RNeighbors blogs

Neighborhood Associations Sponsor Community Forum on Shootings

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:20:44 -0500

The Eastside Pioneers, Meadow Park and Slatterly Park Neighborhood Associations invite you to a community wide forum on the epidemic of neighborhood shootings in Rochester. The forum will be at 7 PM Sept 11 at the Boys and Girls Club, 1026 East Center Street, in the gym. These are some of the local officials that will be present: Steve Thompson, director Rochester Police Department Narcotics and Gang Unit, Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem, a representative from Victim Services, City Housing Inspector Susan Legare-Gulden, and Olmsted County Sheriff Chief Deputy Mark Darnell.

Elected officials and candidates for public office are strongly encouraged to attend. Given the time limitations, we will only have time for introductions of elected officials and candidates, there will not be time for speeches.

The Canadian Pacific-Dakota Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Merger

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:55:15 -0500

The Eastside Pioneers Neighborhood Association
(ESPNA) is relieved to hear that no one was hurt
when a Burlington, Northern, Santa Fe (BNSF) train derailed and several tanker cars exploded down in a remote location in central Oklahoma.

The BNSF train was carrying crude oil and ethanol and derailed just northeast of Luther, Oklahoma and north of state Highway 66 at about 2:30 p.m. on Friday August 22, sending a giant fireball into the sky and forcing evacuations within a half-mile of the area.
There were multiple explosions after the derailment and the smoke could be seen across much of central Oklahoma. It even showed up for a time on Advantage Doppler HD, KOCO TV 5, Oklahoma City’s weather radar. Fortunately, the fire and explosions occurred in an area that is primarily rural.

Candidates Forum

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:11:01 -0500

A couple of weeks ago a few members from the Slatterly Neighborhood Association and the Eastside Pioneers Neighborhood Association (ESPNA) were discussing ways we could better serve our neighborhoods.

We thought one of the immediate ways we could help would be to try to provide our neighbors with enough information to make an informed decision regarding a city election. Since we live in the Fourth Ward we thought we would focus on that city council race.

As a convenience to Fourth Ward voters, we decided to host a pre-primary candidates forum, centrally located, on-site, here in the Fourth Ward, Tuesday, September 2, 7:00 PM at the City of Life Outreach Center, 804 East Center Street.

Neighborhood Meeting to Focus on Crime

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:05:34 -0500

The peace and security of a quiet residential neighborhood, within our association, was shattered recently when several gun totting thugs went on a shooting spree leaving in their wake a frightened, bullet riddled neighborhood.

The Eastside Pioneers Neighborhood Association (ESPNA) does not want to see anything like this occur again in our neighborhood or for that matter anywhere else in the city. We would like to invite you to a neighborhood discussion on the shootings at the Boys and Girls Club, Thursday, September 11 at 7:00 PM. We have invited several guests including but not limited to law enforcement, the county attorney’s office, victim services as well as elected officials.

Slatterly Park Neighborhood Sanitary Sewer I&I Update

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:17:58 -0500

The following is an update from the City of Rochester in regards to the Slatterly Park Neighborhood Sanitary Sewer I&I Investigation that is currently taking place in our neighborhood:

a. Our consultant team (WHKS, etc..) has completed nearly70% of the in-house lower level inspections for the first 244 Slatterly Park West homes. This is a good rate and will help us greatly in analyzing the I&I rates.

b. Slatterly East in-home inspection rate is nearing 50%.

c. And we’ve recently begun in-home inspections of the Meadow Park neighborhood …. As this area is a part of the “Slattterly sewershed”

Speakers For Think Green 2008

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:38:28 -0500

The 2008 Think Green fair will include a green expo, workshops, speakers, and children's activities providing you the opportunity to think green in all aspects of your life. Many area partners and sponsors have collaborated to bring this event to Rochester.

Wondering what you can do to reduce your impact on our Earth? To make our world cleaner for our future generations? Here’s a chance to find others with the same questions and join in creating new possibilities for our communities.

