Looks like Anne will be back on Monday!

Pretty soon it will be Memorial Day and we can forget about some of the tensions of this past spring. A blast of summer-like temperatures should do the job. Let's see, what were we so worked up about? Based on information I gleaned this morning (Sunday), looks like Anne Barber will be back at the library on Monday. Very interesting news. 

The length of her suspension had me wondering if she would ever be back there. Due to the secretive stance of city officials, we frankly had to retreat to a whole lot of speculation. You can call it gossip. We cannot be blamed for that due to the rather sensational nature - three sheriff's deputies - of how this matter was guarded early-on. 

As if supporters of the library director might commit physical violence? I had a hard time typing that. But not one but three Barney Fifes? My guess on this is that council members were receiving comments on this that were not very civil. I could put that in more raw terms. And such comments would actually be uncalled for. 

I had to feel sorry for the city manager who probably had grounds for looking into things. And it's good that we have vigilant public servants who guard the public's interests without fear or favor. I have never met the city manager. I sure knew Blaine Hill from previous times. To the extent there were problems at the library, should Hill have been the one acting on that? 

Because our legacy commercial media in Morris performs so badly these days, I sought an update from people we know at Willie's Super Valu. Jim Morrison once observed with a smile that whenever we were looking to ID a person in a photo for the newspaper, "just go to Willie's." Someone there would know, customer or employee. Small town wisdom. 

Actually it would be better if we could rely on legacy media. So I'm thinking of the newspaper - only one a week these days - and radio. Radio has lost the talents of Marshall Hoffman and Brett Miller. There's a gaping void now, but I'm sure the owners don't care, if this service does not figure in with the "bottom line." Maybe we the public should make sure it does figure in. 

Yes the paper comes out just once a week - it was two in the heyday of yours truly - but the paper has this thing called a "website." There is no limit to what you can put on a website, articles and photos of course. The paper like the radio station must think there's little bottom line value to the website. Of course they're happy to "sell" space to anyone. 

But I'm talking about real leadership with active news/sports collection and dissemination. And this in theory should be good for their bottom line. Building good will with the community. 

So were there a hundred people at the Monday school board meeting? A fellow at Willie's Cafe came across as knowledgeable and he said "125." That is an absolutely amazing turnout for a school board meeting. I'm curious as heck what the sentiment of all those people was. Certainly some hot-button issues and questions. As I sit here now on this Sunday, I have had no blanks filled in. 

I do know about the cuts in school staff that are set to be made. And I think word got around about that due to a Facebook page and not the normal media. One thing the legacy media is always willing and enthusiastic to do: take your money for direct advertising/promotion. The next Morris paper comes out Tuesday, over a week after the big school board meeting was held. It would be so nice to consume an analytical discussion of what exactly is happening, what might be yet to resolve. In absence of clear understanding of such things, I'm left to talk to people "out and around." It's the only vehicle there is. 

Someone said hockey is being cut. The whole program? Is it really being cut or is the school just forcing private money to take over? All this happens after the school added soccer? I think it's fantastic that the school added soccer. Fight to preserve it, or even add to the resources for it IMHO. Let's cut football, I mean totally cut it. I bet that's an expensive sport. 

Maybe the newspaper will help us on Tuesday. But there is no guarantee. The publisher likes talking about how we need newspapers as "watchdogs," but does the Morris paper really act as a watchdog? Seems I recall reading the publisher's thoughts on how the government should help newspapers. And that's partly because of the watchdog function. However, the government does not require newspapers to act as watchdogs, and if they're going to get government support, their performance had better warrant it. 

Everybody would like help from the government if they can get it. Arkansas wants disaster relief now but the answer is "no." And that's because the Federal government's new direction is to "make the states pay." The Arkansas governor was a Trump spokesperson in the first Trump presidency. Now she and her state are getting screwed. 

My source on the school board meeting said the public comments were tightly managed/limited. Were there sheriff's deputies present for this one? I mean, given how emotional people/parents can be on school issues? 

Shane Monson

The radio station website had a brief audio snippet in which the superintendent was allowed to completely take over and give us his party line. Superintendents always strive to give the impression, if they can get away with it, that there is never any controversy, no burning disputes of any kind. It's all so peaceful, routine and orderly. It's part of selling themselves to the public if they can pull it off. And the radio station at least is not stopping Mr. Monson from pulling it off. 

Bad things can actually happen with school districts. Look at what is happening with BOLD: "criminal investigation." If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. 

It was impossible to rule out something really bad at our library and its director. But I spoke with someone who is close to the director this morning at Willie's, and got the news that Anne will be back on Monday! Good news? I think the good news is that the suspense is subsiding. 

Anne Barber

I wonder if Anne's many friends are planning a big gala welcome-back for her. And would this suggest/imply that the city manager is the "heavy" in all this? Oh, clean up your thoughts. We had a well-known retired attorney who went after the city manager pretty bad for a while. It prompted me to consider the city manager's side in this a little more. 

Looks like we can see Anne back in captain's chair Monday! To whatever extent she might have done anything wrong, her suspension was her "punishment." Seems the suspension went on pretty long. I began to think we'd never see her there again. 

Now I must ask: what kind of comity can we expect between the library director and the city manager?

