Just a ghost of Prairie Pioneer Days now

The Killoran stage, East Side Park

This is probably the weekend that would have been featured for Prairie Pioneer Days in a past time. The original PPD recedes in our memories. Should be subject for a museum exhibit IMHO. Chock full of photos. 

The community considered it an accomplishment when PPD was first ushered in. We'd be the equal to Glenwood with its longstanding Waterama. It was a good run. I could comment on how it was a mistake to let it die. 

The name "Prairie Pioneer Days" still hangs around. But the original version or "iteration" is merely tucked away in community memory. It was a vehicle for using the Killoran stage at East Side Park. 

This coming week will feature a rare use of the park stage. July 17 has "Music in the Park" on the slate. Yes there will be food available there. I don't recognize the music acts. But I'm sure it will be entertaining. The previous feature in this series was the "Cheese Bots" with Morris native Marty Sarlette. 

People will have fun. But keep an eye on where they get seated for the music. Whenever the sun is out which is quite often of course, people just don't want to sit on the aluminum bleachers. We saw this for the Cheese Bots. People bring their own chairs (just like at the softball complex) and sit a fair distance away. Wouldn't you agree it's too far away? 

The community took the trouble to have the stage/building built many years ago. The building cannot provide its maximum service if people are averse to sitting close to the stage. Would you not agree? The worst example of what I'm talking about was when tuba players from UMM put on a performance there. The small turnout of people was around the very perimeter of the park. Way, way too far away. The performers should have just stepped down from the stage and gotten closer to their audience. 

Our city leaders should have taken a constructive look at this problem a long time ago. Actually it may have been a mistake to allow the construction of the Killoran stage to begin with. 

I have to laugh: people "donate" for structures like this, including for on college campuses, but then you know what? There are ongoing expenses for maintenance that can be substantial. I have observed work being done on the Killoran building. Like, a painter hoisted up high with a crane-like piece of heavy equipment. I'm sure a contractor like that doesn't come cheap. 

We have recently seen such a huge push by "preservationists" for East Side park. They implore us on how valuable the park is as ":open space." Doesn't the Killoran building actually contradict that aim? 

I knew Eleanor Killoran. She was my accompanist for school music competition. She remembered the original band shell at East Side Park which had been removed. Wanted that type of thing brought back. Maybe the idea just didn't have the right execution. Wasn't the Kiwanis Club sort of in charge? And the Kiwanis no longer exists in Morris. Ah, Lions vs. Kiwanis! 

The stage was built precisely for a performing group like the Morris community band. Nevertheless the band was not even asked to perform there for the last year of PPD. Not even asked!  

I think certain people were trying to sabotage the event. And why? Well, there is a theory and I think it's safe to say our Morris mayor saw validity to the theory. And it is this: some key community leaders wanted to spend maximum summer time at their "lake places." Not to be troubled or tied down by a big weekend event in Morris. I discussed this matter with the mayor once. 

Looks like I'm on Kevin's "stink list" now. I don't think he likes how I'm curious and asking questions about this big ugly and contentious matter involving our public library and its director. He's not communicating with me on that. Are there certain community leaders who are encouraging "hush-hush" on this? Public meetings are in fact being held. Strong and accusatory assertions are being made, most unpleasant. 

A friend of mine with good standing in the community thinks maybe the newspaper has been pressured not to cover it. Well, there was coverage at the very start when there was such a huge turnout of public support for the embattled library director. Sharon Martin was photographed with her "Anne is amazing!" sign. There are people connected to the city who have quite the contrary view. 

I invite you to read my current post on "Morris of Course" for a further probing into the library kerfuffle. The headline is: "Library matter still on front burner." Here's the link and thanks for reading.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2025/07/library-matter-still-on-front-burner.html 

 

Our former library director Melissa Yauk emailed me to say she'll be here for this coming Thursday's "Music in the Park." You might want to look for her at East Side. She is retired in Idaho. 

