This is an annual favorite for kids and adults alike. Come to downtown Loretto for a unique Christmas experience as the Canadian Pacific Railroad brings its Holiday Train through town!

Once in a while it can be a tight squeeze getting in the lane to head south.  There also is a 4 way stop light at the intersection of Highway 55 and County Road 116.  That’s usually good for a back up in the morning that could run anywhere from a 1/4 to a 1/2 mile long.  Sometimes I’ve seen it over 3/4s of a mile long.  Today it was probably just running 1/3 of a mile.

Back to the story…I pull out of the neighborhood and step on it pretty good to get my car up to 45 really quickly.  The speed limit is 55 but people have to start slowing down because of the traffic back up at Highway 55.  The guy in the Audi A4 must have clearly been pissed off that I turned in front of him because he ran his car right up on my rear end.  Clearly it was a threat.  I pulled to the side of the ride and backed off my speed so he could pass me.  As soon as he passed me he had to start slowing down because we were only a few hundred yards away from the other cars that were backed up at the intersection.

So this guy basically drives through my neighborhood (yes, it’s a county road – County Road 116) gets pissed off because I turn out in to the lane – and I did not jeap0rdize his travels in any way.  (It’s hard to get out the neighborhood sometimes so you have to be assertive).  So Mr. tough guy threatens me as I’m driving 4 of my kids to school by coming up on my rear end within a couple of feet while traveling at 45 MPH.  It turns out he didn’t make any real headway because traffic was immediately backed up.

Here’s a picture of the rear of his car courtesy of my new iPhone 4S. (People should be careful how they behave out there…everyone has a camera).

Road Rage in Medina MN Along County Road 116

Any way, if you happen to see a Champagne colored Audi A4 with the Minnesota License plate of BRECHT, he might be a little angry

Andersen Windows announced today that they will be laying off 250 employees out of a total workforce of 9,000.  That’s less than 3%.  The bigger issue is that they see no signs of improvement in the housing economy.

Andersen Windows is a premium window and door manufacturer so perhaps they are being hit as people move down in price and quality in order to save a few bucks.  But that said, the industry overall continues its downward slope.  According to this Star Tribune article, they quote the following, “Window shipments have fallen sharply since 2005 and are expected to fall about 9 percent this year, according to the Window and Door Manufacturers Association. Lower sales for new construction and remodeling are causing the declines.”

It continues to look like there will not be a housing turnaround until 2013 at the earliest.

The Patch has an article on the Wayzata School Board election results.

Wayzata School Board Election Results 2011

Congratulations to all the winners as well as those who threw their hat in to the ring. They are all to be commended!

Related articles

• Eden Prairie School Board Election Results 2011 – Opposition to New School Boundaries Wins the Day! (johnmurphyreports.wordpress.com)

For those coming to this late, this topic has been covered on this blog.  It’s also worth noting that Melissa Krull, the Eden Prairie School Superintendent,  unexpectedly announced her resignation this fall, apparently 9 months early, so she could pursue other opportunities.  I do believe she stepped down of her own volition.  She had accomplished one of her goals which was to redraw the school boundaries so that the idea of neighborhood schools would be a relic of yesteryear in Eden Prairie.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes, and at what cost, to put the district back to the way it was.

Related articles

• Eden Prairie School Boundaries Controversy – Lawsuit Coming? Star Tribune (johnmurphyreports.com)
• Eden Prairie School Superintendent Won’t Renew Contract – Controversial School Boundary Plan not to Blame (johnmurphyreports.com)

Photo credits: Housing Wire

It’s billions of dollars in losses that just continue.  Here’s the story from HousingWire and as well as Craig Kamman.

Related articles

• THE MYTH OF FANNIE OR FREDDIE ACTUALLY “BUYING” MORTGAGES (In other words…check into CONSIDERATION…these are “contracts” afterall) (timothymccandless.wordpress.com)
• Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP II) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Refi Program (johnmurphyreports.com)
• Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Looses $4.4 Billion In 2011 and $4.1 Billion In 2010 (pobeptsworld.wordpress.com)

However, let’s look at the median value of homes.  This includes single family, town homes and condos.  Median prices went from $191,100 in 2000 to $328,300 by 2009.  That’s an increase of $137,200 or 72%.

Plymouth MN Income Data and Home Prices 2000-2009

Think of it another way…$4,740 more in income was able to buy $137,200 more in housing.  That’s 29x leverage.  Phenomenal. And of course, not sustainable which is why we’ve seen the home price declines in the past several years.

Related articles

• Plymouth, MN Median Home Prices Declined by Only 2.3% Year Over Year Through August 2011 (johnmurphyreports.com)
• Plymouth MN New Construction Report (johnmurphyreports.com)
• Top Residential Transactions Plymouth MN – Finance and Commerce (johnmurphyreports.com)