 

Addendum: Still another hot-button local topic: Is UMM in trouble because of DEI? That question has been floating for a while but there was a new development this past week, with DJT signing new documents that pertain to colleges/universities. So we have to ask again: Is UMM in trouble? Are top U administrators at the Twin Cities campus getting nervous about our little enchanted citadel on the prairie? 

I probe this question further on my new post on my companion blog of "Morris of Course." I invite you to read with this link. Hey, I wrote this in the middle of the night!

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2025/04/fresh-news-might-bring-panic-for-umn.html 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Our school's current travail a wakeup call?

So easy to sign on to the "liberalism is bad" attitude over our recent past. The Morris area has been wholly receptive. It appears our DJT sycophant Michelle Fischbach has a lock on her position, maybe permanently. Oh but politics can be so fluid. The pols themselves can be fluid. They want to get reelected. 

But there are hardcore principles that most of them don't want to drift away from. If you want assurance that the Federal government will be around to hold our hands, you should vote Democrat. But try selling that on "talk radio," at least the kind of talk radio that has been the norm. Some people must listen to this for many hours at a time. 

I checked the schedule for an average day for the iHeart station in Omaha NE - a good Midwestern barometer if there ever was one - and it's a succession of "the usual suspects." I wonder if they'd even go along with MTG with her celebratory remarks after the Pope's death. The "liberal" Pope Francis. Can't we just remember him as a truly caring and empathetic soul? What exists deep down in MTG's soul? 

Here I'll insert that "all politics is local." So people really can put aside certain gut biases and care about how people and kids are faring where they live. And schools are always going to be a high priority. 

A gut punch to the ribs here in Morris now? I mean with the sudden announcement of staff cuts to our Morris Area system? So soon after we passed a referendum? The superintendent "lectures" us on how the referendum was a completely separate matter, separate from school "operations." Meaning what? That we're screwed on school operations and will have to pass another referendum soon? Oh, joy. And then the school administration and certain sanctimonious community spokespeople will tell us we "have to" pass it. 

 

"Anonymous"

I would not even know about the local school cuts were it not for word circulating from a certain Facebook page. Word really seemed to get around in a short time, perhaps making the supt. want to gnash his teeth. He and the board would be on the defensive. Word sprang from the "Anonymous" Facebook page or so it has come to be called. 

And so there was a school board meeting on Monday night. How are the newspaper and radio station doing with covering that meeting? I know from the minimal coverage by the radio station that 100 members of the public were there. I'm trying to picture that: must have been a full room. 

I'd like to see more "real" coverage because I assume some citizens must have had something to say. I know that's a mere assumption. If there was any back-and-forth, it would be nice to know at this time about the content. Anyone showing emotions? 

I bring up the "macro" picture with Fischbach and others because of course we hear all the talk about Republicans wanting to tear down our government apparatus in Washington D.C., like to even wipe out the Federal Department of Education. 

I recall reading that DJT would like to be done with FEMA and to have states pay for disaster relief. But here's the problem: states cannot operate on a deficit, right? Whereas the Feds have massive flexibility even though the deficit itself is an issue. Well, we'll get to that I suppose. 

Morris is never an isolated situation. The BOLD school may be isolated with its outright "criminal investigation" with school finances, but Morris is not, I presume. 

If it could happen at BOLD it could happen at any outstate school like ours. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Shall we call for an audit here? Look how the City of Morris decided to train its eyes on the library. Stuff happens. 

So now after electing Republicans all up and down the line - we love "fiscal responsibility" - guess what? Well, Minnesota schools get about ten percent of their funding from the Federal government - around $1.4 billion last year. It covers everything from Head Start to teacher training to special education. 

Gov. Tim Walz

The Morris cuts look like a precursor or a canary in the coal mine. Gov. Walz expresses concern about the Federal government taking the ax to the Dept. of Education. Walz has said "the president has no idea how education works." When school administrators can't feel certainty about the $ coming in, it's trouble. 

Walz has spoken recently with a bridge-building tone with Republicans. The problem is that some Republicans just can't handle it when a Democrat criticizes Trump. One Republican was quoted saying that Walz's positiveness was "overshadowed by a quite frankly angry rant about Donald Trump." 

So Republicans refuse to even listen because their "god" of Trump does not get total respect and deference? Does Trump ever get mad at people? 

 

The truism

We will be reminded again I'm sure that "all politics is local." And where can I find some coverage of what all happened at the Morris Area school board meeting? Do I have to go to social media? Think twice before advertising any more with our "legacy media." They take so much for granted. 

More of my thoughts on our apparent dicey school situation is on my companion blog of "Morris of Course." This is a fresh post. I invite you to read:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2025/04/was-board-meeting-as-tame-as-was.html 

I keep checking the SCT site in case they surprise us with something fresh and helpful, as they did recently when the library story first broke. But now I'm so sick of seeing the same cotton pickin' photo of the two guys fencing! And, the Pablum-like article about the "junior city council member." We have had some real hot-button issues in the community recently. We need to learn more about these. Otherwise, speculation takes over. 

And how about the sports link on the paper's website? Seems to be nothing but UMM Cougar sports. If I had to answer for this, I'd be called every name in the book.

