RNeighbors - Miscellaneous

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.

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?

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.

Gardens, Maple Syrup and Chickens

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:27:03 -0500

Do you like to talk about gardening, planting trees, planting shrubs, yard care, landscaping ideas, harvesting the produce from your garden and more?

The Eastside Pioneers Neighborhood Association (ESPNA) would like to hear from you, just send your thoughts, ideas and suggestions to mlaplante@aol.com We will publish whatever you give us in this regard in our newsletter, on the RNeighbors blog at www.Rneighbors.org. It would make a great discussion topic at neighborhood meetings. We could also trade thoughts and ideas via e-mail. It would be great to see what kinds of ideas we could come up with to enhance neighborhood gardens.

Where is the Love?

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:53:32 -0500

Where did the love go?

Liberal Democrats feign themselves the party of moderation, tolerance and civility. Reality paints a different picture, however. Here is a small sample of headlines within the last day or so on the veritable war being waged between Barack H. Obama and Hillary Clinton for their party's nomination for President of the United States.

Clinton-Obama attacks get personal

"I'm sure that Sen. Clinton feels like she's doing me a favor because she's been deploying most of the arguments the Republican Party will be using against me in November and so it's toughening me up. I'm getting run through the paces here," Obama told The Associated Press' annual meeting.

Minnesota Taxpayer Protection

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:26:28 -0600

"I still have an important tool to restrain taxes and spending. I call it the taxpayer protection pen, otherwise known as the veto pen." - Governor Tim Pawlenty, promising to keep liberal Democrat legislators from "digging into [taxpayer] wallets" during his State-of-the-State speech at the St. Cloud Civic Center

The area liberal DFL legislators' response, as reported in the Rochester P-B was predictable:

"I think it's very disappointing that he's got this extreme rhetoric about using his veto pen." - Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL-30A)

It is Tina Liebling's performance as a legislator that deserves the label "disappointing." How far to the left is Tina when she says that Governor Tim Pawlent's promised use of the veto pen to stem the DFL tide of abusive taxation is "extreme rhetoric?"

Bring It On!

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:16:25 -0600

"We can't be a new story, I'm sorry. I can't make [Hillary] younger, taller, male.''
-- First Husband candidate Bill Clinton at a bar in New Hampshire last Sunday.

Apparently Bill Clinton can't make his wife honest, likable or trustworthy either.

Bill is right about one thing, however. The Clintons can't be a new story. They are yesterday's news. Their life is a bad soap opera trying for reruns. They are the past. And a particularly slimy one at that.

Hillary may very well get the nomination. She is the establishment Democrat after all. Her gender should be irrelevant but she plays the gender card whenever she is in trouble. Hillary uses it alternately to fend off legitimate criticism and engender undeserved sympathy. Parenthetically, when she was elected Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi said it takes a woman to clean up the House (get it?). Think about it.

Racial tensions roil Democratic race

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 22:32:30 -0600

From the Politico

A series of comments from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, her husband and her supporters are spurring a racial backlash and adding a divisive edge to the presidential primary as the candidates head south to heavily African-American South Carolina.

The comments, which ranged from the New York senator appearing to diminish the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement — an aide later said she misspoke — to Bill Clinton dismissing Sen. Barack Obama’s image in the media as a “fairy tale” — generated outrage on black radio, black blogs and cable television. And now they've drawn the attention of prominent African-American politicians.

Green Holiday Lights

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:11:44 -0600

LED lights provide holiday sparkle using a fraction of the electricity of traditional Christmas lights.

Every year I am astonished by the fabulous exuberance of some people's holiday lighting decorations --but I cringe at the thought of how much energy they are burning. I wish the Post Bulletin would give a special award in its holiday-lighting contest for spectacular-but-energy-efficient holiday displays!

Although I am making a concerted effort to significantly reduce my energy consumption, I am still reluctant to give up my holiday lights. Days are so short during our Minnesota winters and all those colorful lights in December really boost my spirits. So, this winter I took the plunge and purchased energy-efficient LED (light emitting diode) holiday lights.

Explorer Will Steger Talks About Global Warming Solutions

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 09:23:01 -0500

2000 Presidential Election Revisited

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:27:45 -0500

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

Number of States won by: Gore: 19 Bush: 29

Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580 ,000 Bush: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million Bush: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore: 13.2 Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: 'In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country.

Gore's territory mostly encompas