Just Food Co-op opens this Wednesday, Dec. 15, 9 am.

See the article in Saturday's Northfield News and the fall construction photo album... photos by Alex Beeby.

The 3rd Annual Northfield Jingle Bell Run/Walk will be held on Saturday December 18th at 8:30 am in downtown Northfield.

See the flyer (PDF) and the press release (continued) for all the details.

ArtOrg will host its third Jazz concert this week at the Rueb 'n Stein. Jazz vocalist Dennis Spears will appear on Dec. 14 from 7-9:30. With Spears will apear Sanford Moore of Moore By Four on keyboard, Steve Jennings on drums and Tony Axtell on bass.

From ArtOrg's press release:

Spears has won acclaim in the Twin Cities area as well as nationally and internationally, appearing with such jazz greats as Carmen McCrae, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Williams, DeeDee Bridgewater and Sarah Vaughn. He lists the music of Nat King Cole, Marlena Shaw, Lou Rawls and Al Jarreau among his influences.

Members of the Northfield Youth Choirs will also sing with the group. The event is free for ArtOrg members. Non-members pay a $5 cover charge.

Several Northfield-area bloggers are participating in a U.K.-led civic leader weblog project called http://www.readmyday.co.uk/blogs">Read My Day.
http://www.readmyday.co.uk/blogs">

L to R: City of Northfield Police Chief Gary Smith, City of Northfield Planning Commission Chair Betsey Buckheit, and Minnesota State Representative Ray Cox at an audio recording session at my house on Friday night. Local bloggers participating:

- City of Northfield Planning Commission Chair Betsey Buckheit
- Northfield School District Board of Education Member (elect) Diane Cirksena
- Minnesota State Representative Ray Cox
- Kathleen Doran-Norton
- Northfielder Scott Neal, City Manager, City of Eden Prairie
- Rice County Board Commissioner (elect) Jessica Peterson
- City of Northfield Police Chief Gary Smith

See this post on the project weblog that contains 11 audio clips (MP3's) from the several of the Northfield bloggers.

Contact me or attach a comment if you have questions about the project.

Let's face it folks, no one really appreciates "spam" (junk e-mail) inundating and taking over their in-boxes. Unfortunately, it's incredibly difficult to avoid. Spammers and scammers are getting very tricky with making certain their junk mail reaches your in-box, and some spam e-mails can be outright dangerous.

EDA President (council-member elect, NCO board member) Scott Davis (L) and Brian O'Connell (Community Development Director for the City) were among those presenting at the Grand Event Center earlier this morning on the proposed Riverfront Development Project.

SMSQ's Steve Wilmot (L) with John Mathern, president of Mendota Homes in Roseville. According to the article in last week's Nfld News titled, EDA holds forum to gather input on riverfront, his company "... has an option to buy about one-third, or 1.7 acres of the site."

See high-res versions of these and a dozen other photos in the Riverfront Presentation photo album.

View/download a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation titled Public Information and Input on the Riverfront Site Redevelopment Goals & Expectations. WARNING: very large (20 meg) document - 26 page PDF.

I've put in a request to city staffers for the other documents shown/distributed at the meeting so that I can post them here... including feedback forms.

I've turned on comments for this post, so feel free to opinionate here. Or join the Nfld ISSUES email discussion list.

1 PM Update: Deanna Kuennen, City Housing & Economic Development Specialist, sent me these additional Riverfront Redevelopment documents for this blog post (all small PDFs):

• FAQ
  
• Handout 1: goal statements sheet for feedback
  
• Handout 2: boundaries map
  
• Meeting flyer/ad

At Monday evening's city council meeting, a public hearing was held to present the 2005 city operating budget. The state of Minnesota did not impose levy limits this year for property taxes, so the city is proposing a property tax increase of 2.5%, at most, for a home that has increased 7.5% in market value. The proposed operating budget is up 10% over 2004, bringing it to about 29 million dollars, most of which will be used for capital projects.

Some of the new projects proposed for 2005 include:

• Pavement replacement (ongoing through 2007) on Highway 3
• Jefferson Parkway Bridge Study
• Riverwalk extensions on 5th Street
• Downtown planning and improvements
• Park planning and improvements
• Veteran's Memorial
• Library carpet replacement

The city council will be taking action on this budget and levy next Monday, December 13th.