Morris Area school board

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Hard to follow some big local stories

Supt. Monson

Man, we've had the East Side Park thing, the library matter, the nuisance issues with west side property, and now out of the blue: our school district. I was not prepared for a school-centered controversy or kerfuffle, I just wasn't. 

School matters can be a cauldron for strong feelings. I guess I know that having been involved with the newspaper's past, a past that becomes ever more long-ago. 

Word shot around town about the school thing thanks to the "Anonymous" Facebook site. In the old days we were supposed to rely on the newspaper and radio station. So is this a major change in our habits, our expectations? Is it good or does it have drawbacks? 

It's 1 p.m. Tuesday as I write this. Hey, I don't have to wait several days to see my writing appear in print. This is a very fresh topic, I guess a hot-button topic. The newspaper website "teased" us a couple weeks ago by having timely and decent coverage of the first city council closed-door meeting on the library matter. The problem with the "tease" is that it made many of us want to check the paper's site more often, thinking we'd find more fresh material. 

We're looking for some frank and blunt material with the premise that there are strong feelings involved. Of course the coverage should be balanced. It's so cotton pickin' hard to find new illuminations on the library matter. 

I went to library earlier today and did not see Anne. A very nice young employee brought out the new Morris paper for me to look at. I also checked the previous week's paper for the comments by two people on items of interest: 1) the library, and 2) the nuisance property or properties right next to Faith Lutheran Church. 

Yes, the cost of the city's "investigation" on the library should be made known. Two attorneys apparently battling it out? That accurate? And one of them represents the apparently-suspended librarian? What if the city's attorney loses? Taxpayers will have paid that individual. The whole matter seems so strange. If there was some wrongdoing, why don't we just see the punishment meted out? This might even involve termination. 

Library director, Anne

With so much time having gone by now, I'm having a harder time imagining Anne returning. And I'm sure the thing the city does not want to see is the librarian returning "in a blaze of glory" with a welcoming crowd, balloons etc. What on earth has gone on behind the scenes there? I'm at a loss to even speculate. Being in limbo is not good for the community. 

But the matter at hand now is the Morris school. Holy cow, can we rule out some sort of disruption with finances like what has happened with the BOLD school? Time for a rigorous audit? 

Everyone acting above board? 

I regret sounding like I might be over-talking things here, however I must express dismay over how the radio station website reports on the school board meeting last night (Monday). I'll elaborate: the station takes the path of least resistance - common in corporate media - by interviewing the superintendent. The super knows it all, right? But he is a supremely self-interested person. Of course he'll do anything to turn a fire hose on controversy to extinguish it. 

Back in the old days when I refused to accede to this, I'd end up with Howitzers pointed at me. I still lasted 27 years in the Morris commercial media. I covered more ground across the board than anyone else in Morris media history. I wrote for both the Morris and Hancock newspapers, sports and non-sports, countless photo captions. And now I sense Howitzers pointed at me again. 

The very courteous radio interviewer sits down with the super. Guy named "Monson." Haven't we had more than one "Monson?" I have never met the new one. I should compliment him on completely taking advantage of the radio guy to snow him with "happy talk" so syrupy and thick, I could have thrown up. 

Monson tells us everything is being handled so routinely. All things will pass. Most of all, everything will be fine. Well it's not as if I expect the Morris school to totally collapse. People need to do their work to get paid. A few months ago there was a steady parade of teachers appearing at school board meetings to - let's be frank - bitch about their pay. 

I stated at the time that school board meetings should be about what the school is doing for the kids, not what the school is doing for the teachers. I guess even the teachers' benefits came into the picture, so I wanted to cheer at the board member's remark about how teachers should practice "preventative health care." 

Yes the clinic gets ahold of you, gives you all sorts of tests and then you get prescriptions and follow-ups. And as our late newspaper cartoonist Del Holdgrafer would say, "be sure and straighten up at the desk when you leave." (When you pay your bill.) 

Bills, bills, money, money. The school district came at us with a referendum not long ago. Referendums have been passing like a breeze in the recent history of our Morris school. The most recent one did not pass so routinely. It really barely passed, so are we looking at a more skeptical public? 

And holy condescension Batman, listen to how Monson "educates" us on the difference between those funds and the operational funds. He noted that some people would see irony and find disappointment in how the referendum could only be applied to facilities whereas the major new cuts are in a different category. He implies that some of us are gullible or stupid. 

Well I know full well that the referendum was for physical plant only. But my rejoinder is this: money is money. Maybe if we all knew the scythe was coming for school staff, maybe we'd put the brakes on the physical plant spending and say "hey, let's apply money to staff instead." 

Sigh, so will the school come at us with a new referendum now? 

Monson let on in the radio interview that a bunch of people were at last night's school board meeting. To what extent was the turnout attributable to the "Anonymous" Facebook page? And did all these people just sit there like passive sheep? Any anger? We're talking about leadership for the kids in school activities. 

Monson did not share about the audience behavior - it is not his job to do so. His job totally is to put a happy face on school operations. "Nothing to see here," as Leslie Nielsen as "Frank Drebin" said in a "Police Squad" movie. Yawn. We'll just move forward, right? 