Speakers For Think Green

Location: Green Stage

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer
10:00 am

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, author, public speaker, and professor of Justice and Peace studies at the U of St Thomas since 1992, will open the day’s program with reflections on "Opportunities in Crisis: Pathways to Sustainability in the Most Important Decade".

Born and raised in Minnesota, Nelson-Pallmeyer believes that in this time of widespread concern for the future of our nation and our planet, we are experiencing the most important decade in history in which the decisions we make will determine the quality of life for all future generations.

Jack will dialog with us to determine our investment in Minnesota's future. Following his introduction will be a series of 15 workshops covering sustainability in the areas of energy, food, water, soil, landscape and education.

You can read more about him on his website.

Rebecca Kolls
1:00 pm

Popular with viewers in Minneapolis and a standout among other meteorologists because of her on-air gardening tips, Kolls was featured as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show. That appearance caught the attention of executives at Hearst-Argyle Productions, who were searching for someone to host a new nationally syndicated TV series on gardening. Impressed with her television savvy, weather-forecasting background and down-to-earth nature, Hearst-Argyle executives selected Kolls to host the program and named it after her. The series was nationally syndicated and carried on local TV stations throughout the country. The series also airs on the Home & Garden Television Network on a regular basis.

Rebecca Kolls, Master Gardener, meteorologist and keynoter for the concurrent Rochester Women’s Expo, will appear on the Green Stage to share comments on the significance of "The Green Revolution."

You can read more about her on her website.

R.T. Rybak
3:00 pm

Born and raised in Minneapolis, R.T. Rybak Jr graduated from Breck, and Boston College. He began his career as a journalist, working on the Minneapolis Tribune (later Star Tribune and as editor of the Twin Cities Reader. He also acted as Development Director for Minneapolis' Downtown Council and dabbled in the dot.com industry before being elected Mayor of Minneapolis.

Mayor RT Rybak of Minneapolis brings significant expertise to his presentation, "Sustainable Minneapolis – Living Well".

Minneapolis recently was acknowledged as # 7 in the 2008 SustainLane US City Rankings on greening of the 50 most-populous cities in the nation.

In 2003, Mayor Rybak and the Minneapolis City Council took steps initiating development of the Minneapolis Sustainability Program. In the last three years the City has issued sustainability reports, measuring what they have achieved against their stated goals. It comes as no surprise that Rybak has community organizing roots, nor that he drives a plug in Prius capable of 79 mpg. What might surprise you is what happens when a city cares about what they can do, how they measure progress and how residents are partnering in the process.

Mayor Rybak’s presentation will set the stage for three closing dialogues with elected officials:

You can read more about him on this website.

Workshops

Visioning Sustainability
4:00 pm

We will have 3 final breakout sessions focusing on what we can do as communities through our levels of government. Each session will be facilitated so that you can both learn and contribute.

Visioning SUSTAINABILITY in Rochester
Council members Bruce Snyder and Ed Hruska
Facilitator: Shaun Palmer

Green Idea: Sustainability

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:11:30 -0500

As climate change and energy issues begin to take center stage across world politics and policy, the idea of sustainability is constantly brought up and used to describe various policies and initiatives. The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) eloquently defines sustainable as:

About Think Green

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:53:38 -0500

The Think Green Fair, in conjunction with the Rochester Women's Fall expo, will take place on Saturday, October 18, at the Mayo Civic Center from 9 am to 5 pm. Check out the website for information on some of the impactful speakers and workshops lined up for the event.

Slatterly Park Neighbors Historic SE

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:52:47 -0500

SATURDAYS AT SLATTERLY PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST
For more Information go to:
PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST

ELECTION INFORMATION
2008 VOTER GUIDE

CITY OF ROCHESTER WARD MAPS

POLL FINDER?

SANITARY SEWER I&I UPDATE
Slatterly Park Infastructure Update

FREE Recycling of CFLs

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:45:35 -0500

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are supposed to be better for the environment because they are more energy efficient than comparable incandescent light bulbs. And, although they cost more to buy initially, you usually save money in the long run since they last so much longer. You can even sometimes find rebates to help offset some of the initial cost.

