9-7-10    First Day of School, Cola Baseball Curse Continues

Today is the first day fo school in the Willmar area.   Now that I have two kids in college, it's not that big of a deal around the Cola household.   I harken back to my first day of school (1st grade) at Nativity of Mary School in Bloomington MN in September 1968.   I remember two things...standing at the end of my driveway with my brother Bob, nervously waiting for the school bus, and making shadow figures in the street as I waited.  Then I remember making a snowman out of clay with my new friend Mark Adam at school.   Funny the things that stick with you, huh?   As I write this, Q102's Tim Burns is playing his "I trust you'll treat me well" recording of his then 5-year-old daughter about going to school for first time.   She's now 21.   Yes, the eyes are misty.

The Cola Baseball Bathroom Curse hit at Target field again yesterday.   The first time was last month when I took my mom, a big Joe Mauer fan, to a game and she missed his first homerun when she was in the bathroom.   Yesterday my wife and I went to the Twins-Royals game, and in the fifth inning I had to use the facilities.   I closed the stall door, sat down, then heard a big roar and the radio play by play announce Jason Kubel's 2-run homer.   I cursed, then continued my "work".  Only to hear, about 1 minute later, another roar as Jim Thome launched a 480 foot blast that hit the top of the right field flag pole.   I will never use the bathroom at Target Field again.   At least not when the Twins are up!

9-3-10   When news strikes home...Bad Girl...work vs fun

There have been times I've read stories "off the wire" on the air and realized they involved people I know and love.   About ten years ago I read the story of a fatal snowmobile crash, only to realize the victim was a former neighbor from across the street back in Bloomington.  

     This spring was the story of a house in Minneapolis burning after being hit by lightning...that was my niece's house.  

     And over the weekend there was the story of a bicyclist hit by a van in north Minneapolis, sending him to the hospital in critical condition.   I later found out the victim was my sister's boyfriend of about 10 years, Brad.   By the way, he might not make it.   54 years old.  

In the courts section of the Willmar paper today there was a blurb about a 17-year-old girl at the Prairie Lakes Girls' Group Home who was charged with a felony for urinating in another girl's shampoo bottle, and putting the other girl's toothbrush in her pants.   The suspect has genital herpes.  

     This is in the realm of the urban legend about a couple who go on a vacation in the tropics, and when they return they watch the video they shot on their cam corder, only to see a clip filmed by the hotel maids inserting the couple's tooth brushes into various bodily orifices. 

They say if you get a job you love you never have to work another day in your life.   I do enjoy my job a lot, and if I couldn't do this, I would work in Hollywood doing sound effects.  

     When I was about 10 years old, I started making tapes with a cassette recorder, doing fake radio shows and making radio plays, using a record player, sound effects albums from the library and recruiting my brothers and friends for "guests" and other parts.     I still have those tapes, and hope to get them into my computer before they crumble to dust.  

     This week I did some work for the Barn Theatre, putting together a sound effects tape for the upcoming play "The Rabbit Hole".   It reminded me how much I enjoy that kind of work and would love to do it for a living!  

8-30-10    Twin Cities...playground of Willmarites

It seems like this summer more than most I've been "using" the Twin Cities for my playground.   The nice thing about Willmar is we can drive for less than two hours, enjoy all the amenities of a big city, then come home to our nice homes with lower property taxes, lower crime and virtually no traffic jams.  

     I've been to three Twins games at the new Target field, have made many visits to my mom and siblings who still live in "the cities" and this past weekend my wife and I went to the state fair where we saw Rush in concert, and the next day we went bike riding on the Midtown Greenway from Lake of the Isles all the way to the Mississippi River.   And we had dinner at a nice Thai restaurant in the Uptown area.  

     While riding past the Lake of the Isles and seeing the people liesurely canoeing and kayaking in an idyllic setting, I thought how nice it would be to live back in the Twin Cities again and enjoy the parks and city life all the time.   Then reality hit, and I remembered sitting in stand-still traffic on 35W, and I also remember all the beautiful lakes and streams for canoeing back here.   And I remember the pleasures of sitting at Stingers game on a nice summer evening that cost 6 dollars to get in, with free parking.   Target Field, nice as it is, will cost you at least 25 bucks to get in and 10 bucks for parking, if you're lucky.   And enjoy sipping on your $7.50 beer.   Yes, the bike trails in the Twin Cities are first class, but we're doing a good job creating and expanding the trails right in our backyard.  

     I guess the point I'm making is the Twin Cities are a nice place to visit, but I prefer to live here.   Being so close, and with good roads, we truly can enjoy the best of both worlds, and use the Twin Cities for our playground when we want a change from the nice things we have here.  

8-23-10   Murphy's Law Strikes...Michael is gone

In the 16 years I've worked here I try to ride my bike to work as often as I can.   As far as Murphy's Law, I guess I've been lucky...no bike crashes, no major mechanical failures at 5:25 in the morning.   This morning though Murphy got me.  

     At exactly the halfway point between home and the station, I got a flat.   I had four options...fix the flat, try to find a safe place to lock up my bike and run to work, walk the bike to work or walk the bike back home and drive to work.   I opted for number 4.   Didn't want to get to too dirty or sweaty.   Ended up only about 12 minutes late.         

     Murphy hit again August 18th when I took my 85-year-old Mother to the Twins-Oakland game at Target Field.   As the game started, she told me she hoped to see Joe Mauer hit a home run (he had not yet hit any at Target Field).   The fifth inning rolled around and I escorted my mom up the stairs and to the ladies' room.   As soon as the door closed, a huge roar came up from the crowd behind me.   I sprinted to a T.V. monitor just in time to see the replay of Mauer hitting his first home run at Target Field.       

     When my mom came out of the restroom, I gave her the good-bad news.   I comforted her in typical German defeatist fashion...I said if we had been sitting there watching, he wouldn't have hit it!   Oh well...at least the Twins won.

Empty nest syndrome will be hitting me soon.   Sharon and I sent-off my youngest child, Michael, to college yesterday.   We left him in the good hands of the monks and his room mate, Benny Burger, at St. John's University in Collegeville.  

      My oldest son Tony has been gone for 3 years now and visits every now and then.   And Michael has been so busy with work, friends and school activities we've gotten used to him not being around.   Also, he and Tony have spent several weeks every summer with his mother in Sioux Falls ever since I got custody of them in 1995.  

     But it will really hit me that he's gone when I walk by his empty room every day, and see the dust building-up on the floor, and on his shelves.   On garbage day, there will never be any trash in his waste basket to empty.   And there will never be any clothes in his clothes basket to wash.   I better stop now before I start crying.  

     I think maybe this is why I auditioned for the play "The Rabbit Hole" showing next month at the Barn Theatre.   It's about a couple dealing with the death of their only child.   I know it's not a death, but it is, in a way.   The death of my day-to-day function of being a father.  

8-16-10    Farewell Seth, Near No-Hitter

When I got up at 9 a.m. Saturday and heard noise from our Willmar Stinger player Seth Spivack's room, I had a sneaky feeling he had maybe overslept and missed the team bus to Thunder Bay.   But when he came downstairs, we learned Seth's grandmother back in California was battling a life-threatening infection, and Seth had to fly home later in the day to be with her.  

     Thus ended our summer-long experience as a host family for Seth.   We'll miss Seth and his always-cheerful, positive attitude.   I can't speak for him, but I think he had a pretty good time here in Minnesota this year.   Due to injuries and his youth, Seth didn't get into many games, but he totally immersed himself into his Minnesota experience.   It seems everyday or night, before or after games, he was spending time at Lake Andrew, or Green or Foot Lakes, swimming, jet skiing and even fishing.   

     One person who really helped him get acclimated was team mate Jordan Smith of Willmar.   Seth seemed to be one of those guys on the team who may not have gotten a lot of time on the mound but wasn't moping and sulking on the bench...he always seemed to be talking to his team mates and cheering them on.   Through him we got to know some of his team mates like Wally Marcel and Jason Huett.  

     We're not sure if we'll be able to be a host family next year, but we sure enjoyed having Seth around this summer, and going to Stingers games.   I'm going to try and do a phone interview with him later this month.

My son Tony treated me to a Twins' game at Target Field Sunday.   It was a belated birthday gift, and what a gift it was...a no-hitter by Kevin Slowey!  

     Unfortunately, manager Ron Gardenhire took Slowey out of the game in the eighth so he didn't get to finish the task.   I soundly booed the decision.   When Gardy came out to remove Jon Rauch who gave-up the no-hitter, I and about 2/3rds of the 40,000 faithful let him have it.   Later, a public service announcement for Mayo Clinic featuring Gardenhire came up on the big screen and it got booed too...certainly the first time I've seen that happen but it was Gardenhire, not the esteemed medical mecca in Rochester being jeered.  

     Tony and I were sitting up in the 3rd deck but it was still a good view.   My right contact lens started bothering my eye, so I went down to first aid to see if they had any saline solution I could use to clean the lens.   They welcomed me in, sat me down in an exam chair and game me some solution.   I cleaned the lens, and they even gave me some eye wash to soothe the irritated eye, and gave me the bottle to-go.    First class all the way, just like everything else at Target Field!   I'm going back there on Wednesday to treat my mom to a game.  

8-6-10    Target Targetted by gay groups

As a kid, one of my favorite stores was the Target in Bloomington, one of the first Targets in the country.   In the 1990s Target made news by being one of the first companies in the country to grant health benefits to gay employees' partners.  

     Now gay groups are outraged because Target had the unmitigated gall to contribute $150,000 to a group that supports Republican Candidate for Governor Tom Emmer.   They are even hinting they may call for a boycott of Target.   Target has now apologized for the donation, and re-iterated their support of gay employees.  

     Let's not forget, Target is a business, and a big one.   And big business tends to support Republican candidates because of their opposition to tax increases and generally pro-business policies.   They have a right to support whatever candidate they chose, and in this case, the gay groups chose to overlook Target's pro-gay treatment of their employees and instead blast them for trying to do what a good business does...they try to increase the bottom line for stock holders in keep profits up.  

     Pro-gay groups are very vocal pushing their agenda in the media which sometimes makes it look like everyone supports the practice of homosexuality, yet when the issue of gay marriage came to a vote of the public in California, it failed (even though the federal court is attempting to throw the vote out).    The Minnesota Legislature passed the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.   Then-Senator Dean Johnson fought to give gays civil rights protection, a move that gained him censure from Minnesota Republicans and led to him becoming a Democrat.   As Senate Majority Leader, he fought to prevent a public vote to ban gay marriage, a stand that may have cost him his seat. 

     If pro-gay groups do indeed call for a boycott of Target, perhaps people who don't necessarily support the practice of homosexuality should show their support of Target.  

8-3-10   Car shopping hazards abound

Earlier this week I gave a HUGE sigh of relief as I dodged a bullet the size of a bus...or more appropriately, a lemon the size of the old TCF weather ball.  

     My son Mike is going off to college this fall and we've been looking for a new, more-reliable car for him.   On the way to the Twin Cities last week we spotted a car at the side of the road in a small town along the way with a FOR SALE sign in the window.   We looked it over and wrote down the phone numbers on the sign. 

     Later we called them and arranged a test drive.   I looked it over, glanced under the hood and we went for a drive.  It seemed fine except it pulled a little to the left, had a whine under the hood and stalled once.   The air conditioner didn't work and the cigarette lighter was out of order.   But the owners said they had put a newer motor in it last winter and the other problems seemed minor.  

     Yet, before committing to buying it, I said I wanted my mechanic to check it out.   So Monday afternoon we picked up the car and drove it to the shop Willmar.   About 20 minutes later my mechanic called me and said he would not recommend buying the car.   He said the air conditioner compressor was shot and ready to freeze up, the rear breaks were shot, a tie rod was bad causing the car to pull to the left, and it killed on him 3 times as he pulled it into the garage.  

     Okay, we trust him, and decided to nix the purchase.   We called up the owner and said we were driving it back.   On the edge of Willmar, the car stalled on me, so I coasted to the side of the highway and tried to re-start it, to no avail.   I sat for a while, and tried again.   It started, shook and shuddered, and killed again, not to be restarted.   I called the owners and told them where it was, and my wife and I drove away in our other car.  

     Whew!   And to think I almost decided not to have our mechanic look it over.   In the meantime, I still have to find another car for my son.   Oh well, time to pick up the revolver again, spin the cylinder and hope it lands on an empty chamber.   Thanks to our mechanic, the gun fired this week but the citrus-scented bullet missed it's mark.  

7-29-10    Arizona immigration law blocked

As people get older, in my case my 40th birthday, they begin to seriously realize their mortality.   But as I look at how the world is becoming, I sometimes think it's not such a bad time to leave it.   Yes, this is going to be another one of those pessimistic diatribes about the "state of things", so if you want to click to somewhere else I wouldn't blame you.   But here we go....

A federal judge stepped-in yesterday to take the meat out of a law passed by the State of Arizona to help law enforcement get a grip on their hemoraging border.   It seems federal officials on all levels are bending over backwards to try and do all they can to make sure they cater to vocal minority groups whom they rely on for votes to keep them in power.  

     Arizona has a genuine problem and has taken action to try and alleviate it because the federal government apparently no longer has the desire, ability or spine to take action to secure our border and create an orderly system for people to legally come into our country.  

     In Freemont Nebraska, city officials passed a local ordinance to punish landlords who rent to illegal aliens.  The ACLU and other groups have filed lawsuits against Freemont, putting the ordinance on hold.  

     U.S. citizens of color fear they will be unfairly targetted by law enforcement and forced to prove their citizenship, and I acknowledge it is a legitimate fear.   But if the federal government would have the spine to pass a national i.d. for all legal U.S. citizens, no one would have anything to fear.  

     Checking other news, California residents are going to vote legalize marijuana for recreational use, and I have no doubt it will pass.   And groups continue to push for forcing states to recognize and legitimize gay marriage, even when state voters and legislatures vote against it.  

     In the meantime, the leaders of various Christian denominations continue to work to welcome homosexual clergy, despite the vehement objections of their congregations.   And the federal government continues to fail passing any kind of energy policy that weans us from dependence on middle east oil.  

     The federal government is dysfunctional, has been for years, and I believe term limits may be the only solution, so politicians of both stripes can actually pass meaningful legislation without the fear it will come back and bite them at the next election due to the bleating whines of special interest groups.    

7-21-10     Notes on the Habitat Ride

I finished the Habitat 500 bicycle ride on the Iron Range Saturday...I was the last person to finish.   Yes, it's a ride, not a race, but still...last place?   I can offer a couple excuses...first of all...I bought my new bike this April because I thought it would be faster than the Rans Rocket recumbent I rode for the past 7 years.   But the Rans F5 was not.   For one thing, I bought some saddle bags that dragged the air like reverse sails, and added about 10 pounds to the bike when fully loaded.  

     I have reluctantly concluded I don't like the bike...it has a bigger front wheel which makes starting from a dead stop awkward.  And the foot angle is too high due to the bigger front wheel.   It's a good bike, but not for me.  

     Two days into the ride I developed pain in my left knee that went beyond just plain soreness.   I think it may have been because the bike was too heavy with the saddle bags, and because the pedals that I have mate with cleats on my riding shoes and don't allow me to move my feet around and relieve stress on my knees.   No big deal when doing short rides, but after 2 or 3 days of riding for 4 or 5 straight hours, it took it's toll, so that slowed me down.   Later the pain went from my knee to my achille's tendon, which is still sore 4 days after the ride ended.  

     As a result of the knee and achille's tendon pain, I decided to skip the 100-mile-ride around Hibbing on Thursday and rest, and that was a wise move.   On Wednesday I had one of the medical team look at my knee and was surprised to find it was Doctor George Gordon who recently retired as head of the Emergency Room at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar.   And it was his birthday, too.   In the ten years he was here I never met him in person and had to wait until I was riding in the rain with one leg from Grand Rapids to Hibbing!   

     One morning I was riding from Malmo to Aitkin when I saw a black form come out of the right ditch about 100 feet ahead of me.   At first I thought it was a dog, but in less than a second I realized it was an young adult black bear crossing the road in front of me!   I stopped my bike and scrambled for my cell phone to try and get a picture, which snapped just as it disappeared in the woods to my left.   The highlight of my ride took about 20 seconds.  

     In Hibbing, on my rest day, I played a prank on an old classmate from Brown Institute.   "Mike" now sells real estate in Hibbing.   I got ahold of his cell phone number and called him.   I used a fake German accent and told him I wanted to meet with him and talk about buying some lake property.   He said "Sure!  Come on over!   My office is just 5 blocks away from where you are!"  

     So I rode my bike over there and met with him.   I wore my bike helmet and sunglasses and kept up the cornball accent, and he didn't appear to recognize me.  (I hadn't seen him in 18 years).   After he showed me some listings in his office on computer, I told him before we looked at any properties, he "must show me Bob Dylan's house" in Hibbing.   He drove me there, and as I video taped him in front of the house, I spoke some words that only a former "Brownie" would know and revealed myself.   We both broke up laughing, and he said he knew it was me all along.   Bull!   I got him good, and now I have to figure out how to send the video clip to my other former classmates.  

     All in all, it was worth going on the Habitat ride, raising nearly $2000 for a good cause, meeting good people like Gary Peterson, another rider from Willmar, and seeing a part of the state I've never seen before...although all I could see for most of the ride was pine trees along the roadway!  

     By the way, of the more-than-40 fundraising letters I send out, I got only three responses...from my church, St. Mary's, from Al Juhnke and Joe Gimse.   All the rest, all the big businesses, big box stores and all the other churchs in town didn't event send a rejection letter or call.   Oh well.  

7-7-10    The Iron Range Beckons

It's hard to believe next week at this time I'll be halfway through my big bike ride on the Iron Range.   We leave for Hinckely Saturday where Sharon and I will stay at the Grand Casino Hotel.   And Sunday morning I go to Sandstone to begin my 500-mile, 7 day trip to raise money for Habitat for Humanity of West Central Minnesota. 

     Day one goes from Sandstone to Isle, Day Two is Isle the McGregor, Day Three is McGregor to Grand Rapids, Day Four is Grand Rapids to Hibbing.   Day Five is the Hibbing Loop, an opportunity to ride 100 miles in one day.  Day Six is Hibbing to Cloquet, and Day Seven, Saturday the 17th, is Cloquet to Sandstone.   Even for me, this ride looks a little daunting.   If you'd like to contribute, there's one more day.  

     Tomorrow, Thursday, I am bringing all the donations in to Habitat Headquarters in Willmar.   So far about $1300 has been donated, and I thank everyone who has kicked in.  

7-5-10    Spicer is the 4th of July Capitol    

Spicer again proved itself as the 4th of July Capitol.   I was there from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., first arriving just in time to ride my RANS F5 Recumbent in the Spicer parade.   Great turn out, and I never get tired of people saying "nice bike" when they see my "lazy boy on wheels".   I was there to help promote my fundraising ride for Habitat for Humanity, which begins next weekend.   I can't wait!   (By the way, there's still time to donate...call me at the station...320-214-6627.).  

     Next, Sharon came up from Willmar and brought with her our beagle, Sadie, and Tom Spivack of Callabasas California, the father of Seth Spivack of the Willmar Stingers whom we are the host family for this summer.   Tom and Seth had a rocky start to the weekend...Seth came down with an infection in Mankato and spent several hours at Rice Memorial Hospital Saturday!   Tom said he was very impressed with the care his son got at Rice.  

     On Sunday we had lunch at Subway in Spicer next to the bustling Big Kahuna.   We then spent some time at the Arts and Crafts Fair, then headed back to Willmar where I gave Tom a brief tour of the radio station, then picked up Seth and his companion Mallory.  

     Then it was back to Spicer for the Stingers-Moondogs game.   While we were there, the clouds broke up and it was a spectacular evening.   We sat on folding chairs on the warning track like in the old days of baseball.   A lot of excitement as Sean Dwyer hit a homerun into the crowd.   It clanged into and dented the chair just to Tom Spivack's left, and the left fielder went sprawling onto the lap of a child sitting there.   No one was hurt but everyone was certainly surprised at all the fast action.  

     More than 1000 fans jammed into the Green Lake Ball Diamond and left happy after an 8-7 come-from-behind win.   And half-an-hour after the game ended we watched the fireworks from the new outdoor patio at O'neils.  

     Just a great night, and the Spivacks were certainly impressed at all the fun a town like Spicer can provide to a couple of residents from Los Angeles.   A very nice break for them after a stressful Saturday in-and-out of the hospital.  

6-29-10   Rich man, poor man, wet man

On Sunday I rode from my house to Spicer, around Green Lake and back...about 33 miles total.   On the way I rode past the beach at Robbin's Island, Saulsbery Beach in Spicer, and past many private beaches around Green Lake.  

     It's a curious demographic at the public beaches.   Use of Robbin's Island Beach has been shrinking over the years...on some hot summer days it's nearly deserted, and about 80% of the people who still use it are hispanic.   I'm not quite sure why...the water still looks just as tempting, the sand stil looks just as warm.    Saulsbery Beach and park are also now predominantly used by people of color.    Then, riding around the lake, I noticed 100% of the people on the private beaches, in boats and on jet skis were white.  

     I'm not sure what that says about our community.   I guess I'm just as guilty as anyone else...I stopped going to Robbin's Island years ago after taking the kids and being the minority.   I also didn't feel comfortable not knowing what the other people were saying...it seemed like the only word of English they knew started with an "F".         

     Maybe it was a taste of how minorities feel when they go to places frequented by mostly white people...uncomfortable, out of place.   I grew up in the Twin Cities and spent many summer days at the beaches of Lakes Harriet, Calhoun and Nokomis with plenty of black people all around, but felt right at home, maybe because it was a community that had been integrated for many decades.   Maybe that's what it will take in this area before white people start coming back to the public beaches.  

6-21-10    Fathers' Day -Twins

I got my Fathers' Day present early on Saturday when the Twins came back from a sure loss to the Phillies by scoring 5 runs in the 9th, and eventually went on to win the game in extra innings.   That's why a person watches games that are "lost causes" all the way to the end.   Sometimes big comebacks happen, and it's great when YOUR team does it instead of it happening TO you.  

     I agree with our sports director Todd Bergeth...the Twins need to get Cliff Lee from Seattle and give up someone like Blackburn or Baker and Wilson Ramos.   That seems to be the only thing missing to complete the final missing link and make the Twins true World Series contenders.  

Speaking of Fathers' Day, sometimes I wonder why we celebrate this day at all.   When you watch and listen to the popular media, you wouldn't think men are needed.   Lesbians are all over t.v., adopting kids left and right.   Nearly every prime tme t.v. show features a lesbian couple, apparently doing just fine without men.  

     Men are portrayed as stupid, horny and/or dangerous.    On nearly every t.v. and even radio commercial, the women are always the smart, sensible and heroic ones, saving their stupid husbands from self destruction or, at the very least, making a stupid decision.   In nearly every action movie or t.v. show, the "boss" or the hero is increasingly a woman.  

     I can understand giving girls some kind of role model and wanting to build-up their self esteem, but I think it's gone way too far.   As the father of two boys who watch these shows and movies, how can they help but feel their are useless in this society?   I guess we're just supposed to take it.   Well I got news for you...I don't like it, and will chose not to buy any product that trys to perpetuate the myth that men are useless.      

     Popular media is garbage...I challenge anyone to see how the real world is, and see if men are really as useless as the popular media would have you believe, and how truly smart, sensible and heroic every woman is.   Read the crime and court reports...women making great strides...in terms of being just as stupid and dangerous as some men.        

     On Mothers' Day baseball players swing pink bats and every t.v. show has some sort of programming for women.   What do men get on Fathers' Day?   Admonished by the popular media for being stupid and dangerous.   They do, however, like the horny part and play it up whenever they can.  If I've complained about this before, please forgive me...I'm just a stupid and dangerous man.

My wife and I went to see Toy Story 3 the other night.   A great movie and perfect sequel for the franchise.   Each movie has gotten progressively better.   However, I don't think it necessarily had to be in 3-d...I don't think it added anythng to it.   I can't wait to buy it on blue ray and see it again!

6-15-10     Tough lady loses battle

Two years ago my son Michael told me his friend Mike's family wanted to take him to New York City.   All expenses paid.   Of course my wife Sharon and I were very curious why they would want to do that and invited Mike's parents, Bill and Claire, over to our house and talk about it.  

     We had a cookout and ate on the back patio and we had a chance to meet them.   Claire was from Long Island and has family still living there, and that's where they would stay during the trip.   They go there every year, and Mike wanted to bring my son Michael along.  

     After meeting the family, I had no misgivings about Michael going out there with them and having a great experience, which he did.   I found out Claire was a lung cancer survivor and had been fighting the malady for several years.   At the time it was in remission.  

     Unfortunately, about 6 months ago, Michael gave me the bad news...the cancer was back, and had spread to Claire's bones.   It didn't look good.   Claire went through various treatments and made it a goal to see her son Mike graduate.  

     At the Willmar High School Honors Banquet in late May Bill and Claire were there...Claire in a wheelchair, looking ashen and weak, but there nonetheless.   By her appearance, I told myself she would be lucky to make it to graduation, June 6th.  

     But the day came, and there she was with Bill, still in the wheelchair but looking better than she did at the banquet.   We talked to her and told her we were glad she was there.   She said she believed in miracles, pointing out she had already outlived the doctor's most optimistic prognosis.   She saw her son get his diploma that day.   Claire passed away yesterday at the age of 59...one tough lady who reached her goal...and now has reached her reward.  

6-4-10   Fun Opener, Ridgewater Football Follies

I've been told you're not doing your job as a journalist if you're not making someone mad.  While that hasn't been my intention, I got Ridgewater College Head Football Coach Rob Baumgarn mad at me when I reported this week a member of the team was arrested for selling drugs, and had the gall to mention his connection to the team, especially his connection to Adam Milton, a team mate who was murdered in July 2008.       

     L.W. Frost and Milton were partying together that fateful night when Miles Edinburgh baited them into a fight, then stabbed Milton to death.   Frost testified during the trial.   I also had the temerity to mention another football player was killed in a car crash last year.  

     When one program is linked under a veil of tragedy in such a short time, it's of public interest.   I was not attempting to disparage the program, just pointing out the connection between two violent deaths and a felony drug arrest.   Baumgarn apparently felt I, for some reason, want to bring the program down in flames, and also denied Frost had any connection to the team.   

     I don't know of any program that would not gain some sort of noteriety when such a string of misfortunes follow it.   It's my sincere hope the program has no more problems, and it and Mr. Baumgarn go on to a state and national championship. 

Even though it was cloudy, windy, cool and somewhat drizzly, and the home team lost,  the franchise opener for the Willmar Stingers was a blast Thursday night. 

     1500 fans got into the spirit, cheering for a team of completely unknown players, and had fun with all the games and handouts.   PA AnnouncerTodd Bergeth was kept busy all night long reading reams of announcements, sponsors, upcoming activities and so forth with his usually gritty panache.  

     I hope the crowds keep coming after the novelty wears off.   The player who is staying with my family, Seth Spivack, didn't get into the game.   He tells me the coach wants him to be the closer.   Last night's game was close but since the Stingers trailed at the end, there was no opportunity to get Seth in.    In the meantime, Seth has made some friends on and off the team, and has enjoyed swimming in Lake Andrew.   Sharon and I are going to "the hive" again tonight and Saturday.   Hope to see you there!

6-1-10   First Day of Summer aka Fundraising Season

Last summer I rode my bike 350 miles to raise money for the MS Society of Minnesota.   I received generous donations from family and friends and raised more than $1000.    While I love the riding, I don't like asking people for money...I would never make a good salesman, even though the causes I raise money for are good, and the product I might sell would be valuable to the client.  

     But here I am again, getting ready to raise money for Habitat for Humanity of West Central Minnesota by riding 500 miles in 7 days next month, and I am also participating in the Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society in July.  

      And so here I go again, twisting arms and looking up with my best baleful puppy dog eyes, asking for cash or checks.   I will probably just ask family and friends if they want to give to the cancer walk, since most people I know have been affected by this scourge, and ask business and professional associates for Habitat donations.   If I don't get the required minimum donation amount, I will probably just end up paying out of my own pocket.   

     To me, sore muscles, saddle sores and sunburn are preferable to asking anyone for money...don't ask me why.

Thursday is the season opener for the Willmar Stingers in their inaugural season at Taunton Stadium.    Lakeland Broadcasting is one of the sponsors, and it's going to be a blast.  

      The Stinger player we are hosting for the summer, Seth Spivack, arrived yesterday and he's excited to get immersed in a lot of baseball.   Seth is a pitcher who has been clocked at 94 miles an hour, although he's never pitched in organized ball before...he's been a catcher and played outfield in the past, so he's eager to prove himself as a pitcher.   Seth is a member of the U-Cal Berkeley Baseball Team which is currently playing in the NCAA tournament in Oklahoma, and they face North Carolina Friday.    Seth redshirted this year, that's why he's here instead of the Sooner State.  

     We went to a meeting at Taunton Stadium last night for host families and saw many familiar faces...Marilee Dorn, Deb Van Buren, Julie Asmus, Art Benson and others.  

     I'll be playing softball across Willmar Avenue from Taunton Stadium...our game starts at 6:15 and the Stingers game starts at 7.   I'll have to leave my game a little early.   I play first base for the Redeemer Lutheran Church League team...we're 2 and 0 and having a lot of fun.   At 48 I am the oldest person on the team, but I haven't disgraced myself too badly...yet.

5-25-10    Calabasas Connection, Graduation Madness

Forget March Madness...it's been May Madness around the Cola household.   My son Michael graduates from Willmar High School next week, and his graduation party is this Saturday at our house.   We've been converting our garage from a landfill with four walls and a roof to a space fit for a party.  

     Oil spots on the floor need to be dealt with...leaves that go back to the Clinton Administration must be dug out of deep crevasses, long forgotten toys, broken athletic gear, and grease-coated car parts must all be removed or disposed-of.   I spent all of last weekend putting siding up on one outside wall of the garage and got so many cuts and knicks it looks like I've just been interogated by Jack Bauer.   There's a bare dirt berm next to my driveway where a retaining wall should be, and I need to find a way to disguise it before the party.   Any ideas?   I thought my wife would have a heart attack when Michael told her 65 people responded to his Facebook invitation and planned to come to the party.  

     On Wednesday we will be attending Michael's Honors Student Awards at the Willmar Holiday Inn, and Friday morning is the "Cap and Gown" scholarship award ceremony at Willmar High School.   Plus Michael's final band concert is at the school tonight.  

And amid all the hubbub of getting the garage ready for the party Sunday is the knowlege that on Sunday our Willmar Stingers baseball player will be arriving.   Sharon and I will be a host family for this young man for two months while he plays for the Stingers in their inaugural season.  

     He is Seth Spivack, 19, a Pitcher/Catcher from Calabasas California, north of Los Angeles.   He's a student at U-Cal-Berkeley, and just finished-up his freshman year at Cal.   He didn't play baseball at all this past season due to injury so he will have 4 years of eligibility left.   We've exchanged emails and a phone call and he sounds excited to come out.  

     Being with the Stingers will be like extreme baseball summer camp for him...70 games in 75 days!   Opening night is June 4th.   While he's only 11 months older than Michael, I don't know that I'll be playing much catch with him...he can throw 90 miles an hour!  

5-19-10   Hispanic panic in Willmar, Lights Out!

On my birthday Monday I worked my normal 5:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., went to two Barn Theatre board meetings starting at 5:30 p.m., then went to the Willmar City Council Meeting until about 8:45 p.m.   You'd think I'd be pretty crabby by then but I was invigorated by what I saw and heard at the council meeting.  