We need a more diligent local news media, a media that can get its hands dirty. The radio station got totally out of the way for the super to "sell" things, as superintendents always do. Call them out on this.

 

Mike Odello

Addendum: The special election for school board surely cost money. And a source tells me that if Mike Odello had resigned from the board just one day earlier than he did, the election would not have been required. And now Odello's teaching position is on chopping block? After he resigned from board to accept it? Can he increase his hours for UMM music? But I think there's budget austerity there too. Look at how DOGE is attacking Dept. of Education in Washington. It's dripping down to local levels. And UMM looks as though it will continue with "DEI." Well, we'll see.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

An undeterred Pope Francis lit the way

We'll cherish the memory

It's a day to pay attention to our Catholic friends. Catholics are pretty fortunate in Morris because there's only one church, one building. Also, there is a well-developed system of authority over them to make sure everything keeps running smooth. Like to guarantee there is reliable clergy on the scene. 

The Lutherans are dispersed. They have a woeful time trying to find a pastor if there's a vacancy. We can feel happy for our Catholic friends being more fortunate that way. One nice big building. 

My Catholic friends took me there to play bingo when I was a kid. I asked them in later years why I was allowed to play bingo but not allowed to take communion. "We'll always take your money," one of them quipped. 

There was a little dust-up at the time of "Rit" Eul's funeral over the banishment of non-Catholics from communion. I guess someone got turned away. Someone mentioned to me there might have been a "backstory" with that. But it bothered me because until I was made aware of the policy, I might have innocently gone up there during a funeral. 

I attended the Catholic funeral for Lynn Anderson not long ago. I was pleased to see the church now has a practice to accommodate non-Catholics. I should ask them if I can still get to heaven. There's a system now where if you go up and cross your arms in front of you, it's a signal that you want a simple "blessing" instead of communion. I chose not to do that. Maybe next time. 

No fun to go to funerals but we all die. And today on Easter Monday (if that's a thing) we learn of the death of the Pope. 

Assumption Church, Morris

I drifted away from an old Catholic friend unfortunately because he was taken in by Donald Trump rather completely, to the extent he could not speak very favorably about Francis. Pope Francis staked out pretty "liberal" ground. He was unabashed about doing that. He did not have to answer to just Americans, he answered to people all over the world. 

America itself has been a problem in recent years. And it's Trump and MAGA. Pope Francis held his ground and I totally admired him. 

How "conservative" are America's Republicans really? A recent headline on Drudge reported that the Federal government is spending more now than when Biden was president. Military spending is not being cut. Are we going to war or what? Is Pete Hegseth working out at the Pentagon? A TV personality? 

And how about these constant vibes about how the administration wants to destroy the Federal Dept. of Education? Don't you have to wonder if such DOGE-induced cuts are a factor in how we're getting this sudden news in Morris about substantial cuts to our public school? A friend emailed me this info a couple days ago. My restaurant server this morning was familiar with this info. She lives in Hancock. I asked her how she learned about it. "The anonymous Facebook page (for Morris)," she said. 

My eyes lit up when she said that, not that I'm a fan of that particular site, but because it shows how people's media habits are changing/evolving. Little by little, the "anonymous" thing is entering the regular conversation among us. "Anonymous" is not the most appealing name. Also, I sure hope the content is properly monitored to guard against defamatory statements. Heaven knows topics can arise that arouse emotions. 

So there's a school board meeting tonight on "Easter Monday" (if that's a thing). And will the public turn out to vent about the school cuts? I think likelihood is high. Will sheriff's deputies be there like for the city council's closed meetings on the library matter? Three of them? Three Barney Fifes? 

I doubt that the strongly "liberal" crowd supporting the library director would threaten violence. Quite peace-loving folks. And why the hell haven't we gotten some background from city officials - just cursory background - on what the heck is up with the library? 

Are all public institutions under sudden intense financial pressure because of what is happening in D.C. with DOGE? With the push to force people in their localities to pay directly for everything they want? You might like that in theory. Maybe you don't remember the hell this community of Morris went through in the 1960s trying to get a new school built. Failed referendums and hard feelings among the populace. 

I was around at the time. It was all like pulling teeth. We finally got a Democratic governor who had a meteor-like period of success with his agenda: Wendell Anderson. His work came to be called the "Minnesota Miracle." You see, it's easier to get generous government money, the further away the money comes from, i.e. from a centralized source. What could be more central than Washington D.C.? That place can turn on the spigot. It can run on a deficit. But the new presidential administration wants to crush the Dept. of Education and like entities. 

The operative saying here: "Be careful what you wish for." You can listen to conservative radio and start nodding at a lot of the stuff. "Cut government spending." We all want government spending to be wise. And no system is going to be perfect. But we are seeing a new administration put the anti-government cliches into action and that's a whole different kettle of fish, n'est-ce pas? 

Now we have substantial cuts to school staff here in Morris staring us in the face. Yesterday I posted on my companion blog of "Morris of Course" with a headline expressing my glee about how our band program is spared this time. Here's a link to the post:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2025/04/crack-open-champaigne-band-is-spared.html 

 

The Morris school took the very positive step of establishing soccer. Maybe boys volleyball will come along one of these days. So let's cut football, really truly seriously. The kids can only get hurt playing this brutal sport which really only rewards schools with the biggest fastest boys. So Darwinian. 

