, why can’t the city meet their standard and really plow “curb-to-curb?”
Griff Wigley: This is comment #35,085 made on the last of 2,976 blog posts, with 187 podcast episodes tossed in for good measure. Now shut down for August. The LoGroNo office at GBM is vacant. But you can follow Ross, Tracy, and I on our...
Griff Wigley: Jane/William, I’m pretty sure I’ve trained you both to behave but I’d have a hard time during the sabbatical not paying attention to see if that was actually the case. I think the more places in Northfield...
Griff Wigley: Jeez, Ross. You adopted Chance? Now we’re going to have to add your new PEHS dog to our About page. No, we’re not changing from the Triumvirate to something four-related, ie, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Phil Poyner: Yes, but where would we put all the egos?
Phil Poyner: Ray, I believe 11 states or so have full military pension exemption, but many others (including MN) have some sort of partial exemption or tax credit. But I know for many veterans taxes are not the number one factor when...
Barry Cipra: Ray, here’s a thought that ties these threads together (and which I think will appeal to Paul): Let’s not tax the income of people with PhDs from accredited universities. When you don’t tax PhD income, you tend...
Ross Currier: Sorry Griff, but that article concludes with the inside-the-same-old-box type of ideas. I suppose that’s what you get when you ask people inside-the-municipal-box for solutions. Hopefully, there will be citizens,...
kiffi summa: Norman and Ross… let me be so bold as to add an observation about this ‘opportunity’̷ 0; I find it so bizarre that mr. Walinski would come up with this staff consolidation plan as a ‘going away...
Griff Wigley: Here’s a silent video of me walking the area around the Scriver Bldg. Note: * the cozy canopy that the trees provide * that there’s only one small tree nearby in Bridge Square * how nicely the two trees frame and...
norman butler: Hayes: Many thanks for the ADA costs, almost $750,000. I assume that additional to this is the remodelling of the second floor etc, at a total cost of, say, $1,000,000 to make this wonderful, ancient, iconic, historic,...
Griff Wigley: I’ve added a straw poll on the trees. See the upper left sidebar.
Griff Wigley: Straw poll results: How should the City solve the geese poop problem along the Cannon River in downtown Northfield? * Harvest the geese for area food shelves (36%, 24 Votes) * Use border collies to chase the geese away (24%, 16...
David Ludescher: Griff: It doesn’t make sense to me that we spent a half of million dollars on places where geese like to sh*t.
Phil Poyner: Excerpt from “Development of a Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard Program at Langley AFB, Virginia.” Canada geese- In June 1999, more than 225 resident Canada geese were molting at Eaglewood golf course adjacent to the...
Michelle Hawkins: As far as Mr Denison and past records of those serving or wishing to serve in public office, I think the public is smart enough to judge for themselves rather than rely on only what they find in a newspaper, for their...
Michelle Hawkins: If a person lives in a drug infested,alcoholic ridden apartment complex and also works on a one to one basis with such while at the same time receives threats as a result of that volunteer work and their work with battered...
Patrick Enders: Carol, Jerry was a plaintiff in a lawsuit in California which Scott found interesting. Scott posted about it here on LGN, and Jerry (Jerold) answered about it here.
Griff Wigley: I’ve added photos I took at the League of Women Voters candidates forum on 7/29 to the blog post above.
Griff Wigley: KYMN Radio video: 07/29/10 League of Women Voters Candidate Forum (Archived)
Griff Wigley: Nfld News: Council candidates weigh in at forum During the first half of the forum, which focused on the Fourth Ward candidates, Gehring expressed his support for an aggressive plan laid out by Mayor Mary Rossing to hire a new...
Sandy Vesledahl: Don’t miss out on “Kitty Mania” today at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society. If you have been thinking about adopting a cat now is the perfect time to do so!
Griff Wigley: Thanks, Tracy. I’ll look at that City Mgr blog in Ventura, CA. I’ll be interested to see if he’s better blogger than former Northfield City Administrator Scott Neal who’s been a blogger client of...
Jerry Bilek: I look at all of this technology as a tool. it has the potential to do good things or is a huge time waster. some blogs are amazingly helpful while others just a way to kill time. For business use, it can be beneficial, but it...
Bright Spencer: orange and yellows are the colors that draw people in, and stimulate intellectual inklings. But, like the sun, too much is not so good.
Bright Spencer: orange and yellows are the colors that draw people in, like the sun, too much is off putting though
Griff Wigley: Would there be a combination of colors that might make the site more agreeable to the eyes? Lots of gray and blue now. Tracy, want to take a whack at it?
norman butler: Tracy; the article you quoted above made mention of the city of Maywood’s services now being provided by a neighboring city: “…The [parking] ticket was issued by enforcement clerks for the neighboring city of...
kiffi summa: If you look at the disbursements in the Council packets, you will see the janitorial work IS being contracted out; here’s some numbers from the July 6 disbursement list: 6/11/10 May City Hall Cleaning – 1282.50...
Tracy Davis: From the Wall Street Journal, 7/19: Cities Rent Police, Janitors to Save Cash
Griff Wigley: A competitor to SeeClickFix is CitySourced: http://www.citysourced.com/
Griff Wigley: Phil, services like SeeClickFix take that into account, ie, people can weigh in to endorse what someone else has submitted. For example, see the service in action at this CT newspaper: http://www.journalinquirer.com / Click...