The newspaper could answer some questions on the library dust-up. For example: don't the highest city leaders have the discretion to oversee the library as they please? I mean, without having to contend with the library director's own lawyer? If Anne had to retain a lawyer, I'd say her chances for survival there are not good. Does the city simply want her gone? If so, could we just get it over with? Get back to the nice quiet routine of our lives? 

Are Anne's many dear friends gnashing their teeth with anger at top city leaders? And wouldn't those leaders feel discomfort about this? The elected people have to keep getting elected. Their recent "closed meetings" on the library matter have called for sheriff's deputies to be present. To protect people's safety? On a matter as innocuous as the public library which would not even seem to be an essential service? 

Oh come now,  in our day and age it's hardly a necessity, is it? 

I'm done trying to communicate, ever, with our elected city people. Maybe I have something to fear if I keep writing about it. Lordy, is it possible that we're seeing real corruption coming to our community of Morris? I mean, if the newspaper is intimidated into silence? Our "watchdog" newspaper?

 

David C. Johnson

Former chancellor passes away

An email from a friend was pretty succinct last week: "RIP David C. Johnson." 

Dave was of course a former chancellor at our UMN-Morris. We used to call it "UMM." 

I think we can say "Chancellor Dave" was the head guy when UMM was in its salad days. That's my impression anyway. The institution is shrunken today and I feel it has gotten into survival mode. What if there's a lawsuit suggesting that UMM practices "affirmative action," which the Supreme Court has wiped out? We still have the policy of free tuition for Native Americans, right? Just saying. It would appear to be a nasty storm cloud for the place. 

Can we get away with our continued emphasis on "DEI?" The top of our Federal government is waging war on DEI. We have a Trumpian congressperson out here, Michelle Fischbach. She agrees with what Trump is doing 100 percent of the time. She appears to be a "lock" for keeping her congressional seat indefinitely. If anything she might be threatened by the political right, as has already happened with this Steve Boyd fellow. 

So, having a Trump sycophant is maybe not good enough? Maybe not good enough for the Apostolics? I think Fischbach passes muster with the Good Shepherd Church. We can forget about the Democrats. It's like they don't even exist. 

Do I think this is dangerous? Yes. I believe in science. I'd believe in protecting the people in Texas from flooding. Instead we have seen concerning cuts to the NOAA. And if I assert this, all the Trump people would say I'm "politicizing" the tragedy. The deck is always stacked against people like me. 

Here's a headline from the Drudge Report this morning: "The rapid rise of killings by police in rural areas." So, look out.

 

More on "Chancellor Dave"

Thanks to Del Sarlette for sending me the "succinct" message on the passing of Chancellor Dave. I responded to Del by sharing my initial thought upon learning of Dave's passing:

 

Del - Thanks for heads-up re. Johnson. I suppose he'll be famous for having been willing for a time to live in a college dorm! I see nothing wrong with a dorm room if the noise is kept down. Of course, our generation had all the kids who thought it was cool to play their "loud stereos." It was not cool to complain about those. This goes back to what I said about how your speakers were a status symbol. The bigger the speakers, the more impressive. Today, size of speakers means nothing. Kids today would laugh about that. Playing music "loud" is not important. Kids today just want to listen to music they like. The "AI" music thing is fascinating. I remember when "unplugged" came on the scene. That was a reaction to all the years when loud music was cool. Electronic amplification was no longer essential. What a renaissance. I remember getting my Paul McCartney "unplugged" CD. Ah, back when we had to "pay" for music!!! I'm sure that McCartney release is on YouTube with everything else! Our culture today forgets how it used to be!!! We take the present for granted.

David Johnson is in photo talking with my mother Martha Williams at the time of Martha's retirement and the ceremony for her at Oyate. Mom managed the campus post office for a long time. Prior to that she worked at the bookstore. I remember Dad and I dropping her off at the bookstore in the 1960s. The '60s were tumultuous with the war protests. UMM had its share of activity in that regard. I witnessed some of it, for example the "moratoriums" at Edson Auditorium. 