     The biggest crowd I've ever seen packed the chambers...I couldn't get in...I watched the proceedings on a t.v. with about 20 other people in the break room.   The people were there out of fear that the city council was considering an Arizona-type law that would allow police officers to stop anyone they suspected of being an illegal immigrant and demand proof of citizenship.  

     For two hours, people both white and latino stepped up to the podium and told their stories...why they came to Willmar, how thankful they were for the opportunity to work at places like Jennie-O, a local bank, the MnWest Technology Campus and other businesses, and how afraid they were of being randomnly stopped, harrased and arrested.  

     It was heartening to see these people talk about their love of their adopted home, but it was also sad to see how afraid they were, and I felt a twinge of anger at the federal government for allowing things to get to the point that individual states and cities have to start coming up with their own laws to control illegals because the feds can't seem to get anything done.  

     Some spoke about how they had a spouse or a relative who was here illegally for years and years, working, and then got nabbed and now face deportation.   While it's hard to feel sorry for someone who knowingly breaks the law and takes advantage of their prosperous neighbor up north, it still baffles me why the federal government hasn't fixed the system so law-abiding people can come here legally, become a citizen, and live and work here and pursue the American dream.  

     There are jobs here, and people who need them.   Why has it become so difficult for people to come here legally?  

     I say....close the border using the Army, create a system where people can come here legally, and require them to learn English.  I also favor a national identification card for EVERYONE that includes forgery-proof technology like finger prints so the days of backroom social security cards and drivers' licenses are gone.   And no amnesty for those already here illegally...go back over the border and they can re-apply under a new system and become legal.   

     By the way, the City of Willmar was not considering an Arizona-type law.   They were simply considering applying for a federal grant so they could train one Willmar police offcer to enforce federal immigration laws currently enforced by ICE.   That motion was tabled.  

A power outage turned out the lights in Willmar and most of Kandiyohi County during the "rush hour" Tuesday from 530 to 730 p.m.   Traffic signals were out, motorists nearly crashed into each other, and my wife couldn't buy potato salad at Cashwise!   She drove up to Spicer and bought food for dinner at Jahnke's, and we fired up some brats and burgers on the grill and enjoyed some of the best weather of the year on the patio without the t.v. or radio chattering in the background.   Paradise!   May the power go out more often.  

5-14-10   Woman of Steel, email rip off, THE BIRDS!!!

I sat through the hour-long sentencing this week of sex offender Lindon Knutson who beat, robbed and sexually assaulted a 73-year-old woman at Crow River Lutheran Church near Belgrade last November.  

     The victim sat directly in front of me, leaning on her daughter for support as the hideous details of the crime were divulged to the half-full court room.   Some were crying.   When Judge Thompson offered the woman a chance to address the court and Knutson, I thought maybe a prepared statement by a member of her family might be read, but I was suprised when she got up, approached the bench, sat next to prosecutor Connie Crowell and spoke for about 3 minutes about the events of that day, which she said she'll never forget.  

     Without a crack in her voice, she talked about how she was alone in the church, cleaning it and getting it ready for Thanksgiving services that week, when she heard footsteps.   She saw the hulking, 61-year-old Knutson at the door, and he appeared to be lost, asking for directions to get to Bemidji, which she happily gave him.   He then appeared to be curious about the church and she gave him a tour, proudly pointing out the 100-year-old pipe organ.  

     Suddenly Knutson became violent, shoving her against a door and punching her in the face, demanding money.   She pleaded with him, begging him not to desecrate a holy place.   She said she felt bad about lying to Knutson in a church when she said she didn't have any money because she didn't want to lose the $300 in her purse she had set aside for Christmas shopping.  

     He continued to pummel her, then did the unthinkable.   Afterwards, he kicked her, took her purse and left.   Battered, bruised, bleeding and violated, the woman, sans glasses,  got up and asked God to help her figure out what to do next.  

     She flagged down a passing motorist who took her to the Belgrade Clinic, after she first made sure the church pastor knew to lock-up the church.   She expressed anger that she had to miss two familiy birthdays and Thanksgiving because she was in the hospital, and was reluctant to go to church the next Sunday in her battered condition, but was determined not to let Knutson take that away from her too.   She said she knows you are supposed to love your neighbor and grant forgiveness, but she said she had neither for Knutson.   This woman is my hero.  

     The church pastor, Bobbie Bell tells me the victim has been telling everyone who askes her how they can help her to take self defense classes, which has resulted in an influx of students, young and old, in the BBE karate classes

Can you imagine anyone falling for this ripoff email?...

Good Day, Some years ago my client died leaving behind US$14.7M in my Bank where I work as his personal account officer,And since then nobody has come forward for the claim,So am contacting you because your name and email contact was among the findings that i sourced in your country database,and i would love to reinvest the dormant funds to you if only you are interested. Can I present you as the heir to the deceased? Since I have all necessary details needed to claim the Funds if interested respond with the following information's below to enable us to proceed in this matter. 1. Your Full Names, 2. Telephone & fax number 3. Occupation 4 address and age. Sincerely***** Mr. Roland S Spiwe

...I'm sorry, but anyone stupid and/or greedy enough to fall for this deserves to get fleeced!

I'm waiting for Alfred Hitchcock and his film crew to arrive here at the station and start filming the sequel to his classic movie "The Birds."  

      So far this spring, this area of Foot Lake has been turned into an aviary...I've never seen so many pelicans, blue and white herons, geese and goslings, mallards, wood ducks, coots, even loons and a bald eagle...along with the usual sparrows, chickadees, red wing black birds, grackles and robins.   It's just nuts!   It makes me wish I had a white car...bird crap shows up too well on my dark green Honda.  

5-11-10    Escaped Convicted, Census Hassles

On Monday a prisoner escaped from the Meeker County Jail in Litchfield and hid out in an elderly woman's home.  

      20-year-old Antonio Green, clad in his orange jail jumpsuit, demanded 87-year-old Evelyn Nordin give him a phone and a change of clothes.   Luckily, Evelyn was being visited by home health nurse Lori Carity at the time, who spotted police in the neighborhood, went to the door and screamed for help.   Antonio threw her to the floor, slightly injuring her and Evelyn, and burst through the screen door, and was soon re-arrested and put back in the klink.  

     All's well that ends well, but there just one thing I wish would've happened...that Evelyn would've raided her closet and given Antonio some of her clothing before he was re-arrested...maybe a purse and pillbox hat with a veil too!

My wife and I filled out our census survey as soon was we got the thing in early April and sent it back in.   This, after getting a letter the week before warning us that the survey was coming.    

     On Sunday, Sharon and I were watching the season finale of "The Amazing Race" when we get a phone call from the U.S. Census Bureau.   Sharon was not amused.   The girl on the other end with the southern accent was very apologetic, but said they were doing a follow-up to the census form we sent in and must to verify the info.  

At first it was annoying, then it got comedic as she asked if myself or anyone in my family was in a nursing home, mental hospital or prison while we answered the census questions.   I felt like saying, "all of the above" but I held my tongue.  

     With all this prep and post-work regarding the census, it darn well better be accurate this time around!

5-6-10    Mind numbing crimes...Beautiful baseball field

Don't get me wrong...I love my job, or I wouldn't have been doing it for 28 years.   But sometimes the things you have to hear are so dark and depressing, it's a wonder all journalists aren't raging alcoholics.  

     This was another one of those weeks that you wish you could just put your head in the sand and ignore some of the horrors people inflict on each other.   On Tuesday a 14-year-old girl was abducted and raped while doing her paper route in Fairfax.  

     When she got up that morning and got dressed, little did she know what horrors awaited her.   Getting pulled into a car, stripped and raped on a dirt driveway to a cemetary.   Thank God she survived and helped the police arrest a suspect...a man well-known to police, the type of offender with a record showing escalating offenses which, left unchecked, could only lead to more and more victims.  

     Some would say this type of person should be put down like a rabid dog.   I guess we don't do that in a "civilized" society.   Instead they serve a few months, maybe a year or two, and then are back out on the streets.   Officials say sex offenders have the greatest likelihood of re-offending.   

     76-year-old Harvey Carlson of Pennock this week was convicted of repeatedly sexually molesting children related to him...some offenses going back to the Eisenhower administration.  

     And this week came the obligatory multiple fatality traffic crash involving teenagers....in this case a car with three teens running into the side of a semi on a country road near Benson.   Two boys, ages 15 and 16, dead.   

     The only way I can keep my sanity is to try and balance the news with stories like the Cinco De Mayo Celebration Saturday at the Willmar Middle School, or a Litchfield couple honored by the Salvation Army for years of service to the community, or the Humane Society immunizing dozens of pets from rabies this week.   You need the uplifting because there's certainly enough to beat you down.  

Another big positive for me this week was going to my first Twins game at the new Target Field.   I love that place.   I went to the game Monday against Detroit, thanks to Todd Bergeth who took me along with his mom and step dad.   We were worried about it raining on us, but other than a few sprinkles early, it turned out to be a beautiful night.  

     I felt very comfortable in that stadium...almost like coming home.   Going to a game at the Metrodome was like visiting someone in prison or a factory, compared to a vacation in a relaxing cabin on the lake at Target Field.   I look forward to going to games there for years to come.  

4-27-10    Don't call them accidents

16 people killed on Minnesota roads from last Friday to this Monday.   4 days.   I refuse to call them accidents.   As a member of the media, one who supposedly puts important information over the airwaves and hopefully into the ears of parents, kids, students etc, I shake my head and feel like a failure.   How many times do we have to tell people to wear their seatbelts?  

     Near Altura, in southeast Minnesota, four girls were crammed in the front seat of a pickup, none wearing seatbelts.   The truck rolled, all were ejected, three killed and the fourth critically injured.   Parents...did you know who was driving whom where, and in what vehicle?   Did you drill it into your kids' heads everytime they rode in your car to wear those seatbelts?  

     In Cambridge, a car driven by a girl with a driver's license for two weeks plows into an SUV.   Four dead in the car, 2 dead in the SUV which burned so badly they could hardly identify the bodies.   At a memorial service, the kids in the car were being remembered as being rebellious, fighting to stay sober.   Parents...why did you allow your 15 and 16 year olds out at 2 and 3 in the morning?   One of the dead kids' friends commented at his memorial that they "respected the way he stood up to authority."   See where it got him?   Several of the kids were known to drink, and officials believe alcohol was a factor.   This was no accident...it was suicide and homicide.  

     In Onamia, a 16-year-old girl was killed when she crashed her vehicle with her mother and two small children inside.   Officials believe she was intoxicated.   Need I even comment on this?   

     Parents need to risk becoming unpopular with their teens and crack down, especially when it comes to driving and letting their kids hang around with kids that drink or do drugs.   Know where your kids are, and what they are doing.    Don't be afraid to take their car keys or cell phones if it's warranted.   They may hate you now, but they will love you in the future.  

     I believe there are hordes of people who have children simply to produce someone who will love them.   They don't really care about the kids, they only produced them for their own selfish needs, or because they made a mistake.   I believe in the concept of orphanages.   Instead of allowing kids to be raised by selfish, criminally incompetent people, they should be raised in a controlled environment.   I don't like the idea of the "state" taking kids away from parents they deem incompetent.   But if there were facilities where parents or the "sainted" "single mothers" could give the kids they obviously can't control or afford,  I would imagine they would be popular.  

     On the other hand, I had the pleasure of attending the Willmar High School Athletics Awards Banquet Monday night.   It was so refreshing to see involved, caring parents and kids who have made the most of their high school years.   Which is not to say jocks don't get into trouble...they do if they are given too much praise and develop an attitude of invulnerability and entitlement, but it's much less likely to happen, or to such a deadly extent, when they have caring, involved parents.  

4-23-10    To Cycle or Not to Cycle

I was saddened to learn the couple hurt in a motorcycle accident last week near Swift Falls Park were Steven and Patricia Hall, owners of PB and J's Supper Club near Sunburg.  Steve was critically injured, Pat died.  

     I've never owned a motorcycle or even driven one...I owned a moped in the 1980s and ride a bicycle every chance I get.   Sometimes I get the itch to buy a motorcycle, and maybe someday I will.   But I also remember my first day on-the-job at KWSN in Sioux Falls, excited to work with my best friend Jerry in August 1994.   As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed Jerry and his wife sitting in their van, ready to go somewhere.   Jerry told me they had to go to the Twin Cities where they were getting ready to take Jerry's younger brother Jeff off of life support.   The night before, he had been hit by a car while riding his motorcycle in the Twin Cities.  

     My wife Sharon met her first boyfriend while she was a nurse at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls.   He was a patient, injured in a motorcycle accident.   The list goes on-and-on of tragedies on motorcycles...my sister and brother-in-law, injured when they were run off-the-road while cycling south of the Twin Cities back in the 1960s.   My son Tony's friend suffered severe head injuries when he crashed a motorcycle he wasn't familiar with into the side of the Kandi Mall just after graduating from high school.      

     People love riding motorcycles, love the freedom and excitement...I guess they just need to accept the fact that there are two types of bikers...those who have been in accidents, and those who will.    Please keep an eye out for them, and bikers, please be careful out there.   

4-19-10    Facebook News

If you don't use Facebook, and find people who talk about it extremely boring, feel free to go somewhere else.   But I've found it to increasingly be a valuable tool for gathering information...if it's used correctly.  

     I started using it to check in on my kids but now I have enough friends on there that I can stay busy checking into the personal lives of people I normally wouldn't really check-in with.   For "friends" I have a classmate I went to Brown Institute with 28 years ago, folks from my church, an old childhood friend, co-workers, relatives and more.   Even my ex-wife and her new husband (who is a pretty nice guy).   People whose political and social views mirror mine, as well as people whose views I find abhorent.   Even someone who played a role in getting me fired from my job in Sioux Falls 12 years ago.   Yet we can interact in cyberspace and not bloody each other's noses.  

     I found out, on Facebook, that when lightning was striking houses left and right last week, one of those houses belonged to my niece, Laura, in south Minneapolis.   The house is a wreck but she and her family made it out just fine.  

     Facebook is fascinating.   Since everyone uses it, it's probably now not as cool as it was for young people as it was, say, 2 years ago, but they're still using it.   I contact people via Facebook much more often than I would call them.    I am resistant to using Twitter, although I have an account.   I just don't think people would find my minute-by-minute activites all that interesting.   

4-15-10   Meteor, taxes   

I was at the Renville County Fair in Bird Island a couple years ago, shortly before closing time, when I saw a ball of fire slowly burn across the sky.   I thought it was fireworks, but as the ball disappeared in the east I realized I had seen a meteor or some other type of celestial event.   It was sort of scary and beautiful at the same time.  

     That was how Connie Mattke of Spicer described the meteor she saw Wednesday night as she drove home from Granite Falls.    She thought it was something much closer to earth, maybe a plane on it's way to crashing somewhere to the east, and called 911.   She was surprised when I told her it was a meteor, seen all across the midwest.   Go to www.yourq102.com and click on the Tim and Abby page and you'll see a video of the thing taken from a police car camera in Waterloo Iowa.   It was huge!  

     In 1986 I saw a spectacular display of northern lights when I live near Montevideo.   Absolutely dazzling.   I had to call the weather service and they told me it was a once-in-a-lifetime display, especially this far south.   Sometimes God likes to give us a free light show...part of life on this great earth he gave us.

I read a story this morning in which Elliot Seide, head of the largest state employees union, was saying if people don't like to pay taxes, they should insist the wealthy pay their fair share.    That burns me up, kind of like that meteor.  

     It's true, in Minnesota people in the upper income brackets pay a slightly lower rate than those who make less.   But when it comes to the sheer number of tax dollars they pay, that minority of income-earners is basically subidizing the state.   I think I remember hearing something like the top 20% of income-earners in Minnesota pay 70% of the taxes gathered in the state.   And the poor?   They don't pay ANY taxes.   They may have money taken from their checks, but they get it ALL back at tax time.  

     So, Mr. Seide, if you really want to make it fair, how about EVERYBODY pay the same rate?   It's the rich in this state that are paying for all the public assistance programs that the poor take advantage of, yet some groups scream it's unfair and they want more from the people who actually accomplish something, the people who provide jobs for workers and revenue for the state.  

4-8-10     Would we recognize a "great" president?

Barack Obama promised change in his campaign of 2008.    And, like it or not, change came.   In the form of bailouts of the banking and auto industries, and now the health care bill which attacks the policies of private insurance companies and seeks to provide insurance to the currently uninsured...by requiring people, by law, to have health insurance.    

     And now Obama is proposing offshore oil drilling on the east coast, and is announcing nuclear arms reductions by the U.S. and Russia.   The people who voted for Obama wanted action, now they got it.   Conservatives shudder each time Obama speaks, while the liberals swoon.   Are there any middle of the road people anymore?       

     It seems the darlings of the conservative movement are two outspoken women...Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin...who rallied before 10,000 people at Xcel Energy Center this week.   Bachmann pledged to work with the anticipated influx of Republicans who will get swept into office this year to repeal the health care bill.   Is that the most we can hope for from the GOP?  

     What if, and I mean a BIG what if, Barack Obama is actually accomplishing something positive, might actually be a "great" president?   Would we recognize it during his term in office, or would we be too afraid of the ramifications of his policies of overspending?       

     Many people hated Lincoln and FDR with a fever when they were in office, but as the sands of time passed, they moved into the "great" category.   Reagan is a possible exception...many regarded him as great, even when he was office, but now that he's been gone for 22 years, some are now saying he gave a good speech and was a great cheerleader, but did his policies make him a great president?   Trickle down economics?   Firing the air traffic controllers?    Stepping up the arms race until the Soviet Union collapsed?   He was considered a conservative back then, but his policies now might not be considered conservative enough to get him the GOP nomination for president.   

4-2-10      Soldiers return, Governor in Willmar

The best thing about war is when the soldiers come home.   The 1 of the 151 Field Artillery is an area National Guard Unit whose primary function is to operate field artillery.   But in the War on Terrorism, especially in Iraq, there hasn't been much need for long range artillery every since Saddam's wimpy army collapsed and surrendered enmasse, and the military focus turned to weeding out the cockroach-like insurgents who cowardly plant bombs on the roadways or on themselves and try to kill soldiers or civilians.  

     When the 1-151FA was there 4 years ago it was a deadly time and they took a lot of hits, and some didn't make it home.   This tme, however, they drove nearly 600 escort missions across the country and accumulated nearly 2 million miles without an accident or injury.  

     Some came home to Minnesota today, some will tomorrow.   Chuck Blum was in Olivia watching the caravan roll in Friday morning and got choked up describing the scene of the happy people waving flags, welcoming them back.   I get choked up just thinking about it. 

     As the father of two sons, 18 and 21, I can't help but think of my kids in uniform and worrying about them every minute they would be over there, and the joy and pride I would have seeing them return.   Thank God they're back, healthy, and like Chuck said, if you see any of them in your community, welcome them back and thank them for their duty.   And hire them, if they're looking for a job.

Governor Tim Pawlenty scared me this week.   As a hardened newsman with 28 years experience I get pretty skeptical of speeches by politicians, but when Pawlenty spoke about the national debt in Willmar this week, it really took me aback.  

     We all hear about how the U.S. is in debt and spending is a runaway train with no one at the controls.   But he laid it out simply...the federal government took in 2.2 trillion dollars last year, and spent 3.7 trillion.  

     Just ponder those figures for a second.   You know who buys-up a lot of that debt?   Communist China.   They have an interest in keeping the U.S. solvent (HA!) because guess who buys a lot of the junk they make in China?  But they can hang that debt over our heads when it comes to making military decisions they don't agree with.  And Pawlenty said Russia has been pressuring China to crack down on the U.S. to "roil our economy."  

     Everyone comes to the government with their hands out, and many have legitimate needs.   But our debt is making us weak and China stronger.   Pawlenty said the U.S. has a tin cup out, begging potential enemies to buy our debt, and that doesn't sound like a country with a bright future.   

3-31-10    New Bike!

I did it!   I bought my new bike...recumbent, of course...a 2006 Rans F5...you'll see me out there, on the roads and trails, and raising money for Habitat for Humanity in the Habitat 500 this summer.   I bought it from a guy in St. Cloud who was looking to buy a different recumbent.   I was resigned to having buy one from my favorite shop in Minneapolis, Calhoun Cycle, but on the advice of my wife I called Rod's Bike Shop in St. Cloud, and not only did he have the bike I wanted, he knew of another guy who had the same bike, only used and cheaper.   Thanks Sharon!

3-29-10     "Holy Grail" stories, Bachmann on "Face the Nation"

People either love or hate U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann.   She is certainly a galvanizing force for conservative Republicans, and like Sarah Palin, often speaks impulsively and brashly, and offers no apologies.  

     She often appears on FOX News, but on Sunday she appeared on that bastion of liberal broadcasting, CBS's Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer.   And I must say she not only held her own, I think she had watery-eyed Mr. Schieffer running for cover.   Schieffer was siezing upon threats made against Democrats who voted for the Health Care Reform Bill last week, obviously placing the blame directly on "Tea Party Activitist" and conservative Republicans.  

     Bachmann was well prepared and spoke eloquently about her objections to "Obama Care" and stood up for the rights of people to express themselves passionately.   She said she's never heard any bad language or seen violence at any Tea Party demonstrations, and defended her statements calling President Obama un-american because he has pushed for a government takeover of 51% of the U.S. economy (banks, autos, healthcare).   

     It's sad to see how the liberal media is stepping up it's attacks against the Tea Party movement, trying to make them look like violent facist kooks while they exersize their right to free speech.  

     After Schieffer spoke to Bachmann he then spoke to the chair of the National Democratic Party, and his attitude was definately, "well, what to do you think of those Republicans?"   As if they were a freak, fringe group to be examined and hopefully exterminated for having the temerty to speak out against the Health Care Reform Bill.  

In my time as newsman in southwest Minnesota, there have been two "Holy Grail" stories that are ever-elusive.  

     While working in Marshall, it was getting the covetted interview with Schwann's Foods creator Marvin Schwann.   In the late 80s he lived in Sioux Falls and flew in to Marshall everyday.  

     I dreamed of waiting for him at the airport and snagging that interview.   Anytime I actually started to formulate a plan, I was told not to try, that he doesn't give interviews and he might retaliate against the station if I tried.   Many times he was seen driving around town in his Cadillac with bull's horns on the front.   Alas, he passed away in 1990.  

     In Willmar, the holy grail story was that hispanics in Texas were being told by government officials to come to Kandiyohi County and Willmar Minnesota because of the state's generous welfare system.   I've spoken to people who claim to have seen signs to that effect in Texas, but never any proof.   Maybe someday.  

3-25-10    Healthcare bill passes, Hibbing is calling

The most debated and one of the most contentious bills congress has passed in a generation was signed by President Obama Tuesday...the so-called "Health Care Reform Bill."  

     Depending on who you talk to, the bill will result in Republicans pummeling Democrats this fall, or passage of the bill will salvage the election for the Dems.   Even though it has been signed, it's far from over...Republicans continue trying to make amendments and Democrats are doing all they can to prevent re-opening the bill for another vote.   And several states (although not Minnesota-yet) are suing the federal government, saying the bill's provisions forcing individuals to have health insurance is unconstitutional.  

     Our congressman, Democrat Representative Collin Peterson voted against the bill, saying it does nothing to make sure Minnesota isn't punished by having a good health care system and having to subsidize states that don't.   

     CBS news has been doing a series of stories trying to explain who will benefit and who won't, but it's almost a certainty people who currently have health insurance will have to pay more.   That was my first thought when I heard the bill passed...how will it affect me?   At this point it appears my payments will have to increase at least 10 to 13% but at it's impossible to tell the final tab.  

     I went to confession at church last night, and Father Verhelst asked everyone there to examine their consciences, and wanted people to ask themselves if they are doing their part helping those who are lesser-off.   Does paying higher insurance premiums so the 32 million people who will get coverage under the bill count?  

     Depending on who you talk to, the bill either will or won't force the public to pay for abortions, or for viagra for jailed sex offenders.   It's nearly impossible to get to the truth in this debate, which is one reason I was against packaging all these reforms together instead of dealing with individual facets on their own merits.  

I sold my Rans Rocket recumbent bike last weekend to a gentleman from La Crosse Wisconsin.   Very sad to see it go, but very excited to go shopping for a new recumbent.  I have one more test ride to go, then I will pull the trigger.  

     I am also excited to announce I will be going on a 500 mile, week long bike ride on the Iron Range this summer to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.   I would welcome any contributions from listeners and blog readers.   I did not get a single cent last year from listeners for my ride to raise money for the MS Society, so I won't be shocked if I get nothing this time around, but I will promote the ride a little more on the air.   All contributions are tax deductible.   I did raise $1000 last year from friends, family and local organizations.

3-17-10     The Bad News, a great concert, and an intriguing idea. 

I just got the news today that a friend and long-time co-worker who has been suffering from cancer is losing the fight.   He's been on the roller coaster...bad news, good news, bad news, good news...and now the type of bad news that lets you know there won't be good news....just pain, and waiting.   More on this later.

On a brighter note, my wife Sharon and I went to the Willmar High School Band and Choir concert last night.   My son Michael is a senior and involved in Jazz 1, the Cardinal Band, Candata (?) 2701 and the Cardinal Choir.   And when he's not in school he's involved with On Call through Youth For Christ.   Sharon made sure he got involved in music in the 5th grade and he's taken off from there.   

     The Willmar High School music program, with people like Paul Baumgarten, Steve Trochlil, Tim Caylor, Neil Haugen, Terry Brau, Bryan Mara and Travis Michelson have all helped make Mike the musician he is today, and will be in the future as he goes on to St. Bens and St. Johns.   I really hope a way can be found to keep this department strong and fully staffed and save marching band after this year.   I realize what a tough position the school board is in when trying to balance the budget, but all I can say is based on personal experience with Mike and my son Tony before, that we are lucky to have such a top notch music program here.  

I've been having somewhat of a difficult time trying to cover the flooding situation in the local area.   One reason...many of the officials I need to get ahold of are out doing their jobs, watching the water, filling sandbags and making preparations.   We, at the radio station, can help them by putting the word out over the air about areas to avoid, who needs help and so forth.   Hopefully they begin to use us more.  

A few years ago I had the idea to get people to loan their home movies and videos to WRAC 8 so they could copy them and make a program about Willmar's history.   I'm sure a lot of people bought cameras in the 40s, 50s and 60s who filmed or taped familiar areas, parks, businesses, downtown, parades and so forth.   

     Wouldn't it be cool to see the old steel 1st Street Bridge again, inside Habicht's in it's prime, the railroad depot, Lakeland Hotel, the drive-in theater, basketball games at the City Auditorium, area resorts, the original Barn Theatre and more?   If you think that would be a good idea, let me know.   I'd even volunteer to help Rudy and the gang at WRAC 8 if they are willing to engage in this endeavor.  

By the way, it looks like I sold my recumbent...thank you Craigslist.   I will be delivering it to a gentleman from La Crosse Wisconsin Sunday.  

3-10-10    A little good news

First of all, happy birthday to my "little" brother Gary, out in Minneapolis, who turns 45 today.   One of my earliest memories was when the tornados hit Anoka in April 1965...Gary was just home from the hospital, and when we headed down to the basement, we didn't have a crib for him so my mom put him in the clothes basket.   For some reason I thought that was hilarious and memorable.   Then I remember my older brother Bob praying the rosary while WCCO intoned dire news about the twisters to the north of us. 

With all the bad news lately with Toyotas getting posessed by the devil and trying to kill their owners, Joe Nathan out for the season and rising rivers on the way, it's always good to get a little good news.   I got it yesterday when I got to interveiw 6 young people involved with Up With People.  

     They were from the U.S, China, Japan and Belgium.   Very nice, upbeat, enthusiastic people involved with this organization, which ironically began the same year my brother Gary was born, 1965.   

     Up With People participants each pay about $14,500 to go on a 6-month tour, singing in towns both large and small, doing community service work for kids, the poor, elderly and so forth.   They get college credit and an invaluable education, both from their fellow cast members and from all the people they meet in the towns they visit.   They've been to places like North Platte Nebraska and Minneapolis, tonight they're in Montevideo, then it's on to Illinois, then the Phillipines, then California and Arizona and finishing in June in Mexico.  

     When Up With People came to Willmar 11 years ago we were host families for two young cast members, one from the U.S and the other from Japan.  I also worked with them when they came to Marshall 22 years ago.   They have a positive message and put on a good show.   I wish I could go to tonight's show.    

     Although some call their shows corny, I think everyone could use a break from all the tension and tragedy in the news these days.

My son Tony and I went to the Twin Cities Auto Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center Sunday, and were pretty disappointed.   Hummer, Saturn and Pontiac are being discontinued by GM so they did not have exhibits and Chevrolet did not bring their Chevy Volt electric car.   There were also no BMWs or Porsches.  

     The most expensive car we saw was a $180,000 Audi.   The cheapest?   I think it was a $16,000 KIA.   There were also no exhibitors in the upper level like years past.   I remember going to the show about 7 years ago, and nearly every inch of the floor as well as the adjacent conference rooms were overflowing with vehicles and accessories.   I remember seeing Denny Hecker there, pressing the flesh and showing off dozens of conversion vans.   My how the mighty have fallen.  

     I saw former Viking and current Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page there Sunday...lean, with his trademark silver beard, huge hands and a twisted pinky.   He also commented to me how disappointed he was with the show.   I also saw Dick Enrico, T.V. pitchman for 2nd Wind Sports.   Woooo!     If the auto show keeps shrinking, I don't think I will continue forking out 10 bucks to go.  

By the way, I was right, not a single call for my recumbent from the West Central Tribune ad.   Chalk it up to the Huffy Effect.   I put an ad on Craigslist and am now getting response.  

3-5-10    First bike ride under my belt

I got my first bike ride of the season under my belt yesterday when I rode back to work after lunch.   The temperature was around 40, winds were light and it was good riding except for the wet spots on the streets and parking lots.   I rode my "spare" bike, an old-fashioned upright ten speed that I keep in tune, "just in case".  

     As you may know, I regularly ride my Rans Rocket recumbent, which is still in winter storage.   However, I have put it up for sale.   It's not that I'm giving up on recumbents...I want to buy a new one.   The money I get from the sale combined with money I've saved will hopefully get me a new Bacchetta Giro or Rans Enduro.   Both have bigger wheels.  

     I'm asking $650 for the Rans which I bought new for around $1000 back in 2003.   I've put thousands of miles on it, but I've also kept it well maintained, replacing many parts and keeping it a well-oiled machine.  

     I'm running an ad on swap shop and the Willmar paper, but no calls yet.   I guess people out here are happy to pay 80 dollars for a Huffy at Walmart, but if you want a well-engineered bike that's a pleasure to ride, call me here at the station.  

     I may end up selling it on Craigslist to someone in the Twin Cities who knows what a recumbent bike is.   The worst case scenario...I keep it, which is pretty good.   I love that bike...we've had many adventures together, but it's time for it to serve another master and for me to have more journeys with a new companion.  

This summer will be my 30-year high school reunion, and I'm getting in contact with people I haven't spoken with since Jimmy Carter was battling the Ayatollah Khomeini.         

     A website dedicated to the Bloomington Lincoln Class of 1980 has been set up.   Our reunion will be at the Hopkins Bowling Alley, which is somewhat appropriate because anyone who had a hot car at Lincoln would cruise the main drag in Hopkins on Friday and Saturday nights.   I was there, first with my 1971 Plymouth Satellite Sebring, and then my 1969 Pontiac GTO.   Or riding in my friend's 1974 Dodge Dart.  