You are being disingenuous if you proclaim how much you (as a fan) enjoy football, because it's vicarious for you. You feel none of the pain, take none of the risks.

 

A warning

I'm quite serious here. What if school staff starts becoming bitter because of cuts? I implore you to realize that the staff can become hyper-defensive and to be frank, can "pout" in response. Morale will crash. They'll get bitter and political. I have seen this vividly in the Morris school history. So beware, please. People will start talking behind other people's backs. I have seen it reach the point of business boycotts. 

Finger-pointing? Oh my goodness. 

A big problem is that teachers are union. The public library employees are union too. Maybe we don't need a "library director." Is Anne still suspended? Can the regular workers just keep the place going fine, answering to the city manager? We had a retired Morris attorney sort of "go after" the city manager on the "Anonymous" thing recently, connected to the library distress. 

I know Anne. I have never met the city manager. But no way am I going to let these facts color my  thinking. If Anne is exonerated, fine. If it's based on the facts, fine. But the whole thing has me thinking something weird is going on. 

Catholics in some cities celebrate "Dyngus Day" on the day after Easter. It's a way of making up for the sacrifices of the Lenten season! I'll drink to that.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Print media: precarious but not dead

The print version of "Living Lutheran" of the ELCA has been revived.

 

The demise of the print media was quite exaggerated about 15 years ago. It became hard to resist the proclamations really, I mean with the rapid growth of electronic communications, the Internet. I can't wait until some nostalgia-prodding histories of the Internet get written. 

I got pulled into the brave new world, as it were, by working at the Morris newspaper. Surely a fair number of people still remember that re. me. I get waited on by high school girls at DeToy's who weren't even born when I stepped out of the Sun Tribune building for the last time. So I remind people sometimes. 

I gained competency with the Internet in my final years with the paper. So I had the good fortune to be able to carry over that competency to when I launched the next phase of my life. 

I watched with interest as various well-known journalists like Michael Wolff saw huge danger signs ahead for print. Wolff might actually be my hero as a journalist/writer. He frees himself from many of the rules and shackles of his craft. He does not always follow the "absolute" standards for accuracy. But wait, isn't it essential to do so? So many say "yes." I would say you have to take risks sometimes, because absolute verification is hard to achieve sometimes. 

As an online writer if I write something that turns out to be far afield, I can always correct or "delete." But I don't recall ever having to do that. Michael Wolff still writes the standard paper books. He gains his critics of course, while the veteran guy Bob Woodard churns out books the established way according to norms. 

Michael Wolff

Wolff was wrong about 15 years ago to proclaim what amounted to doom for local newspapers. He even gave figures in his projections. I actually wanted to believe him, not that I hoped for disaster for my old print colleagues, it's just that my judgment suggested this, i.e. that people were migrating to the online options rapidly for news and commentary. 

So wouldn't the print media collapse like a house of cards? Nothing stays the same indefinitely of course. Naturally we have seen cutbacks with our Morris MN print media. I can proclaim I was part of the salad days of a twice-weekly product with page sizes much larger. I could roll up my sleeves and do so much more than would be offered today. 

And ironically the paper has gone through price hikes! But I suppose we can assume people have more money to spend? The arc is always upward, isn't it? Hey I can remember when we caught heck for raising the single copy price from 50 cents to 75 cents! 

The newspaper used to have old-fashioned "carriers" around town. It could be quite an imperfect system, ahem. But I guess the price charged by the Post Office for the service was prohibitive? Well, what gives with the carrier system having been ditched for the P.O. now? And with the single copy price having gone through multiple hikes? 

Forum Communications of Fargo really wanted to hike the price once and Jim Morrison resisted. I think that's when the Forum wanted to charge "a buck," the way I recall Jim talking about it. A dollar for the Morris paper! Well, what is it now? And everyone just rolls with the punches, just like with food prices! I'm not sniffing any sort of rebellion, at least not yet. 

So look at the cost of an Easter buffet any place but DeToy's. DeToy's hangs in there as a more or less middle-class restaurant, bless them. At this stage of my life I have a fair amount of assets, enough to contribute annually to the University of Minnesota Foundation, but I won't even consider going to one of these pricey buffets for Easter! 

And yet we'll see a lot of sweet senior couples going in and out the doors of the pricey places, unfazed, unfailingly sweet and smiling. So, maybe DOGE ought to look at Social Security benefits - too generous? I have actually long wondered that. 

I remember when Stone's Throw of Morris had an Easter buffet. Why can't that restaurant get going again? I mean, it is all set up. It had a really nice atmosphere. It could have a re-start as a conventional bar/restaurant rather than a social hub for the "NPR crowd." So UMM-oriented folks liked the place. But I did too. Why can't it get a jump-start? 

Well here's one theory: the Morris economy is distressed. I read recently that the Morris Theater has become quite stressed, might be challenged for its survival. That's where I saw the movie "Cimarron" starring Glenn Ford back in about 1962. And the same year, "The Longest Day" with John Wayne who told his troops in France that when they encountered the enemy, "send them to hell!" Us kids thought that was naughty language and by the standards of the time, it was. 

