Feedback: Curfew, Runners, Drug Cases

This is a weekly feature called "Feedback Friday" where we let you know what your neighbors have been saying on our Facebook page, to us on Twitter and in the Northfield Patch comment section about the stories from the past week.

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Kathy Phillipsen
Northfield has a curfew law, and they do enforce it. My son got a warning at 16 for it. He wasn't out causing trouble, they simply got hungry and went to pick up a pizza after midnight on a weekend. I grew up in Minneapolis, and never even knew there was a curfew in place, and can now confess that I was out past curfew. I think it matters when it's a city or county that enforces it, and I'd rather see law enforcement dealing with DUI drivers than curfew for kids not causing trouble. 

Kathy Phillipsen
A statewide curfew would allow, and require, that all law enforcement agencies enforce a curfew. Will there be enough hands for all police to do so? Most kids are good kids with the sense to stay out of any big trouble, even if they seem rowdy. If they are going to cause trouble no matter what time of day they will do so as far from the eye of their parents and authorities as they possibly can. Curfew won't make "bad" kids good. And to have it be uniformly enforced - well, what's a hypothetical state wide law? For a law to be equally and fairly enforced there would have to be the manpower to do so. Don't see that happening, especially in the communities that have laws already in place and don't enforce it. 

Haley K
I live off a back road that has sharp curves and no shoulder, it also has a paved trail that runs along it. It amazes me that joggers choose to run on the road, yes the road, because the two feet of gravel before the ditch drop off is not where they run, even though a nice paved trail is in place for this purpose. And the city spent how much money on a bridge so that people can avoid the road? Roads have cracks, ice, salt, sand, and vehicles, so icy, snow-packed or cracked sidewalks are not an excuse for using the road. If conditions of the sidewalk are an issue, Northfield has plenty of fitness gyms available 24/7. Tripping on a crack in the sidewalk will be safer than tripping on one in the road and falling into traffic. If feeling safe on a trail is an issue, go at a time of day when you feel safe. Because jogging at 5:30 in the morning on a highly traveled road is not any safer. We are required to share the road with bikers, not walkers, joggers or parents pushing their kids in a stroller, which is why you are provided with sidewalks and trails. It should be a law for joggers to use the sidewalk; unfortunately it will take several deaths for one to be put into place. 

James Ingham
I appreciate all of the comments, makes for good discussion. Many runners are courtious and wear High Vis Vests or shirts. Bikers are suposed to obey ALL traffic laws, (that may be another editer note). But I am referring to the people who take over the lane of traffic, being unsafe and disreguarding autos. If you are one of the safe runners, Thank you. You make our job easier. Drivers, please put up the phone, pay attention, be safe. Runners, if there is an unsafe walkway, notify the city. They can assess the situation and address it. Thank you all, keep up the conversations and most of all, stay safe. 

Jim Sanders
Why do we keep wasting time an money on the War on Drugs, with the cost of enforcement, the cost of courts and incarceration, and these kinds of things happen, and it is a war we are losing and will never win. Seems like just a way to keep the cops busy instead of speed traps for the honest folks and "real" crime.