That’s the noise “modeling” for Freeborn Wind. Noise modeling is a big problem, and NOISE from wind turbines is an even bigger problem. I know this well — when working for two Bent Tree families, we got the first, and ONLY so far, landowner buy-outs due to violation of the Minnesota noise standard.
A bill has been introduced in the Minnesota House, HF 1859, to address the noise problem by requiring one mile setbacks:
Our counter yesterday said 145 people protesting on Friday. We’re here every Friday, 4-5p.m., and every Friday there are more! Starting with 6 or 7, then 15, then 30, then 60, then 98, and now 145!
Here’s how Xcel describes this project sprawling across southern Minnesota:
Today, the Initial Comments were due on the “need” side of this transmission line application. And here they are!! Mine first — I’m representing the Prehn Family and No CapX 2020, and then in order of appearance:
So I fired off a missive to the DNR and requested and HAVE RECEIVED the “Exploration Plan and Notification for a diamond drilling and geophysical programs on State Leases” that was filed by Talon on March 13, 2025. It’s only 7 pages, so why not just post it? Seven pages doesn’t require a “summary.” Here ’tis:
And the list of affected entities (FYI, the US Agency for Global Media has already silenced the Voice of America!):
Seeing that in the Executive Order, I’d asked about federal funding of our Library (as I did about federal funding for the City, no response yet) when I’d posted on Red Wing Convo. No one knew anything about it, though there was support for the Library, and also some goofy posts showing abject ignorance of the activities of DOGE.
It took a while, but today I received a response from our Library Director:
Our libraries are a crucial part of our social fabric. Libraries provide services far beyond when I got my first library card at least 65 years ago when my mother would haul me to the Linden Hills Library and fill the back seat with books (the library encouraged my reading, unlike the school, which tried to limit me to “children’s” books, way beneath my reading level).
Libraries are a social hub, providing reading programs for kids, public meeting rooms and conference rooms, a polling place, computer access, copies, newspaper archives, maps, magazines, ebooks on Libby, reference materials, ordering materials from other libraries… what am I forgetting??? Loss of library funding means that the dollars must be made up from somewhere or services suffer. I know I’d spoken about the importance of library funding during budget time, and the City didn’t even fund the additional staff time requested! That’s as absurd as not funding the full $10,000 for the homeless while leasing airport hangars for annual rates of just a few hundred dollars.
It’s National Library Week next week! Do show our libraries the support they deserve.