     One sad part of the reunion website...the "in memorial" page, which currently lists 10 classmates who have died.  Keep in mind, that's out of a class of more than 600, but it still gives you pause.    There may be more that we don't know of.   It makes you wonder how many will be on there in ten years. for the 40 year reunion.   My mom graduated from Jordan High School in 1942 and they were still having reunions until the main organizers died a few years ago.  

     This one for me will be fun...we'll be talking about our kids and how they're doing instead of our accomplishments.   Looking at the current pictures of classmates on the website, it's hard to recognize them wearing the masks of middle-aged men and women.  

     In earlier blogs I told you I had a goal of being an underwear model by the end of the year, using my Bow Flex.   I am making some progress, and maybe by August the folks from Hanes will be giving me a call.   However, I doubt that there will be opportunities for me to take my shirt off at the reunion.   But after a few drinks, who knows?  

3-2-10     Losing faith in government

When I was younger, I was a pessimist.   Usually the young are bright-eyed idealists and optimists, but I was a pessimist...I always used to say "expect the worst and if it doesn't come you'll be pleasantly surprised."  That attitude served me well as my marriage fell apart, I went bankrupt and lost my dream job in the mid-1990s.   Then I met my current wife, got custody of the kids, got a better job and righted the ship financially, and I began to change, maybe not into an optimist, but at least less of a pessimist.   I guess after the worst happens, you figure, "what else can happen to me?"  

     Then my father died, my brother died and my wife's brother died, all of cancer, and one of my best friend's daughter became paralyzed in a swimming accident.    But nothing has made me begin to switch back to the pessimist camp as much as the current state of government and politics.  

     It really seems as if government, especially on the federal side, has completely lost the ability to get ANYTHING done.   There is no compromising.   There are no statesmen.   There is no one I really respect, with the possible exception of Representative Collin Peterson, and I can tell he's getting fed up with the atmosphere in D.C.   Everyone has an agenda, and no one bends one iota.   And anyone who does give a little bit is ridiculed as a "flip flopper" and a traitor to the cause of one party or another.  

     Take the debate over health care reform.   I watched "Face the Nation" Sunday and politicians of both stripes came on, and basically agreed on two things...tort reform would lower costs (because I believe 70% of the cost of health care can be attributed to trying to avoid lawsuits) and allowing people to buy health insurance across state lines would save money.   Everyone agreed.   But they all say, "it's not enough."   It seems to be an "all or nothing" attitude.   Why not pass seperate bills to bring about tort reform and allow multi-state health insurance purchases?   You pass one bill here, one bill there, and pretty soon, there's reform.   Why one group is determined to pass a huge package all at once, while another side is determined to kill everything is a symptom of the "if they lose, I win" attitude.  

     On the state level, a bill to extend the GAMC health care program for poor single adults passes overwhelmingly in the House and Senate.   But the governor vetos it, and all of a sudden the Republicans who voted for it in the House won't back up their vote by over-riding the governor's veto.   And regarding Racino, Pawlenty says, well, "the public appears to be for it, but not the legislature."   I'm sorry, but don't we elect the legislature to serve the public?  

     I'm almost ready to take the advice of former KWLM announcer Mac Lyles and "wave the black flag of anarchy!"  I'm certainly ready to wave a white one.  

2-26-10    Local troops counting down the days

Modern communications are amazing.   When I covered the Gulf War back in 1991, the internet was in it's infancy and few, if any troops, were able to access it in the field.   Cellphones were still a novelty for most people, and communicating with loved ones overseas was done by radio, satellite or snail mail.   But in the last couple months alone I've been able to do interveiws with members of our local guard unit, the 1st Brigade of the 151st Field Artillery based in Kuwait.  

     They've been escorting convoys all across Iraq since July, logging more than 1.7 million miles in 580 missions.   All "without an accident."   I'm not sure if they count being shot-at by snipers or attacks by IEDs as accidents.   

     They tell me since they've received their heavily-armored "MRAP" escort vehicles, roadside bomb attacks have dropped sharply, maybe because the terrorists realize the futility.   My father-in-law recently sent me a picture of an MRAP that took a direct hit from an IED.   Yes, it was pretty much destroyed but the troops inside suffered fairly superficial injuries.   A standard HUMVEE would've been blown to pieces, as well as it's occupants.  

     The troops were upbeat and looking forward to coming home in early April.   Commander Sergeant Major Erik Arne, originally of Willmar, was telling me about the road conditions in Iraq.   They can go from three lanes in each direction down to a rough dirt road very abruptly, marked only by barriers that don't have reflectors on them.  (Most of their missions are at night, at around 40 miles an hour.)   There's many burned out and bombed out vehicles on the roads, and due to huge craters from roadside bombs, there's a lot of road construction, but no orange cones to mark the way.              

     Needless to say, they scoff at the thought of the small potholes they may face when they come back to Minnesota.   Arne says they'll come back better drivers, not only because of the bad road conditions they faced, but also because they had to constantly be alert to every little mound of dirt on the side of the road, as well as the other native drivers who have "unusual driving habits."  

      More than 500 troops from Montevideo, Marshall, Olivia, Morris and other area towns have been in Iraq since July, and have suffered no combat-related casualties.   Let's hope they all make it back home in one piece, just in time to enjoy Minnesota's streets and highways with the springtime making things so green it hurts the eyes.

2-22-10    CURE award

The National Weather Service, the University of Minnesota Hydrologist and others all predict the Minnesota River will see significant flooding in the Montevideo and Granite Falls areas this spring.   But that doesn't affect the environmental group CURE's love of the river and desire to protect it from harm, even as the river will likely swallow up farmland and maybe some buildings in the area come April.  

     CURE stands for Clean Up the River Environment, and I remember covering the story of the group's creation in Montevideo in the early 1990s, and some of their annual events like the river litter clean-up and annual canoe trips on area rivers.   Over the past couple years CURE has been fighting construction of the Big Stone 2 Power Plant across the river from Ortonville, and this past year they were victorious, with Otter Tail Power Company and it's partners giving up on the project.  

     I've covered this story from the beggining, and spoke to CURE many times to get their viewpoint, as well as Big Stone's point-of-view.   This weekend CURE held it's annual meeting at the Hollywood Theater in Montevideo, and I was honored to recieve CURE's Good Media Award.   I was a little embarrased to get an award for just doing my job, but it always feels good to be recognized.  

     One of the highlights of the meeting came when the group's top award winner, the "River Keeper", was given a hockey stick and proceeded to smash a rendering of the Big Stone 2 plant hanging over the stage like a pinata!   It was filled with candy and stuffed animals.  

     The theater was packed with people like Senator Gary Kubly and Representative Andrew Falk, and Kandiyohi County Commissioner Richard Falk was there to accept the "Good Government Award" given to Kandiyohi County.   I also saw Darwin Dyce of rural Ghent, whom I had not seen since interviewing him about his opposition to Lyon County building a garbage burner back in the late 1980s.   His black goatee is now gray and his pony tail has been replaced by the Mr. Clean bald look, but otherwise he was the same.   

     All in all it was a fun time and good, locally grown food was served.   I'm sure members of CURE will be there this spring, filling and stacking sandbags as the Minnesota and other rivers spill their banks.  

2-13-10   Vikings Valentine's Day

James Miller, Lakeland Broadcasting announcer extrordinaire, has come up with the perfect plan for a new Vikings stadium.   With the help of the Shakopee Mdewakanton tribe, build it next to Mystic Lake Casino in Shakopee.  

    Mystic Lake is already a thriving hotel-casino complex, the tribe has been buying land nearby, and with a stadium next door their business would literally explode on Viking's weekends and other events at the stadium.  

     The Vikings would kick in 1/3rd the cost, the tribe could help with donating the land and casino revenues and the state could contribute with proceeds from lottery games and maybe a rental car tax. 

     Shakopee is already playground to the Twin Cities, with the casino, Valley Fair and Canterbury Downs.   It would be a huge goodwill gesture from the tribe, and they wouldn't have to worry about the state setting up a competing "Racino" at Canterbury Downs.   Everybody wins!    Lawmakers and tribal officials, are you listening?

It's Valentine's Day Sunday...the cynics will say it's nothing but a gimic from the card, flower and candy industry and lonely people will feel a little lonelier.   But I don't see the problem with having a day dedicated to loving relationships.   As long as people don't feel a lot of pressure to spend a lot of money to try and "buy" affection.   On Presidents' Day (Monday) we don't walk around with stovepipe hats, wooden teeth and powdered wigs, do we?   We have Mothers' day, Fathers' day, Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, you name it.  

     Nothing wrong with honoring the person we come home to every night, the person we chose to share our lives with and love.   Viva La Valentines Day!  

2-10-10     Watson turmoil, and where do you put the snow?  

I have now lived at my current address in Willmar for 13 winters, including this one, and I can honestly say this is the most snow I've seen in that time span.   True, in 2002 we had that 29-inch snowfall, but as you may remember, that was about it for the winter.   But this year it just keeps coming and coming.  

     I have no where else to put the snow.   At the top of my driveway I have 6-foot high fence next to my driveway and the snow is piled all the way to the top.   The snowblower can't put it any higher.    So I blow it down to the bottom of my driveway where I can then blow it into my front yard, but it's now getting to the point where the piles on either end of my driveway are almost insurmountable.  

     The walk leading up to my front door is turning into a tunnel.   Dave Dahl on T.V. says in the Twin Cities they are running about 8 inches ahead of the norm so far this winter, but I think we're probably a foot ahead at least here in Willmar.   I know in the DC area they are getting hit with 3 or 4 feet of snow and things are tough all over, but for Pete's sake, let's take a break for a while!

I spoke to Grayce Ray, reporter for the Montevideo American News today about the turmoil on the Watson City Council.   It made me think of the troubles in Spicer in 2008 under then-Mayor Perry Wohnoutka, with people resigning left and right, angry accusations, police involvement and so forth.  

     They've righted the ship in Spicer, which is a teeming metropolis compared with Watson, population 205.   It all started when a man originally from Pakistan, Aziz Ansari, put a plastic covering over his tomato beds and some neighbors took umbrage, calling it a building and demanding he take it down.  

     Since then, one mayor and one city council member have resigned, the new mayor and another council member have threatened to resign, the city is being sued, the sheriff was called when some citizens tried to get a copy of former city council minutes, the people are going to vote later this month on changing the form of government, and on top of it all, the state auditor arrives on Friday to start looking into the town's governance and operation.    He may decide to "cook" the self proclaimed "Goose Capital of the World".   

     Ray told me some council members don't like her coming to the meetings and reporting on the goings-on because it "makes them look foolish."   The bottom line is, whether it is the Watson, Willmar, Spicer or New York City Council, a town's citizens deserve to have faith in their elected officials that they are spending their tax dollars wisely and making good decisions.
 

2-3-10    Election Year 2010 Officially Begins

Even though candidates have been positioning themselves, raising funds and gauging support for months, I don't consider a political season officially started until the Minnesota Party Caucuses, which were held last night across the state.  

     Even though about 30 people have thrown their collective hats in the ring for Minnesota Governor, when they see what support they did or did not get at the caucuses, many will decide to drop out and align with more-popular candidates.  

     In Kandiyohi County, it was no surprise Marty Seifert carried the day for Republicans, and could very well be the final choice to be on November's ballot.   On the DFL side it's much more up-in-the air, with the vote nearly evenly split between Margaret Anderson Kelliher and R.T. Rybak.   Anderson Kelliher was more popular in rural areas, while Rybak, the Mayor of Minneapolis, took the Twin Cities.   And whomever the DFL choses to endorse, he or she will have to face Mark Dayton in a September primary.  

     On the local level, Republican Bruce Vogel has come forward to challenge formidible incumbent Representative Al Juhnke, and three Republicans including Willmar's Lee Byberg are vying for the endorsement to face Democrat Incumbent 7th District U.S. Representative Collin Peterson.  

     As a newsman, this is where things begin to get fun...and on top of it all, a legislative session that will likely be very contentious begins in St. Paul tomorrow.   Be sure and listen to Legislative Review on KWLM Saturdays at 11 a.m. during the session.   If you have any questions for our lawmakers, call them in at 235-1342.   Our regulars will be Representatives Al Juhnke and Dean Urdahl, and Senators Joe Gimse and Gary Kubly, with occasional visits by Senators Steve Dille and Michelle Fischbach and representatives Paul Anderson and Andrew Falk.  

I had a chance today to talk to Tom Sykora, the blind man from Willmar who was run over by a pickup November 16th.   He's recovering from dozens of broken bones and is out walking now.   He really made me appreciate the difficulties the handicapped have when trying to go for a walk especially in the winter when people don't shovel their sidewalks.   Sykora says he's already been out and about with his guide dog, Nectar, walking to the Kandi Mall and Walmart.   In the meantime, the man accused of running him over, Gary Mattson of Willmar, has been charged with 3 misdemeanors and will be arraigned February 24th.

1-29-10    State of the Union, Getting Older

President Obama gave his State of the Union speech this week, or what I like to call it, 'aerobics for congressmembers.'   It was fun to watch him ream out the Supreme Court for their vote to lift the ban on certain types of political advertising, as the dour-looking justices were sitting right in front of him.   I heard a few things I liked...like wanting a jobs bill on his desk STAT.   Just so long as those jobs are created by fostering innovation and entreprenuership, and not a bunch of new government jobs created by new bureaucracies.   

     It was funny to hear the very light applause mixed with laughter and boos when he mentioned trying to fix "global warming" after the stinging embarrasment at Copenhagen where the biggest polluters in the world, China and India, completely blew it off.  

     He said he was going to pull all the U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by the end of August.   You could just hear the different terror organizations marking that date on their calendars.  

     I liked the idea of cutting tax breaks for American businesses that ship jobs overseas, and I liked the idea of doubling U.S. exports in 3 years, but let's see if he can really do it, and what accomodations we'll have to make to our trading "partners" to do that.   Over the decades America has given away too much in terms of trading.    NAFTA, anyone?   Our "partners" walk all over us, pumping their cheap stuff over here unfettered while putting huge bans, tariffs and restrictions on allowing American goods on their shores.   

     Anyway, as always, Obama gives a good speech...but I think Americans are getting tired of waiting to see some of his glittering promises come true. 

Today is my brother Bob's 51st birthday.   It's still very hard for me to realize all my brothers and sisters are now middle-aged...or worse.   My sister is 65 this year.   My other brother Jim, if he were still alive, would be 59 on Monday.   My "little" brother Gary will be 45 March 10th.  

     I'm sorry, but I still feel like I'm 21 years old, but my eyes, which need bifocals, tell me differently, and my cholesteral, which now demands medical remediation, is also a stark reminder.    All my siblings are now on Facebook, but increasingly we reminisce about the old days, whereas when I read my kid's postings it's all about current happenings or future events.   I guess that's natural when you get to a point in your life where you have more yesterdays than tomorrows. 

1-25-10    1998 Was Worse  

Today everyone is talking or blogging about the Viking's game yesterday...here's my thoughts... 

     First of all, the typical Vikings fans' psyche is so damaged by four Superbowl losses, and now 5 NFC Championship Game losses, many will say, 'It's better to lose the championship game than to have another Superbowl loss."   That's sad.   True, but sad.   Vikings fans just don't let themselves get their hopes too high, because they know, sure as the sun will rise, that the Vikings will disappoint them.   There are two classes of Vikings fans...the oldtimers who remember the Superbowel losses, and the younger crowd who started to take notice as a result of that glorious 1998 season.   As crushing as yesterday's loss was, I feel 1998 was worse.  

     In 1998 the Vikings were 15 and 1, the top seed, and hosting the NFC Championship Game, which seemed to be a mere formality before going on to the Superbowl against the Broncos.   They had it in the bag, but a missed field goal shook it out of the bag, and an overtime Morten Anderson field goal for the Falcons shattered our hopes.  

     1998 was worse...but that is stark, cold comfort.   Yesterday's game nearly made me physically ill.   Yes, it will be bemoaned for years to come, but you know, to me, this season seemed like a thrill ride driven by Brett Favre who hijacked our team bus and nearly drove us all the way to paradise, but instead jammed on the breaks and put us all through the windshield.   Of course, if Tarvaris Jackson had been the driver, the bus would have taken the earlier playoff exit, if it would have reached that point at all.           

     The season being over is almost like a death...it must be mourned, the high points recalled with happy memories, and then we must go on.   Life goes on...I know not why.   The Vikings are cursed.      Go Twins!   Sign Jim Thome!

1-22-10    Goodbye Grapefruit, Hello Tattoo (hopefully)

For sale:   several grapefruit spoons (triangular, with cerrated edges), a grapefruit knife for cutting-out grapefruit sections, and a tupperware grapefruit holder to hang your half-grapefruit up in the refrigerator.    I am regrettfully selling my grapefruit paraphenalia, after two decades of having half-a-grapefruit for breakfast every morning.  

     I love grapefruit...eating it makes me look forward to breakfast every morning, helps get me out of bed.   I have a morning ritual of cutting the grapefruit, sectioning it, splenda-ing it and eating it with great delight.   I credit grapefruit, with it's infusion of Vitamin C every morning, with giving me energy and protecting me from sickness...I rarely ever get a cold or flu.  

     However, I have high cholesteral.   Over the past 8 years it's always been way over 200.   Two weeks ago I had it checked again...284, even though I work out, exercise and eat oatmeal and granola everyday.   My old doctor always advised keeping an eye on it, but never felt I had to do anything about it.   However, he's gone, and my new Doctor immeadiatly wrote a prescription of Simvastatin for me.    When I brought it home, my wife, a registered nurse, read the paperwork that came with it, and told me my days of eating grapefruit are done.   Statin drugs and grapefruit, for some stupid reason, don't mix.   These statements are from www.about.com:cholesteral..."Although statins can greatly lower cholesterol levels, statins and grapefruit do not mix - in fact, grapefruit-drug interactions may be deadly!   Although eating fruit may seem harmless, drinking a glass of grapefruit juice or eating a grapefruit around the time you take your statin may be deadly. "   

     So that's it.   It looks like I start eating oranges at breakfast.   But if I start getting colds, I will either skip the drugs and go back to grapefruit and risk a heart attack or stroke, or see if there's something else I can take that doesn't interact with grapefruit.       

      I think of my friend, Pat Boros, who died at the age of 52 a few years ago during the Green Lake Triathlon.   He was in excellent shape, but had high cholesteral, which led to a heart attack during the triathlon.  

If the Vikings beat the Saints, then go on and beat the Colts in the Superbowl, I will get a Viking-head tattoo.   I'm not sure where.   You faithful readers of my blog can email me at jpcola@kwlm.com with suggestions.   I just hope it comes to that.   I think Sunday's game is a toss up.    The Vikes offense is on-par with the Saints, but our defense is better.   However, people are hurt, like Ray and Kevin and Antoine.   It's in the loud Superdome, but we have the "Favre Factor."   The idea of the Vikings actually going to the big game and maybe winning it literally makes my head spin.    Hopefully by this time next week I'll be looking like Linda Blair from the Exorsist.  

1-20-10    Brown Election a Harbinger

Yesterday's election of Republican Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts to a seat previously held by mega-liberal Ted Kennedy is a red flag for Democrats the size of those gigantic U.S. flags outside of  Perkins Restaurants.  

     While the liberal national T.V. media has been celebrating the election of Barack Obama and his "progress" getting a national health care reform bill passed (with virtually no support from Republicans) people with the gall to disagree with him have been gritting their teeth over their impotence due to the Senate's 60 vote Democrat Majority, brought about by the election of Al Franken.   Obama was swept into the office in a wave of good feeling over our embracing of a black man to lead our country.   But liberals come in all colors, and many have been put-off by the way the health care debate has taken place in secret despite Obama's promise to do it on t.v.   And the Democrats biggest concern has been how to get and keep the filibuster-proof majority so they can pass the bill with no input from Republicans.  

     This morning Kandiyohi County Republican Party Co-Chair Rollie Nissen said Republicans want health care reform too, mainly to reduce the costs, but the Obama plan is too much, too soon.   This fall Republicans have a chance to make their feelings known at the polls...there won't be the extra ACORN-infused millions of Democrats there who came in 2008 just for Obama.  

Last week I said I hoped the next time I blogged the Vikes were on their way to the NFC Championship Game, and now it's happening.   It seems unreal that the Vikings are this close to returning to the Superbowl.  

     The last time they were there was Superbowl 11, January 1977, at the Rosebowl and they got clobbered by the Raiders.   I was 14, going to Penn Junior High in Bloomington Minnesota.   Jimmy Carter was president, Rudy Perpich was governor, gas was less than a dollar, computers were the size of refrigerators and cellphones were still in the semi-experimental stage.   Kiss ruled, disco sucked, and Rod Carew was still playing first base for the Twins.  

     One thing hasn't changed since then...the Yankees were still World Series Champions.   Acutally, they would win the series in October 77....in January the Reds were the defending champs.  

1-15-10    One time when lawyers would've helped

It seems like everything government and business does these days is predicated on protecting themselves from lawsuits.   All the rules, regulations, codes, restrictions that exist in the U.S seem to have been created either:   A...in reaction to having been sued in the past, or:  B...to prevent a future lawsuit.   

     As a result, everything seems to cost more and you hear all kinds of disclaimers crammed on to the end of t.v. and radio commercials.   You know..."May cause you to grow a third arm and cause projectile diarhea" or "Not available in any state, city, country or planet..." etc.   But on the other hand, I have to grudgingly say things are safer in this country...bridges don't usually crumble, food on store shelves isn't poisonous, and buildings are safe and sturdy.    

     As we see and hear the horrifying news out of Haiti, we hear time and time again that the buildings there were constructed with few, if any, building codes and were flimsy and dangerous.   And when the 7.0 earthquake hit Port Au Prince, it wasn't surprsing they toppled, killing hundreds of thousands.  

     Haiti is the poorest country on this side of the world, with a corrupt and ineffective government.   About the best thing we can hope for, after all the bodies are buried and the rubble is cleared away, is when new buildings are constructed they are more earthquake resistant than the old ones.   But such extra care takes money, which Haiti doesn't have.   

     Haiti is President Obama's Katrina, and we'll see if he is as harshly-judged in his handling of the situation as President Bush was with Katrina.

It is my hope that the next time I am writing in my blog, the Vikings have a glorious victory under their belts over the Cowboys and look forward to an NFC championship showdown with the Saints or the Cardinals.   This week poll results were released showing 65 percent of Minnesotans are against using tax money for a new Vikings stadium, and 68 percent favor creating a racino at Canterbury Park to help pay for a new Vikings stadium.   Makes sense to me.  

1-12-10    Loser's Disease, Hoar Frost

Last week John Burns wrote a letter to the editor in the West Central Tribune, saying Republicans are whiny and irritable since Barack Obama won the presidential election in 2008.   He cited a study that showed men show a measurable decrease in testosterone levels they or the people they support lose.   I'm not sure how that would make them whiny and irritable, but you can ask John that.  

     Burns is a Willmar lawyer often seen working on cases while at local coffee shops or fast food restaurants.   During a news conference in 2006 in which the Minnesota Family Council endorsed then-Senate Candidate Joe Gimse, Burns attended and accused Gimse of abandoning his wife years ago, and even supplied anyone interested with copies of Gimse's divorce papers.   A few weeks later, Burns must have felt his testosterone levels decrease when Gimse defeated then-Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson.   And by the looks of things, a lot of Democrats will be on the market for new testosterone after the elections this fall.  

     On a side note...it's interesting how quickly the Democrats have run to the defense of Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is quoted in a recent book describing President Obama as a "light skinned negro" without any discernable dialect.   I'll bet Burns feels Republicans have no right to "whine" about those comments, but if a Republican made those comments the Democrats would not rest until whoever made that comment was forced to resign and possibly prosecuted for a hate crime.  

The hoar frost this morning made everything outside look like a fairyland.   Even the wretched bush on the corner of my house, which I cut down every year and looks like the clawed hand of satan thrusting out of the ground, looked like spun glass worthy of a Hallmark Christmas card.  

1-7-10     City's New Year's Resolution...Fix Dangerous Intersection

Last month there was another serious injury crash at the now-infamous intersection of North Highway 71 and 23rd Street Northeast, near the county law enforcement center.     

     A 57-year-old woman suffered a severely broken leg when her vehicle was hit as it crossed the highway, heading for 23rd Street.   In April, a Ridgewater College student was killed when the car he was riding in was hit on the passenger side as it crossed the highway, heading toward the Golf Course Road.  

     Every time the subject of fixing this intersection comes up during the Open Mike Show people call in with various solutions.   The key seems to be the short road in between the north and southbound lanes.   You could either eliminate it and not let people cross the highway, or build long left-and-right turn lanes.  

     The city is at-odds with the state and the county over a solution.    The final decision lies with the city, but if it choses to do their remedy over the one favored by the county and state, the city will have to foot the bill alone.   Either way, the three groups need to resolve to fix the intersection.   One good thing about all the accidents...every time I go past there, I think of the crashes and pay extra attention.  

     My own New Year's Resolution is not to lose weight...I've been at 205 for the past 2 years, no matter how much I eat or how much I work out.   My resolution is to use the heck out of the Bow Flex Home Gym my father-in-law gave me for Christmas.   My goal is to be an underwear model by next Christmas.

1-2-10   Happy New Year from Al Gore

I think Al Gore should give us a New Year's gift and deliver some more hot air on global warming, as temperatures hit 21 below in Willmar.   The cold weather brings out the worse in your cars, like flat tire, doors that won't open, windows that won't close and plastic trim and handles that snap off like dry twigs.  

     The coldest temperature I ever had to be out in was, if memory serves, the day the Vikings played either Pittsburgh or Oakland in the Superbowl.   It was a Sunday, obviously, and my little brother Gary and I had to get up at 4 a.m. and deliver my Sunday morning Minneapolis Tribune paper route in Bloomington.  

     The temperature on my parents' kitchen thermometer was around 32 below zero, and we had about 15 inches of snow and strong winds that morning.   We had a big cart we used to haul the big Sunday papers...I had around 45 customers...but pushing and pulling it though the deep snow was not easy that morning.   I seem to remember we brought sleds with to help facilitate transport of the papers.   We had to walk four blocks to the paper shack, which seemed like a Will Steger polar trek, and we both had on more clothes than a Goodwill Store.   I still had numb fingers and toes by the time we got to the shack, and could see nothing because my glasses were frosted over from my breath coming up from my face mask.  

     The truck was late dropping-off the papers, and Warren Winterfeldt let us sit in his warm Suburban while we waited.   After we finally received and assembled our papers in the freezing cold shack (the heat lights on the cieling hardly helped) me and Gary and my friends Joe, Carl and Steve who also had Sunday routes stopped at the Winchell's Donut shop for bear claws and apple fritters to give us fuel for the morning ahead.   Finally, it was route time.  

     I was lucky...my route had a lot of apartments, which meant less walking.   I was even able to take off my boots and two pair of socks to warm up my freezing feet at a baseboard heater in the apartment building stairway landing.  I believe I still got a touch of frostbite. 

      As the morning wound down and it appeared we were going to survive, my brother accidently let the wind catch a paper and it literally exploded, blowing across Hersh's yard and mostly collecting on a snow fence.   I forced Gary to reassemble the paper, because we had no extras, and deliver it.   I wonder if Mr. Hersh noticed anything missing from his paper that morning.   We finally got done, warmed up in the kitchen with peanut butter toast, then got back to bed.   Of course, later in the day, the Vikings rewarded us with another Superbowl loss.

12-31-09   Resolution for 2010...Get Rid of Political Correctness

As 2009 wrapped up we got a couple of stark reminders that followers of radical Islam want to kill us.   People nervously laugh about the "underwear bomber" who burned himself in the nether regions trying to ignite an explosive while on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.   A dutch man spotted the smoke and stopped him.   The Nigerian terrorist is the son of a wealthy banker, educated in the best schools, but turned radical after attending a mosque overseen by an anti-western Imam.  The man's father alerted U.S. authorities that his son could be a danger, but apparently no one listened, and he stayed off the "no-fly list."  

     Yesterday an Afghan Army officer blew himself up in a U.S. CIA base in Afghanistan, killing 8 civilians.   That was a stick-in-the eye of President Obama who wants the Afghan Army to take over their own security so the U.S. can pull out.   Another report indicates the Afghan Army is failing badly and apparently has no desire to try and quash the Taliban, or Al Qaeda for that matter.    Yemen and Somalia have been fingered as two more hotbeds of radical Islam and training grounds for terrorists.  

     I remain convinced that the forces of radical Islam will not stop trying to destroy all "infidels" and will stop at nothing, including trying to explode nuclear bombs in U.S. cities.   We in the U.S. hope places like the Mall of America or the Metrodome on Vikings game days are safe, and some blast that would instantly kill tens or hundreds of thousands of people will somehow be prevented.   Yet the underwear and CIA bombers are reminders that there are gaps, big gaps, in security.  

     In this day and age when a president who has done absolutely nothing except give a good speech and gets elected wins the Nobel Peace Prize, and political correctness seems to favor building mosques on main street and discourages people from saying "Merry Christmas", it would seem there is reason to believe we are letting our guard down against radical Islam.  

      The terrorists will never stop, and they will take advantage of every weakness we have in America...policital correctness is probably the most powerful tool terrorists have.   What is to prevent them from launching an attack similar to what happened in Mumbai India, where a group of less then 20 terrorists launched a coordinated attack at several places throughout the city, causing chaos for the local police until they ran out of ammunition and were stamped out.  

     President Obama...feel free to give me a complete body scan before I board a plane...just make sure you also give to the Muslim man in line behind me and don't give him a pass due to political correctness.   Happy New Year! 

12-28-09     That's How People Get Killed

I'm sure everyone has their own war stories about how the Christmas snowstorm affected their holidays...here's mine.   

     As I posted on my previous blog, we blew off our Christmas Eve trip into the Twin Cities, although we drove out Saturday for a much smaller, belated celebration with my mom and sister in Bloomington.   Highway 12 had snow on it, my speed averaged about 50, and visibility was poor for about 50% of the trip.  

     On Sunday we drove from Bloomington to Trimont Minnesota, which is about 60 miles southwest of Mankato, and conditions got progressively worse as we left Mankato.   There were some genuine touch-and-go moments getting to my mother-in-law's house east of Trimont.   my father-in-law got stuck in the ditch in his Tahoe, but somehow my Impala made it.  

     And Sunday night, driving home to Willmar on Highway 4 was truly frightening, and nearly fatal for a group of young good samaritans.   Visibility the whole way was poor-to-terrible, the road was mostly snow covered with some significant drifts.   Speeds...about 40 to 50 the whole way.  

     We were about 3 miles south of Hector when I saw the headlights of a car up ahead on the side of the road.   I took my foot off the gas and went as far to the right as I dared.   Just as I was passing the car pointed toward me on the side of the road, my wife yelled "Pedestrians on the road!" and I saw a car burst out the snowbank to my left and nearly slide into my path, followed by 3 or 4 young men who had just pushed the car out of the west ditch.   I had less then a second to react, and putting on the brakes or swerving would've put me in the ditch.   I cursed, and was able to just get around the car and the pedestrians.   Ladies and gentlemen...THAT'S how people get killed.  

12-22-09    Christmas in Willmar

Every year of my adult life I have been able to make it home (Bloomington) for Christmas.   In 1983, when my first wife and I were dirt (or snow) poor, living near Cedar Rapids Iowa, we drove my 1974 Ford Window van for 5 hours in sub zero cold.   For the first hour the choke on my carb was stuck shut, so we had to remove the engine cover between the two front seats and I drove with my hand inside the engine compartment, holding the choke open.   Even with the heat of the engine I nearly froze my hand off.   

