This week’s meeting at the Fort Ridgely chalet marked a significant improvement: the Friends of Fort Ridgely have been invited to the table to talk with the Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Historical Society, and the Nicollet County Historical Society. The productive discussion included an apology for not involving the Friends and the public sooner in the planning process. Now, the Friends will be a significant part of the planning for the park’s future and for preserving the site’s historic importance. Terry Morrow has been involved throughout this situation, working to find a solution that respects the Friends’ and the public’s commitment and that protects the entire site.
Terry Morrow, Kathy Brynaert, and Kathy Sheran met today with Greater Mankato Growth and Southern Minnesota Advocates to talk about the legislative session and the bonding bill http://keyc.com/node/38694
After over a decade of delay, the Mankato MnDOT building is moving forward and will open soon. Terry Morrow and Kathy Brynaert successfully carried this bill in 2008:
Pioneer Press, June 18, 2010
FORT RIDGELY STATE PARK — John LaBatte has ancestors on both sides of the 1862 battles at Fort Ridgely, where a couple hundred soldiers and frontier settlers repelled two Indian attacks on a plateau high above the Minnesota River.
So when LaBatte looks over that battlefield and talks of the ground on which Indians, settlers and soldiers died or were wounded, it’s deeply personal. Especially now, as the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Historical Society push proposed changes at Fort Ridgely State Park that he and others contend would desecrate the site….
The dispute flared last month, when word leaked about the proposal, which received about $800,000 through a state bonding bill approved by the Legislature last winter. Frederickson and Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter, said legislators were unaware of plan details or the existence of local opposition.
They contend the DNR, which runs the park, and the historical society, which operates the fort site, did a poor job of involving the local community early in the proposal.
That’s a fair criticism, Mitchell said. “We could have and should have done a better job of communicating with the public,'’ he said….
At this point, the DNR said it is pushing ahead. But the department emphasized it is keeping options “in play.'’ A meeting involving the two state organizations, the friends group, legislators and others is scheduled for Monday night.
“The thing we’re trying to impress on folks is that all of the decisions haven’t been made here,'’ Mitchell said.
“We’re certainly looking at the project a little bit differently,'’ added Tom Ellig, manager of community outreach and partnerships for the historical society. “But we still think the reasons we started with this initiative are valid reasons to continue to look at it.'’
Morrow, however, said he thinks the process needs to slow down. “It needs to truly set up an opportunity to hear alternative ideas and respond to these objections,'’ he said….
The Uniform Law Commissioners presented Representative Terry Morrow with a Certificate of Appreciation. The Certificate expresses appreciation for Terry’s “outstanding leadership as chief author of the Uniform Arbitration Act.”
MANKATO — As a member of Minnesota’s House of Representatives, St. Peter’s Terry Morrow is familiar with lively discussion.
But the second-term Democrat said he’s had few as intensive as the one he experienced this year at Central High School, the alternative learning center operated by Mankato Area Public Schools.
“They were fantastic,” Morrow said. “These students were on point.”
The classroom visit was part of the Morrow Teaching Fellowship, a program he created this year with private funds. Jeremy Burger, a teacher at Central, was the winning applicant for the first year of Morrow’s program.
Earlier this spring, Morrow visited Burger’s class on critical issues. He told students about his functions at the Capitol and his duties as a state representative. He gave students an overview of the education bill being debated at the time by lawmakers, talked a little health care reform and debated with students about the Minnesota Vikings’ stadium proposal.
But Morrow also said he had a frank discussion about the perception of alternative schools and the students who attend them.
Morrow said that after telling students he would be Twittering about their visit, he said the students’ only request was that he say they were respectful (he did).
In turn, Burger said, students were able to challenge their own perceptions of politicians.
“He connected so well with the kids,” Burger said.
“A lot of students had predispositions about politicians. He changed some of those views for them. He really made a good impression.”
The fellowship program also included a visit to the Capitol for Burger, where he received the equivalent of a backstage pass.
Burger visited St. Paul in early April, on the same day that the health care bill was introduced. Sitting about 10 feet from the speaker’s chair, Burger said he gained a rare perspective of the political process.
“There was about 30 amendments and a lot of discussion back and forth,” said Burger, who teaches communications, health and physical education at Central, in addition to coaching football and wrestling elsewhere in the district. “I got to see and hear everything.”
Burger said Morrow’s involvement with Central melded with an ongoing theme to encourage students to be involved and engaged in the community. He said the school has made a concerted effort to help students view themselves as having a positive role to play.
Burger said Central tried to host at least one speaker per month, from pet groomers to relationship experts to former students who have achieved success. “We want to show students what’s out there and give them a way to connect with the community,” he said. Morrow said the Teaching Fellowship will continue in the upcoming school year. E-mail him at rep.terry.morrow@ house.mn to apply.
Here’s a photo outside my office door. I am very pleased to have the Bode family billboard print that the Minnesota Pork Producers created. This is a great, positive message. I am so grateful to the Bodes for sharing their experience and ideas with me–and for the terrific tour.