The problem with CFLs is that they contain a small amount of mercury, which means that you should never throw them away with your regular trash. Unfortunately, it's unrealistic to expect the average person to bring dead CFLs to a recycling center and then have to pay to get rid of them. So, what are we to do?

Community Discussion on the root causes of youth violence and gangs and proposed solutions

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:04:44 -0500

What:
The Eastside Pioneers Neighborhood Association (ESPNA) is sponsoring a community-wide discussion on the root causes of youth violence and gangs. Our keynote speakers will seek to shed some light on this subject as well as provide us with solutions to help youth whose destructive belief system results in negative behavior.
Who:
Wendell Amstutz MA, author of A Handbook on Youth Violence and Gangs and Youth Violence: The Belief-Behavior Connection. Wendell spent 23 years as a youth worker on staff with Campus Life. Besides being a national conference/seminar speaker, he is the founder and Executive Director of the National Counseling Resource Center (NCRC). He was co-founder and first chairman of the Community Youth Violence Intervention Council (CYVIC) in Rochester, Minnesota, a city-sponsored task force, created in the 1990’s, geared toward combating street gangs.

Saturdays at Slatterly 1st Annual Bloom Day Event Recap

Thu, 22 May 2008 14:53:42 -0500

I would like to thank everyone who came out last Saturday to enjoy "Saturdays at Slatterly 1st Annual Bloom Day" on Saturday May 17th. We had a great turn out, and expect this event to be an annual event that will BLOSSOM into many more boulevard gardens in our neighborhood, and enhance the curb appeal and walkability of our neighborhood. A special thanks goes out to the Slatterly Park Neighbors Curb Appeal Committee who made this event possible! Also a special thanks to Viola Nursery who donated free flowers for the kids potting station, and to Doris Amundson who donated plants for our perennial plant sale.

Pangea Day Film Watch @ the Library

Tue, 06 May 2008 09:22:19 -0500

Pangea Day Film Watch a worldwide event – May 10, 2008 from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at the Rochester Public Library.

Rochester Minn. On Saturday, May 10th, Rochester Public Library will participate in a worldwide event by hosting a Pangea Day Film Watch. Join us from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. in Meeting Room. B (on 2nd floor) as we join thousands from many lands who will be observing what organizers are calling "this first global campfire, harnessing the power of new technologies to bring people together through film."
For more information, visit www.pangeaday.org.

Update on a Few Items of Interest

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:50:46 -0500

POLICE CHIEF UPDATE ON TWO RECENT SHOOTINGS: Chief Roger Peterson gave the city council a brief update on the two recent shootings in town. Summary is that significant progress has been made on both and, though we are not able to discuss details for fear of compromising the investigations, you should expect to see results shortly. Keep tuned. For those who expressed concern about the shooting in Watson Field due to the close proximity to the condos and apartments well, for what it's worth this area was not a "turf" war nor is it a known gang hangout but was selected as a neutral area to have a scheduled fight. Go figure. Lots of room? Nice grass? Somewhat isolated? ???? Anyway, one of the gangs brought guns and apparently the other didn't so it was a one-sided affair to start with. No one said any of these guys are smart. The second shooting was not related to the first but does appear to have some gang tie in and the cops are on the trail. We have been assured that arrests are imminent and we will prosecute to the full extent of the law ... and we have done so in the past. The mayor is working with several community leaders to see what we might do to address the problem as well.

YOU MAY BE USING PRODUCTS THAT COULD HELP A SCHOOL!

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:50:50 -0500

Many of our schools participate in programs that allow them to turn in box tops, labels or milk caps and receive money or school supplies. We don't suggest you buy these products just to help a school. However, if you're using the products, perhaps you'll consider sending your box tops, labels, milk caps to your local school.

Kemp's Give 'em Five: Collect the specially marked caps or proof-of-purchase symbols from Kemps products, bring them to school, and earn money for the things your school needs. Each stickered milk cap or proof-of-purchase symbol is worth 5¢, which schools can turn into computers, books, art supplies, etc. http://www.kemps.com/