It’s time to take a few moments to remember a couple amazing Leos – Jerry and Katze.

Don’t thank me. Thank Jerry. by Eric Francis.
Here’s Jerry’s natal chart.

His photo with a classic understated Garcia quote was on my desk as I worked my way through a B.A. in a Peterbilt or Kenworth. “You can feed the dog and pursue that goal at the same time… it just takes a little extra effort.” He died as I was loading in California on my last round before opening my office.

jerry_garcia_tribute.jpg
From www.fuelinjectednorbies.com

And Katze, August 6, 2000, to August 14, 2002. What a bitch she was…

Katze 1_edited.jpg

Katze 2.jpg

In an ongoing Northfield Issues List discussion about the City’s website redesign and recent appropriation of another chunk of change, aptly entitled:

Website uncovered or the True E-Northfield Story

Adam asks an important question:

> Is this a document that the city can legally hide from the public?
> I’m doing some research on it right now, but I thought that I’d ask.
>
> Adam
> —
> Adam Gurno
> adam[at]gurno[dot]com

I succinctly advise:

Send the City a request, specify you’re asking for it under the Data
Practices Act – they’ve got 10 or 30 days to comply, can’t remember which.

I get this response:

Your request to the ISSUES mailing list

Posting of your message titled “Re: [Nfld Issues] Website
uncovered or the True E-Northfield Story” has been rejected by the list moderator. The moderator gave the following reason for rejecting your request:

“Your message was deemed inappropriate by the moderator.”

Any questions or comments should be directed to the list administrator at issues-owner@nfld.us

Northfield’s eDemocracy in action — I guess it’s inappropriate to advise someone of how to obtain documents under the Data Practices Act. Ja, and under the Bush Administration, exercising Constitutional Rights is terrorism, don’t cha know!

horsesasses.jpg

Here’s my new buddy, Kri, who’s staying at the Humane Society of Goodhue County. She’s looking for a new home.

Kri1.JPG

Kri’s seven years old, a spunky girl who loves to run, and chase and chew squeeky toys and tennis balls, peppy but not hyperactive. She’s not a Ph.D. in obediance, but she knows sit, down, comes when called, drops toys to be thrown, and walks nicely on a leash after she’s been run a bit. Doggie school would be a good way to bond with her. I’ve started using a reward method that worked so well with Kenya and we went through three hot dogs and she’s a good learner. She’s the same age as Ken, but thicker, a “big-boned” girl, she’d had pups recently and probably weighs in at around 80 pounds.

Come on over to Red Wing and meet Kri! She’s $75 plus a $50 deposit until she’s spayed. Here’s her Petfinder link.

Humane Society of Goodhue County
1213 Brick Avenue
Red Wing, MN 55066

(651) 388-5286

Here she is, doing that shepherd camera shy thing:

Kri2.JPG

The Humane Society of Goodhue County has other dogs and cats too. Here they are. And they really need a dryer — can you help?

The Northfield News fit my Guest Column in this week:


Rice County Admits Inconsistency

Notices went out late last week to landowners in the Interstate 35 rezoning area bounded by Minnesota Highway 19 on the north, and surrounding the Rice County Road 1 intersection in Forest Township.

The Rice County Planning Commission will “consider Amendments to the Rice County Comprehensive Plan. The three amendments are to maintain the consistency between the Rice County Comprehensive Plan and the Rice County Ordinance.” This will occur at a meeting of the Rice County Planning Commission at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 11. So the notice says.

This hearing notice is a tacit admission that the changes rammed through last December for the I-35 rezoning are not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, which is what citizens have been saying since that time. Yes, it’s good Rice County has finally figured out that they’re acting contrary to their Comprehensive Plan, but what does it mean? It means that they need to start over at the beginning and do it right. And doing it right means that this time they must incorporate the views of the various constituencies in the county who were shut out the first time around.

Where the Comprehensive Plan does not allow the zoning that the county wants, their efforts toward that end are not legitimate. The resolution for the I-35 zoning change is not worth the paper it’s written on, and the county must start from scratch. Another impact of this admission is that the argument that a “no build” analysis is not required — that the Comprehensive Plan in effect at the time the Alternative Urban Areawide Review was ordered is consistent with this change –that argument goes right out the window along with the illegitimate zoning resolution.

What does this mean for the citizens and governments of Rice County that were shut out of this process? Northfield, Dundas, Lonsdale, Faribault, are you paying attention? Now there’s another opportunity to stand up and be heard. Maybe, finally, your positions will be taken into account by the county commissioners who are supposed to represent them.

Maybe the county commissioners will stop putting special interests above their constituents’ interests and put the brakes on 11.5 million feet of commercial development that has not been proven needed by any market analysis.

Maybe the county commissioners will put the brakes on development that requires over $17 million dollars of water and sewer infrastructure, plus unknown millions in road and electric infrastructure. Maybe the county commissioners will put the brakes on promotion of development where it has not been determined who will pay these millions.

Maybe the county commissioners will put the brakes on talk of “incentives” to businesses in the form of tax cuts which will not enrich the county’s tax base and which instead cost the county much needed tax revenue.

Is it a coincidence that this notice comes out at the same time that attorneys representing the county are preparing answers to interrogatories, digging through Rice County files as they prepare to defend the county against land-use lawsuits? If that’s what it takes to hold the county accountable, citizens are ready.

It’s time to step back and look at Rice County’s needs and require that any development be independently sustainable, paid for by those causing the development, and not the overburdened residential taxpayers. 11.5 million square feet of commercial development does not belong at the intersection of County Road 1 and Interstate 35. It wasn’t anticipated in the Comprehensive Plan for a reason: This is not where Rice County should put its commercial development. It’s that simple.


— Carol Overland is an attorney and a Northfield business owner.

I guess everybody’s entitled to their opinions, but it seems a bit much to have Rep. Ray Cox evaluating decisions of the Appellate Court! It’s like Speaker Sviggum making pronouncements and threats about campaign law! …sigh…

scales.gif

About the decision that “lets politics into judge races” Ray says:

… I am not pleased with the idea of judges mounting big campaigns financed by a variety of sources and making all sorts of statements about what they would do or rule about particular issues.

I fear that wide-open judicial elections with full-blown campaigns, complete with political brochures, radio and television advertising and candidate forums, will work to lower judge elections to a couple of gut-level sound bites. I could envision judges running for office and being elected on a single issue, such as the death penalty, abortion, or other current ?hot button? issues.

First, I don’t think it would be nearly so binary as Ray paints it. Knowing the label can help because insight into someone’s leanings can be crucial in a case, but party affiliation is just one factor. For example, were I suing Ray’s Northfield Construction Company in Rice County District Court I’d rather know that Judge Johnson is Ray’s brother-in-law! Partisan labels and active campaigns may provide important philosophical information — but as I learned reviewing ballots in the 25B 2002 election recount, party designation doesn’t carry the meaning it did decades ago, and people are crossing party lines in all ways.

But what’s scary is that Ray displays ignorance of or total disregard for the partisan nature of judicial appointments. Earth to Mars, you say right here they’re appointed by THE GOVERNOR!!! Impartial???

I?ve said before that I think Minnesota has an excellent judiciary as well as a process for appointing judges to vacant positions. Our judge screening committee is fair and impartial. They forward names to the Governor to make a selection to fill a vacancy.

First the Roberts blog, now this… is Ray applying for a toadie spot, like Kennedy’s recent outstate campaign, to support Bush’s pick for the Supremes?

horsesasses.jpg