 

Addendum: I remember when past chancellors were back on campus for special occasion, I think the naming of the Imholte building. Dave here for that. He walked up to me, stuck out his hand for a handshake and said "ah, the journalist."

I interviewed Dave once in the days before he came to UMM. This was when he was in the St. Cloud State administration. I never asked him if he remembered that.

Another warm memory: Dave enjoyed dining at Don's Cafe from time to time! It was too bad that Don's was closed on the Saturday night of the July 4 weekend. Saturday was the 5th. Everyone leaves Morris for the July 4 weekend. No one comes here. Just accept it.
  

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

Shall we assume "Buns Up" is parody?

I am proud of my grasp of Morris history. The passing years should add more value to my reflections. I took nice sharp photos of our old school and put them on my blogs where they will look just as sharp several hundred years from now. I tell many stories too trivial to ever get the attention of our actual museum and historical society. But I love those kinds of stories.

I can remember some things that might not be Chamber of Commerce material. Ahem, like the strip club that once actually existed where the Old No. 1 Southside is now. Of course this was previous to current ownership. It was a hospitality establishment - bar - run by a guy named Dale Thompson. So it was Thompson who brought "exotic dancing" to Morris. I won't deny that I sampled it.

The memory came back to me as I checked out a certain Facebook site that focuses on Morris. I can be lazy today because I'll continue from here by sharing an email I shot off this morning. In addition to the strip club angle I use the email to expound further on what's going on with our Morris Public Library. The newspaper appears to be backing off on any further updates. I have a theory on that. Well, wouldn't you know I have a theory?

Here is the email. You might say it gets into the grit. But it's all honest thoughts. I am omitting the name of the email recipient.

 

Did you get my reference to "Buns Up?" This might be a hard subject to broach. Within a couple hours after seeing this last night, I thought to myself "this has to be a big joke." Certain people went to a lot of trouble creating the little promo image. So, is the point to be satirical? You and I know that people in this town have always "talked behind the backs" of the Apostolics some. But it has stayed in the background and we have always co-existed good enough. Really I don't know why so many of their women have to look so different. But I guess that's their business. I discovered "Buns Up" on the Anonymous site. I only discovered that site because Dalager plunged in so deeply there as an advocate for Anne Barber and an antagonist of the city manager. But he has been quiet since. Maybe he realized that Anonymous was not the proper forum for such advocacy. Too informal maybe. Boy, he sure got in a pissing match with someone after he pointed out that the city manager was a non-resident. As a matter of fact, the council granted Ms. Schrupp an exception because she couldn't find housing here (?)

So now I check Anonymous now and then and a lot of it is trivial. Very little sense of organization there. But I sure found the "Buns Up" farcical thing, at least I assume it's farcical. I will assume right now that the point is to take a dig at the Apostolics. And so I'm wondering if this might reflect a growing sense of "class warfare" because the Apostolics are perceived as so well-off. And you'll say they've earned it. I will agree that they contribute a lot and work hard. But the less-well-off people might start getting their dander up as they drive past the new steak restaurant, as I do. I'd never go there. And the place is associated with the "bun people." Heck, I sit next to the Apostolic men every Sunday morning at Willie's Cafe by Caribou. They enjoy having me there. Warrenn Anderson joins in too. I actually refused to sign the petition on East Side Park because I support what NextGen represents. They ended up getting dissed as a result of wanting to do something positive for community. I have the warmest thoughts about Neil Schmidgall.

I wonder how many people follow Anonymous and have noticed Buns Up. Is there talk on the street? Does this effort go beyond the promo image I saw on Anonymous?