Phil Poyner: I see a downside to what you’re saying. Theoretically it may make sense to have a single problem submitted just once. But my experience has been that until a group of people submit the same problem, the problem can be...
Griff Wigley: Hey Don, great to hear from you… and that you’re still doing the outdoor thing. I’d never heard of water cycling.
Don Haugo: Cycle America was started in 1988. In 1997 Greg Walsh took it over and has been running it since. I live in Bloomington, Minnesota and am about to start marketing a couple of new outdoor adventure events for next year, the...
Sean Hayford O'Leary: That’s a shame, Erica. But since we now know that a (brief) crossing period can be accommodated without interrupting traffic at that particular intersection (which has the shortest crossing distance and relatively...
Erica Zweifel: It appears that the automatic crossing was temporary, this Saturday I had to push the button to get the pedestrian signal at 5th Street.
Griff Wigley: Sean, I’ll try to capture the audio at a low traffic time so everyone can hear the loud beep-beep and the quiet messages. And I’ll check the 5th St. intersection but all the improvements there look to be the same as...
Griff Wigley: MPR’s Question of the day: Do you depend on sirens to alert you to severe weather?
Griff Wigley: Jane/Josh, thanks for the reports. I’ve blogged your comments with some photos at: http://locallygrownnorthfield. org/post/18720/
Josh Dale: I live on the north-east corner of St. Olaf property, off Highland Ave. The power went out shortly after 1am. No power=no warnings, other than a lightning strike, blown transformers or downed power lines…it was a good...
Griff Wigley: You’re welcome, Jeanette. The slimy handshake was memorable!
Jeanette Nelson: Hi Griff, Thanks so much for receiving so graciously, however reluctantly, a hug from a fellow Norwegian! Oh, and also for the wet slimy handshake.
Kathie Galotti: What Rob said–about Crazy Days. I kinda like the new layout of LoGroNo, though, myself.
Rob Hardy: No. I LOVE downtown Northfield, but I prefer its charming everyday self, not the hyped-up crazy version. I grinchily observed Crazy Daze this year by riding my bike out to Target. Also: while I’m being a Grinch, I hate the...
Bright Spencer: You mean have Crazy,Crazy Daze? Always have a plan B and maybe even C. C?
kiffi summa: Jane: you are correct about the randomness of the discussion that followed… in some ways that is understandable as someone (MNDOT) had just thrown a big wrench into the works of the Council’s fast moving train. I...
Jane McWilliams: I was pleased to read that the council has decided against a November referendum, but I was dismayed at the randomness of the discussion which followed. It would serve them well to put the whole project on ice for a few...
David Ludescher: Ray, It might happen now with a number of new Council members and a new City Administrator, especially if this Division Street site is a real, and not a fanciful, option. It sounds as if the City Council still doesn’t...
Sandy Vesledahl: We will be selling luminaria’s on Bridge Square during Crazy Daze for Relay for Life of Rice County. If you would like to purchase one to be lit at this year’s event to honor a loved one who has been affected by...
kiffi summa: Forgot to mention that I believe this agenda item was titled specifically to avoid controversy. It is true that the position also entailed the Welcome Center duties , that may have been the majority of the job’s hours, but...
kiffi summa: Was doing the Observing for the LWV… so yeah… Council voted 4-3 to table ’til the Aug 3 meeting. C. Pownell had asked C. Zweifel to table the issue (Zweifel had asked for the reconsideration) because C. Pownell...
Tracy Davis: Funny, Griff, I posted this link on the wiki thread before I saw you put it here!
David Henson: Tom, food prices have fallen for years and years (decades and decades) in the USA (free market). And the government in every country mentioned for riots has grown so your cause and effect seems either driven by an emotional...
Griff Wigley: I forgot to tell Tom to link to his Writer’s Notebook blog: http://tom-swift.com/weblog/ I’ve added it to the bottom of his blog post above.
Griff Wigley: Kaufman has a blog and he’s got the pdf of his Food Bubble article on it. His blog has links to other media that have covered the article.
Tom Swift: Here’s one response to those numbers, Griff: “If we use the ratio from the last quarter, it implies Amazon has sold around 22 million Kindle books so far this year. That’s just the equivalent of 6 percent of the...
Griff Wigley: NY Times: E-Books Top Hardcovers at Amazon Amazon.com, one of the nation’s largest booksellers, announced Monday that for the last three months, sales of books for its e-reader, the Kindle, outnumbered sales of hardcover...
Bright Spencer: Rob, I read about half and skimmed thru the other, I have never liked to read through the excess of words that are often set before us because people are getting paid by each word they write. I will give myself a chance to...
Tracy Davis: I met with Rhonda Pownell yesterday on another issue and asked her about this. From her comments I wondered again whether the Council was given adequate and thorough enough information upon which to base their decision....
Jessica Paxton: Wow. These are stunning. Too bad the City didn’t consider looking in its own back yard and hire someone like Mark to produce its promotional video….
Maybe some of these could work here….?
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City, Environment, Gov't & Policy, ~Uncategorized 
health, streets, transportation 
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