Larson's Printing put up this banner on their new building last week. Erbert & Gerbert's is a sub shop.

Phase II of the Bridge Square crosswalk construction has started.

(L) City workers TJ Hienricy and Steve Petricka put up the signboard on Bridge Square yesterday. It was designed by (R) Jim Bohnhoff, Bohnhoff Designs. Jim did the buttons, too.

See the high-res versions of these and several more new photos in ever-growing crosswalk photo album.

(L) Chillin' at the Goodbye Blue Monday; (R) hats, face-painting, and pals

(L) The Alaskan donut gang at Quality Bakery; (R) Hacky sackers.

See the high-res versions of these and other photos in the Crazy Daze photo album.

A team of visitors from the U.K. visited with Northfield and Eden Prairie officials tonight at the Contented Cow to discuss e-democracy projects in the two cities.

(L to R) Eden Prairie City Manager Scott Neal, Isobel Harding from the North Lincolnshire Council and the Local e-Democracy National Project, Northfield citizen blogger Alex Beeby, NCO chair Bruce Morlan, Northfield Police Chief Gary Smith, Eden Praire Police Chief Dan Carlson, and Julian Bowrey, Office of the U.K. Deputy Prime Minister. Not pictured: Dylan Jeffrey, also from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

(L to R) Citizen Wig (yours truly), Isobel Harding, and Steve Clift, Publicus.net in Mpls.

See high-res versions of these photos and others in the U.K. visit photo album.

Friday 1:30 PM update. Scott Neal has now blogged the event, too.

(L) Iris Lee, Northfield News reporter, with a bargain. (R) Just Food Coop sign, promoting their events for the day (see the photo album for a close-up of the events listing.)

(L) Nicolay , Josh, & Nathan dispensing sheep cheese from Shepherd's Way Farms; (R) Switzer's Nursery

The Blues Brothers from the Carleton College Alumni Office: Anthony "Splat" Pierre and Brent "Rex" Nystrom.

See the high-res versions of these and other photos in the Crazy Daze photo album.

It's not even 8 am yet and the shoppers (99% women) are out in force on Division St. in downtown Northfield.

(L) Scott Davis, EDA prez and candidate for 2nd Ward City Council, teams up with (R) Tristan Cox, son of House 25B legislator Ray Cox, to put First National Bank of Northfield head honcho (C) Dave Shumway into a political sandwich from which he was eager to escape.

Ross Currier, emperor of NDDC, with an Atkins-unfriendly Alaskan donut from Quality Bakery. Note the strategic biting pattern.

See the high-res versions of these and other photos in the Crazy Daze photo album. I'll be adding photos occasionally throughout the day.

Today's Northfield News: Seven filed for school board by Iris Lee.

"Three of the candidates are current board members Eduardo Wolle, Regina Zakrajsek and Wendy Smith, who are all seeking re-election. Ruth Dahl is not seeking another term. The other candidates are Kathryn M. Hargis and Mike Berthelsen who both filed last week. Diane Cirksena and Paul L. Hager filed shortly before the 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday."

See the calendar listing for music events in the area this weekend.

Nordic Jam

Jon Bjork

Marnie Whillock benefit, with many musicians including Steve Cloutier and Mike Hildebrandt.

George Kinney (upper left) and Warren Ringlien (lower left) presented to the Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) tonight about the concerns raised in the ISSUES discussion list over the past two months regarding the burning of brush at the compost site.

Also visible in the photo to the right of George Kinney: City Council member Kris Vohs, Public Works director Heidi Hamilton, and Mayor Keith Covey. To the left of George: Bob Johnston of Malt-O-Meal, Chair of the EQC (white shirt); Lisa Lukis (white t-shirt). Also in attendance: Kirsten Melby, Joey Robison (CRWP), Margo Underwood and Randy Bongaard, Waste Mgmt.

As of 5 PM today, the candidates for Northfield City Council are:

Mayor
Lee Lansing
Galen Malecha
Betsey Buckheit
Phil Anderson

Second Ward
Greg Colby
Scott Davis

Third Ward
No one filed for CC Lindstroth's seat

At-Large
Kris Vohs
Victor Summa
Jon Denison

The primary is Sept. 14. General election: Nov. 2.

Find the candidates (2)! As the 5 pm deadline approached, Stephanie Hendrickson, Victor Summa, Carol Roecklin, Dan Freeman, and Alex Beeby clustered in Finance Director/City Clerk/Election Czar Karl Huber's office at City Hall.

As of 5 PM today (according to the Secretary of State's candidate web site) the candidates for Rice County Commissioner are:

District 1
Joseph M. Adamek
Jacob (Jake) Gillen
Bob Harer
Heather Robins

District 2
Dave Delong
Dan Freeman
Jessica Peterson
Craig Redalen

District 3
Donald T. Olson
Milt Plaisance

District 4
David Albers
Steven R. Bauer
Jon Hansen
Donald D. Kelly

District 5
Jim Brown
Kathleen Doran-Norton

5:42 PM Update: be sure to see Charter Commission member Alex Beeby's attached comment re: the open 3rd Ward seat.

Wed. 6:15 AM update: See Carol Roecklin's article in the Northfield News: Several candidates file on last day.

Click the image for a full-size view of the scheduled events for Crazy Daze. See the NDDC weblog for more details.

I've started a photo album of area memorials that are in public or semi-public places like the above Marc von Trapp memorial in the Carleton College lower Arb.

Contact me (attach a comment or use our Contact form) if you know of other area memorials that should be included in the collection.

Kathleen Doran-Norton, candidate for Rice County Commissioner District 5, has a new candidate weblog provided by NCO's blogosphere project. She made her first blog post last week.

Thanks to Scott Schumacher for helping her get it launched.

Steve Clift, of Minneapolis-based Publicus.net, is hosting e-democracy officials from the U.K. this week and after meeting with edemocracy projects in the Twin Cities, they'll be spending some time in Northfield learning about NCO and Northfield.org.

Visitors include Dylan Jeffrey and Julian Bowrey from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Isobel Harding from North Lincolnshire Council and the Local e-Democracy National Project.

Joining us:

1) Eden Prairie City Manager (and blogger) Scott Neal, former Northfield City Administrator and frequent participant in NCO's time-limted, online community forums from 1996-2003;

2) Eden Prairie Police Chief (and blogger) Dan Carlson.

3) MN State Representative (and blogger) Ray Cox, former Northfield School Board member and frequent participant in NCO's time-limted, online community forums.

One of the topics of discussion on the ISSUES discussion list is the burning of brush at the composite site.

George Kinney, chair of the Cannon River Watershed Partnership is bringing the issue before the Environmental Quality Commission's monthly meeting on Tuesday night (7 PM, NCRC, 2nd Floor). Any interested citizen may attend.

Terri Church has worked at the compost facility for five years and is one of the people responsible for this garden at the entrance. All the plants were originally retrieved from the compost pile. Click the photo for a high-resolution version.

To join the discussion, subscribe to the ISSUES list. There are 64 area citizens currently on the list.