Legalectric

The wall is UP.  The street is paved, and the sidewalks were finished today!  Like WOW!  Next week they fill in the boulevards, and do something with that hill behind the retaining wall.  Almost… almost…

And the good news is that now we’ve got drainage that won’t turn the sidewalks into a skating rink, and the pole for the Little Free Library and light is now installed!

And so says the STrib:

Willie & the Bees buzzed for first gig in 14 years

Time to hit the road and jump on the LRT!

Stephanie Henricksen has been a friend, activist, cohort, and client on so many land use issues for so long now, and though I’d seen her “Farm Art” show that she put together with many other farm and agriculture focused artists, I’d not seen a room full of her work… until today.  And apparently is was a side of her that many in Northfield did not know existed!  So good to fill them in.  It was the last day of her “Retrospective” at the Northfield Arts Guild.  That’s Stephanie in her “winter” hat discussing her work:

One day we were in my office talking about the Target development just south of Northfield, and, well, it was a spirited discussion, and I leaned back snorting and CRACK!  My chair broke, I went flying over backwards, hootin’ and hollerin’ all the way to the floor.  A few days later she comes in with a drawing of it, which I have to this day.  I also have an evocative photo of Stephanie, taken by David, on my wall, of her sitting with three of her many ducks who were assassinated in a drive by shooting just after she’d published an editorial about a local land use project — a price of her advocacy.  She’s had other incidents, including a sow’s teats skinned off and left in her mailbox, a rib cage stuck on her fence post, during her work on feedlot regulation.  She’s well known for her activism, but unfortunately, not so much for her art.

Oh, and did you know she’s an alto sax player too?

And some others from the exhibition:

This is her mother out in the yard:

This was one of my favorites — a squirrel ring toss!!!

This one was to be a “Madonna and Child” which she said just wasn’t working until she put her dog in:

And here she is again, Stephanie Henricksen and friends:

And from my personal collection from a much appreciated thank you note she’d sent in the heat of a tough struggle, after we’d made some progress on a land use issue.  I think we’d gotten a permit stalled out in Rice County with a petition to the EQB for environmental review:

If you have anything at all in the way of material possessions, odds are that it was brought to you by a trucker, or the pieces you made it with were brought to you by a trucker.  If you eat, unless you grew it on your own, odds are it was brought to you by a trucker.

There’s always been a truck driver shortage, despite yahoos like Rick Brandt at W&S (that’s Wicked & Sadistic) saying, “The driver is the most easily replaceable part of a truck.”  Now, it’s worse.  The Hours of Service rules are tighter — you read these and let me know if you can comply!  Plus trucks are computerized, meaning logs are on the computer, if the truck is rolling down the road, the computer says you’re driving and you can only do so much of that in a day.  Insurance companies are probably more strict about who companies can hire, what kind of driving record means rejection.  And as always, it means being away from home so long that home becomes your truck.

In today’s STrib:

Trucking firms, short of drivers, are stretching to find more

On the flip side, pay is more than twice what it was as Reagan deregulated trucking in 1983.  And trucks are nothing like the cabovers with arm strong steering and hockey puck suspension of that era — nowadays, everyone’s got a hood and a rumpus room, usually a fridge, and of course the aforementioned computer which isn’t exactly programmed for fun or enlightenment, just work.  Fuel mileage has also changed, where 7 mpg is now not that unusual, and you won’t see the black clouds of eye-stinging emissions, what with low sulphur fuel and “Diesel Emissions Fuel” to further limit sulphur output.  Loads are better, with shipper load, and mostly receiver unload and when they want it broken down, lumper fees are paid without a hassle.

Still, “easy” as it is, it makes for a long week…

Lots of interesting filings last week — in this case, the Public Utilities Commission has deemed the Aurora Solar application complete and has referred it to the Office of Administrative Hearings for a “summary” proceeding, but more specific and detailed than that:

PUC Order_Complete-ReferralOAH_20149-103265-01

Short version: And they’ve not appointed a Task Force, although there is an opening if people interested in one want to request it.  See p. 4 of the order above. Now how will this be affected by Xcel Energy’s filing looking for essentially reconsideration of their resource plans and acquisitions:

Xcel Compliance Filing_CN-13-606_20149-103251-02

Here’s the Application:

App_20147-101312-02-1

The files with the maps are TOO LARGE to post, so here are links, I’ve got them in two pdfs, but there there are many broken down.  Just go to the docket via PUC SEARCH DOCKET LINK, and then search for 14-515 (“14” is the year, “515” is the docket).

There was interest and concern here in Goodhue County originally when it was proposed for an industrial park that was developed, with infrastructure in, but not yet constructed with buildings.  Zumbrota didn’t think that was the best use for that area, and I’d agree.  It’s now been sited in a corn field to the north of the northwest quadrant of the Hwy. 52 and Hwy. 60 interchange.  Much better!

It apparently used to be a gravel pit: