Locally Grown (LoGro) Northfield

Published January 21, 2010 by Griff Wigley

Be careful if you reject the idea of an earthquake as God’s judgment for sin

God in Judgment Yesterday’s Strib has a letter to the editor by Northfielder and frequent LoGroNo commenter, John George, on “how earthquakes can be God’s judgment for sin.” (See full text below.) I’m hoping John will chime in here with a longer explanation.

As an atheist, it makes no sense to me, of course, and I last blogged about God’s role in natural disasters back in 2007.

But for those of you who do believe in God and who might quickly dismiss John’s assertions, consider how often you pray or participate in prayers that ask God to intercede in some way in your physical world or the physical world of others.

Reflection Religion

Haiti earthquake prayer

Published January 20, 2010 by Griff Wigley

Soon to be 100 years old

No, not Northfield Public Library Board Chair Margit Johnson, though she, too, is getting up there. (I know, she hardly looks a day over 75.) It’s Northfield’s Carnegie Library that’ll…

City

Library Centennial Celebration Margit Johnson Northfield Public Library

Published January 20, 2010 by Griff Wigley

Photo album: downtown Northfield dressed in hoar frost at night

I’ve got too many daytime hoar frost photos to sort through before I publish them so instead, here are some photos I took early this morning (6-7 am). The glow from downtown’s streetlights on the low cloud ceiling provided just enough contrast.

See the album of 18 photos, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:

Photos

hoar frost weather

Published January 18, 2010 by Tracy Davis

Open Meeting Law: What it means, what it doesn’t mean, what it might mean

There’s been another local fracas recently referencing Minnesota’s Open Meeting Law. I thought I’d take a crack at offering some relevant links, all in one place, to help make sense of it all.

The text of the law itself is found in Minn. Stat. §13D.01. However, as often happens, what people think the law says may not be the way the OML has been interpreted by the Minnesota courts, and court interpretations form precedent that is used in applying the law to other cases. People should be cautioned against making declarative statements about whether the OML was violated in a particular situation based only on their own reading of the law.

City County Gov't & Policy State Townships

Open meeting law

Published January 18, 2010 by Griff Wigley

On using Twitter and Facebook with a blog: It’s Complicated

This sandwich board in the front of the Goodbye Blue Monday caught my eye, not only because it’s clever (“Look for us on Facebook & Twitter – but you won’t find us”) but because I’ve been trying to get smarter about how Twitter and Facebook can complement a blog.

Blogosphere Clients (Griff's) Technology

Brian Clark Chris Brogan Chris Garrett Facebook Kim Woodbridge Locally Grown Seth Godin Twitter Wigley and Associates

Published January 17, 2010 by Tracy Davis

City Administrator Joel Walkinski’s Friday Memo of 1/15

The “Friday Memo,” written by Northfield City Administrator Joel Walinski and various department heads and other City staff, summarizes the staff and department activities for the week. The Friday memos are published and archived in PDF form at the bottom of the City Administrator’s web page.

Friday’s memo can be found on the memo page for the week. (This week’s memo has already been mentioned in the LoGro discussion, “The fight with Waterford township“) Items of note include:

At Joel Walinkski’s request, City Attorney Chris Hood wrote this memo on Open Meeting Law and the allegations reported in the Northfield News, concluding that the conduct of the City Administrator and the City Councillors in this particular situation did not violate the Open Meeting law.

Read MoreCity Administrator Joel Walkinski’s Friday Memo of 1/15

City Townships

Friday Memo Joel Walinski

Published January 16, 2010 by Griff Wigley

Northfield’s library expansion: a nicer grocery store or a better kitchen?

Looking at the December 2009 Library Expansion FAQ (PDF) has started me wondering:

To what extent has the plan for the expansion taken into account the need for libraries of the future to function less like grocery stores and more like kitchens?

City

library expansion Northfield Public Library

Published January 15, 2010 by Griff Wigley

Red Cross hits home run with website for blood donation appointments; use it for next week

Last fall, I whined loudly with my Red Cross mishandles a blood donation appointment blog post. Now it’s time for kudos.

Local volunteer Cindy Anderson (pictured here from a 2008 blood drive) phoned me last week about scheduling an appointment for next week’s blood drive. I told her I preferred to make an appointment via their website and she graciously called back a day later with the details. It works slick. A day later, I even used it to change my appointment time. Here are the links/steps:

Civic Orgs

blood donation Cindy Anderson Red Cross Sandy Pieri

Published January 14, 2010 by Griff Wigley

Hoar frost photo album coming

I spent hours on Tuesday morning taking about 300 photos (some macros) of the spectacular hoar frost, mostly around downtown but also a few at St. Olaf and Malt-O-Meal. Here’s…

Photos

hoar frost

Locally Grown (LoGro) Northfield Posts