     The next year, 1984, we were living in Cheyenne Wyoming and we were able to scrape together enough money to fly home and surprise my folks on Christmas Eve.    We've made similar trips while living in Montevideo and Marshall when, in 1988, we got snowed-in in Bloomington on both Thanksgiving...I drove into the ditch on the way home, sub zero with a 2-week-old infant...and Christmas, when my Dad, brother and I had to shovel out the driveway AND the street so we could get onto Penn Avenue, and then the freeway.   

     Later, we lived in Willmar and marvelled at the quick two hour trips to the cities and back, then moved to Sioux Falls where the trips were then 4 hours.   I got divorced but still made the Christmas pilgrimage home with my kids Tony and Mike all four years before re-marrying in 1998, moving back to Willmar and taking the short trips back home with new wife Sharon and the kids.  

     My dad died in 1999 and my brother Jim passed in 2004, but we still keep-up the tradition of Christmas Eve at mom's on Oliver Avenue in Bloomington.   A new bonus this year was going to be Christmas Day dinner at my nephew Shawn's House in Golden Valley where he lives with his wife Kristen and daughter Ivey.  

     However, the forecast of up to 20 inches of snow and winds of 30 to 50 miles an hour from Wednesday through Saturday will likely make me end the string of trips home for Christmas.   It's sad because my mom is 85, and while she's in good health, you never know....anyway, maybe it's the Lord's way of letting me know that I should start thinking about spending Christmas at my real home, my residence of 16 years, Willmar.  

12-16-09     The Women from Hudson, and the Old Airport Quagmire

This week I attended a 2-minute procedural court hearing for accused sex offender Lindon Knutson in Willmar.   He's accused of beating, raping and robbing a 73-year-old woman at Crow River Lutheran Church near Belgrade November 24th...I've written about Knutson in previous blogs.  

     In the courtroom were 9 women, and after the hulking blue-jumpsuit-clad Knutson was done with his court appearance and led away in manacles, the women all got up and left.   Talking to them in hallway, I found out 5 had driven all the way from Hudson Wisconsin on a very cold and snowy day to attend the court appearance.   Their sister was 16-years-old back in 1974 when Knutson stalked her and raped her.   The women were outraged when they found out Knutson had been released from his lifetime committment as a predatory offender at a Wisconsin state hospital earlier this year, and were shocked when they found out he had (allegedly) struck again in Minnesota.   They vowed to come to every one of his court appearances to show their support for their sister and their anger at Knutson's release.  

     I also spoke to 4 women who were there to support the woman he is accused of attacking in Belgrade...among them was the victim's daughter.   They talked about how her physical injuries are pretty much healed, but now, at 73, she'll have has to deal with the emotional and psychological damage done by the attack in her own church.   They say she's nervous around people, but she's tough and will pull through.   If you have a second, say a little prayer for this lady who was brutalized just 3 days before Thanksgiving. 

Three years ago Willmar voters approved a local option sales tax with most of the money raised going toward redeveloping the old Willmar Airport into an expanded industrial park.   After all, the new airport was open and suddenly there was 800 acres right next to the current industrial park.   The city and county extended County Road 5 south across the property and were going to extend Willmar Avenue eastward to join up with the new 5 and create a grid of roads to serve the new industrial park.  

     But now all the plans are tied-up by state and federal bureaucrats, miles of red tape and a mountain of paperwork.   The Federal Aviation Administration is upset the city started work on the site before the feds had officially released the land to the city, and the State Historic Preservation Office wants the old airport terminal and hangar declared an historic site, and thus preserved in it's current state.   That could throw a monkey wrench into the city's plans to sell the old hangar to a steel company.    And add too it a desire by a veterans group to turn the old hangar into a museum for military uniforms and equiptment, showing off Jon Lindstrand's impressive collection.         

     Who is to blame for this mess?   It appears there is some for everyone to share.   The FAA was moving at a glacial pace and the city needed to get started on some aspects of the site development.   The city may have jumped the gun and started work before all the "i"s were dotted and the "t"s were crossed.    And the state at one time insisted 25 acres around the old airport terminal be historically preserved, although it has been reduced to 4.5 acres.   City officials say it appears every bureaucrat along every step of the process has done their best to flex whatever muscle they have and wield whatever authority they can to stop or delay progress in resolving the issues instead of working together to expedite things.  

     Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, the recession stepped-in last year and seemed to cool off private industry's fervor to get building at the site.   Who knows if it will be resolved once the economy is back in boom times again.

12-9-09   The Best of Times...Vikings addiction

Back in the early 80s, when I was fresh out of school and starting my adult life and career in radio, Styx came out with the song "The Best of Times".   It talked about how things were so gloomy around the country and the world, and I remember at that time nodding my head in agreement.   Now, looking back at the early 80s, yes there was a 2-year recession, but Reagan was in office, optimism was on the increase and the Soviet Union was falling apart.   911 had not yet happened, we were not yet at war, our financial institutions and the U.S. auto industry hadn't collapsed (not counting Chrysler), and impending socialism couldn't be further away.   

     Now it seems like America's greatness is greatly diminished...we owe billions to China, terrorists continue their cowardly hit-and-run warfare (although not on our soil...yet) and our national politicians do not have the courage to stop the bleeding.   We continue to have huge trade imbalances with China and now have no leverage to level the field because of our financial debt to them.  

     Obama's administration is bound and determined to do serious damage to the current health insurance companies, and in Denmark, he is about to make promises that will hurt our domestic energy production, and will allow other countries to dictate what American consumers can buy and what U.S. companies can produce.   And the national media continues to pound the bogus drum of "Global warming! We're all to blame for breathing, and we're all gonna die!   All praise Mother Earth, and curse the invader humans who are ruining it!"  

     I really, sincerely hope that my pessimism for the future of this country and it's obese youth, who prefer to text and twitter instead of talking to people face-to-face and who blindly follow a man who looks good and gives a good speech is colored by my age.   In other words, I hope things aren't really as bad as they seem.

I compare being a Vikings fan to being a drug addict.   Watching the games give you a "buzz" and temporary euphoria.    People get their fix from October thru January.   Sometimes you have a "bad trip" like last Sunday against Phoenix.   You buy paraphenalia, like jerseys, hats, calendars and so forth.   The possibility of losing your drug, like pusher-man Zyggy Wilf threatening to move the team gives you the shakes.   The possiblity of Vikings fans having to go cold turkey after 2011 is very real.  Like using drugs, being a Vikings fan eventually can destroy you...like what happened in Superbowls 4, 8, 9 and 11 and the fateful culmination of the 1998 season.   It has never given fans the ultimate reward.    Well, I'm hooked, so I'm going to roll up my sleeve and get ready to inject the Vikings-Bengals game into my veins.  

12-4-09      Edinburgh Sentencing

For nearly 2 hours Wednesday I sat through the sentencing of 19-year-old Miles Edinburgh of Willmar.   When it was all over, he was given a 30-year-prison sentence for stabbing 21-year-old Ridgewater College Football Captain Adam Milton to death outside an apartment complex July 20th 2008.   On that date, all of the potential, all of the dreams, the plans, the goals of Milton abruptly ended, and he was reduced to fond memories, photos and a name on a gravestone.  

     Adam Milton was raised on the mean streets of Dade County Florida (often featured on the COPS T.V. show) and was recruited to come to Willmar and play for Ridgewater.   He came, and fit-in well.   Milton had an infectious smile and aspired to be a teacher.  He liked the safety of the community and spent a lot of his free time volunteering to tutor kids at Roosevelt Elementary.   Eventually he came to love the community and wanted his family to move here. 

     On the last night of his brief life he was partying (no drugs or alcohol were reportedly involved) with fellow football players and friends at the Evergreen Apartments next to Ridgewater when there was a knock on the door.   Edinburgh and two or three friends wanted to come in and "get high" with Milton's group.   They were told to get lost, but they didn't.   Things devolved into a shouting match in the parking lot, in which Edinburgh (who is black) called Milton and his friend L.W. Frost (who are also black) "niggas".   Frost knocked Edinburgh down, and then he ran.   Adam Milton was blessed with 4.4 speed, but in this case it was a curse because he soon caught up with Edinburgh and grabbed him.   Instead of stopping, apologizing or asking for mercy, Edinburgh pulled out a knife and stabbed Milton three and maybe four times.    An autopsy showed one of the thrusts was so forceful, more than an inch of the handle of the knife went into Milton.   The blade pierced the defensive back's lung and heart, and he died soon afterward.   Edinburgh stuck the knife in the ground under a nearby tree and continued to run.    He was later found a couple blocks away, hiding under a pickup.  

     Edinburgh was just short of his 18th birthday and was tried as an adult.   Prosecutor Connie Crowell says Edinburgh had a long history of juvenile offenses, including bullying people and using a knife.   She says Edinburgh was a homicide waiting to happen.      During sentencing Edinburgh sat dry-eyed as Crowell read several letters from coaches, friends and family members of Milton, talking about what a beloved friend, brother, son and player he was.   Milton's mother could be heard in the courtroom on the phone weeping after Crowell read her letter.  Edinburgh finally showed emotion, glaring at Crowell when she criticized him for wearing glasses to soften his image in the courtroom.   He then bent his head forward when the sentence was pronounced.   It was delivered in months (360) and he quickly turned around and asked him mother how many years that was.   When given a chance to speak, Edinburgh spoke in nearly incomprehendible bursts, saying stabbing Edinburgh was a matter of "self preservation, no different than eating when you're hungry or drinking when you're thirsty."   He said no amount of crying or praying would bring Milton back, but he doesn't regret acting in self preservation.   Stafsholt said he would have to serve at least 240 months (24 years) before he's eligible for probation, but warned Edinburgh that if he doesn't control his anger, he will likely have a tough time behind bars and have to serve the full 30, if he survives.  

     Potentially, Edinburgh could be out in about 18-and-a-half years, when he'll be 37-year-old, because he was given credit for the 501 days he's already spent in jail.  At the end, Edinburgh strutted out of the courtroom with his nose in the air like he owned the place.   We'll see what kind of attitude the scrawny bespectacled teen has when they put him in with the big boys.   What a waste.  

12-1-09     Why was Lindon Knutson out of jail?

Last week a 73-year-old woman was cleaning the Crow River Lutheran Church near Belgrade when an older man stopped in, asked for directions and a tour of the church.   He then beat, kicked, robbed and raped the woman, and fled in a vehicle.   He was later arrested in Cosmos on a traffic violation, questioned about the attack, and reportedly confessed to everything.  

     The man is 61-year-old Lindon Knutson, with a recent address of Bemidji.   He also is a very well-known sex offender from the State of Wisconsin, having admitted to raping at least 10 women, most of them over the age of 50.    After serving a 10-year prison term for his most recent conviction, he was civilliy committed to a Wisconsin institution for life because of the danger he presented to the public.   However, for some reason, a judge released him within the last year.   Knutson reportedly told authorities he has been homeless for the past couple weeks, living in his car, and going to churches, possibly in search of more victims, and it looked like he found one at Crow River Lutheran.  

     I'm still working on this story and would like to talk to the judge on why he reportedly let Knutson, with a clear history of rape, out of confinement.   I found a newspaper article from 2007 about a neighborhood in Madison Wisconsin up-in-arms because he was about to be released into their midst.   They knew his history, and were assured by state officials and by Knutson himself that he was no harm to anyone, and he would be closely monitored.  

      Repeat sex offenders pose a special threat to society...even more than murderers, who might kill someone on the spur of the moment and live a lifetime of regret...sexual predators don't seem to show remorse or an ability to stop themselves from ruining and sometimes killing others.   I think with sex offenders it should be "two strikes and you're out."   Meaning life in the most deplorable prison society can generate, with NO CHANCE of ever getting out. 

11-24-09    Infuriating Video

Last week I saw a video on the Minneapolis Star Tribune website that made my blood boil, and I'm not sure why.   It was a video from Utube that was put together by a group of young men in the Twin Cities, showing them assaulting random people.   Some stuff was pretty innocuous...grabbing someone's hat and running away.   Other stuff was not so harmless...walking up to bikers and joggers and shoving them down or knocking them off their bikes.   One middle-aged man was tackled full speed from behind.   The attackers then walked or ran away, laughing.   In one case a victim tried to fight back.   Each attack was prefaced with the assailant showing his face and name, and saying something like..."Watch This!"   

Now back to the blood boiling part...Obviously, anyone would be outraged after watching such a video, but I seemed angrier than usual.   My pulse rate went up, my breathing quickened and I began to see red.   Was it because the assailants were all black?  (so were many of the victims).    That they all seemed to have Somali or east African names?   Or was it their raw audicity and attitude?   I know I was angry at Utube for creating an atmosphere where even the slimiest scum can be famous by making such a video and putting it on the world wide web.   I felt a genuine wish that I could have been one of the victims so I could have fought back and "taught them a lesson."   Me, a middle-aged white guy, in fairly good shape, but suddenly surrounded by 7 or 8 young street thugs.    Bernie Goetz anyone?

For one thing, I, as a parent of two young men of the ages of the thugs on the video, was extremely angry at their parents for raising such wastes of flesh when I and my wife have done our best to make sure our kids stay on the straight-and-narrow, always making sure we knew exactly what they were doing at all times and with whom.   The video thugs are a perfect example of what our afternoon show host Joe Soucherary would call "feral youth."    I know I felt a certain amount guilt at the rage I felt towards these criminals because I am a "church-going Christian" and feeling this angry and dismayed toward fellow humans would go against Jesus' teachings.   I try and image what Jesus would do if the video showed him innocently jogging along a pathway and getting smacked around by these guys.   I guess he would turn the other cheek and forgive them as they ran away, laughing.  

By the way, someone who watched the video on Utube recognized the surroundings on the video and called Minneapolis Police.   I believe two of the thugs were arrested.   Unfortunately they'll likely get a slap on the wrist and more war stories to share with their buddies, or they'll be heroes in jail.    

11-21-09   The Face of Pain

This past week I had a chance to interview 13-year-old Brady Damhof of rural Atwater.   Brady is one of the St.Mary's religious education students on Wednesday nights, and was known for being lively and high-spirited, and aspires to be a three-sport athlete.   Brady's plans came to an abrupt halt on October 3rd when a hunting companion tripped and accidently shot Brady behind the left shoulder.   Since that time, Brady has had several operations and has very little movement in his left hand.   He also suffers from a lot of pain from torn muscle, crushed bone and nerve damage.  

     Talking to him, you could see the strain of pain on his face.   The normally rambunctious teen was subdued, hunched-over and walked and sat gingerly.    But in speaking with him, he said he just wants to get back to his "normal self" and get back on the playing field and court.   His favorite sport is football and wants to be a wide reciever.   He'll need a fully-operational left hand for that, giving him a little more motivation during his torturous therapy sessions.   His mother, Betty, has spoken of Brady's trials on his Caringbridge.org website.   They hope to begin working him back into a school routine next week.   Personally, I hope to soon start hearing his laughter again Wednesday nights at St. Marys.  His ordeal has been a good education for the students, whose theme this year is "prayer"  and a lot of prayers have gone Brady's way.    

     A fundraising breakfast for the family was held Saturday morning, and I hope they had a good turnout.  

11-17-09    Empty Nester Syndrome Approaching

I think you really feel like a "grown up" when you start to get involved in your community as a volunteer and try to help behind the scenes.   I'm at the point in my life where I am soon going to be an "empty nester"...my son Tony just turned 21 and now lifes in Mankato where he goes to college.   My other son Michael is 18 and graduates from Willmar High in June and will be going off to college in September.   It's at that time, I think, that a lot of people try to fill their lives with volunteer work in their community.   They no longer have to be involved in their child's day-to-day well being (other than paying college tuition!).        

As for myself, I am a member of the Barn Theatre Board of Directors.   We've been very busy in the last few months getting ready for our big New Year's Eve Barn Bash.   It's going to be a great party and an important fundraiser for The Barn.   I am also a member of the Faith Formation (religious education) Committee at my church, St. Mary's in Willmar, as well as well as a teacher of religious ed to 7th graders Wednesday nights.   That, coupled with my long work days, keeps me busy, but it also keeps my mind off the fact that the hands-on "father" stage of my life is coming to an end.  

Being involved with these boards has given me the utmost respect for people who volunteer their time and help around their communities.  

11-12-09    Sesame Street, Veteran's Day, Bike Post Mortem

All we've been hearing this week has been happy-sappy news about the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street.   I guess I'm going to be Oscar the Grouch and say I never really liked Sesame Street.   It began when I was 7 years old, and I don't think it made it to the Twin Cities until a couple years later.   My little brother Gary watched it and got a Cookie Monster hand puppet which was kind of cool because it had a slot in it's mouth so you could actually make it eat stuff.  

      But anyway, Sesame Street was produced by the Childrens' Television Workshop, and they were the group responsible for putting my beloved Lunch With Casey show off-the-air.   Casey aired on WTCN Channel 11 from the 1950s into the early 70s, but CTW complained that local kids' shows were full of advertising which they felt wasn't good for children.   Once Casey lost his advertisers, that was the end of the line.   I interviewed Casey...Roger Awsumb...a few years ago and he talked about how CTW brought about the demise of locally-produced kids shows.  

     So that's my reason for considering the crew of Sesame Street a Street Gang.   I did like the muppet show, however.  

It was Veterans' Day Wednesday, and sadly, families across the country were mourning the deaths and injuries suffered by their soldier-loved ones at Ft. Hood Texas, including a young man from St. Paul who was ready to go to Afghanistan.   I really hope the reason that officials didn't investigate and arrest the shooter ahead of time was not due to political correctness because he's Muslim.  

     Nidal Malik Hassan was born in America and was an internet geek who reportedly spent time at radical Islam websites.   He openly spoke in opposition to the war, and the Imam at his Mosque says he was very generous and began giving away his possessions just before the attack, a sure sign of an impending suicide.   Why didn red flags go up?   He didn't want to go to Afghanistan, yet instead of just refusing to go and facing the music, he decides to slaughter more than a dozen American soldiers while shouting "God is Great" in Muslim.  

     Former senator and Army Chaplain Dean Johnson said this week counselors should have picked up on trouble signs with Hassan early and told a higher-up.   Johnson says he hopes it more an act of terrorism on Hassan's part and not incompetence on the part of the Army.

I reached my goal of biking more than 1000 miles this year.   I actually had reached that goal by the end of September and had hoped to pile another couple hundred miles on in October, but the lousy weather prevented that.   I did get more riding in this month, but I think the old Rans Rocket will be going up into the rafters pretty soon.   I have discovered the joys of a leaf vac-blower, and wonder why the heck I didn't get one years ago!  

11-9-09     The Deer Strike Back

On Friday I ran a story with local DNR Wildlife Manager Leroy Dahlke, warning people to look out for deer on the road due to the rut, harvest and hunting.   Later that night a motorcyclist struck a deer and was killed in Meeker County.  And early the next morning a car full of young people swerved to avoid a deer near Rochester and rolled.   I remember one October a few years ago riding my bike on the Glacial Lakes Trail near New London and almost hit (or was hit by) a deer.   And over the weekend there were a handful of hunting accidents in Minnesota, one fatal near Deer River.   A 14-year-old boy was shot in the leg during a deer drive near Spring Hill.   Deer hunting is fun but can be dangerous, not just for the deer.

What if the U.S. Government decided you were charging too much for your business and your services, and decided they would go into the same business and offer the same services at a cut-rate price?   That's the Health Care Reform Bill, in a nutshell.   The U.S. House passed it Saturday night, although our area congressman, Collin Peterson, voted against it.   It is reportedly going to be dead-on-arrival in the Senate.   I agree, health insurance premiums are too high, and everyone should have access to affordable health insurance.  But creating a new government bureaucracy is not the way.   Fix the existing system, get the waste and greed out, stop the endless ads on t.v. and radio by the big drug companies for their recreational sex drugs, and get the lawyers and government over-regulation out, and things will be just fine.  

Last week I was informed, via the internet, that two local young people had died or were dying of undisclosed reasons.   One was a 20-year-old woman from Montevideo who passed away in Fargo, either from alcohol poisoning or H1N1.   The other is a former Willmar High School student who reportedly had been rushed to the ICU at Rice Memorial Hospital.   I switched to newsman mode and started investigating.   My wife Sharon hates it when I do that, and I guess I should listen to her.   I later found out the Monte woman died of a "seizure" and the Willmar girl was doing just fine.   Sometimes rumours can go viral fairly quickly thanks to Facebook, but a rumour is still a rumour. 

The Packers lose to Tampa Bay!   Ha ha ha ha ha ha!   The Vikings have the division all-but-wrapped-up!   Todd Bergeth has suggested the Vikings use Brett Favre minimally during next week's Lion's game, and I agree.   But the Vikes can't just assume an automatic win over Detroilet...look at the Packers-Bucs game.

Make your plans now for New Year's Eve...The Willmar Holiday Inn Convention Center for the Barn Theatre Roof Raising Bash! 

11-4-09    Big Stone Two is Dead...Now What?

The announcement came down this week that the 1.6 billion dollar Big Stone 2 coal-burning power plant near Big Stone City SD will not be built after all.   Environmentalists have been fighting the plant for 5 years, and now that it won't be built, we're waiting for those same groups to now let us know how we will meet our future energy needs without the cheap, reliable energy that a coal-burning plant would provide.  

     They say 'wind, solar, biomass and conservation'.   I'm all for that, but the reality is, we are not yet at the point where we can put up enough wind turbines and solar cells to generate anywhere near the amount of electricity we need.   And those sources aren't available all the time, like on calm, cloudy days.    The Big Stone 2 plant project was also going to include transmission lines which wind projects were going to be able to use to ship their juice to distant users...now those lines will not be erected.   In this day and age of short funds, who will pay for those lines now?  

     Environmental groups like CURE say they would like  to see communities come up with their own sources of power instead of buying it from a distant plant.   Again, a good idea, but it will take a lot of money to put it into action.   With Big Stone 2, the environmental groups should heed the warning of "Be careful of what you wish for."   Without coal, which America seems to have an endless supply of, any other generation source is going to be a lot more expensive.   You may want to start saving-up right now to buy your own wind generator for your home. 

It's interesting how last year, everytime a Democrat was elected to a house, senate or governor's seat where a Republican used to be, all the national pundits trumpeted how it was a "rejection of President Bush's policies."   Yesterday, Democrats were ousted from the governor's offices in New Jersey and Virginia, and all I can hear the ABC talking heads say is how it's NOT a rejection of President Obama.   Obama, who promised to get us out of the war in the Middle East, where the war is as hot and heavy as ever, and promised to get us nationalized health care, which is still up in the air.  

I don't know if you've ever sat through a Michael Moore movie before, but the other day I happened to watch most of the movie "Sicko" that he did examining the health care system in the U.S.   He bent over backward to compare it to the Canadian, British and French systems where apparently they all live longer than Americans, get top-notch health care and don't pay a cent.   He never examined how much income taxes people pay in those countries, but I guarantee it's exponentially higher than in the U.S.   He did spend a lot of time saying how much time-off they get and how liesurely the work schedule is in France.   

     The trouble with Moore's films is how he only shows certain things that get people saying "Yeah, let's change the system!" but he doesn't give the whole picture.    America is not England, where the government tries to regulate virtually every phase of life, or Canada, with a much lower population, or France, for God's sake.    I remember going to '"Fahrenheit 911" a couple years ago  (I paid for a different movie and sneaked in) and was horrified how one-sided it was against America.   And the worst part were the people in the audience who stood up and cheered at the end, thinking they had somehow been accurately enriched and informed about the War Against Terrorism.  

      It's a free country, and I'm actually glad there are people like Moore, but he caters to people with a "victim mentality" who think the government owes them something and are not willing to do their part.   I wish there were other film makers out there willing to tell it like it really is, but I guess they would be drowned out by the political correctness police.   Maybe Mel Gibson somewhat fills that role, but now that he's been made out to be an anti-semite, anything he produces will be portrayed within that framework.  

10-30-09    We are lucky, eerie coincidence

There are few days that go by that I don't thank God that I am an American.   We are truly blessed in this county.   No matter what your political views are, the standard of living in this country is excellent.   We take things like indoor plumbing, electricity and heat in the winter for granted, and complain if our cable t.v. signal is fuzzy.    Even our poor live like kings compared to the "Third World."   That's why people risk their lives and freedom to come here, even illegally, because what they came from is pretty grim.       

     I spoke to Author and State Representative Dean Urdahl this week who had spent a week with his wife in Kenya in September, doing research for a new book.   He described the primative conditions there, from scarce electricity and no plumbing to horrible roads.   Urdahl says when he came home he gained a whole new appreciation for the "white porcelain thing on his bathroom floor."   

     I have a theory about why fewer people are going to church and even believing in God...life has gotten too good in America.   Our biggest health problem is over-eating.    Fewer and fewer people undergo even a moderate degree of discomfort on a daily basis other than going to and from their cars when it's cold out.   Hunger is unheard of.   Religion seems to be strongest in times and places that life on earth is a daily struggle and there's hope for a better place in the after life.   Few people these days get truly outraged about anything...people have full stomachs, warm homes and most people have jobs.   I don't want to say we're spoiled...I'd rather say we're blessed.   Look at your own situation and thank God.  

I had a very weird experience this week...my son Michael asked me to write a short paper describing the day he was born, for a school assignment.   For the past week or so I've been writing the paper, adding remembered experiences, and getting more input from his mother in Sioux Falls, and still had some blanks to fill.  

     In the midst of that, I grabbed a random book (Different Seasons, by Stephen King) from the basement book shelf to do some "bathroom reading".   Written on the front title page was "Michael Raymond Cola, born at 2:03 a.m. September 12th 1991"....along with other info about his birth...the doctor, nurse, his weight and length and the phone numbers of my parents and his mother's parents.   I had grabbed the book I had been reading when he was born, and had written down that info right after his birth.   God, you sure have a great sense of humour!  

10-27-09    Close Shave, Changes Since JFK

The Vikings lost to the Steelers in Pittsburgh Sunday.   I guess if you're going to lose a game, a squeaker to the defending Super Bowl Champs on their field is the way to do it.   The Vikings actually dominated that game and lost due to a bad call by the officials and a big-play, opportunistic Steelers defense.   In other words, it was a close shave...and that's what I gave myself after the game.   When the season started, I vowed not to shave until the Vikings lost, so I had to put my razor to a 6-week-old goatee Sunday evening.   Actually, I had to trim it the day before because my family had a picture taken for the church directory.   I don't miss it...it was scratchy, scruffy and was growing-in gray.   

     After the goatee, I decided to shave my head.   I haven't paid to have my hair cut in nearly 10 years...every other month I take out the electric razor, zip-zip-zip and I'm all done.    I never, however, go all the way down to skin-head...my wife says she didn't marry Mr. Clean or Howie Mandel.   But Sunday, when I started shaving my head, I forgot to put the guard on the blade so my first strip was all the way down to the skin.    Sharon wouldn't allow me to "do the chrome dome" all around so it would match, so for the next few weeks I'll have to wear a hat or walk around with a wallet-sized white patch on my left temple.  

The other day I watched a special on the History Channel about the John F. Kennedy assassination called "Three Shots that Changed the World."   Yes, there have been countless documentaries about that fateful day (and I try and watch every one) but this one really caught my attention from a journalistic point-of-view.   It consisted of rarely-seen t.v. footage and video tape of that day, both from the major networks and local Dallas T.V.  

     Video-tape was in it's infancy, and even with it's hot black and white picture, it really gave you a feeling of what it was like to be there that day.     It was cool to see how the anchors and reporters had to improvise to bring the news on such a momentous day.   Quickly improvised sets, talking live on-the-air with a cigarette burning in one hand and a phone in the other.   Production people running back and forth in the back ground and fore ground...handing the reporter notes and photos while on the air.   

     My mom was watching "As the World Turns" that day while 18-month old John (me) took a nap in the nearby bedroom.   "Three Shots" showed the start of the soap opera, and a minute or two into it, the bulletin comes on saying 'the president had been shot in Dallas...more news later'...I'm sure everyone's jaw dropped to the floor as they then switched back to a Nescafe Instant Coffee commercial.  

     The program showed Walter Cronkhite, Dan Rather, Harry Reasoner, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley and other journalists trying to convey the grave news to the viewers as accurately as possible.   It also surprised me how quickly they had witnesses on the air...one reporter sat a man, his wife and two children down and interviewed them less than half-an-hour after the man literally witnessed the president's brains flying all over the car and Jackie-O.  

     It showed the circus in the basement of the Dallas City Jail as Oswald was led back and forth, through the reporters, to different interogation rooms and his holding cell.   And how the reporters were able to cajole the Dallas Police to bring out Oswald for an impromptu question and answer session.   And finally, how Jack Ruby was able to stand there, amongst the reporters, waiting for Oswald to be led to the parking garage to be transferred to the Dallas County Jail, then lunging forward for the fatal shot.  

     If you can see "Three Shots that Changed the World" you should do so.   As a reporter, I doubt there will ever be a time when the media will have such close contact, literally rubbing elbows with history being made.  

10-23-09     H1 N1, Soldiers interviewed

When I hear and deliver all the news regarding the H1 N1 flu, I sometimes think about movies where some illness wipes out the world and they show flashbacks of early media reports of initial outbreaks.   In the movies, the reports get progressively worse..."100 have died so far..." "100 have died this week..."  to "thousands are dying everyday..."   A person can't help but feel a little uneasy when the Minnesota Department of Health keeps updating their fatality figures.  

     Most people know H1 N1 is here, but it hit home for me yesterday when Todd interviewed Dr. Ray Mellema from ACMC who said Urgent Care is as busy as he's ever seen it.   And the SEASONAL flu hasn't even arrived yet.   Despite the hundreds of local people who have gotten it, no one has died.   The U of M is doing studies to see if H1 N1 mutates into something more serious.   I figure I'm going to get it...I can't get a shot due to an egg allergy.   Dr. Mellema is eager for the H1 N1 vaccine to arrive, saying it "Can't get here fast enough."   Rice Hospital is continuing to put more restrictions in place on visitors to the hospital and ER.   A couple people here at the station have gotten sick, but Mellema says it seems people in their 40s and older seem immune from H1 N1.   In this case, I guess, it's good to be older!   I am eager for my kids, ages 18 and almost 21 to get the shots as soon as they arrive.  

I had the honor of interviewing three local soldiers over the phone from Kuwait on Wednesday.   Around 600 guardsmen from southwest Minnesota were deployed to Kuwait and are running escort missions for supply convoys across Iraq.   Daytime temperatures regularly hit the triple digits, at night it gets down to a frosty 70.  

     So often we cover when our troops are deployed and when they return, but I was glad to be able to do an update on how they are doing during their mission, and it appears they are doing alright, knock on wood.   I can't imagine the tension of driving on dessert highways at night, not knowing if the sand-drift up ahead contains a bomb easily capable of killing you.   I thank Lt. Colonel Scott St. Sauver and Lt. Keith Koschelniak for helping set up the call.   I know the parents of the soldiers were eagerly awaiting us airing the interviews which you can hear by going to our "On Demand" section of this web page.  

10-19-09    College shopping, Viking Screaming, Balloon Boy Deflation

I was gone from work last Thursday and Friday while my wife and I took my son Michael for a tour of St. Olaf College.   He's narrowed down his preferences to St. Johns and St. Olaf.   The Catholics versus the Lutherans.   Each college we have visited over the past 18 months has gotten progressively more expensive...from NDSU in Fargo at about $13,000-a-year up to St. Olaf, at...get ready...$45,000-A-YEAR!!   Yes, Mike would likely get grants and scholarships that would shave 12-to-20 thousand dollars off that cost, but it's a little overwhelming to think about.   My other son, Tony, goes to Minnesota State-Mankato, for a "paltry" $16,000-a-year.   We'll see who gets a better job.   Michael is leaning toward St. Olaf, but there are some things about the school I don't like, which I won't delve into in this blog.   It seems the last place we visit is always Michael's favorite.   Maybe we should visit NDSU again.  