Dad took me to see the movie "Hatari" with John Wayne set in Africa. I'll never forget how Dad had us leave early because of the romantic storyline. My parents were Victorian. Dad called that part of the movie "Hollywood hash" and he left me no choice but to leave, and I was actually rather upset. 

"Hatari" had scenes of Wayne and his partners capturing the wild animals. Did you know that the hippopotamus is actually the most dangerous African animal? Not the "big cats." You don't want to get around a wild chimpanzee. The ones you see in the movies and TV have been drugged and neutered, and even at that I'm sure there are safeguards. 

  

Comeback for ELCA mag!

Whither the print media in 2025? We should not listen to Michael Wolff again. So, this "old" form has in fact found a degree of stability. I got to thinking about this when noticing recently the "comeback" of the ELCA Lutheran print magazine! I was in fact shocked. The magazine had previously been canceled for good, we were told in a ceremonious way in the "final" print edition. 

The circumstances have been misleading. You see, the issue may not have been the viability of the print-based media, I think the issue was the viability of the ELCA itself. That's my denomination: First Lutheran Church of Morris. 

I was so happy to grab a new copy of the revived "Living Lutheran" magazine. Now we'll see what happens to the church.

 

Addendum: I certainly saw some Elvis Presley movies when the Morris Theater was in its prime! Bob Collins was the owner. Remember the Elvis movie where Elvis and his partner had the cropdusting plane?

Someday I'd like to see how this movie ends!

  

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Hopeful that UMM can cling to its DEI

There is no reason why I shouldn't sit here and feel 100 percent affection for UMN-Morris. It is the entirely logical mindset. It is also the self-interested mindset. 

I was delighted to have a meeting with UMM's chancellor on Monday at her office in Behmler. I might say the rarefied air of Behmler: third floor. Also present was a very nice representative of UMM's giving department. That individual keeps an eye on me as I make my way through the rarefied air of campus. It is truly and unapologetically a DEI campus. 

Is there any way I could be wrong in my concern about that? 

I follow the news maybe to an excessive degree. So what about all this hand-wringing over DEI? The pitched battles that appear to have broken out? And these involve the ultimate in rarefied air: Harvard! 

As of right now it looks as if Harvard just isn't going to take it any more. A major Republican-oriented newspaper has a headline saying Harvard "refuses to fight anti-Semitism." My critics berate me when they think I'm wrong. Not only am I told I'm wrong, it's insinuated that I lack intelligence. There's fun-poking. So I'd likely be derided if I said "anti-Semitism is not the question." 

Very obviously a most progressive institution like Harvard is not going to be into "anti-Semitism." The question here is over the pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel cause. And most Americans are not aware of just how much disagreement exists in Israel itself over a range of things. 

Our conservative media like, well, Mike Huckabee would think it's one big homogeneous cause and we need to treat this Netanyahu thug as the hero. I demur. Because our Morris MN is such an overwhelmingly "red" place, I'd likely be thrown on the defensive again. I have been in the minority so often like even with local issues. I can just see the look in the eyes of my detractors. 

 

Massaging "DEI"

UMM's chancellor made a very good argument for how UMM could present its DEI in a way that would allow us all to survive. I fervently hope that she is right. I don't know but I can just see the long knives brandished by the Stephen Millers. It would be nice if it was mainly "talk" or bluster. We can easily see our elected people posture. 

But look what is going on between Harvard and the top government people. Harvard has now decided to take great risk. The government has made serious threats with teeth to other institutions such as Brown University and Princeton. Elections surely have consequences. We're talking Federal research grant money with staggering $ figures. 

If institutions like Harvard are willing to take risks in the face of such dollar amounts, it's concerning. And the thing with our UMM is: I'm not sure our little school would really be able to re-purpose itself, in effect to start from scratch with a new purpose. Actually I think we are fortunate that UMM has found this DEI purpose as a way of giving it distinction. 

Who cares if it might seem unfair to the traditional white or "white bread" students. We're so small, so what? What's so hard about learning to like "diversity?" We really are a rainbow country. 

I don't miss at all the days when UMM sold itself as a place for kids of vastly superior intelligence. And it's not like the kids themselves were allowed to bask in their own intelligence, because I'm sure many of them feared: 1) long reading lists of books, 2) tough (of course) grading standards, and 3) final exams that caused them to consume pots of coffee as they "crammed." 

So in many ways I'm sure it could be depressing. But the kids were aware of the image they were supposed to project. And frankly I saw Provost Jack Imholte go right along with that image of superiority, of superior intelligence. 

I'm not the only one who formed this impression. You may remember the recently-deceased Donnie Eich of Morris. Saint of a guy. And he was actually quite loyal to UMM athletics. I think of him primarily sitting in the top row of bleachers, often by himself, for UMM women's events when the women's teams were still climbing to total legitimacy along with the men. Sometimes I'd take my photographs and then go sit by Donnie a while. A real class act and also capable of independent thought. I mean, independent of certain prevailing cliques in Morris. 

But I don't mean to drag y'all back to the 1980s here. I'm sure he was thankful for UMM's existence. But he said to me once: "All that a UMM education proves is that you're good at reading some books and then answering questions about them." 