Next, the city council approved a policy amendment for Minnesota's Job Opportunity Building Zones (JOBZ) program that Northfield has elected to participate in. This program provides local and state tax exemptions to new and expanding businesses with the hope of stimulating business growth in Minnesota. The city previously did not have policy guidelines for businesses to apply for JOBZ benefits within Northfield's 26-acre JOBZ zone. The city council unanimously approved adopting the new policy. For more information, visit Minnesota's JOBZ program homepage.

Finally, the city council heard the preliminary results of the Spring Creek Flood Plain Mapping study which has been ongoing since 1998. The study set out to create detailed maps of the flood plain which will aid in future development and planning. A floodway has been identified as a result of this study and informational meetings will be held to inform residents of the area. It has been determined that none of the homes in the Spring Creek area are within the floodway so it is likely that flood insurance will not be mandatory and premiums should also go down.

Star Tribune

Found: One box of memories
Andrew Berglund of Northfield called me over the Thanksgiving weekend, looking for help in solving a mystery. About 10 a.m. on Sept. 22, Berglund drove up to the intersection of Hwy. 3 and Greenvale Av. in Northfield. Scattered across the road were more than 100 family snapshots. - William C. Crum, South Section Editor

10:30 am update: Mystery solved. Photos returned to owner.

2:30 pm update: Strib Editor Bill Crum has retitled his column and updated it.
Lost family photos make their way home
I've turned on comments for this post, too.

Northfield Rotarian leads Africa polio effort
Charlie Cogan, who recruits international students for Carleton College in Northfield, has strong ties to the West African nation of Togo. He lived there as a Peace Corps volunteer and Fulbright scholar, and he met his wife, Nalongue, there. There's a sad connection, too: He raised money for a blood-testing lab in Togo after his brother-in-law, in the absence of a lab, was misdiagnosed and died.

Pioneer Press
Students give charters high marks
Nell Holden chose a charter school because she wanted to be excited about learning again. Now a senior at ARTech Charter School in Northfield, she says she likes the project-based learning and in-depth lessons the school offers.

Quam a powerful force
Lois Quam sized up the data describing acquisition candidates in the field of Medicaid managed care. Virginia-based AmeriChoice stood head and shoulders above the rest. ... son,'' says her father, the Rev. John Quam of Northfield. "Now I'm known as Lois Quam's father."

The Northfield EDA is hosting a Public Input Process meeting on the Riverfront Redevelopment project on Wednesday, December 8 at the Grand Event Center beginning at 7:30 a.m. See the Dec 1st Nfld News article titled EDA holds forum to gather input on riverfront and Dan Bergeson's NDDC weblog post for more.

James Gang Coffeehouse & Eatery got the most votes for the best coffeehouse in southern Minnesota in a contest run by Applauze magazine (PDF). That's owner Jim Spaulding above with daughter Sarah. (Click photo for a large, hi-res view.)

Ready to open at the intersection of Hwy 3 and Honey Locust Drive across from Target:

Lighthouse Car Wash

Oil Can Henry's

Arby's

Adrian Wagner, sports reporter for the Northfield News for the past five years, has moved on to other ventures. His last article for the paper was Raiders had sweet season despite sour ending.

Adrian, wife Pam, new daughter Kylie, and their three cats live in Lakeville. Contact me for his email address or phone.

(6 Dec 2004) The Bridgewater Township Council met tonight (from 7-10PM).
All council members were present. Topics included the joint
Dundas-Bridgewater Planning Commission,
streets, township and county roads,
the new grader, and
annexation issues.

Northfield Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kathy Feldbrugge (pictured above on the left with The Art Store's Ann Marie Boyle during last week's Winter Walk), asked us to post this announcement (PDF) about the Chamber's new leadership program.

Kari Sobeck, Director of Sales at Village on the Cannon and a member of the Chamber's planning team, (pictured above on the right at the Chamber's holiday social at the Rueb last week), wrote a guest column on this program in the Nov. 13 Northfield News, titled: New Leadership Program in Northfield.

A random selection of posts in the past week from some of Northfield's civic leadership weblogs:

Chief Smith blogs about Tim Isom, the Emergency Management Director in Northfield.

Kathleen Doran-Norton has two more posts about the I-35/Hwy 19 controversy, as does the League of Women Voters.

The Northfield Downtown Development Corporation has two posts related to the City of Northfield: citizens needed for boards/commissions; and the upcoming meetings on the Riverfront Redevelopment project.

Rep. Ray Cox has posts about a possible special session at the legislature and "independent political mailings."

These are the featured news items in today's Northfield News, as summarized on their news web page.