There's something about going to a sporting event live that makes it more memorable than watching it alone in your living room, semi-dozing while momentous events take place on a distant field.   I took my son Tony to the Vikings' game Sunday and we were among the 62,000-plus who stared in horror as the Ravens took the lead with 3 minutes to go.   We screamed ourselves hoarse trying to deafen the Raven's offense, and I believe it was our collective prayers and fevered wishes that pushed that last-second field-goal to the left.   There's something about being surrounded by strangers, sharing a collective experience, high-fiving each other, swearing at conservative play-calling, and singing and dancing with joy at a victory that can't be matched on a living room sofa.   Sharing a domed living room with the population of Mankato is quite a trip.   If you don't like what's happening on the field, you can stare at the pretty girls in their pink Jared Allen jerseys, or laugh at the maniacs with Viking's logos shaved into the sides of their heads or with fake (I hope) horns glued to their noggins.    I just hope I don't catch a cold or the flu from any of them, but we sure share Vikings fever!

I am pysched after last week's announcement that the Northwoods League will locate a team in Willmar.   I have many fond memories of sitting at the stadium in Sioux Falls, watching the Canaries of the Northern League.   Going to these games are an experience the whole family can enjoy...not just good baseball but the promotions and the whole atmosphere made the "Birdcage" THE place to be in Sioux Falls.   I look forward to Taunton Stadium being the same.   I am strongly considering being a host family for a player.   My ideas for a team...the Willmar "Toms" (turkeys would not be complimentary) or the Willmar "Wind" in honor of the storm that destroyed the former ball stadium and led to Taunton Stadium being built, and in honor of the city's new wind turbines.

And I don't think anyone should be surprised that the whole "Balloon Boy" commotion last week was faked.   Everyone wants to be famous and on T.V. these days, and reality T.V. feeds this mania.    The sad part is, I think this bozo who leads this family will thrive on every last iota of publicity this incident generates, even if it's negative.   Hit him with a $100,000 bill and a jail sentence for all the time, fuel and energy the search caused, then put a media blackout on him.   I wouldn't be surprised if he planned to have the incident revealed as a hoax to get even MORE publicity out of it!

10-13-09     Snow, sad trial

First of all, happy 85th birthday to my mom, Estelle Cola, still living in the family home in Bloomington.   Love ya, mom.  

Sorry my mom had to get 2 to 4 inches of snow on her birthday.   I don't remember getting this much snow before Halloween EVER.   As a child with a paper route, I was always elated in March when the snow would melt and I could ride my bike again...then we'd get those cursed spring snows and real spring was put on hold.   I, like everyone else, am wondering where fall went...I've only raked one bag of leaves so far!   I think by this weekend it will dry up again and temps will hit the 50s and maybe 60...and I can put more miles on my bike.

This week I've been covering the Miles Edinburgh murder trial here in Willmar.   He strikes me as the kind of punk you'd see walking around your neighborhood at 2 in the morning, making noise and up to no good.   Listening to the police testify yesterday, they said they knew him already when they were told he was suspected of stabbing 21-year-old Adam Milton to death.  

     MIlton came to Willmar from Miami to get away from all the violence.   He was making a decent future for himself, going to Ridgewater College and playing football.   He and three friends who had mostly just met each other the week before were "hanging out" at their apartment, listening to music and reportedly not drinking any alcohol when three youths, including Edinburgh, (friends of one of the girls at the party),  knocked on their door and wanted to crash the party.   Milton and his buddies didn't know them and told them to leave.  

     That led to shouts and punches in the parking lot, then Edinburgh "poked" or "stuck" Milton in the chest, leaving him to bleed to death.    Milton's friend Rashawn Frost also said he had moved to Minnesota to get away from the violence of Chicago, and said it seemed like "Willmar was full of thugs who go around stabbing people".   

      It's very sad this had to happen to Milton and his friends, and it's too bad Edinburgh started heading down this road even before the fatal stabbing.    If he's convicted, no amount of punishment will bring Milton back, but maybe it can turn Edinburgh's life around.    I'd rather be optimistic then to let the jaded, crusty newsman in me come out and guess that he'll probably be in-and-out of prison all his life until he gets a life sentence somewhere down the road. 

10-9-09     Obama gets peace prize, Twins get booby prize

For anyone who still thinks the "Nobel Peace Prize" has any credibility left, I would think today's announcement that President Barack Obama won this year's edition, and the million dollars that goes with it, should pretty much end that notion.   This is the same group that gave the prize to PLO Terrorist Yassir Arafat and panic-monger Al Gore.  

     I'm told that nominations for this year's prize came in about 2 weeks into Obama's first term.   The Nobel committee admitted they gave it to him because, apparently, his election signals hope for world peace.   Let's forget the fact that he hasn't done anything yet to make the world a peaceful place other than continue to give eloquent speeches.   He has not drawn down troops in Iraq, as he promised during his campaign, and is looking at escalating things in Afghanistan.   Now, don't get me wrong, I agree with keeping troops in those places until we're sure we've completed our tasks there.   But Obama definately gave the impression to those who could get beyond his dazzling smile that he would get the U.S. out of there.   Now you are hearing the national networks, Katie Kouric in particular, saying Obama is doing the right thing and we can't draw soldiers from Afghanistan.   During the Bush Administration all you saw on the national networks was footage inside Iraq of U.S. troops getting killed and committing atrocities on the innocents, and torturing Al Qaida suspects in Abu Gharib Prison.   Funny how you don't see those images anymore.  

     I'm willing to give Obama a chance and hope he can truly bring world peace.   But until he does, let's wait on giving him the Nobel Prize.   I predict, no matter what Obama does, he will win the Nobel Peace Prize every year he is in office, and at least a couple times in retirement.  

Hey Twins...here's the good news...you won the AL Central with an unprecedented September and October surge, and a "game for the ages" in game 163.   Here's the bad news...you get to get repeatedly punched in the face and kicked in the crotch by the New York Yankees.   It's not David Versus Goliath...it's David's little brother without a slingshot against Goliath after he's been working out on human growth hormone for a decade.  

     The Twins, Royals, Reds, Pirates, other small market teams are nothing but farm teams for the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Dodgers.   I guess Twins fans just have to be happy they won the division...that was our World Series.   I don't know what the NFL does but they seem to do it right...it seems everyone has a fighting chance (except for the Lions).    I'm not one of these people that calls for new rules to knock down the big guys and make everyone equal, no one loses, kumbaya.   But something is wrong, and I'm getting sick of it.   Twins, please win and prove me wrong.   Give the little guy hope!   When the Twins played the Yankees in the playoffs in 2003 and 2004, I think it was Jorge Posada who compared the Twins to an "ugly prom date" you try to get rid of before the real action starts.  

10-8-09     I win!

As you can see, I won the bet with "Packer Deb" on the Monday Night Football game.   She is now compelled to wear this customized Vikings Jersey for a day (it began life as a Randy Moss Jersey).    Heh Heh Heh

!

10-6-09     Vikes, Twins, and Brady Damhof

How quickly life can change.    In an earlier blog I told you about a friend of mine whose 12-year-old daughter broke her neck in a pool accident, and now faces life in a wheel chair.   This past weekend was the opener of the Minnesota waterfowl season, and a 13-year-old boy who goes to my church, Brady Damhof of rural Blomkest was shot in the arm and shoulder.   He was hunting with an adult shortly before noon Saturday when the adult stepped in a hole and his shotgun went off, hitting Brady.  

     Brady underwent surgery this weekend and is hospitalized in fair condition at North Memorial Hospital.   His family has set up a website at caringbridge.org.   Go to the site, then type-in bradydamhof.   You can get updates on his condition and even send him a message.   The boy can use your prayers as he recovers, and we can all thank God that he wasn't hit inches higher, in the head, or inches lower, in the spine.  

If you see a certain blonde Packer's fan wearing a Randy Moss jersey converted into a Brett Favre jersey for a day this week, you'll know she lost a bet.   I reluctantly relented yesterday and agreed to a friendly wager with "Packer Deb" .    I would wear an article of Packer's clothing (not a cheese head hat) for a day if the Packers won and vice versa for her if the Vikings won.   Which they did.   Heh heh heh.   

     Yesterday Representative Tom Hackbarth of Cedar proposed the state hold a vote to amend the constitution next year allowing slot machines to be installed in race tracks like Canterbury Downs, and allow the proceeds to go toward a Vikings' stadium.   The constitution would have to be amended because of the way gambling was approved in Minnesota under then-Governor Rudy Perpich in the late 1980s.   Possible GOP gubernatorial candidate Marty Seifert has said he would oppose changing the consititution to allow gambling for a football stadium, and I kind of agree with him, but I also disagree with the state's hands being tied on where lottery or gambling proceeds have to go right now.   This would be a painless, voluntary way to fund a stadium.   You can expect the state's Native American tribes to fight this tooth and nail, and liberals will say any extra money the state generates should go to education.   

     Minnesota has been and always will be a Viking's state, yet the Twins got a new stadium (yay) and so did the perenial doormat Gophers.   The Viking's lease ends at the Metrodome at the end of next season and are in danger of going somewhere else.  

Speaking of the Metrodome, how much more national attention can Minnesota stand?   With all the focus on the Twins-Tigers race over the last two weeks, then all the build-up and coverage of the Vikings-Packers game, and now today's game 163 to determine the Central Division winner, it's almost more than Minnesota sports fans can bear!   And if the Twins get into the playoffs with the @#$% Yankees, even more spotlight.   

     The dome, love it or hate it, has been a workhorse for our state's premiere teams.   While the building isn't pretty, a lot of beautiful games have been played under it's ball-hiding roof.   Go Twins!

10-2-09      Hatred of the Rich, Chinese

I KNEW I should have gotten some bike riding in last Saturday, the last time we had any decent weather around here!   

I am now going to do something that seems un-imaginable in this day and age and in this state where people support a very liberal president and elected Al Franken for U.S. Senate...I am going to defend "The Rich."    First, I must say that for the first 16 years of my adult life I was poor...certainly earning under the poverty line, trying to support my family on small market radio wages and married to a chronic waitress.   I have managed to claw my way into the middle class, mainly through marriage, but I don't begrudge the rich anything, if what they accomplished was done legally and ethically.   The poor in this country still live like kings compared to the true poor in 3rd-world countries, thanks to generous social programs that seem to require very little of people who remain chronically poor due to bad lifestyle choices.   But it's these people who always turn green with envy toward "The Rich" and demand they give up what they earned and give it to those who do little to better themselves.  

I don't know how to define who is "Rich" (maybe making half-a-million or more a year?) but "The Rich" are the achievers in this society.   They start and run businesses that employ millions...and they pay billions in taxes to fund the social programs that give free rides to drunks, drug addicts, illegal aliens and people who pay NO taxes.   And they give billions to charity.   Their businesses come up with the inventions in technology and medicine that makes life better for everyone.   People always gripe about the "rich millionaire athletes and team owners" whenever stadium issues come up.   Well, who enjoys the games played by these millionaires?   The poor.   The middle class.   Everyone.   The top people in any field, whether it be law, medicine, entertainment, media, business...make the top bucks.   Why shouldn't athletes?   Many of them come from the poorest of poor situations, dedicate their lives to perfecting their craft, and provide free entertainment to us.   They are done with their life's work by the time they are 40, and often retire with debilitating injuries sufferered for our entertainment.   And they often die young.  

So for those of you who grind your teeth and spit when you think about what others have, remember this...in 150 years, they will be just as dead as you are.   And if you are Christian, remember this...there's a certain Commandment that says you should not covet.   And as for the afterlife...Jesus said it will be as hard for the rich to get to heaven as it is for camel to go through the eye of a needle.   He said the rich are enjoying heaven while on earth (with things like yachts, expensive cars and homes and luxury boxes at games) and won't have as much luck afterwards.    That's not a direct quote, but it's close.   We live on earth for about 80 years, give or take, but the afterlife is forever!  

A lot of people also despise the Chinese.   You hear about them taking away American jobs, supressing human rights with a communist government, sending toys to America covered with lead paint, supporting Iran etc.   But it's hard to dislike them when you meet Chinese people face-to-face.    I had the pleasure this week to interview Bai Jinguo, who came here from Harbin China in August to help Todd Lynum teach Mandarin Chinese at Willmar High School.    Jinguo is a very polite, smiling, intelligent young man, happy to be here, and very optimistic about U.S.-Chinese relations.   Remember, the Chinese government is not the Chinese people.   You have to judge people one-on-one.   9-11 made people fear Muslims, and there is still a lot of anti-gay sentiment in this society.   And in Willmar, many people will have disparaging things to say about hispanics.   But meeting gay people, latinos and those of the Islam faith can give you a fresh perspective.   Often groups are given a bad name by how certain members are portrayed in the national media.   

You may think I'm a hypocrite, after I appear to rip the "Poor" in the first part of this blog.   But I don't think I am...first of all, I used to be poor...and could be again...the poor I denounce are those who knowingly and repeatedly make bad lifestyle choices...like taking drugs, dropping out of school, joining a gang, being promiscuous and so forth...and then blame everyone else for their problems, especially the rich.   

9-28-09      End of summer, Favre, Obama

Here's what I did on my summer vacation...rode my bike 310 miles in one week in late July to raise money for MS, partially sided my garage, actually took my canoe out of the garage and paddled around a little bit, went to the State Fair and started tearing down a crumbling retaining wall.   One of my highlights was riding around the Twin Cities, visiting an old friend and swimming in Lake Calhoun.   Hardly seems like a stellar list of accomplishments for a very pleasant summer of 2009.   I didn't go to Valley fair, didn't see the Little Crow Ski Show and didn't go to the Renaisance Festival (still a chance next weekend though).   

Summer is way too short in Minnesota.   My dad always vowed to "get the **** out of this ******** state and move to Florida" when winter would hit.   He never did, though.    Sharon and I have two friends who grew up in Ohio and New York and worked in Willmar before quitting their jobs and became world travelers and vagabonds.   They now live in Alabama most of the year and thumb their noses at Minnesota's cold winters.   There must be a reason why we stay here.    The latest reason is Brett Favre.   I was already fired-up about the Viking's season, and yesterday's jolting last second victory added fuel to the fire.  The end of the game reminded me of this memorable Vikings game 29 years ago...

...I have a friend who is a Green Bay fan who always wants to place a wager on the results of Vikings-Packers games.    After not doing so hot in recent years (including having to be photographed wearing a Packer's sweatshirt), 

I decided not to be suckered-in last year but might take her up on her offer next Monday.    

The latest Minnesota Poll shows President Obama's approval rating in the state has slipped to 51% from 65% in April.   That's not surprising, since people are now realizing one man cannot do all the things he promised during the campaign, at least not as fast as people want.   Afghanistan is not known as the "Graveyard of Empires" for nothing.     Given the evidence that Bin Laden and his cronies were being given safe haven in the Afghan hills, it was clear we had to take some action there after 9-11, but what happens now?   Al Qaida seems more powerful as ever, taking advantage of Afghan people's hatred of any occupier, but if we completely pull out like Russia did in the 1980s, radical Islam will trumpet it as a victory over the west and those who fervently want to kill us will again take root and have a base from which to spin their evil plans.    And the problems with Afghanistan and Iran's nuclear ambitions pale next to the Mount Everest of health care reform.   Good luck Mr. President...don't craft your policy based on the polls.   Emotion is not always the best basis for making decisions, although it is the easiest.    

9-23-09    Are you ready for the flu?

People in the radio business tend to be workaholics.   Maybe it's because of the competitive nature of the business...if you miss work, and someone takes your shift and sounds better than you, you might be replaced!   That's why people in the business tend to come in and work even when they are deathly ill.   And with people sharing those beloved germ-sponges known as microphones and headphones, when one person gets sick, everyone gets sick.   

      It's going to be interesting, with the different varieties of flu on the horizon...Type A, Type B and H1N1.   We've been warning people way in advance, and demand has been heavy at early flu shot clinics.  So much so that places like ACMC, Renville County Public Health and RC Hospital and Clinics in Olivia are out of the vaccine.    It doesn't matter to me...due to an egg allergy, I can't get a flu shot.   I don't think I've had the flu in 10 years, but the last time I had it, it was memorable.   

      A couple people here at the station have been sick this past week but it wasn't the flu.   I've been battling a sore throat for the past few weeks and my lymph nodes are now feeling sore.   My wife thinks I'm a hypochondriac, but when I mentioned it to my co-workers, they make the sign of the cross, cover their faces and take three big steps backword.   If you begin hearing different voices on our radio stations in the near future, you'll know it's probably the flu.   Cough cough.   Just joking!

9-18-09      Kato comes to COPPS

This past week I came to the Ward 1 Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving, or COPPS, meeting at the Willmar Community Center.   There were 10 ro 15 of us there, along with Willmar Police Sergeant Dan Erickson, and he brought along patrolman Craig Lange and his police dog, Kato.   Nothing lightens the atmosphere like a dog in a public place, but Kato had an imposing presence that dissuaded people from wanting to pet him.   He is an 8-year-old 90-pound German Shepherd that has been called-out more than 400 times to search for drugs in vehicles, on suspects, in homes, businesses and schools.   At the Community Center, all he seemed real interested in were the cookies on the counter.  

Lange says Kato has an accuracy rate of well over 95%, meaning nearly every time he indicates the presence of drugs, he's right.   Lange talked about all the elaborate hiding places people try to hide pot, meth, cocaine and other contraband...inside the liners of coolers, underneath vehicle dash boards, in spare tires and behind air bags.    And he talked about how people try to disguise the scent of the drugs, using vaseline, hand soap, coffee grounds and more.   When Kato is sniffing for drugs, he'll sniff all those things...but he'll also smell the drugs.  

Willmar got Kato for $5000 back in 2002, and Lange has been his handler ever since.   As long as drugs are illegal and the public wants violators arrested, Kato will be on the prowl.    He won't live forever...and hopefully, when he's ready to retire, funding will be found to get another drug dog.  

I strongly encourage people to attend COPPS meetings in their neighborhoods.   It's a good opportunity to meet your neighbors and air your problems to a police officer.   Some of the things I heard this week included concerns over a neglected dog, people burning illegal items in a fire pit, and the concerns I brought centered on my neighbors dumping food and letting it rot in their yard right next to my fence.   I also learned some things about a couple losers with a pit bull who moved in next door to me.   The police are there to help, and COPPS meetings are a good time to touch base with them and your neighbors.  

9-14-09     The culture of careless parents

I recently attended a seminar at my church talking about how to understand other people's cultures.    It spoke about how to relate to people from other cultures and to realize culture is a part of people's lives and can't just be changed by making them speak our language or eat and dress like us.   The speaker talked about how American culture seems to be more "me" oriented, with people making their own decisions about all aspects of their lives once they become adults.    He went on to say most other cultures around the world are more "family" oriented, with people making decisions based on their relationships with others, and being more-controlled by their families and social groups.   It makes it sound like we are out-of-step with the rest of the world, right?   So how come people want to come to this country in droves, both legally and illegally?  

What I'm building up to is this...I don't care what culture you are from, I would think you would want your children to do well in school.   Education is the key to success and becoming a useful member of society.   Yet in the neighborhood I live in in Willmar, which is about 50% white and 50% hispanic, I see things that seem to point out why hispanic children don't do as well in schools as white kids.   At 11:15 last night there were kids riding their bikes around hooting and hollering, on a school night.   And their parents were there with them, having a gay old time.   I would like to say this is one isolated family in one isolated neighborhood, but it's not.  

It has been my observation, living in a heavily hispanic neighborhood for nearly 20 years, that it seems like there is no bedtime for the hispanic kids.   Is it their culture for their parents to spoil them, to not ask them to have some consideration of their neighbors and to ask them not to scream at the top of their lungs at midnight?   I'm sorry, but this is what happens in my neighborhood.   And there really does not seem to be an effort to have the children learn english before they come to school and have to struggle through their classes until ESL kicks in.    I can understand different cultures, but to me, in any culture, not having a bed time and to set up your kids for failure in school is just plain bad parenting.   It would be easy to write these observations off as racist, but putting a label on facts so you can discount and devalue them doesn't really help these kids, does it?  

9-7-09      BNSF whistles

I've looked through my past blogs and see I have not yet ranted about BNSF train horns yet, so I'll take the opportunity to do that now.   The weather is pleasant, great for sleeping with the windows open.   But for the unfortunate folks on Willmar's northwest side, like myself, it's like trying to sleep inside an amplifier at a KISS concert.   BNSF trains torture nearby residents by blasting their whistles at 7th, 10th and 14th Streets, just in case there happens to be a vehicle driver that doesn't see the flashing lights and lowered crossing arms.  

I've lived on the northwest side since 1990, and prior to 2007 the whistles were manageable.   But then the federal government ordered railroads to blow their whistles longer and louder, and now it's intolerable.    The City of Willmar was going to spend some money this year and put up fancier crossing arms, thus eliminating the need for the trains to blow their horns.   But, you guessed it, budget constraints showed up and it was one of the first things taken out of the budget.  

AMTrak trains don't have to blow their whistles going through heavily populated, uncontrolled intersections in the Twin Cities because of some sort of "Grandfather Clause" so the folks there could care less.   BNSF says "we are forced to blow the horns by federal law.   If you want to cut the whistles, eliminate the intersections!"   Thanks a lot.   Will they help pay to upgrade the intersections to create a quiet zone?  No.   They won't even fix up the 10th Street crossing so you can drive over the tracks without your head hitting the roof of your car and your dentures flying out of your mouth.     You know what?   Come to think of it, I think I have ranted about this before...but I don't care...I get cranky when I don't get enough sleep!

9-3-09      Pit bull problems   

A dog owner in Clara City recently gave an interview to WCCO TV complaining that Clara City Police Chief Ralph Bradley shot and killed his pit bull.   Frank Chapman displayed photos of "Diva" as an adorable weeks-old puppy, and showing his young daughter cuddling with the dog, trying to convince everyone by these photos that the dog was not vicious.   Bradley said the dog was running loose, was agitated and would not calm down, even when tazed.   Eventually he shot the dog after he said it lunged at him and other people.  

Darlene Larson of the Kandiyohi County Humane Society wrote in an article to the West Central Tribune that Bradley had encountered "Diva" running loose before and had warned Chapman, and had been to Chapman's place before to seperate fighting dogs.    The WCCO reporter apparently did not ask Chapman why he let his pit bull run loose and why it had not been vaccinated for rabies.   He did, however, get Chapman on tape demanding justice for his "puppy" and threatening to file a complaint with the city attorney.  

I am a dog owner...have been for 25 years.   I love dogs and I like the fact Willmar is dog-friendly.   Everyone seems to have a dog and the vast majority of owners are very responsible.   In my opinion, pit bulls are a different story.   I hear story after story, not only nationally but right here in Willmar, of pit pulls attacking people and other dogs.   People have been killed by these dogs.    For generations they have been bred to emphasize their strength and ferocity.   There is a pit bull that lives on my block and came inches away from attacking my beagle, which was on a leash and being walked by my wife.  

This seems to be a topic where it would be very easy to generalize both the dogs and their owners.    It seems to me people buy these dogs because pit bulls are fearless and strong, and the owners somehow think those traits will be attributed to them.   Of course you'll always hear from the owners, like Chapman, who will say "they're gentle, loving family pets."   Usually you'll hear those comments after the dogs attack someone.   I know it's not wise to indict an entire breed of dog (or owner) but this may be one case where it's justified, simply by the huge amount of documented attacks.    I know any dog can bite, but a pit bull can kill you, and they have killed people.   I base my statements and opinions on 27 years of doing news and reading reports of pit bull attacks.   I think pit bulls should be banned, and if the owners want people to think they're tough, get another tattoo, go lift some weights or take a tae kwon do course.   Hats off to Chief Bradley for protecting the public.   

8-31-09    Vikings value to Minnesota  

I am a Minnesota Twins and Vikings fan.   I grew up bike-riding distance to Met Stadium in Bloomington and went to many games, and continued going when they moved to the dome.    When stadium debates started popping up in the mid-to-late 1990s and into this decade, one of the most outspoken opponents of the state helping the teams build new stadiums was Senator John Marty of Roseville.   I raised my kids to be Twins and Vikings fans, and made sure to let them know who stood in the way of them getting new facilities.  

At the Minnesota State Fair on Sunday, who would happen to be in the DFL booth but none other than Senator Marty, who now is running for governor.   I spoke to him for about 10 minutes on stadium issues.   I asked him how he would feel about an airport casino to help the Wilfs build a new Vikings' stadium.   He said he opposes gambling, and if a casino were built, he'd rather have the money go somewhere else, like MnDot.   I asked him about a state-subsidized loan for the Vikings, maybe to fix up the metrodome.   He said Wilf is making money, the value of the team is way up, and Wilf should finance it all himself.    He said he thought the threat to move the team to LA after the dome lease is up in 2012 is a red herring.    He said the Vikings would have to earn a state subsidized loan, like a company like 3M.  

It's clear Marty, who claims to be a Viking fan, would fight any state effort to help the Vikings build a facility in Minnesota.    He talks about 3M being more valuable to Minnesota than the Vikings...well let's look at the issue.   First of all, how much personal enjoyment do you, as a Minnesotan, get from 3M?   Secondly, from a dollars and sense point of view....think of how much income tax all these wealthy players on the Vikings pay to the State of Minnesota.   Think of how much corporate tax the company pays to the state, and property tax they pay for their facility in Eden Prairie.    Think about how much sales tax is generated by the sale of all the non-food and clothing items associated with the Vikings?   Or all the sales taxes paid by people who come to Minnesota for a Viking's game and stay in Hotels, buy gas and so forth.   And think of how the Vikings raise the state's profile in the nation's eyes, attracting people here who spend money.    And all the jobs created by the Vikings and Vikings-related industries.   Let's ask Mankato what kind of shot-in-the arm training camp gives their economy.   

When all the dollars and cents are added up, 3M versus the Vikings, I'll bet it wouldn't be the mismatch Marty would have you believe.   I truly believe the Vikings will move after 2012 if there is no sign of help on the horizon for a new stadium, and I don't know if I would blame them.    Then, John Marty, you can sit outside 3M headquarters and tailgate there September through January.

click here for some great Vikings nostalgia!

8-27-09     Misinformation rampant on tragic crash

On Wednesday afternoon 19-year-old Jenna Van Buren of Willmar was involved in a traffic crash just north of Willmar on Highway 71.   She later died of her injuries at Hennepin County Medical Center.   Jenna was the daughter of Deb Van Buren, a well-known and well-liked person in the community and around the radio station.   I've rarely tried to cover such a simple but tragic story that has had so much mis-information fed to me.  

First of all, I wanted to make sure I got the story right because of the life-or-death nature of this event,  and the fact that it involved a well-known family and occured near the noon hour at a very public location.   A lot of people had many questions and concerns, me among them.    I had some idea of what happened based on what I heard on the police scanner, then the state patrol released the details of the crash along with the victim's name early in the afternoon.   Van Buren was taken to Rice Memorial Hospital, then transferred to a Twin Cities Hospital.   I guessed it was Hennepin County Medical Center and guessed right...they told me she was in critical condition.   The state patrol said Van Buren's car and a Ford Truck collided in the southbound lane of 71.   Jenna was driving southbound and collided with a truck that was crossing the highway from east to west.   Almost immeadiately people were questioning that version of the story, but that's all I had to go on, from the patrol.    

When I came in this morning, people here at the station told me they had heard Jenna had died.   I called Hennepin County Medical Center and paged their information officer, who called me back.   She said "I have no information regarding Jenna Van Buren.   She is no longer in critical condition."   Since the hospital is prohibitted from actually saying a patient has died due to privacy protection laws, the media has to basically read between the lines.     At that point I was confident that the sad news that Jenna had died was true, and I updated the story on the air.   However, at 7:20 a.m. I got another call from HCMC, saying they were only rumors, that Jenna was still at the hospital, listed in critical condition!   I then called the state patrol back, and they also told me she was still in critical condition.   I called the local funeral home, and they said they knew nothing about Van Buren.   I then changed my story back to say the hospital was still listing her in critical condition.   Then more people who knew Van Buren started to arrive at the station for the morning, also said they had heard she had died, and also questioned the state patrol account of the crash.   I call Sheriff Dan Hartog who confirmed the patrol version of the crash, and he also said he had heard Jenna had died.   Soon the West Central Tribune reported on their website that they spoke to a relative who said Jenna had died the night before.   Things were finally confirmed around 9 a.m. when the funeral home gave us the preliminary funeral notice.   People were still questioning the patrol's version of how the crash happened....one person even said they heard a third vehicle was involved.   When I got back from lunch I got an email from HCMC, defending the information they gave me.   When I responded that they gave me conflicting reports, they apologized.  

I truly hope my reporting of this story did not cause anyone any extra heartache.    I hope this entry gives you some idea of how hard it is to report on these types of stories.  

8-24-09     Favre, prisoners as commodities

I had a chance to bring my son Tony to the Vikings-Chiefs preseason game Friday to watch history in the making as Brett Favre donned the purple and gold and played his first game as a Viking.   Tony is 20, so since he was 3 or 4, he's seen his daddy cursing at the t.v. on Sundays, and having it drilled into his head that Brett Favre is satan.   Favre was the butt of every joke I could muster.   When I'd go to a parade and see where a horse had relieved itself, I would would point at the mound and loudly proclaim to anyone who would listen, "Ladies and gentlement...Brett Favre!"   Now we are sitting in the Metrodome, standing and applauding everytime he took the field.   I guess we as Vikings fans are so starved for a Superbowl win that we will sell our souls and cheer satan as he quarterbacks our team.   I also revel in the misery in which Packers fans are writhing to know their illustrious hero has gored them in the back with Viking horns.   I just hope the cheeseheads don't get the last laugh.

Folks in Appleton are worried about the fate of one of Swift County's largest employers, Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton.   They opened 15 years ago as an economic development tool, figuring there will never be a shortage of inmates.   Well, guess what...there's a shortage of inmates.   Due to things like more-lenient sentences, fewer meth crimes and more prison beds, the State of Minnesota is no longer having an overcrowding situation, and are able to house all their own inmates.   Not only do they not need PCF at this time, they also are pulling prisoners from places like the Kandiyohi County Jail.   Over the years their rental of space in the Willmar jail has pumped more than 5 million dollars into the county's coffers.  

While we should be glad fewer people are going to prison (with the inference being that fewer crimes are being committed) the other side of the coin is... housing prisoners for the state had become a source of jobs and income.    Should we hope for more crime, or should we find other ways to make a living in rural Minnesota?   Minnesota Corrections Commissioner Joan Fabian told me today she was very pleased with her dealings with PCF and Kandiyohi County, and will be more than willing to use those facilities again if needed.   Hopefully PCF will still be around if and when that happens. 

8-18-09    Memorable PGA tournament for the wrong reasons

My friend Steve has been playing golf for as long as he can remember.   If I'm not mistaken, Steve's father was his golf coach in high school and he is still a golf nut.   Like me, Steve is in radio and recently was doing dream duty, covering the PGA Golf Tournament at Hazeltine in Chaska for a Twin Cities station.    Everyone will remember what happened Sunday, as Y.E. Yang caught and beat the legendary Tiger Woods, making history.   Steve will certainly remember it because he wasn't there...he was in the Intensive Care Unit at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale.   Last Thursday Steve's 12-year-old daughter broke her neck in a diving accident in her grandparent's swimming pool.   Steve and his wife Michele have been at their daughter's side since then.  

      She had major surgery on Friday which went well, and now doctors and therapists will work on restoring movement to her lower body and legs.   There is reason for optimism...her spinal cord is intact and she was a competitive league swimmer for the past few years and even thought about trying out for the high school swim team as a 7th grader.   

     Steve and Michele and their girls are top-notch, and this is another example of bad things happening to good people.   All we can do is hope and pray for the best possible outcome.    This is life and death, and while people will be talking about the PGA for years to come, it's taking care of family and getting this little girl on the road (and pool) to recovery that really matters.  

8-15-09   Big Crowd for a Big Issue

In the 15 years I've been covering meetings in Willmar I can't quite recall a bigger crowd than the one that packed the big meeting room at the Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services Building Friday afternoon to talk about health care reform with Representative Collin Peterson.   Some people had driven for hours to attend.   It was definately standing-room only, with an overflow crowd watching the meeting on closed-circuit t.v. in other rooms of the building.   Every parking spot was filled.   I had to park at the loading dock, and Peterson arrived shortly after and shoe-horned his Ford Focus next to my Honda.  

It goes to show the depth of concern people have about this critical issue.   The U.S., and Minnesota in particular, has the best health care anyone would want, but it comes with a price.   I pay about $300 a month for my health insurance, which I guess I'm pretty happy with.   People fear reform will mean a reduction in quality and tax increases as the government tries to find a way to provide coverage to everyone.   Keep in mind, anyone who needs health care in this country will get it, but increasingly, hospitals are being left holding the bag when poor uninsured patients won't or can't pay.   And if you keep your eyes open in any public place, it's not hard to see how many people are morbidly obese these days, including kids, which means more people having heart and diabetes problems.   

I often like to sit back and say, "If I ruled the world, this is what I'd do..."   but in this situation, I can honestly say I don't know where to begin.   My first instinct is to not throw away the current system and not let the government take control.   The problem is, the drug companies and insurance companies are not in business to keep us healthy, it's to make money.   Doctors need to be rewarded and given incentives for excellence and to cut down on waste.  Hospitals need to at-least break even so they can stay open.   I don't know how you accomplish these goals, but the bottom line has to be to get the greed out.  

Hats off to lawmakers who truly try to find answers, not just try to rush something through so they can say they did something.   It's going to take time, but they've been working on reform for 30 years.   Companies with powerful influence and politicians who want to keep power always seem to find a way to shoot down real reform.   And hats off to everyone who came to Friday's meeting in Willmar.    They were civil, respectful and concerned.   Hopefully their input will make a difference as this important issue is addressed.  

8-11-09     Obama report card

It should be interesting to see at what point the national media's honey moon with President Obama will end.   He hasn't ended the war in Iraq, he has instead learned what his predecessors have learned...it's easier said than done.   In the meantime, things have escalated in Afghanistan, and U.S. military officials have put bounties on the heads of Afghani drug lords.   If this had happened during the Bush Administration the national media would be ripping him a new you-know-what.   

And while on the surface the cash for clunkers program seemed like a good idea,  those who rely on good used cars are suffering, like programs where cars are donated to the poor, cars that only the poor can afford, and parts suppliers.  (The cars traded-in the c-for-c program are destroyed).   Some predict the economy will take another hit when people who couldn't really afford them bought new cars under the program and won't be able to make the payments.   

On health care...you are hearing reports of near-riots when members of congress go back to their districts for constituent meetings on health care and try to explain the phone-book sized bill.    Obama also promised to crack down on the big drug companies, and now the drug companies will be paying million of dollars to help promote Obama's health program.    When the will networks decide it's better for viewership, listenership and readership to start actually looking at what Obama promised and what he is trying to deliver, and calling him out on it?  

8-7-09     Area talent more than fair

The Kandiyohi County Fair is the time I am always reminded how many talented people we have in this area.   I like going through the exhibition buildings and looking at all the quilts, carvings, pictures, paintings, sculptures etc. people enter for the fair.     And some of the 4-H projects are great.   The talent show was held on the free stage, and again this area shined, with Carley Hulstein, Ryan Frietas and the group "Becoming Fluke" winning in their divisions...the members of Becoming Fluke include Jacqueline and Maureen Weiland, Trey Haugen, Danny Voss, Tiffany Sieu and Michael Cola.   Yes, my son Mike was recruited for the group about two weeks ago and played an excellent sax.   They now go on to the State Fair Talent show.     I joined fellow staffers from KWLM to dish out free sweet corn to hungry fair-goers for a couple hours yesterday.   I believe we doled out around 2400 ears of Larson Sweet Corn, which was huge and delicious.   I would guess some people ate half-a-dozen ears or more...even after we ran out of butter.   The crowds have been great for the county fair this year.   Please don't tell me people don't like the fairgrounds where they are or what's at the fair.   Yes, it's 6 bucks to get in and the grandstand shows are extra, but there's plenty of free stuff also and it's a good place to see people and be seen.   And you can't beat the shakes at the dairy booth.   Judging by the Kandiyohi County Fair, fairs are alive and well in Minnesota.   It might be a little soggy today, however, with more than an inch of rain already on the ground and more in the forecast throughout the day.  

8-3-09    Back from the TRAM

I finished-up The Ride Across Minnesota at 12:20 p.m. Friday when I rode my Rans Rocket Recumbent bike across the finish line at Welch Villiage Ski Area near Red Wing.   305 miles.   The weather on 4 of the 5 days was very pleasant...temperatures at 80 or below, winds at our backs...couldn't ask for anything better.   I will end up having raised about $1000, and I thank everyone who contributed.    It's always fun to do that much riding, but being essentially by myself for a week, setting up and taking down my camp 5 times, and on top of it, I'm riding a recumbent, which, while comfortable,  is slower, by nature than most of the upright bikes and bike riders.   It gets a little discouraging being constantly passed by most riders, even those whom I know I am faster than.    After the TRAM, my wife came and met me at Welch Villiage, and we stayed Friday night at the gorgeous St. James Hotel in Red Wing, then at a lovely bed and breakfast in Pepin Wisconsin Saturday night.   Got back last night, and while I enjoy going back to work, it's a pain to find a lot of computer problems.   But I will muddle through and get back in the groove.    It was wierd being cut-off from the rest of the world for 5 days.   I missed the big (non) news about Favre not coming to the Vikes, and was glad to learn my softball team, the mighty Redeemer Lutheran Church team is still alive and we have another gave this coming Thursday!    Come to Swanson Field (green) and cheer us on at 6:15 Thursday.  

7-24-09    Raft, Tram, Wertish

Having a son who is 20 years old, I felt a particular pang when I learned another area 20-year-old, James Wertish of Olivia, was killed in a cowardly rocket attack on his base in Basra Iraq last week.   It's hard to imagine the anguish I would feel to learn my son had died in that way, and while I know parents of soldiers are told they should be proud their kids died defending the country, I know it would be hard to feel that way for a while.   Wertish joined the National Guard while he was still in High School at BOLD, was involved in scouting, and obviously felt a desire to serve his country.   He knew the risks and was willing take them, and all we can do now is miss him and thank him and his family for his sacrifice.   A young Willmar man, Jacob Benson, was wounded in the same blast, and not only lost some fellow soldiers but his best friends.   I taught Jacob's younger brother, Joe, in my religious education class at St. Mary's in Willmar.    This war on terrorism is such a hard one to wrap your arms around.   The enemy are cowardly little rats who use remote-controlled bombs and rockets launched from a distance to do their damage.   Their goal...drive out the "invaders" and bring a reign of hard-line Islamic rule on Iraq which puts free thought in a dungeon along with any woman who dares ask that she be treated equally, be allowed to drive, go to school and hold a job.    James Wertish gave his life fighting these enslavers and to give the Iraqi people the freedoms we take for granted.  

Three young people, Josh and Ben Monson and Matt Folkedahl of Willmar are floating down the Mississippi River on a homemade wooden and plastic barrel raft.   I talked to Ben via cellphone Monday in Dubuque Iowa, a couple hundred miles downriver from their starting point, Minneapolis.   They hope to reach New Orleans by the end of August.   Not all has gone smoothly....the raft rides low on the river and the wake from passing boats and waves from choppy waters splashes up on their deck, but it sounds like they are constantly tweaking their craft to make it better, and making plenty of stops along the way, meeting people and having a fun time.   Kind of makes you day dream about doing the same thing, doesn't it?   To get updates, go to www.raftthemississippi.com.

I am going on may own adventure starting Sunday.    I am riding 300 miles across the state, from Ortonville to Welch Villiage over the course of a week.   It's the Multiple Sclerosis Society's "The Ride Across Minnesota", or TRAM for short.   About 1000 riders will be making the trip.   Trucks carry our camping gear to each night's camping site, and at night volunteers watch our bikes.   All we have to do is ride about 60 miles a day.    I think I will have gathered about $1100 in pledges for the MS Society, and I thank everyone who contributed.   I can still accept checks when I get back.   While I'm gone I won't be able to update my blog, but I will phone-in reports to our various stations during the week, so tune in.   Hopefully I won't get too soaked or sunburned.    Wish me luck!  

Do you know this man?   He's the guy that robbed the Olivia Super America Store last week.   Call the Olivia PD with any info.  

7-20-09     Wertish, Sonshine and the TRAM

On Friday afternoon a fellow Lakeland employee informed me word was circulating in Olivia that a National Guard Soldier, James Wertish of Olivia, was killed in action in Iraq.   Knowing the U.S. military is pretty slow in releasing the info the public, I began going through all the channels I knew of get any information I could.   Without fail, everyone directed me to the Department of Defense website, which had nothing on it.   CNN had reported three U.S. soldiers killed in an attack Thursday in Basra, but no further details.   Soon KSTP was reporting they were Minnesota troops who died, so we used their report on our Live at Five show.   I erroneously reported that the 34th Red Bulls, which was attacked, was connected with the 151st Field Artillery, and I later made the correction.   I also recieved incorrect information on the names of Wertish's parents, which I later corrected.   I'm sure these mistakes caused some anguish, and it really saddens me to think I may have contributed to a family's grief.   In the fever to get the information on the air quickly, stupid mistakes are sometimes made.  

Another Sonshine Festival has come and gone.   I will be checking with head honcho Bob Poe later today to get attendance figures.   My guess is cool and windy weather may have kept it below previous year's record-breaking levels.   Very few negative incidents to report...some underage drinking and drugs, a car break-in or two, but in a gathering of 20,000 people who come together in one place for 4 days for a celebration, it's almost not even worth mentioning.    My son Michael volunteered to be on the stage crew all 4 days.   He worked hard, came home late and we hardly saw him, but he said he had a great time.   Now he has to catch upon his sleep.

Next week I and a few hundred others will be riding our bikes 320 miles across the state, from Ortonville to Red Wing, to raise money to fight Multiple Sclerosis.   If you'd like to donate to the cause, write a check out to the MS Society and drop it off here at the station.   More on "The Ride Across Minnesota"  later this week. 

7-15-09     Spicer tornado

7-9-09     Micheal Jackson, Time Capsule, Tent Death, Damn Yankees

Michael Jackson was three years older than me.   As a child I heard the Jackson 5 on the radio constantly, saw kids with Jackson 5 lunchboxes, and they even had a Saturday morning cartoon, or at least guest-shots on Scooby Doo.   I will admit I wasn't a huge fan, but when they released their Dancing Machine album and went on shows like Mike Douglas and performed "The Robot", I watched with amused admiration.     One of Michael's first singles was "Ben", a song about a rat, which I hated.    As I began my career in radio he built his solo career with "Off the Wall".   He still looks like himself on the cover.   The wierdness began with "Thriller" when he appeared with lighter skin, a thinner nose, and that curly black hair that looked painted-on.   I remember covering the 1984 session of the Wyoming Legislature and going to a wild post-legislature party in Cheyenne and seeing lawmakers who usually wear suits or cowboy hats drunkenly attempting the "Moon Dance".   In the last 15 or 20 years, Jackson's career was highlighted by hair fires, chimp-kissing, perversion charges, payoffs, lawsuits, money problems, trials and very few hits.   I recently heard some black leaders attacking the media for, in their opinion, not making as big-of-a-deal over Jackson's death as they did over Elvis.   There was not the 24-hour cable news coverage in 1977 as there is now, and Elvis didn't spend the last 2 decades of his life disgusting and repulsing people.   While Jackson's fans tearfully mourn this talented entertainer, those who weren't his fans just shake their heads at his breathtaking fall from grace which now has lead to a golden casket.   The doctors who provided him with the dangerous, illegal anesthesia he was taking need to be jailed.   While Jackson sought the drugs and took them himself, he's been given everything he's ever asked for his whole life and these doctors were very willing to continue to cater to him, and eventually, they killed him.   But who would have the guts or the wherewithal to force him into an intervention and make him come clean?   His family, obviously, and while by all appearances they loved him and were concerned, they didn't take the steps necessary to keep Michael alive.  

A time capsule discovered in the cornerstone of the Yellow Medicine County Courthouse in Granite Falls was opened on Saturday, July 4th.   County Veterans' Services Officer Michelle Gatz says the when she opened the 4-inch-by-6 inch copper box, she gasped at how new everything inside looked.   It had sat inside that stone for 120 years, and all those objects last handled by people people who have been dead for decades looked brand new.    There were some newspapers from around the county, county seals, a photo of Granite Falls, and, oddly, a card that said  "The Devil XXX...Putnam, Editor."   If anyone can figure out what that means, let me know.   I plan to go to the YMC Historical Society soon and see the capsule and it's contents in person.   

How many of us have done something stupid or illegal (or both) and gotten away with it?   I'll admit, when I was younger, I've driven drunk and never got caught, and have driven dangerously and only by the Grace of God did not hurt myself or someone else.   With that in mind, I ponder the tragedy at Beaver Falls Campground near Morton Sunday morning.   Reports say Nicolle Prechel of Willmar (who hasn't had a drivers license since 2004) was camped out in a mini-van with her daughter, cousins and friends over the 4th of July weekend, where they reportedly partied with pot and booze.   Her cousin, Jacob, Jacob's girlfriend Sheena and the couple's baby Whyatt were in a tent next to her van.   Prechel's 7 year old daughter had to use the bathroom, so mom drove her to the restroom, and while trying to get back into her parking spot, she says she accidently hit the gas instead of the brake and ran over her cousin's tent, dragging it 14 feet until she hit a pole.   Jacob wasn't in the tent, but Sheena and Whyatt were.   The infant was killed, and Jacob got in the van and backed it off-of Sheena, who obviously was injured.    Police say Prechel was still drunk from the night before.   She's now in jail and a family is shattered.   Stupid mistakes.   We've made them and got away with it.    Prechel didn't.  

I hate the Yankees.   More than the Packers, I hate the Yankees.   Their fans, their owner, their tradtion, their dominance over the Twins.   They buy all-star teams, often full of cheaters, and act like it's a fair fight when they clobber everyone.    Going into every baseball season I have two criteria...that the Twins get into the playoffs and the Yankees don't make it to the World Series.   I don't think either criteria will be met this year.  

7-4-09     Public Enemies, 4th of July

I know it's the 4th of July but I'd like to talk about an entertaining movie my wife Sharon and I saw last night in Spicer...Public Enemies.   It's the story of the last year-or-so of John Dillinger's violent life.   During the 30s the Depression gripped the nation and led to criminals in many parts of the country becoming folk-heroes of sort...Capone in New York, Bonnie and Clyde in Oklahoma and Kansas, and John Dillinger in the upper midwest.   While most of his bank robberies were in Indiana and the Chicago area, he also hit the Twin Cities, Iowa, and Sioux Falls.   The Sioux Falls robbery was depicted in great detail, not because of the robbery but the shootout that ensued.   A gang member was killed and Dillinger was shot in the arm.    I lived in Sioux Falls for 4 years and my wife Sharon lived there for 17 but we never heard about the robbery, so when we got home we looked it up on the internet.   The bank, Security Bank and Trust, was at 9th and Dakota.   That's right where Sioux Falls City hall is, and there are parking ramps on two other corners of the intersection, so the bank must be long gone.  

People may recall the story of an attempted bank robbery in downtown Willmar during the depression that went awry when local citizenry decided to open fire on the crooks.   They say some of the police old-timers still know where there are bullet holes in the buildings.    I don't know why, but I'd like to see them.   

I've always wondered if some of the violence that occured in certain places still remains in spirit years after the events.   Reading Dean Urdahl's excellent books "Uprising" and "Retribution" about the U.S.-Sioux Indian War of 1862, you realize our tranquil area was the site of bloody slaughter, fear and heroism during those harrowing weeks in the late summer of '62.   The peaceful Birch Coulee Battlefield Site in Renville County was the location of a prolonged battle between the Sioux and U.S. soldiers.   And you wonder if somewhere the cannons of the Siege of Fort Ridgely don't still echo somewhere, as well as the echo of the scaffold falling, hanging 38 Sioux at Mankato.   Read Urdahl's books if you haven't yet.    Bookworld at the Kandi Mall, Amazon.com are two places to check.  

It's the 4th of July and I'm working.   When I'm done my wife and I will spend most of the day in Spicer, but if I wasn't, I'd go to Granite Falls and watch the opening of a time capsule found inside the walls of the Yellow Medicine County Courthouse.   I plan to follow up and find out what was inside.   I'll update you on future blogs and news casts.   Have fun!  

6-30-09   Some things (and people) never change    

Earlier this month I took 4 days off of work and spent them in the Twin Cities, mostly with my mom in my childhood house in Bloomington.   While there, I dropped-in on a friend in Edina whom I haven't seen in more than 10 years...even though we regularly communicate via e-mail.   Doug sounded the same, was still an expert on all things Chrysler, and although a few pounds heavier, and slightly thinning hair, looked about the same.   I tried to get together with my old friend Jeff in Burnsville...played some phone tag, he sounded like he wanted to get together, but never followed through.    I got together with my brother Gary also, and he reminded me about how frustrated I used to get with Jeff's undependability when I was a teen.    Gary was the same...friendly, funny, messy and still smoking.   I tried to track down my friend Dan who lives between the airport and Lake Nokomis.   No name in the phone book, my previous number for him disconnected, his (former?) house looking abandoned.    Also not surprising for Dan...great guy when you can get together, but not easy to get ahold of.  

And I received old photos from a cousin who recently died.   Her mom, my aunt, gave her up for adoption but Diana was later able to track down my aunt and reunite.    It was heartbreaking to see these photos of her family, the babies that have grown into adults, her captions under the pictures and her hopes and dreams for the future.   Heartbreaking because what the photos didn't show were two divorces and a husband imprisoned for child molestation...Also in the box was Diana's obituary.   She died at the age of 51 of cancer.   Now I have to try and track down her kids to send them these photo albums...those kids are spread to the four winds, and it will take all my investigative skills to try and find them.    Right now the box containing those albums sits like a coffin in my garage and I'll be glad to see it go.  

This weekend I went to the Vikingland Band Festival in Alexandria to see my son perform for the final time this summer in the Willmar High School Marching Band.   There were dozens of bands performing in what Band Director Terry Brau calls the state championship for bands.   Willmar did great and came in 2nd in their class.   High school marching bands are getting much more sophisticated in their performances...last year Willmar's band used it's chorus members and sang a song.   This year they had a mini-stage on wheels and performed a jazz combo piece called Birdland.   They had two first-place finishes this year, one at Benson and another at Sauk Rapids, leading Brau to shave his decades-old beard and Assistant, Mr. Mara, to shave his head.   Don't worry Mr. Mara...at least YOUR hair will grow back!   

6-26-09    Twin Cities Biking   

Minneapolis was recently rated the second best biking city in the U.S., and one of the top ten in the world.   I grew up in the Twin Cities and have ridden hundreds of miles in the City of Lakes.   I find it hard to disagree that Minneapolis is great for biking...many trails, and bike lanes on downtown streets just for bikes.   You need to double check before you open your car door to make sure you don't send a cyclist to the pavement.   Riding through Bloomington, my hometown, is so-so.   Edina and Richfield are terrible...stick to the sidewalks and pray when you cross an interstate bridge that someone exiting or entering sees you.  

On Monday, when it was 95 in the Twin Cities, I rode from central Bloomington to Edina, then up around Lakes Harriet and Calhoun.  I then took the Minnehaha Parkway to Lake Nokomis, then home...32 mile trip.   Ate lunch at the swanky "Tin Fish" on Lake Calhoun.   Best 12 dollar fish and chips I ever had.   Willmar is getting better for riding...new bike paths going up along North 71, with future paths planed for other areas.   County Road 5, north of Willmar, is still beautiful but hazardous with no shoulder.  

Gas prices at nearly every station between Wayzata and Willmar were $2.49 a gallon.   And, of course, it's a dime-a-gallon more per gallon in Willmar.   Why?   We will never know but will always suspect a conspiracy.    I challenge you...find a city of 20,000 population other than Willmar where EVERY gas station charges the exact same price.   All in lock step.   I've tried to do stories on this subject but they are always unpopular with advertisers and account reps.   And I never seem to get a decent answer, so I'll let someone else get the pullitizer by breaking the big Willmar Gas Price story.   

Enjoy Willmarfest events tomorrow.   Willmar's Marching Band is doing great this year...a first place and several second place finishes so far this parade season.   My church league softball team, for Redeemer Lutheran, is also doing great...6 and 1.   Stay tuned for more chances to help me raise money for MS through the MS Ride Across Minnesota next month!

6-15-09    Great weather, lots going on

The transition time between winter and full blown summer activities is too short.   It seems like just a couple weeks ago I was wondering about snow storage space next to my driveway, and now I'm fussing over new grass I planted over bald spots in my yard.   (If only I could do the same with my bald head!)   Many fun activities and community celebrations going on in Kandiyohi, Paynesville, Atwater, Benson and soon in Willmar.   Congratulations to the Willmar High School Marching Band for coming in 1st in their division at the Pioneerland Band Festival Sunday night in Benson.  And hats off to the MACCRAY Baseball Team for winning the Class A baseball championship.  

At least 3 motorcycle runs took place over the weekend, and I went for a 42-mile bike ride yesterday afternoon.   I rode from Hawick to Paynesville to Belgrade to New London and back to Hawick.   Great weather.   Oh, by the way, to the White Ford Pickup driver who passed a car on Highway 71 and timed-it just right so he nearly hit me head-on, well, I'd like to meet you face-to-face and show you just how much I appeciate your life-threatening stupidity.  

My last blog heaped praises on John-O's Dinner Theater in Brooten.   Now I see they decided to tell the West Central Tribune that they are going to close June 22nd, blaming a slow economy.   Too bad.   It was a nice dining and entertainment option for people in this area.  

And for all you people who voted for Barack Obama because he said he would end the war in Iraq...how do you like the escalating situation in Afghanistan.   Does Obama get a free pass because he's a Democrat?   And how do you like his Secretary of State Hilary Clinton telling Iran if they make a nuclear strike against Isreal, we will retaliate against Iran.   And things are getting worse in North Korea.   And Pakistan, which also has nukes.   Let's see how Obama does when he has to make life-or-death decisions instead of standing on the sidelines, criticizing Bush.    For all of our sakes, let's pray he makes the right decisions.

6-9-09      Humane Society, John-O's, Wallet

When I was a kid, my parents wouldn't let me or my brothers have a dog.   My sister had a guinea pig, my little brother had a parakeet and I had a snake and a succession of turtles, but no dog.  So when I moved out, my wife and I adopted a blue heeler named "Smokey" from the Cheyenne Wyoming animal shelter.   She was a great little dog.   Ever since then I've had a soft spot in my heart for animal shelters.   I went to the ground-breaking this week for the new Kandiyohi-Meeker County Humane Society Animal Shelter on the west side of town.  The City, Kandiyohi and Meeker County and the Humane Society are all chipping in for this badly-needed facility.   If you'd like to contribute money, services or equiptment, they'd like to talk to you at the humane society.   I thought board member Steve Gardner said it well when he said you can judge a community by the way they treat their animals.  

Jon-O's restaurant in Brooten is a fun place to spend a few hours.   They opened a few years ago in the old movie theater in Brooten...all the seats were removed and the interior was remodeled to look like a New Orleans street scene.   There are tables and chairs, and there is now a large stage where the screen used to be.   They provide entertainment like pianists, ventroliquists, and plays.   Last Saturday was media day and My wife and I along with the editor of the Kerkhoven Banner, Jim Elmen and his wife  thoroughly enjoyed a dinner of linguine with red peppers and chicken, and the dress rehearsal of the play "An Arranged Marriage."   Very funny one-act play.   The food was excellent and the entertainment was...entertaining.   Give Jon-O's a try.   It's nice to have fine food served in a dinner theater just 45 miles away instead of going to Chanhassen (which is excellent also, although I like Jon-O's food better!)

My wife Sharon is an elephant.   Memory-wise, that is.   It was cold and rainy most of the day Monday, but in the evening the sun broke through the clouds and it became pleasant.   I thought I'd take the opportunity to go for a bike ride and take the 13 mile round trip to Pennock.    When I got home, to my horror I discovered my wallet had slipped out of my jean jacket pocket during my ride, and was missing.   Sharon shook her finger in my face and recited all the times I've lost my wallet::  when we were dating in Sioux Falls I lost my wallet, and after a gut wrenching search of the Empire Mall, we got back to her apartment and found my wallet sitting on the edge of her bathtub.   A few years later i left my wallet in the bathroom of the SuperAmerica in Hutchinson on the way to the Renaissance Festival.   I got it back thanks to a good samaritan.   And my wallet was stolen from my locker at the YMCA.   I got it back, minus the 7 dollars I had in there, from a cyclist who found it at the side of the road.

         So on Monday Sharon and I got into the Impala and retraced my ride to Pennock, slowly creeping along the shoulder of Highway 12 with the hazards flashing.   And Thank God, there it was sitting on the shoulder about 2 miles west of town...in tact.   Whew!   Yet another incident for Sharon to remember next time I lose my wallet.  

6-4-09     I'm a closet dome defender

The Metrodome has been the Twins (and Vikings and Gophers) home since 1982...they've been there for 27 years, 7 years longer than they were at Met Stadium.   I took my son to a game at the dome on Wednesday, and yes, the Twins got clobbered by the Indians and we were leaving for the door by the top of the 8th, getting ready for the 2-hour drive back to Willmar.  

It became fashionable very early-on for people to bash the Metrodome..."bad seating", "baseball should be indoors", "can't see the ball", "hard floor causes injuries" etc etc etc.    But I'll say this...since 1982, you knew when you left Willmar, you would be seeing a game that afternoon or night...all that driving and gas would not be wasted.   And the Twins have won two world series and several division championships under the teflon, something they never did at the "Old Met".  

Now, I'm as nostaligic as the next person for the Met...maybe even more than most...I grew up in Bloomington, biking distance to the Met, and 1965 AL MVP Zoilo Versalles lived on my block!   We watched the 4th of July fireworks at the Met from my garage roof.   But I also remember this...the first game I ever went to, a 1972 night game against Detroit, was rained out.   I remember freezing my rear-end off going to games in April, and hating to see the grounds crew start unrolling the tarp.  

At the dome, the Twins have enjoyed a home-field advantage few teams have had.   Yes, there were some dry years in the early 80s and late 90s when Griffith and Pohlad didn't spend money on players.   But thanks to two good managers in Kelly and Gardenhire, the Twins have been competitive in a micro-sized market, and the dome has played a big part.   I will go to games in the new park, but I'll be making sure the forecast has no chance of rain before I invest in tickets and gas money.  

6-2-09    Pawlenty to step down

We got the surprising news today that Governor Tim Pawlenty won't be seeking a third term.   Many think after getting a taste of presidential politics last year, he might be aiming for a shot at the Oval Office in 2012.   

I've known Pawlenty since the early 90s when he was house Minority Leader.   Sometimes he would accompany Senator Dean Johnson, who was then a Republican, to Willmar for news conferences.   After being elected in 2002 I've had a chance to interview him several times, in person and on the phone, and he was always very gracious and well-informed.   He came to the KWLM studios in April, and invited Bill Dean and I to broadcast from his office in St. Paul last month.   I remember when he came to the old Willmar Airport for an "end of the session" news conference in 2006....I brought my Twins Jersey and wrote on the back "Twin's Stadium Bill" and had him sign it.   I have a picture of that event on my wall.  

Many will criticize Pawlenty for sticking to his "no new taxes" stand, while allowing cigarette taxes to go up, calling it a "health maintainence fee."    He came to Oliva last year to do his radio show from Max's Restaurant but refused to do an interview with outstate media because he was still stinging over having his veto of the transportation bill, with a tax increase in it, over-ridden.   The Republicans who voted with the Democrats to over-ride were dealt-with harshly, and some, like Bud Heidegerken, decided to resign.   

Pawlenty is a gracious, shrewd and sometimes ruthless politician with a good staff.   I think he would be well-suited for a run for the White House, especially if the National Republican Party is looking for a fresh, conservative face.    Pawlenty will leave office in January of 2011, right when the presidential circus for 2012 will start heating up.

5-28-09      Pet Peeves

Everyone who blogs writes about their own pet peeves, and now here's my chance...first of all, from a "covering the news" perspective, I've found the most difficult and least rewarding story to cover is with small businesses.   Particularly, small businesses that are not doing so hot.   The owners don't want to talk to you, and if you can track them down and get them to talk, they are very paranoid and extremely careful about what they say.   And many times they will out-and-out lie.   For instance, there's a certain drinking establishment in a small town near Willmar that closed their doors after a watermain break.   After hounding these people for a comment for weeks, they finally granted an interview and said they would relocate temporarily, then rebuild their business at it's current site.    Later I find out they changed their mind and reopened at their old location.   I vow never to utter their name on the air again.   And, of course, there was the Wendy's incident previously detailed on this blog.   I understand why they are nervous about saying anything...they have a lot at stake, but they have the opportunity to give out the correct information on their terms and stop the rumour mill, and they often don't take that opportunity.   

Other pet peeves...dirty diapers left on streets, in parking lots and other public places.   I don't think I need to say anything else on this topic, other than to say the content of those diapers reflect the character of the people who leave them for the world to see and dispose of.    Here's one that may eventually put me in the hospital...people who walk around with t-shirts with the "F-word" on it.   I was at the St. Louis Arch one time, and here comes some lady walking toward me with a shirt that says "Do I look like a f***ing people person?"  on it.   And this past weekend I was at the Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud and there was a beefy fellow at Target (surrounded by a bunch of other slobs) with a shirt that said "Practice safe sex...go f*** yourself."   And he was pushing a cart with a small child in it!    It's a graceless age we live in.    And at the Willmarfest Downtown Block Party two years ago there was a kid participating in the bed races wearing a shirt with the "F-word" on it.    It drives me absolutely crazy...it's bad enough to hear people saying it all the time, but to see it on a shirt...I'm going to lose it sometime.   I hope any business owner who sees someone with such attire would immeadiatly show them the door.   And I will have to ask the police if it's illegal to display profane messages on clothing.   I'm sure if someone got ticketed, the ACLU would be there screaming bloody murder.    My final pet peeve...seeing or hearing cellphones being used during movies.   I have confronted people on that one before and I will continue to do so.  

5-25-09      Memorial Day....working, mournng, ruminating

It's Memorial Day 2009, another holiday that I'm working, envying the people sleeping-in and taking it easy.   As an on-air announcer, I'm used to working holidays...Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, St. Crispins' Day, you name it.   Actually, while I may gripe, I kind of enjoy the peace and quiet around here on the holidays.   It's just me and the handful of announcers on Q, KW and K100.   No management and salespeople.   I can get a lot done.  

My only regret is not being able to be back in the Twin Cities and visiting the graves of my relatives.   My father, a World War 2 Navy Vet, is buried at Fort Snelling.   His father, my grandfather, was a World War 1 Army Vet and is also at Fort Snelling.   My brother Jim, who died of cancer at the age of 53 five years ago is buried in Minnetrista.   My aunt Margaret, who died last December is buried in the same grave as my grandmother at St. Joseph's cemetary in Minneapolis.   If I didn't have to work today, I would go to the Memorial Day program at Fairveiw Cemetary in Willmar...my son is playing in the band.  

During the Twins game on ESPN last night they talked about star baseball players who put their careers on hold when World War 2 broke out and enlisted.   Bob Feller, Ted Williams etc.   Many Hollywood stars also served in the military, like Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gable, and others who would become stars after the war, like James Arness, Lee Marvin and many many others.  

The ESPN guys ruminated why, when 9/11 happened, you didn't see that same wave of patriotism among athletes (Pat Tillman excluded).   I think it's simple...money.    Americans value entertainment so much, they've made these pro athletes among the richest people on earth, unlike the stars of yester year who yes, made a lot of money, but not the disproportionate amount that is paid in this era of television.   On that note, perhaps the top athletes can do more good than simply enlisting by using their fabulous wealth to help the war effort, whether it be to support veterans' programs, or helping buy care packages for soldiers, by visiting wounded soldiers or visiting soldiers on the front(s).  

The people that enlist are often poor, minorities or others who have few other choices or options in life.   While their motivation may not always be patriotism, they still serve and honor our country, and put their lives on the line for us.   This Memorial Day, also remember the more-than-500 local National Guard Members who will soon be leaving Ft. Hood for a year in Iraq.  

5-20-09       Time to whine

As Green Day once asked, "Do you have the time to listen to me whine?"   Today has been one of those days where I've been so overwhelmed with things to do that I've decided to put it all aside and do my blog.   I have a goal of doing it twice-a-week, but with all that's happening, it's hard to find the time.  

With the legislature finishing on Monday I've had my hands full getting everyone's response and reaction, and lining up the final Legislative Review show for Friday morning.    Also, Ridgewater College has had a couple of events I have wanted to go to, which I can't because of time constraints.   And I had the Harlan Madsen County Board show today, and he always has a lot of newsworthy stuff I want to make into stories, and I haven't had the time.   And Mick Schmit was in on Monday with many story ideas.   And Gary Stern from the Federal Reserve Bank was in Willmar yesterday and I had to cover that live.  

On top of all that, I've had major equiptment failures in the newsroom.    Also...trying to line up interviews for our Bud Hanson tribute show May 29th, working on getting a new wire service from MNN and a Barn Theatre Board meeting Monday night...I'm having an anxiety attack just writing about it!    So, anyway, if I'm not blogging as often as you'd like to see, those are some of the reasons why.    Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!

5-7-09      JP and Bill camp out at the Gov's office

Bill Dean and I had an enjoyable and interesting day Wednesday at the state capital, broadcasting the KWLM morning show from the Governor's Reception Room.    We were invited to participate in Greater Minnesota Media Day at the Capital, and we and three other stations (from Grand Rapids, St. Cloud and Redwood Falls) spent the morning interviewing lawmakers, including Governor Pawlenty, as well as numerous state agency commissioners.  

Bill and I interviewed Representatives Al Juhnke, Dean Urdahl, Marty Siefert and Andrew Falk, and Senators Joe Gimse, Gary Kubly and Dennis Fredrickson.   We also chatted with the commissioners of commerce, economic development, health, public safety, education and finance.   And of course, Governor Tim Pawlenty.   I have video from the event which we will try and put on our website.   Check in on that later.    We'd like to thank the Governor's Press Secretary Alex Carey for the invitation and help facilitating things, Mike Schroeder for getting our equiptment together, Bob Thompson for his excellent engineering back at the station, and station managment for letting us go.    I know there were some format changes because of all our interviews, and I hope you listeners beared with us and enjoyed the show.  

Bill and I stayed the night before at the Kelly Inn, about 2 blocks from the capital.   We ate at Cosetta's on West 7th Street where I had some of the best lasagna I've ever had.   We got up around 4:30 Wednesday morning and got set up.  Unfortunately we had no internet access because my son removed the notebook card from my laptop the night before.   Thanks Mike!     It turns out we really didn't need it anyway.   We broadcast from 6:30 to 10 a.m., and it went extremely fast.

It was fun and exciting to be in the heart of state government with just a week or so to go before adjournment.   Of course, being in the governor's office and surrounded by his appointees, we heard a lot of criticism of the DFL budget proposals and tax increases, which we expected, but most people expressed optimism the session will end on-time, May 18th.   If you can get to the capital during a session, I highly recommend it.   Bill and I were last there 3 years ago, and look forward to our next invitation to participate in Greater Minnesota Media Day at the Capital.

5-12-09           Wendy's closed, "Look Again" at wicked intersection

About a month ago a co-worker came into the news room with a "big scoop" for me...Wendy's in Willmar was going to close.   I raised an eyebrow in interest.   You don't often see a fast food restaurant close it's doors, particularly not a Wendy's.   In Willmar we've seen the Hardee's, Quiznos, Taco John's (west) and Taco Bell close in the last decade, but at least that many new fast food restaurants have opened.   So I called Wendy's to see what they had to say.   Twice, no one answered the phone.   Finally, on the third try, someone answered and gave me to the manager...I can't remember her first name, but the last name was Johnson.   She was incensed that there were rumours going around that they were going to close.   She said yes, they had shortened their hours, and they were sending some employees to "customer service training", but they were NOT GOING TO CLOSE!!!   She even offered to go on my Business News show and try and quell the rumours.   She said she would get back to me.   I made a gentleman's bet with Paul Stagg and my wife that they would be closed within a month.    Sure enough, I never heard back from Ms. "Johnson" and a couple weeks ago they went dark.   Efforts to contact both the regional and national Wendy's offices for further information were fruitless.    I must say, I never personally had any bad experiences with the Willmar Wendy's.   I greatly curtailed my trips there after they got rid of their salad bar, but other people I spoke to said they had really gone downhill since Joe Cody sold the place.   I guess we'll never know the real reason behind why they closed, but I did not detect a lot of tears being shed over their demise.  

On April 15th a Ridgewater College student was killed at the intersection of North Highway 71 and 23rd Street Northeast, by the Kandiyohi County Law Enforcement Center.   Today there was another wreck, sending a woman and her baby to the hospital.   Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5 p.m. there will be a community meeting at the Health and Human Services Building Meeting Room to talk about a study that was done, and what changes have been recommended to make the intersection safer.   When there were an in-ordinate amount of crashes at County Road 8 and County Road 23, south of Kandiyohi, the county public works department custom-made a sign that said "Look Again" with two eyes inside the two "Os" of Look.   They put them up on County Road 23, and accidents nearly disappeared.   After the April 15th tragedy on North 71, it was proposed to put those "Look Again" signs facing traffic seeking to cross the Highway.   But since the signs are non-standard MnDot road signs, special permission had to be sought to put them up, and MnDot tells me as of this morning they still weren't up.   Maybe they could've prevented a trip to Rice Memorial Hospital for the woman and her child.   Willmar Police Chief Jim Kulset maintains people driving too fast and not paying attention are the prime factors in crashes at that intersection.   You can be sure that by this time next year, crossing traffic will not be allowed there.  

5-15-09     Bike to Work, Indian Nicknames and Car Show

Today was National Bike to Work Day.   If your workplace is like mine, very few people live in reasonable biking range.   Here at Lakeland Brodcasting, 8 live in Willmar, 13 live out of town (one as far away as Morgan) and one I'm not sure of.    Living on the northwest side of town, I have a 4 minute drive to work and a 7 minute bike ride, much of it on a nice asphalt path.   On the way to work I get to hear the birds singing their morning songs, see the sun peeking over the eastern horizon, take-in the fresh smell of Foot Lake, and see my usual friends....a flock of pelicans in the lake on the north side of the culvert that goes under the road, and the same heron that I always spook on the south side.   Thank goodness the geese are still asleep at that time.   They have their little yellow goslings now, and they will attack anyone who gets within 15 feet of them.    I get to work with a little excersize and a better idea of the weather conditions than I would watching it through a windshield.    Yes, there are some disadvantages...I have to get up a little earlier, and always worry there will be a car or truck that doesn't see me.   And early in the year it can still be a little chilly, and sometimes the wind is pretty strong off the lake.   And if a snap news conference comes up that requires my attendance, I have to use the station truck if it's available, or ride my bike there, hauling my gear in my backpack and feeling silly.   I try and see if there's rain in the forecast and if so, will avoid riding, but sometimes I still get wet.    My goal is to ride 1000 miles every summer, and so far I've got close to 200 under my belt.   A round trip to work and back is about 3 miles...which I do twice a day if I ride home for lunch and come back on my bike.  

I see the North Dakota Board of Education is succumbing to pressure and is removing the Fighting Sioux name and logo from UND sports teams.   I still can't see why Native Americans would object to getting that kind of recognition, and acknowledgment that they are a group people admire and want to emulate.   What happens next...do we remove all city, state and geographic names that have anything to do with indians and replace them with white names?   Will Minnesota become "Ventura?"   Will Illinois become "Obama"?How about the Dakotas?  Those, along with Iowa, Kansas and Arkansas are all names of Indian tribes and I'm sure there are more.  Goodbye Kandiyohi, Mankato, Shakopee, Winona, Sleepy Eye, Owatonna, Yellow Medicine, Wabasha and many more.    I personally like having these reminders of the people who were here before we came.    In America, majority doesn't rule...it's the loudest minority with the loudest lawyers that really get things done.  

Sunday is the Willmar Car Club Car Show at Kennedy Elementary.   I've been taking my son Tony, a car nut since he was in diapers, to the show every year.   It's fun to see what people have done with their cars and to dream of owning or driving one.   I graduated from high school in Bloomington in 1980, when the muscle cars of the 60s and early 70s were about 7 to 15 years old, very affordable and still in good shape.   I bought a 69 GTO and gained instant popularity in school.   I only had the car for about 1 year, but I still dream about it...how good it looked, how powerful it was, the looks of envy from all who saw me driving it.   True, it was broken down in my garage about 1/4th of the time I owned it, and with a part-time job I didn't have a lot of money to pay for new parts, but how I'd love to have it now.   Whenever I go to the Car Show I gravitate to the GTOs and the other cars my friends had...Chevelles, Camaros, Firebirds, Novas, Mustangs, Chargers, Challengers, Cudas.    I wander over to the Car Corral, where project cars are for sale, and start calculating in my head what it would take to buy and restore one.   I think it's gonna have to wait until I move out of town and have more space to work on a project car.  

5-1-09        Chasing my tail...info from the police, part two

I spent too much time yesterday trying to chase down information on a car accident after being given some false information.   On Wednesday, a person we'll call "The Mystery Girl" knocked on my door at home and said she was locked out of her house and needed to use our phone to call someone to pick her up.   We obliged.  While she was waiting for her ride to arrive, she mentioned a car crash she said happened on Highway 23 near Willmar at 3 a.m. Tuesday that critically injured a Willmar teenager.   She had the "victim's" name and even the hospital she was taken to.    My newsman antenna went up, and after grilling "Mystery Girl" for more details, I called the state patrol and checked their website.   They knew nothing.  

The next day, at work, I call the hospital, who said they no patient by her name.   I called Willmar Police Chief Jim Kulset who looked through all the emergency records and there was nothing about an accident involving this girl.   I called Willmar High School.   They knew nothing.   Nothing on Facebook.   My son, a High School Junior, knew nothing (although he mentioned it to a few friends who panicked, thinking this girl had been hurt).   I tried to call the girl's family but couldn't find the number.   I realized it was a stupid hoax perpetrated by the either malicious or ill-informed "Mystery Girl."   Then, in the afternoon, I got ahold of the "victim's" brother and he said his sister was fine.   Then I talked to her father, who said she was fine.   Next, the "victim" herself came into the station and I explained to her what happened.   Everyone is trying to figure out who this "mystery girl" was and why she would spread such terrible rumors, especially just before the Willmar High School Prom.   I found out the "victim's" wallet had been stolen about two weeks ago...maybe that had something to do with it.   The Willmar Police have been notified.   I'll let you know if I find out anything, but yesterday was a big waste of everyone's time because of the "mystery girl" and my own persistance.  

By the way, yesterday, Willmar Police Chief Jim Kulset took me to task for an earlier blog in which I appeared to criticize the Willmar Police Department for not having someone to give-out information to the media when emergencies are happening.   Kulset said they don't have the staff to have a public information officer, and said if there was truly a situation they considered an emergency in the city threatening public safety, they would call the media.   Otherwise, when there is an incident they deem newsworthy, they write a news release with all the information they feel they are allowed to release, and it is faxed to the media (which is more than a lot of other agencies do).   The Kandiyohi, Renville, Stearns, Pope and Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Departments do the same, and the state patrol relies on putting news on their website.   Sometimes we get info from Benson, Montevideo, Litchfield and Meeker Co. too.    Kulset took issue with my statement "It's fine to be on good relations with the police when nothing's happening."  

My goal is always to get info to people that they can use in a timely fashion, and it's the police department's goal to protect the public.   Sometimes our two goals clash, but all-in-all, I believe the Willmar Police Department does a good job in getting us information, as evidenced by Chief Kulset coming to the station every month for an hour-long police report, and the helpful way he and his department work with me when seeking info on different stories.    Public Safety Officer Marilee Dorn is also an excellent source of info.   I guess I should'nt have "called out" a certain sergeant in a previous blog without knowing what constraints he was operating under, and I apologize. 

In the old days, when we had two full-time news people, I would go to the police department every afternoon and look over their daily report log, and go to the courthouse and check the day's court cases.   I can still check the courts through the internet, but I just can't get to the "cop shop" everyday like I'd like to, so I rely on being able to get info over the phone when I can.    The bottom line is...I need to be on good terms with local authorities in order to serve you, our listeners like we need to.  

4-24-09     Farewell Bud

I've worked with Bud Hanson since starting here in 1990.   Since 1998 I've worked with him on the Open Mike Show, and we've bowled together for the station team for 5 or 6 years, at least.   He's a coworker and a friend, and he's got lung cancer.   It's shocking news because Bud has always been healthy (except for a bad eye) and stopped smoking in 1981.   But he started coughing and getting "the crud" a couple months ago and never went away.   A chest x-ray showed a growth in his lung, and a biopsy revealed what no one wants to know...small cell carcinoma...lung cancer.   

In the process of diagnosing Bud, his vocal cords may have been damaged which has prevented Bud from being to talk on the air.   Thus, we officially announced that Bud will no longer host Open Mike...the torch has been passed to Todd Bergeth, although I will still do a handful of shows each month with the police chief, city administrator and so forth.  

Bud will now concentrate on trying ot beat this disease.    We all wish the best for Bud and are praying for him to beat this scourge...cancer.   We hope his voice improves enough for us to have him on the Open Mike Show in the future...as a guest.    And we are also planning a community recognition night for him in the future.

Bud has done Open Mike since 1973...just think of all the groups he has helped by giving them publicity...all the legal and medical information that has been shared with our listeners...all the interesting issues he's helped cover.   He will be missed...as an announcer and as a friend.   His listeners feel they know him (mainly because Bud was eager to share his own life experiences) and his listeners can send him a card out in Kandiyohi or a message through our website.  

4-28-09      Swine flu fears, viscious dogs

I went to a briefing on the prevelance of "swine flu" in the local area on Monday.   The bottom line...there is no flu in Willmar or in the State of Minnesota.   Minnesota agriculture officials are stressing that swine is fine, pigs are perfect, hogs are...good.   Minnesota Ag Commissioner Gene Hugoson says pork, bacon, ham, you name it, is perfectly fine to eat.   He worries just having the name "swine" attached to the flu will cause pork consumption to drop.   Minnesota is the nation's number 3 hog producer and it's a multi-billion dollar industry.   The beef industry worried about the impact of "Mad Cow Disease" and the poultry industry worried about impact of "Avian Flu".    The markets are ruled by worry, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped in the past few days over worries that business will somehow be affected by "swine flu."    Two industries that have benefitted...3M, which makes face masks, and the drug companies, ready to produce vaccines to fight the epidemic.   While 100 have died in Mexico so far from swine flu, many thousands die every year across the world from regular influenza...but at least it's an enemy we are familiar with.

The Kandiyohi County Board played executioner last week to a black lab that had a taste for human flesh.   This pooch has sunk it's teeth into people's legs, arms, rear ends, you name it, launching a reign of terror along County Road 9 north of New London for the past 3 years.   The sheriff's department had different deputies investigating each case, and once they finally pieced their reports together and figured out it was the same dog, they served it's owner with papers.   What a shock, the owner didn't know where the dog was.   When it was finally captured, the county board decided it should be euthanized (they are allowed to do this under state law) and the dog was put to sleep.   

I am a dog lover...I've had three blue heelers and now share my home with a beagle...but I would never own a dog that bites people.   My wife and I have trained our animals and socialized them to make sure they are secure enough with their surroundings that they don't have to bite people or other dogs.   I ride my bike in the country quite a bit, and carry two anti-dog weapons...an airhorn, which is usually loud enough to stop them in their tracks, and as a last resort, I carry a diluted pepper spray that I've only had to use once.   Nothing will get your heart pumping faster than approaching a farm site and seeing one (or two) dogs that have spotted you and are barking and running down the driveway or cutting across a field to try and get you.   While riding on the Glacial Lakes Trail near Paynesville a dog started after me...I shouted a loud (four lettered) warning, and it stopped.    On my way back, the dog's owner started following me, angry at the language that I used.   I apologized for the language, not realizing there were any people around to hear me, but I told him about past dog attacks and how a shout will usually stop them.   He, of course, defended his dog, saying it would never do such a thing.    With irresponsible owners like that, you can see how dogs get to the point that county commissioners have to become executioners.  

4-21-09    Soldiers, Spring and New Year's Eve

Think about the last time you were really afraid.   Maybe when you were alone at night and you heard something go clunk downstairs.   Or your son or daughter was really really late coming home from work, school or some event.   Or you approach a gang of punks who are looking and laughing at you.   Or seeing a distant tornado getting larger, coming your way.   Or seeing a car coming at you in your lane at 150 yards and closing.    The primal, bowel-loosening, shiver-inducing fear that your life or the life of a loved one is in danger.   That's what I think of when I hear or read about local soldiers going to a war zone.   Like the members of the 1 of the 151 and support units heading to Iraq for a year.   They will be driving support convoys on Iraq's highways, where a camel at the side of the road could explode as you pass.   Or the child laying in the road ahead of you could be a ruse to get you to stop, and when you do, you'll be hit by a hail of gunfire or rocket-propelled grenades.   Yes, it's gotten more quiet in Iraq, but they still consider a week when "only" 4 or 5 U.S. soldiers are killed, a good one.   Our young people are putting their lives on the line for the American Way of Life.   Say a silent prayer that God looks out for them and they return safe next April.

Spring is finally here...the tarps have been taken off the patio table and chairs and barbecue grill.   The bike and the geese are out.   I've yet to be hissed-at and chased, but I have had to do the slalom driving around the goose turds.   Some cities have considered urban goose hunts to get rid of problem geese who harrass pedestrians and bikers.    I think Willmar might get there soon.    Spring is the time to start sleeping with the windows open...and getting your eardrums burst by the blast of train air horns.   They can put a man on the moon...how about a cone of silence to combat BNSF?   I know they are forced to blow their horns at street crossings, but when you're trying to sleep, it's not hard to envision the engineers grinning ear to ear as they mash down on the air-horn cord at 2:30 a.m.    No money in the city budget this year for railroad crossing "quiet zones."  

And start making your plans for New Year's Eve this year in Willmar...normally there's nothing to do, but this year the Barn Theatre will be putting on the biggest party in town...details to be revealed in later blogs!

4-17-09     Cancer, Crash and Brule'

I hate cancer.   It has claimed my father, my brother, my brother-in-law and a co-worker.   And in the last week I've learned a friend and co-worker has lung cancer and visited another friend at Bethesda Pleasantview who is winding down his final days in the throes of esophogeal cancer.   My sister and another brother-in-law are cancer survivors.   I'm certain most of you also have cancer horror stories.   It just seems to me everytime I hear that someone I know has cancer, it's always a worst-case scenario, and the hour glass sand begins to run out.   Smoking was a factor in most of these cases.   I wish I could take every smoker into the hospital and nursing home rooms of those suffering through the end stages of cancer and show them what likely lies ahead for them.   Some of the victims had quit smoking years before, but the damage was already done.  

Another crash this week at the "beloved" intersection of North Highway 71 and the Golf Course Road, across from the Law Enforcement Center.   This one was fatal, claiming the life of  Ridgewater College Football Player Deallo Felder, age 20 of Minneapolis.   Everytime I hear my scanner go off, sending emergency crews to the scene of a crash, it seems at least 50% of the time the crash is either at that intersection or at County Road 5 and Highway 23 (where there was also an injury crash this week.).   Highway designers and government officials have spent thousands of dollars trying to make these intersections safer, yet crashes continue...and 90 percent of the time they are due to driver inattention.   Eventually the intersection by the golf course road will either be closed to cross traffic, or changed so cross traffic will be directed somewhere other than the wide strip between the north and southbound lanes of 71.   Most likely scenario...the speed limit will be reduced at that spot to 45 mph.   Least likely...a stop light.    I just pray no one else gets killed before those changes are put into effect.   The flashing stop signs don't seem to be working.  

I went and saw Brule' at the WEAC last night.   There was a good crowd...I'd guess around 400 people...the lower level was about 80% full, the balcony, about 55%.   An interesting story was behind the show...Paul Laroche, who started the whole thing and plays keyboard, is 3/4ths Lakota but was adopted by a white couple in Worthington in 1955.   After the couple died, when Paul was 38, he found out about his heritage, and returned to the Lower Brule reservation in South Dakota to be reunited with his relatives.   He used his rock-and-rock background and fused it with the drumming, dancing and chanting of his native culture and put together a very entertaining show which featured his daughter on flute, brother Moses on drum, and others.   It carried me back to the summer of 1994 when my then-wife and I participated in a 4-day Sundance Ceremony on the Standing Rock Reservation.   The Lakota we were with were generous, kind and reverent.    Often times reservations make news because of violence, poverty and drug and alcohol abuse.   But those who pursue their spiritual roots, even if they have had trouble in the past, find their lives become much happier and supreme.   While I am a Roman Catholic Christian, I couldn't help but be impressed by the Lakota's beliefs and the tranquility of the remote Standing Rock Reservation, straddling the central border of North and South Dakota, along the peaceful Grand River.  

4-14-09     False alarm at Jennie-O...thank God

I was just leaving a committee meeting at the Barn Theatre Monday afternoon when I get the call on my cellphone that there's a shooter inside the Jennie-O plant in Willmar, and the police have the place surrounded.    Visions of work-related shootings from around the country flood my mind...bodies being taken out on stretchers, swat teams descending, snipers and shaky home video of scenes of terror and heartbreak.   What makes us think such a thing couldn't happen here?  

I delay going to my son's speech team event at Willmar High and go to the station to check things out.   As I listen to the scanner, it becomes evident that the plant is being searched and no shooter or weapon can be found.   The ambulance crews are sent home.   The president and vice president of the company are being let back in.   Officers are being debriefed.   Then comes the message I wanted to hear..."...so, it sounds like a prank call..."   

I call the police and ask the officer-in-charge, Sgt Michael Anderson, to call me on my cell phone when he has a second.   I then go to my son's speech event, expecting to get called at any time.   Anderson never calls.   I eventually call the police back, and they say Anderson left for the night, but they will write-up a news release and fax it to us.    I advise Lance, our overnight announcer, to keep an eye out for it.   I get to work this morning and find out we never got a fax from the police.   Upset, I call them and ask them to resend it.   Half an hour later Mary, our Office Manager, hands me a copy of the news release....our fax system is out of order.  

The news release says a juvenile male used two payphones inside Jennie-O to make three fake calls, saying there was a gunman or gunmen inside the plant.   The release says he hasn't been charged with making a false 911 call.   I hope that situation is remedied quickly.   Thank God our little town avoided national headlines like "12 killed in work-related shooting in poultry plant."    

I find it frustrating to not be able to get accurate information from the police quickly in situations like this.   The only solution, I guess, is to go to the scene of the incident, get in people's way and be a pest.   Not the best way to build a long-term working relationship with the authorities, but it's also a two-way street.   In situations like this, they could assign an officer to be a media liason and handle calls and inquiries quickly and accurately...even if it's to say "we can't say anything right now."   

That being said, I feel we do have a good relationship with the Willmar Police...Chief Kulset comes-in once a month for a show on Open Mike...but it's easy to be on good terms when nothing is happening, it's another thing to have a good working relationship when the public is in peril.   No information was forthcoming from emergency crews during the tornado last July 11th...whatever we had was what I gathered on my own or from listener calls.   Later in the evening I got through to County Emergency Management Director Don Erickson, but it would be great to, again, have that liason to help when the listeners really need it.   Fodder for my interview with Chief Kulset next month.  

4-10-09      Injecting humanity into covering the news

One of the things I dread most in this job is getting a phone call at my desk after I read a story about a fatal accident in our local area.   Many times it's an older person but sometimes it's someone very young maybe a teen, who very nervously askes me if I could repeat the name of the person who died in the crash story I just read on-the-air.   At that moment I know that the person on the other end of the line is a possible friend, co-worker, classmate or relative of the victim.   When I repeat the name, there's usually a gasp, or silence, or they'll ask me to spell the name, hoping against hope that it's not really their friend.   Many times there's also a big sigh of relief, but often they will say 'thank you...goodbye' as their voice cracks with emotion.  

It's at these moments you realize the people you are reading about are real people, with families and friends and lives and plans and futures being shockingly and tragically cut short....and you're the harbinger of the bad news.    It's depressing, and I can see how some in my field turn to drink or drugs for solace, and divorce rates are high.   Yesterday a woman was killed in a crash by Olivia, and she was the friend and relative of some of my co-workers.   Sometimes you yourself are the one getting the bad news...as you read it.   I remember about 15 years ago reading about a fatal snowmobile accident that claimed a young man's life...then realizing I knew him when I was younger when they lived across the street from me.   A few years ago a co-worker of mine was involved in a car accident that injured him and killed his brother...it was difficult to read that story on the air.   Another time our station engineer, Bill Curry, a Fred Flinstone-like character with many kids was killed in a crash in Slayton.  

As a deliverer of the news I am supposed to keep emotion and opinion out of it, as much as possible, but sometimes it's hard not to tear-up or crack your voice as you read some of these stories...the ones that really get to me are the ones about children or soldiers and their families.    My son's college room mates' cousin, killed in Iraq.    My other son's classmate killed by a drunk driver near Cottonwood.    Or hearing, on the scanner, about a child accidently being run over by her father in their driveway.   I happened to ride by the accident scene on my bike and witnessed the dead girl's mother screaming in disbelief and grief, and saw the shocked father explaining what happened to the police officer.   Sometimes out of tragedy is something uplifting, like interviewing little 5-year-old Reese Schroeder, who drew and is selling cards to help pay for medical bills after her 29-year-old father Jon died of an unusual lung disease March 31st.   Her bright manner and her mother's faith did me good.  

As a news person you become fairly well known in the community, especially when you get involved in other activities like church, or in my case, the Barn Theatre.   And sometimes the people you regularly deal with get in trouble with the law.   Like when the former heads of the Willmar Area Food Shelf and Salvation Army were charged with theft.   Some uncomfortable moments sitting near them in the court room.    In another case a very good friend of mine was charged with a crime and you run into the problems of conflict of interest when covering, or not covering the story.    Another friend of mine died while participating in a triathlon, and when I aired the story about the cause of his death, his widow was very angry and accused me of prying where I didn't belong.   Extremely unfortunate and uncomfortable situation for me, my co-workers, and my kids who went to school with his kids.  

The point is, being a news person requires a lot of fortitude...everyday you ride the roller coaster of emotions covering the tragic, sad, brutal, stupid, funny and uplifting.   I hope the listeners realize the small town news man is not there to rake muck, cause trouble or make sensational headlines.   Those who do don't last long.   They are simply trying to deliver information, hopefully in a timely, helpful and appropriate way, and sometimes getting caught-up in the stories is unavoidable.   Those who become jaded and uncaring should probably find another line of work.   

4-7-09   Facebook, Caringbridge and the Timberwolves

If you're reading this blog, chances are you're tech-savvy enough to know about social networking sites like facebook and twitter.   I initially joined facebook so I could check-in on my kids who also are on it.   At first I was taken aback by the frank nature of some of the writings from my kids, and I scolded them publicly (on facebook).  Eventually I dropped one child as a facebook "friend" because of the bizarre stuff and sometimes feel guilty checking-in on the other who is pining for his girlfriend 500 miles away.  

However, I have found a lot of my relatives who I don't normally regularly contact are on it, and I regularly speak to them now, electronically.   When my son went on his band trip to Florida and Mexico, I was able to see pictures of the trip while he was still there, posted by a friend who brought a lap top.   I have even been contacted by a former classmate from Brown Institute whom I haven't spoken to in 16 years, and there's a guy from New York named "Johnny Cola" who is quite a rock guitarist, I gather.   I also became "friends" with a contestant from American Idol who lives in Minneapolis and who has local relatives.    Many people in the news have Facebook pages and it's useful to get information from them also.

Caringbridge.org is also a useful newsgathering tool.   It's a website that is set-up and operated by friends and family of people in hospitals.   I have used it to get updates on the condition of accident and shooting victims like Cassidy Loch from Litchfield who was shot last month by a Litchfield police officer. (It sounds like he's recovering quite well).   I'm also using sites like Utube which often has video clips that pertain to stories I'm working on.    It shows that sometimes surfing the net can help with work too.   A recent study showed that people who surf personal websites at work are more productive than people who don't.   The key is to use descretion and discipline.

On another topic, myself and several co-workers and their families took a trip to last Sunday's Timberwolves game and watched it from a suite.   The Wolves, as expected, got crushed by the Nuggets, but we had a nice time.     The crew here at Lakeland Broadcasting is a very nice group of people to work with, and makes it fun to come to work everyday.   The worst part of the trip...sitting in Row 10 with a large big-mouthed young woman sitting behind me, constantly screaming DEE-FENSE!.   Todd and his father had to suffer through it too.   We may all have to visit Jerry Meinders at Willmar Hearing Aid Center soon.  

4-2-09     Obama's visit to Notre Dame ripped

Twin Cities Catholic Arch-Bishop John Nienstedt was the Bishop of the New Ulm Diocese, which includes the Willmar area, before his promotion a couple years ago.   He recently sent the president of Notre Dame University a letter strongly asking him to revoke his invitation to President Barack Obama to speak at commencement ceremonies in May.   Many Catholics have been dismayed by Obama's stand on abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage.   Catholics believe marriage is a holy union between one man and one woman, while Obama and pro-gay groups want same-sex marriage legal and recognized as normal.   Catholics believe in the sanctity of life, which would mean no abortions or using human embroyos to further stem cell research.   Obama feels the opposite, meaning he want abortion to stay legal and has strongly pushed for embryonic stem cell research.   Bishop Neinstedt and others feel with such an anti-Catholic stand, Obama should not be speaking at a Catholic University.

As a lifelong Roman Catholic, I agree with Bishop Neinstedt.   But as a reporter, I have to cover both sides of the issue.   Regarding stem cell research, I realize the great promise it poses for people suffering from ailments like Parkinson's Disease (Micheal J. Fox, for example), and embroyos from abortions are currently being disposed of as medical waste.  It's a tough issue.   I personally wish there were no aborted fetuses and the medical community would have to look elsewhere for it's stem cells.    