At age 70 I have to remind myself that I can remember past things about Morris that are not so well remembered or remembered at all by younger folks. UMM's own employees appear to not be well-versed on much of this. So, what prompts this comment is that I remember times when I'd get greatly annoyed by the "UMM crowd" being disrespectful toward visiting athletes and fans. 

Imholte, despite his own embrace of the arrogance sometimes, put a plea in the campus newspaper once about how the kids basically needed to shape up for an upcoming football game. It was getting that bad. And all this over intercollegiate sports? 

I heard back from a current UMM person once after I had alluded to this history in a blog post. This person was incredulous. She then asked about just what kind of behavior I found objectionable. She wondered if I was talking about fans on one side of the gym "making noise" when an opposing player was at the freethrow line. Well of course I wouldn't get upset about such a thing, and I kind of resented the assertion. 

I responded to her that I was simply referring to "rat pack behavior of long ago." 

There is good news here: If the people today are clueless about the past behavior, that means the past behavior must be gone. And even though I do not attend Cougar games at present, I am 100 percent certain that the students of today - yes in these "DEI" days - are more calm, civilized and considerate, even if they want to cheer lustily. No chants based on the alleged inferior "GPA" of the visiting kids. I heard about that offhand one day at the Morris newspaper office. 

So cute: a chant about "GPA." Well hell, I would lump in the whole "GPA" thing with UMM's old way of thinking about academics and intelligence. So much anxiety in past times over "grades." Even in our public schools there used to be too much intimidation of kids with the "grades" they might get. They might not drink pots of coffee because they were too young for that. 

I think a lot of them found "escape" with rebellious behavior. Even destructive or self-destructive behavior as with drugs. And for what? To try to prove somehow that they could pass muster with their "intelligence?" And if they couldn't, then what? Many were not interested in reading a bunch of books and then answering questions about it. 

Why did our whole education system fall in that direction? 

Two theories: one is the Cold War which begat the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about. The Cold War begat the Vietnam war. 2) The "meritocracy" principle in higher education which David Brooks of the New York Times has written about in such an attention-getting way recently. 

To distill, the meritocracy was borne of a raw egalitarian ideal, the dismissing of "bloodlines" as the basis for kids getting into top schools. Well we don't like that, right? But to be replaced with what? Well, GRADES, you knaves: We'll judge our young people according to a rigorous grading system that will be this "meritocracy." 

Everyone needed to take a cold shower. Maybe by now we have done that, so the UMM of today I doubt very much assigns piles of books and gives exams that instill raw fear. Besides, kids of today can walk away from the raw fear and find other options that open the door for a perfectly happy adult life. 

UMN-Morris has its niche now with DEI and I'm quite content with it. The storm clouds are coming from Washington D.C. Our UMM campus strives to be optimistic in the face. We have to be totally supportive at this time.

Janet Schrunk Ericksen, UMN-Morris chancellor

 

Addendum: I checked Morris newspaper in library a short time ago, noticed the banner headline article about someone giving $1000 to Morris Women of Today. Well, I gave twice that amount to the high school band program two years ago and did not get a mention in the fishwrap. Of course the reward is in knowing what I did for the band program. 

I did not see Anne at the library just now. I decided it would be inappropriate to ask library workers about her status. I think a lot of us are floundering trying to figure out what's going on. And we really are curious for good reason. Did the City of Morris hire an outside attorney on this matter? If so, then I'm sure the matter involves more than a $15 discrepancy. I sure hope the local media comes through to tell us about final resolution. I hope we are not "left hanging." But I wouldn't rule out the latter. 

I'm old enough that I remember covering the Women of Today for the Morris newspaper back when they were called the "Jaycee Women!" 

I remember the Women of Today's "Baby Olympics" at East Side Park which was the early-bird event for the old Prairie Pioneer Days! And now there's a movement to "preserve" East Side Park. Can we get a movement going to get more use out of the Killoran stage there?

  

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Some would call this networking

Palm Sunday

'Tis the time of year for meals that are open to the public. I have to be careful because my diet is restricted. The meals are a good opportunity for social interaction. We missed out on so much of that during covid. 

The two ELCA churches of Morris have public meals today (Sunday, Palm Sunday). There's an "egg bake" at First Lutheran and a pancake breakfast at the church "across the tracks," Faith Lutheran. 

Yesterday at the Federated Church public event I was able to take in some pretty major news about the Morris ELCA churches. There has been talk for a long time of "pairing." But Whoa Nellie, the "hot" news now is not about a pairing of First and Faith Lutherans! No, it is the pairing of First and Federated! And now based on pretty unimpeachable sources that I have, it is official. 

I got home from Federated yesterday and wrote a "hot off the press" so to speak blog post in reaction. The post is on my companion blog "Morris of Course." So if you want to get in the weeds some with religion, here is the link to my post:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2025/04/wow-first-luth-federated-to-totally.html 

 

I am refreshed at the moment having just gotten home from my Sunday morning breakfast at Caribou Coffee at Willie's. It's a highlight of the week to meet with some of the Sunday a.m. "regulars." These are mainly the Apostolic Christian men. I crossed the parking lot and met up with someone who reminded me there was a high school softball tournament here yesterday. It was an invite that ought to be a showcase for our still-new "softball complex." 

The softball complex

Fans would be coming here from elsewhere for our invite. So how would these people react to the fan seating situation at the complex? You must know that such accommodations are minimal. "Minimal" might be generous. My friend in the parking lot agreed that there was an issue with this. He said "they'll have to do something about that." Well (expletive) shouldn't the place have been designed smarter in the first place? Or am I just talking too much sense? Trying to talk sense in this town can be a little hazardous. 

"Do something" about fan seating? I responded that any changes to the place would be difficult to accomplish. You have the long dugouts and high fences. The aluminum bleachers behind home plate at Holmberg Field are only good if you sit at the exact center, otherwise you don't get a view of the whole playing field. 

Of course I scouted out the whole place before a game was ever played there. I have a trait of wanting to know what's going on and whether there is accountability with our local government entities. 

The city rankled some people, I'm sure, when it said "no" to the second request for a money infusion from the City of Morris. I think the city took the attitude that "you should appreciate we gave the first time." 

The complex was a "partnership" with more than one entity involved. And the end product was so underwhelming. And I'm sure the ground was wet out there on Saturday. I'd advise not wearing good shoes out there. Look how the price of shoes has been soaring upward. 

The softball complex is on low elevation ground close to the river. A river is always the low point in any given region. 

 

How did Tigers do?

I just checked the "Minnesota Scores" website to see if any scores are reported from yesterday's games. I only see a list of participating teams, no scores. I mostly expected this because early-spring sports are a downer in so many ways. Many games postponed or canceled. Mother Nature isn't ready. Each year this grates on me: the "letdown" from winter sports with its "March Madness," to the spring sports amidst unsettled weather and sparse fan turnout. 

Fans should know they should bring their own chairs for softball out there. I see them very often sitting out by the outfield fence. Is that where they really want to be? Baseball in Morris has the advantage of a full grandstand at Chizek Field. Girls ought to get the same assets. 

There was much ballyhoo at the time the softball complex was first announced. Of course these people get the media to turn out and really turn on the promo. That's what our Morris commercial media does so much now: turn on the promo and happy talk for so many things. Oh, "junior council member" with the city council! And there's a photo that includes a smiling Kevin Wohlers. 

Hell's bells, when it comes to city government I don't want to see "fluff" like this - insert expletive - I want more understanding of this catastrophic matter of our public library. The public library of all things! Should be a subject that suggests total peace. And there has been such a horrible dearth of information for the public. So, you can't blame people for guessing or let's be more frank, gossiping. 

So, what did I hear at Caribou this morning with my Apostolic friends (plus one or two non-Apostolics)? Well I heard the whole library matter boiled down to "two women who don't get along." Yes it's an example of misogyny. But such talk does circulate. I won't sanitize it. 

Morris library

I heard from two well-placed sources over the weekend that the library matter is not yet resolved. And we get no official word about it. The city council has had to be protected by sheriff's deputies as they consult in private! Three Barney Fifes present for the second of these meetings, I'm told. 

Three! The crowds were turning out to support the librarian who I think we can say is under siege. Such a likeable person. Family has been well-known here for a long time. She builds bonds with the all-important UMM in Morris. Should any of this matter? Frankly I think no. 

The city manager is not nearly so well-known. I refuse to be biased against her. People can get hurt by narrow biases, by networks of friendships that are based on little more than personal affinity. 

I have little solid info to go on now. Is it true the city has hired its own outside attorney? And I assume as fact that the librarian has her own attorney. All these billable hours for attorneys! And over what? My friend at Federated Church told me yesterday the whole matter boils down to an apparent discrepancy of $15. I cannot believe that. 

Furthermore, if you hire an attorney to try to keep your job, your employer is not going to appreciate that. If the librarian survives it would be because of the massive wave of vocal support she has gotten. But she would have to co-exist with the city manager, n'est-ce pas? 

Really can't this whole matter just be resolved? Maybe UMM could find a position for the librarian if she moves on. Of course this would not be proper if it was just done to bail her out. But I have seen this kind of thing done before. The state always has money to throw around. Oh but we're thankful for that in Morris. 

 

UMN-Morris travail

Now I wonder if UMM could literally be snuffed out by the heavy hand of the Federal government. The heavy hand would come down at the Twin Cities which would then direct that UMM suspend operations until "DEI" is completely eradicated here. Haven't you seen the headlines about other colleges? The spigot of Federal grant $ being turned off? Because of DEI? 

It is Palm Sunday as I write the first draft of this. Religion should maybe cheer us up. But not at Easter with its images of Christ being literally tortured to death. I'll be happy to resume normal worship after Easter. In the meantime, a chocolate bunny would be nice.

 

Update: I'm clicking to publish this post after getting back from church at FLC. My head is swimming because some important people there tell me that it is NOT a done deal with the permanent paring of First Luth. and Federated. And yet I heard to the contrary yesterday from more than one person. Perhaps this "networking" by going to public meals in the spring just is not prudent. Maybe I should spend time flying kites instead. I personally am not going to rule out the permanent partnership story. So I'm going with it in today's post. 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com