On another topic, I still plan to ride across the state to raise money for MS research...if you'd like to make a donation, please let me know here at the station, 214-6627.   It's tax deductible.   So far I've only been able to put 30 miles on my bike before winter returned.   I am literally chomping at the bit to get back out there.  

3-30-09     Award Winning Weekend

I was happy to receive and Award of Merit from the Northwest Broadcast News Association Eric Severied Awards Contest in Bloomington Saturday night.    It was for a newscast I did last March.   Always fun to get together with other broadcasting co-horts from around the region, exchange war stories and get up-to-speed on friends and former co-workers.    I sat with a friend I worked with 11 years ago at KWSN in Sioux Falls and was glad to see him win two awards.    There were a lot of empty chairs, as news directors and reporters from the Fargo and Moorhead areas stayed at home to cover their flooding situation.  

How many of you have put your snowblowers away?   In a sign of the season, I've left mine out, and I've been using it to chain my bike-to in my garage!    I think the snow we will get this week will be too heavy and wet for many snowblowers to handle...it'll be "heart attack snow" because people will get heart attacks trying to remove and lift it.  

Hundreds of members of the Willmar band and choir program, including my son Michael, returned from a 10 day trip to Disney World, Key West and Cozumel.   Here's an email I got from Band Director Terry Brau...

Good job Mr(s) Brau, Haugen and Mara!     jp

3-27-09       I hate March

I want to love the month of March...but as long as I can remember it's been the one that's frustrated me the most.    Mainly because I like to ski and ride bike, and I can do both and neither in March.   If you play your cards right, you might be able to get a little bit of late season skiing in early March, and some bike riding-in in the middle to later part of the month.   Or, it can get warm early in the month, nullifying skiing, and then get cold and wet, nullifying riding.   Lucky for me, I got some skiing and riding-in this month.    My goal every year is to get 1000 miles in every riding season, and I've already got 30 under my belt.    In July I plan to ride my bike across the state to raise money for MS, and I may be hitting you up for a donation.   

Radio for Relief ruled this morning.   People, businesses, churches etc came out in force and blew away last year's record by 13,000 pounds and dollars!    It seems like the weather is always cold for this event, but people come anyway.

I'm on the Barn Theatre Board of Directors, and we've decided to put on a big fundraising bash on New Years Eve here in Willmar.   There's never a big, single event for adults to go to in this town on New Year's Eve, but this year will be different.   Start making your plans now.    Details will be revealed at a later date.  

Pray for the people of Fargo, Moorhead, Crookston and Grand Forks.   I love to see how everyone has come out to help.   This ain't New Orleans!

3-25-09     Wager charges dropped

Judge Michael Thompson has dropped all the remaining charges against Willmar resident-turned-folk hero Scott Wagar.   The only questions that remain are;  will charges also be dropped against his son who gave him the infamous "night vision goggles" ;  will any of the kids who attacked his property be charged, and;  will Wagar attempt to sue any of the kids or their families.   I had the feeling prosecutors really wanted to drop this case, whether or not it was because of the overwhelming support Wagar got for protecting his property against an annual vandalism attack.

It was a little uncomfortable at the Minnwest Technology Campus yesterday as University of Minnesota officials came and asked local businessmen and scientists for their equiptment wish lists for a new bio-science research center to be located on the Willmar campus.   After a U official briefly went through a survey, he presented a list of scientific equiptment on a big screen, and asked the 40 or 50 people there what they would like.   He got silence.   There was much prodding from the official, and finally Jim Sieben from Nova Tech broke the ice, and soon those in the audience started to talk about the work they do and what kind of gear and assistance they would like.    Another survey will be taken and another meeting similar to yesterday's will probably take place.

Hats off to the local people who have gone up to Fargo to help with sandbagging.   I've done a little in the past and I know it's back breaking, dirty work...but much appreciated.   Hopefully we don't soon start hearing calls to help on the Minnesota in Granite Falls and Montevideo, but if the calls go out, I'm sure local people will answer it. 

Be sure and visit us at Radio For Relief in the Willmar Fire Station Parking Lot Friday.   I'm going to try and make it out there for my 9 a.m. news.  

3-20-09     Wall of Silence at O'neils

O'neil's Bar and Restaurant in Spicer has been closed for about a month now.   It is owned and operated by Michelle and John Olson of Spicer, and it's gotten a little ridiculous trying to get them to make any kind of comment.   After several un-returned calls, Michelle finally told me the closing was only temporary, but then said her husband, John, would call me with more info, but he didn't.    I don't like to contribute to the rumor mill, but I was told there are plans to sell the building, including the attached Green Lake Inn, tear it down and rebuild a new bar.    I was told Omar Meierhofer of Edina Realty was involved, but he has not returned both a phone call and e-mail.    So, the only truth that is known is that a popular bar and grill in Spicer is closed.  

It's the first day of Spring, Thank God.   I got to go skiing three times this winter.   I took my recumbent bike down from the rafters last weekend and have ridden about 15 miles so far.   Every year I try and put about 1000 miles on, but have fallen a little short the last two years.   I was encouraged talking to Willmar City Administrator MIchael Schmit this week...there are plans to extend the bike trail that ends at the intersection of County Road 41 (the Radio Station Road) and the turn to go to Ridgewater and go all the way north to the Golf Course Road turn.   There it would go all the way to Minnwest Technology Campus, where a trail would then take a rider to the start of the Glacial Lakes Trail.   Personally, I prefer riding on the road but paths are a nice, safe alternative.  

3-17-09      Hard to get information on Litchfield shooting

Sometime early Sunday morning a young Litchfield man was shot several times by a Litchfield police officer. Seems like it would be an easy story to report on, right? Except the fact that the Litchfield police, to avoid a conflict of interest, turned the investigation over to the MInnesota BCA, which is kind of the state's version of the FBI. They assigned a minion, Janelle Rasmussen, to be their spokes person for information, and she has given out absolutely nothing.

So the alternative for a guy like me is to do one of two things...drive 26 miles to Litchfield, pound on doors, try and track down witnesses and get people to talk. An all day effort, probably yielding very little, and miss out an a day of gathering and broadcasting other stories here at the station. Or, let the big Twin Cities TV stations with the big staffs come out there, do their story, and use their information, of course, giving them credit.

My point is, it would be better for everyone if the BCA would do their job and release information like they are supposed to. When you pound on doors and talk to family and witnesses, you get biased information from scared and angry people which might not be entirely accurate. I can understand if there's something the BCA can't or won't release because it might endanger a criminal case. But I have a feeling this case is just plain incompetence and a reluctance to release the police officer's name. It almost seems like they are covering up for their own people.
 

3-13-09 The sad case of Verne Gagne

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman has decided not to charge wrestling legend Verne Gagne with homicide in the death of a fellow nursing home patient in Bloomington last month. Gagne is now in his 80s and has Alzheimer's disease, and authorities feel he didn't know what he was doing and can't be tried fairly. What a sad ending chapter in the life of a colorful character.

I remember watching Verne wrestle on Saurdays on Channel 11 when I was a kid. He and his American Wrestling Assocation had quite cast of characters, and after watching the show, me and my brothers would do our own wrestling in the backyard, playing AWA characters like "Wahoo McDaniels,"Mr. X" (with the mask everyone tried to rip off), and Baron Von Raschke with "The Claw."

Since Gagne's AWA folded nearly 20 years ago he has disappeared from the spotlight. Too bad he had to resurface this way. Who knows what was going through his mind as he body-slammed a 97-year-old man to the ground, causing fatal injuries. And he reportedly had attacked other patients.

For people like me in their 40s our big heroes were people from the 60s, 70s and 80s, and ironically they are now in their late 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Wally Hilgenberg, ex-Viking linebacker died at the age of 58 earlier this year of Alzheimers. Carl Eller is now 67 and serving time in jail for attacking police officers and driving drunk. Happily, this week, I found out John Hall, the former lead singer and founder of the group Orleans (You're Still the One), is now a congressman in New York! so...I guess not everyone from the 70s has gone down in flames...although some may argue being a politician these days isn't much to brag about!
 

3-10-09   Vikings Stadium-Stem Cells

While everyone is getting excited about the Twins, talk of a new Vikings Stadium came up again at the capitol last week.   The idea was to open a state-run casino to pay for a new Vikings stadium.   I personally like the idea.   People already gamble, and it would be a painless way to help keep the Vikings in Minnesota.   However, it sounds like there are countless legal obstacles to getting it done, including the state's compact with our indian tribes.   

     People are worried about Joe Mauer's back pain.   He had an operation to clear a blockage in a kidney last winter and is still recovering.   My niece had the same operation when she was a child...it's major surgery.    Imagine having to squat through out a game and swing a bat while your stomach and back ache from having your muscles cut into.    Without Mauer, the Twins are doing great, thanks mainly to some sharp pitching.    Take your time Joe and come back 100%.  

      More bad weather on the way...listen to Operation Snowdesk or log on.   Might be the last chance for the local school kids to have a snow day or two.   I just hope and pray there are no serious injury car crashes out there.   

      President Obama lifted the federal ban on embryonic stem cell research.    They say they will be using stem cells from embryos that are currently being destroyed anyway.    If that's the case, I don't have a great problem.   But I don't trust the federal government...how repugnant would it be to see a pipeline set up between abortion clinics and labs eager to harvest embyonic stem cells to inject into disease victims.    It's a scenario that must never happen.   In the meantime, the promise stem cells have is great.   Let's hope God guides the hands of the doctors and the politicians to do the right thing to protect life.  

3-6-09      Narcissim -hair beware-and the Spring Show

A friend of mine recently e-mailed me some pictures of World War 2 posters, imploring people to buy war bonds, to contribute lumber to the war effort, and to be quiet about family members' war assignments lest the enemy hear.    The bottom line was for Americans to sacrifice for the war effort.   I replied to my friend that we might start seeing posters like that come up again with the recession.   I also doubted Americans these days would sacrifice like the people on the homefront in the 1940s.           

     My friend brought up a good point...not only are many Americans spoiled and selfish, but the amount of narcissim in society these days is nauseating.    Everyone wants to be in the spotlight.   Look at all the reality shows on TV, and these social networking programs like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.   Why do people think others want to know when they are sitting on the toilet or having lunch somewhere?   I think there's a lot of talking but not many people listening.  

In the West Central Tribune classifieds today there was a personal ad wishing someone a happy 40th birthday.   There was a picture of the birthday girl from back in high school with possibly the biggest hairdo I've every seen.   40 years old...class of 1986...I guess that would make sense.   On my desk is a photo of me when I was 19 (1981) with an afro.   As you can see, I am no longer afro-able.   My son Michael is big into his hair...first he wanted it long, then long and straight, then long and curly, and now he's cut it way back for the shock effect.   Be careful of your hairdo in your teens...photos may re-surface and humiliate you on your 40th birthday.  

See you at the Spring Show at the Willmar Civic Center on Saturday!   I'll be in the KWLM booth from 1030 to 130, and doing Legislative Reveiw live from 11 to noon.   Stop by, and if you have read this blog, say hi and let me know.    The Spring Show, and spring road weight restrictions...bike riding weather can't be far behind!

3-2-09     Minnesota bans stuff on your dashboard

After Legislative Review Saturday I went down south and spent the rest of the weekend skiing at Mt. Kato (the conditions were bad) and visiting with my in-laws....got up-to-date on all the latest gossip! 

     I learned something interesting on Saturday's Legislative Reveiw show.   Minnesota is one of just a couple states that bans items on vehicle dashboard.   You can't have a GPS locater or radar detector or cellphone mounted on your dashboard in this state due to laws regarding obstruction of vision.   Representatives Al Juhnke and Dean Urdahl are working to change it.   I hope my wife doesn't get pulled over for having a stuffed beagle on her dashboard!    Next week's Legislative Review will be at the Willmar Civic Center during the KWLM Spring Show.   Stop by and see our lawmakers in action...eating the muffins and drinking the coffee, if nothing else!  

        The week ahead features the Willmar City Council meeting tonight...I'll be interveiwing City Administrator Michael Schmit on Open Mike today.   Michael Wagar, the son of "Mr. Fox Urine" Scott Wagar is in court today on theft charges, accused of possessing stolen military night vision goggles and giving them to his dad to help fend-off t-p-ers and house eggers.   And the Kandiyohi County Board meets tomorrow morning at the Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services Building.   Hopefully Wall Street begins to right itself.   The Dow opened under 7000 this morning for the first time since 1997.  

2/27/09          Memories of Bill Holm

I was saddened to hear of the death of Bill Holm this week.   Holm, an author and former professor at Southwest State in Marshall, died at a hospital in Sioux Falls at the age of 65.   When I think of Bill my thoughts go back 20 years when I worked at KBJJ in Marshall from 1988 to 1990.   I'm not sure why but I consider those days the "Golden Age" of my radio career.   In 1988 a Marshall man named Layle French rented his house to a young lady, but later kicked her out when he found out she was living there with her boyfriend, and French objected to pre-marital co-habitation.   The woman sued French for discrimination based on marital status, one of the first such cases in the nation, and it made a lot of headlines.  

     I decided to air a program on the subject, and my guests included the young woman, Layle French, his lawyer James Anderson, Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Stephen Cooper...and Bill Holm.   Holm was one of the young lady's teachers at Southwest State, and I remember him speaking very well on her behalf.    I wish I still had tape of that show...probably one of the high points of my career.   I met Holm a few more times after that, most recenlty when he came out here for an Open Mike show, and he always had a good sense of humor.    He wrote many books, and I'll have to add them to my reading list.     Rest in peace Bill...heaven just got a little livelier.

2-26-09     Bowling at the courthouse

I knew time would be tight when I saw the Scott Wagar hearing was at 3:45 and I had to be at the KEC for Wednesday bowling league at 4:30.   I got to the courthouse early, and when the hearing was late getting started, I resigned myself to being late bowling (which is probably a good thing).   The hearing got started, and 15 minutes into it, it abruptly ended when the judge told the lawyers to put things in writing and he'd rule on if the case could continue later.    I got to the bowling alley just a little late, and in between rolls, I wrote the news story.   At 5:05 Paul Stagg called me to do a live report...he introduced me as being at the courthouse, but during my report it was obvious I was at the bowling alley.   Don't worry...we weren't trying to decieve you...I just forgot to tell Paul where I was!  

       The Wagar case continues to be full of twists and turns.   He's the fellow who sprayed kids with fox urine while defending his Willmar home from t-pee-ers and eggers last September.    The kids weren't charged but Wagar was charged for taking a cellphone and briefly holding it for ransom and for using night vision goggles given to him by his Marine son which may or may not have been stolen.   There were about a dozen supporters of  Wagar at his hearing Wednesday, some were handing out flyers calling the prosecutors in the case "back stabbers."   Stay tuned...we'll keep you posted on the latest.   It appears the county would like this to be over-with....they even offered Wagar a plea deal that would keep him out of jail and assure he would not have a felony on his record.   Wagar declined. 

Pawlenty gracious in studio visit

Governor Tim Pawlenty was in Willmar Tuesday and stopped by the KWLM studio for a 40-minute visit.   He talked about jobs, the Obama stimulus plan, his future political plans, Big Stone 2 power plant, and the Appleton Prison.    

     I've been interveiwing Pawlenty since his days as a State Representative from Eagan and the House Majority Leader.   In those days he was a lot more fiery, partisan and bombastic...like a party leader usually is.   Since becoming governor and coming into the national spotlight as a rising star in the GOP and possible presidential candidate, he has tuned his rhetoric down.   He is smooth and unflappable, and very courteous.  

     Whether you agree with his politics or not, he seems to have a firm hand on the wheel and is not likely to turn into a frothing embarrasment like Jesse Ventura became or Rod Blagovich in Illinois.    Pawlenty was not nearly as friendly last year when he visited Olivia and did his WCCO radio show from there.    It was the day after his transportation tax increase bill veto had been over ridden, and he completely shut us out.   But anyway, thanks for coming on Tuesday.

2-19-09    Bad Movie, Bad Move, Bad Bill

Time for my "Bad Blog".     First of all...Bad Movie.   DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THE MOVIE "NEW IN TOWN".   And it's not just Minnesotan sensitivity to being made to look foolish to the rest of the nation.   It's just a bad movie.   Waste of talent for Harry Connick Junior.   It's supposed to be set in a butter plant in New Ulm that is being automated by a heartless corporation in Florida.   Rene Zellweger plays the cold corporate exec who flies to New Ulm to oversee the operation.   Of course she is under-dressed for the winter, is initially repelled-then-charmed by the local folks and customs, and falls in love with the union stewart.  

      Every "Minnesotan" in the movie has an accent that makes the people of Sunburg sound like William F. Buckley.   It's as if every single Minnesotan in 2009 just stepped off the boat from Norway and Sweden and learned english about 15 minutes ago.    It's ironic that the two lead characters, Connick and Zellweger, have absolutely no accents, when in reality they are from New York and Texas and have had to work hard to cover up their native brogues.  

     And the most gauling aspect of the movie...it was filmed in Winnipeg Canada and makes the area around New Ulm look as appealing as Siberia.   The Minnesota legislature passed some tax breaks last year that will hopefully entire more movie makers to film in Minnesota.   The only thing accurate about the movie is how small companies are bought up by big corporations that make decisions that affect many people from afar based solely on dollars and cents and marketting surveys.   The bottom line...don't let your business get so big that it gets gobbled up...thay way you can control your own fate.  

The next bad...Bad Move by the Vikings to have a hissy fit because the Minnesota Legislature, which is dealing with a 4.5-to-7 billion dollar deficit, won't pass a stadium bill this year.   Just plain bad timing on the Vikings' part.   Unfortunately for them, when the state's economy was more flush, the legislature passed  Gophers' and Twins' stadium bills.   The Vikings lease is up soon, and they may very well move elsewhere.   The NFL is a monster and there is a big appetite for places to have a team.   My solution...make sports betting legal in the state with the profits to go toward a new stadium.   Totally voluntary.   After the stadium is paid for, put the proceeds toward something else sports-related.   There are 30 Vikings games left under lease at the Metrodome.   After that, you better get ready to start cheering for the (excuse me while I projectile vomit) Packers. 

The third bad...Bad Bill.   According the our U.S. Representative Collin Peterson, the 750 billion dollar Federal Economic Stimulus Bill signed by President Obama does not do enough to stop the economic free fall and just puts future generations further in debt.    He was the only Minnesota Democrat who voted against the bill...twice.  

     It was interesting listening to Peterson talk to company officials at the Minnwest Technology Campus in Willmar this week.   Peterson chairs the House Ag Committee, and Minnwest wanted to know what could be in the stimulus bill for them.   Peterson told them to work on a bird flu virus.   He said the federal government is devoting way too much money to fight something that will never, in his opinion, happen...a bird flu pandemic.   He says there's about 2 billion dollars in the bill to fight bird flu (how is that economic stimulus?).    Some Minnwest companies are already making vaccines for things like salmonella and e-coli.  

     Peterson talked about how he has to battle environmentalists who believe farmers are evil and would like nothing more than to shut down all animal agriculture and abolish the corn ethanol industry.   Peterson comes off as someone who is frustrated by all the ag detractors who try their best to hinder or weaken any legislation beneficial to farmers. 

That's it for my Bad Blog.   I'll try and be more positive next time.  

2-10-09      They come in threes

This area has lost three prominent citizens in the last week.   Last week came word Dr. Lawrence Opsahl had died.   Dr. Opsahl was a longtime local physician, and a founder of the Barn Theatre.   Folks from the Barn will be talking about him on Wednesday's Open Mike Show on KWLM.  

On Saturday, Olivia Police Chief Don Davern slipped on ice at his home near the Olivia Airport and apparently hit his head.   He lay there for several hours until another officer found him and called for an ambulance.   Davern, a police officer and former Renville County Sheriff for more than 30 years, died Sunday.    I knew Don through my work, getting info from him on crime stories from Olviia and Renville County for many years and he was a nice, accomodating guy.   He was only 54.  His funeral is Friday in Olivia.

And retired Willmar Junior High Band Teacher Paul Baumgarten died of a stroke on Sunday.   Both my sons had him as a teacher as Tony learned to play the trumpet, and Michael, the saxophone.   Mike also was a member of Baumgarten's Prairie Winds Community Band that played in Rice Park during the summer.   I always enjoyed talking to "Mr. B" (except about football...he was a Packers fan).   He had a great influence on kids who learned to play an instrument, something they can do for the rest of their lives.   Paul was at the school concerts and listened to the kids before they had perfected their craft, sending them on for further refinement at the High School level.  

They say people die in threes...these were three fine people who did a lot in their lives to help, teach and protect others, and will be greatly missed.

2-9-09    Paper's dog poop story was full of poop

As a journalist I try to make sure everything I air is as accurate as possible.     Sometimes I am given incorrect information by authorities, and when that happens, I make sure the correct info is aired as soon as possible.   The West Central Tribune was certainly given the wrong info or was guilty of lazy reporting in a little "humorous blurb" they ran Monday morning....it said a Willmar man was warned for repeatedly letting his dog defecate on a woman's lawn on Campbell Avenue.    I know the story was full of "dog do-do" because I was the "fecal fiend."  

Here's what really happened...I was walking my beagle Sadie Saturday afternoon and decided to go a little farther than usual.   She was on her leash, and while walking past a house, she peed on the snow in the woman's yard before I could tug her back.   Peed, not pooped.   I carry a bag with me in case she does a "number two" where she shouldn't.    Anyway, about a block later, this woman drives up, honks her horn and starts yelling insults at me.   I was happy to return them, and told her to call the police.   Then she starts following me about a block or two back, which made me nervous, so I called police.  

The officer, Mr. Oakleaf arrived and we spoke.   He warned me not to let Sadie pee in her yard, and I agreed.   Then this woman starts raving about other people letting their dogs poop in her yard, which had nothing to do with me.   How that got in the paper, I'll never know.    Anyway, I'll give the woman credit for taking pride in the appearance of her yard.   So many homes on the northwest side are abandoned or run down, with junk in the yards, sidewalks un-shoveled and basically looking like the beat-up rentals that they are.   

The bottom line is, according to Willmar Poilce, when walking your dog, don't let it pee anywhere but in your own yard  (or street, I guess) and don't believe everything you read in the West Central Tribune.   Who knows, maybe they'll run a correction with the right info.  

2-6-09   Wagar case full of twists and turns

Scott Wagar of Willmar has become a bit of a folk hero after his attempts to defend his property against young vandals, using the unique weapon of stinky fox urine in a squirt gun.    And he could become a convicted felon.   The high school kids have made it a homecoming week tradition to play cat-and-mouse games with Wagar at his home on the eastern edge of Willmar and none have ever been charged.   Wagar, however, was charged with three misdemeanors;  assault, disorderly conduct and theft for keeping one of the would-be vandal's cellphones and holding it for ransom briefly.   Officials were also seeking to move his trial out of Kandiyohi County, which is unusual.  

     I went to his pre-trial conference at the courthouse in Willmar this week...he had a group of supporters and the media was there including myself, Bev Ahlquist from KDJS and the Kerkhoven paper and Gretchen Schlosser from the West Central Tribune.   First it was announced the assault and disorderly conduct charges were dismissed as well as the attempt to move the trial.   The it was announced Wagar was being charged with felony theft.   In reading the complaint supplied by his attorney, Doug Kluver of Montevideo, it turns out Wagar had used night vision goggles the night the kids attacked last September.   The goggles had been given to Wagar by his son, a Marine who served in Iraq.   The goggles had been broken in a scuffle with the kids, and when Wagar complained to deputies, the deputies proceeded to trace serial numbers on the goggles back to the military.   Military officials told the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Department the goggles were classified technology and should not be in civilian hands, but it does not appear they specifically identified them as stolen.   The goggles were returned, and since they are worth more than $2500, both Wagar and his son were charged with felony theft.

     One might say Wagar should have left well enough alone...his efforts to defend his property have resulted in no charges against any of the would-be vandals, but Wagar ends up getting hit with 4 charges including a felony which could result in prison time.   I've spoken to Mr. Wagar many times and he remains resolute in bringing his case to a jury.   He can't understand why no charges have been filed against the teens and wants his experiences brought to public attention.    Wagar says the bottom line is...he wants the attacks on his property to stop.   Some might think law enforcement has a vendetta against Wagar for making a big deal about the attacks and giving them a bad name.   I also know the County Attorney, Boyd Beccue.  His office has been taking a beating in the court of public opinion, but he feels they can't turn a blind eye when they feel Wagar has committed a crime, and what are they supposed to do when they see Wagar in possession of high-tech military gear?   Police would prefer people not retaliate against vandals and resort to vigilante justice.   They would rather see him not respond to the kids who seem to thrive on the interaction with Wagar.   Police fear someone might get stabbed or shot over something as trite as tee-peeing, egging or having windows written on.   But Wagar maintains he should not have to withstand the damage and he says he, his family and even his pets have been threatened by the kids.  

My guess is there will be a plea agreement, and Wagar will be fined and not jailed.   He has said he is considering filing civil charges against some of the kids and their parents.   It should be interesting to see what happens during homecoming week this fall.   My advice to parents of high school students (like myself)...make sure you know what your kids are doing that week.   If they go to tee-pee someone, make sure it's someone who is not going to be upset and will take it all in fun.   Steer clear of Mr. Wagar's property...it's not any fun anymore...and it never was for him.  

On a side note, I was told Bill Zimmer had been let go from the West Central Tribune.   Bill had been there for 25 years or so.   He's a very nice guy, an excellent photographer and a neighbor of mine on the northwest side.   I was told, unofficially, the firing was budgetary in nature as newspapers across the country struggle to make ends meet in this day and age of the internet.   I wish Bill the best...I tried to get ahold of him on the phone but his number was unlisted.   I guess it wouldn't kill me to walk half-a-block and knock on his door. 

2-2-09     Kurt Warner impressed during Willmar visit in May 2006

Kurt Warner showed he still "has it" by nearly upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers by staging a late comeback in Sunday's Super Bowl.   The Warner-Larry Fitzgerald connection put the Cards ahead with less than a minute left, and only a miracle catch by Santonio Holmes of the Steelers gave them the victory.    It was three years ago Arizona Cardinals Quarterback Kurt Warner visited Willmar, speaking at a fundraising event at the Blue Heron for Willmar Community Christian School.   I brought my sport-nut son, Tony, and Warner was very friendly and cordial, posing for a picture with Tony and handing out autographed football cards.   At the time it was unsure if the former Super Bowl Champ and NFL MVP would return for the 2006 season.   He spoke about being a Christian and it's impact on his life as an athlete.   Warner, a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, at one time played arena football and worked at a grocery store where he met his future wife, a single mother with a handicapped child.   Warner is a class act, more than just a feel-good story and a true role model for everyone.  

1-20-09    A NEW ERA BEGINS

We are now at the beginning of a new presidential administration, that of Barack Obama.    Here at the station we made some last-minute rescheduling so we could air all of the swearing-in ceremony and the events leading up (thank you Mary Overman, Todd Bergeth, Mary Elin Macht and Bud Hanson) and let ABC take over.   I watched it on TV in the front lobby and made a few light-hearted comments about it (especially Aretha Franklin's hat!)...but when I went home for lunch, I watched it again on my DVR...and I couldn't help but cry a little bit out of pride for our country.   I felt good about the pomp and the pagaentry, about all the people out there, how UNEVENTFUL it was in terms of security problems, and how the U.S. again peacefully changed leadership.   Seeing Obama's daughters and how excited they were, and Bush and Cheney looking a little melancholy and relieved, seeing George HW Bush and former President Clinton conversing in friendship, seeing Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn, still looking fit in their 80s, and hearing the beautiful music from Izthak Perlman and Yo Yo Ma, just made me very proud to be an American.   In some countries the outgoing leaders would be rounded up, put on trial and imprisoned  for past actions (and I'm sure there are some who would like to do so to Bush and company) but not here.   It made me a little sad to hear all the mistakes made during the reading of the oath...you'll never hear this one played over and over without extensive editting!    When I watched it at home I realized the mistakes were made by Justice Roberts, not Obama, who handled it all with cool composure.   Let's hope he deals with future crises, and there will be many, in the same way.  

John Stanoch from Qwest Communications


 Pic from Bill Zimmer at West Central Tribune

1-9-09   DON'T FORGET THE BATTERIES

Sometimes you take a leap of faith and that hidden ledge you are counting-on to be there, isn't.   And it's my own fault.   You'd think after 27 years of covering news, you'd leave the station to cover a news event with enough batteries in your recorder.   After the mid-day report yesterday I left for the Oaks at Eagle Creek (formerly Blue Heron) to cover a speech by the glib, entertaining and informative John Stanoch, head of Qwest in Minnesota.   I checked the battery level in my digital recorder and it said it was full.   But knowing I hadn't used it in a couple weeks I should've grabbed the spare battery pack, but didn't.   I wanted the "travel light".   
     Got to the Oaks and started taping as Stanoch was launching into his speech.   However, on a hunch, I checked the recorder about 2 minutes into the speech and the dreaded "low battery" warning was flashing.   Like a grenade with a 2 second fuse, I knew I only had about 30 seconds of battery power left, so I turned it off, hoping to conserve it for some one-on-one comments from Stanoch after his speech.   Of course, his speech and question and answer session were great and I gritted my teeth for not getting it on tape.   Talked about how kids watch t.v. on their i-pods, don't use land line phones and Qwest's future plans for Willmar (not many).   Afterwards he graciously agreed to a one-on-one, but 30 seconds into the interview the machine crapped out.   So all I ended up with were some mental notes on his speech and the original two minutes I got before noticing the batteries were low.   My bad!   
      I hope you're enjoying these blogs so far.   I'm not the technical whiz like some folks here at Lakeland are...no pictures, videos, audio clips or links...yet...give me time and I'll figure out how to fancify this thing.   You want fancy...go check out Todd's blog!
      Tomorrow is our first Legislative Review show of the year, 11 to noon on KWLM.   I'm anticipating a full house...Sen. Gimse, Rep. Juhnke for sure, and Rep. Urdahl usually drives in from south of Grove City, and Sen Kubly makes the trip up from Granite Falls.   Hope our new area lawmakers, Rep. Falk from Murdock and Rep. Anderson from Starbuck make the trip.   Lots to talk about, although not a lot was done, especially in the House, on this first week of the session.    Call in, 235-1342.    See ya.   JP

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1-5-09

I took my son Tony to the Vikings-Eagles game last night.   The roads were terrifyingly icy, especially from Willmar to Cokato.    The keys to driving on black ice and glare ice:   First and foremost, don't drive on black ice and glare ice.   Second...drive slow, don't turn the wheel unless absolutely necessary, and leave enough room behind the person in front of you so you don't have to use the brakes.   We exited on Wayzata Blvd, (The old Highway 12) and ate at the Long Lake Burger King, refilled our cokes and off we went.   Parked downtown, about 6 blocks from the dome, and carried our cokes with us.   By the time we got to the will-call window the drinks were freezing into slush.    We had seats just a few rows from the jumbo-tron in the stratesphere, with many many obnoxious Eagles fans all around us.   If Vikings fans acted that way in Philadelphia they'd leave the stadium with black eyes, fat lips, missing teeth and beer-soaked hair.    The Eagles fans left with big grins and big mouths.   I'm not advocating violence, mind you, just stating facts.    Still, I'm glad we went.   Driving home was just as icy, and accentuated by darkness.   Glad to make it home.  

With the Vikings done, we can now start looking forward to these guys!