I think the newspaper backs off from the Anne Barber thing because there are dueling attorneys. No matter how you try to write the article, someone will be upset. These two attorneys are going to be desperate to "win" because it will affect their reputation. What if Anne's attorney wins? That would humiliate our city leaders. Right now Anne almost looks more powerful than the CM, mayor and council. And that is weird. She was holding forth like usual at the library yesterday. Everyone cheerful and working together. But look how the city's outside investigator talks about her. This is bizarre. And Kevin Wohlers will not answer the reasonable email query I sent him. I've known the Wohlers family all my life. Nothing. No communication. And these people are elected. Lots of money is involved. That's why Char Zinda wanted answers at the council meeting. And sheriff's deputies present at closed meetings? Someone screwed up somewhere along the line.

I have a theory: Bob Dalager says the library director "answers to the library board." And he may be totally correct on that. And if that's true, it's a problem because we can't expect something like the library board to get into the true nuts and bolts of management. I mean, if I were put on the board, I would assume my role would be to have lofty thoughts about what the library represents and what it could do! Which is fine. But we still need someone like the city manager to look at the true nuts and bolts of managing the budget. What if there is true malfeasance and the board just decides to shrug? Is there any recourse? Are there personal friendships at play here, voiding people's judgment? Hell, I've seen this in Morris before in spades. As the late Ron Lindquist once said, "Morris is a clique-y town." I have seen this especially with school district issues. If you know what's good for you, be friends with the right people.

When I first saw the "Buns Up" promo I thought it might be a new bakery in town. Looks like it's a mean-spirited parody type of effort. As such it should probably be shut down. Not that it isn't healthy to have an open conversation of the various "groups" in Morris and the issues they face getting along. For example, many people think the "gay-bashing crowd" coalesced and moved out to the Good Shepherd Church. That's probably an exaggerated stereotype. At any rate, they look to be mellowing. Recent news articles suggest that gay rights has lost some steam and people want to just "cool it" some. Was gay marriage a bridge too far? I am indifferent. But I'm concerned about the future of First Lutheran Church because our existence may be hanging by a thread.

Other than all this, there is nothing much on my mind today! I'm having a home improvement contractor visit. Exciting!

- BW

"YouTube sleuths" expand media frontier

The headlines roll on. They come at us from so many directions, given the unfettered nature of media now. We sift through a lot of it, then shrug in a resigned way as we accept a certain version of the news or the truth. 

Older people can examine all that's happening by comparing it to past times, past values. It does take a little extra thought to do this. Certainly extra reflection, if you value that. I read about the outcome of the "Idaho 4" murder case. All over now? After such limitless sound and fury over so long? 

We had the phenomenon of the "YouTube sleuths." I sampled this right along. Nothing like this existed in pre-Internet times or even through much of the Internet's history. We could not have predicted the vast reach of YouTube. I feel satiated with news, commentary and entertainment even without having a TV contract! I can engage with all the various sources 24/7. 

This I notice as someone whose young years were spent with just one TV station. The station would reach the end of its "programming day." Time for bed. Nothing stimulating to keep me awake. The world slowed to a near standstill overnight. There was so little choice for news and commentary. 

We heard of Walter Cronkite being "the most trusted man in America." But that wasn't even the network I watched. My family consumed "Huntley and Brinkley" on NBC. The old shows would have had pretty superficial coverage of the plea bargain that ended the "Idaho 4" case. Then again, maybe this story would have been almost wholly "regional." Wouldn't have broken beyond these bounds? 

Truly it was sensational. I mean, four college kids living the idyllic college life out in Idaho, partying late and all that jazz, suddenly murdered. A guy was arrested who certainly seemed guilty right from the start. But the "army" of YouTube sleuths could not let it go like that. They weaved around and found all sorts of angles, many of which did seem intriguing for a time. 

Looking back, I see better what their process was. There were early suspects or shall we say persons of interest who were eliminated by LE (law enforcement). Maybe these people were "at the wrong place at the wrong time." Like for example, hanging out by the "food truck" at the ungodly late hour, where college kids frolicked and acted like they just couldn't get enough of such foolishness. 

I confess that a part of me was envious of all the young people in the social orbit of the "Idaho 4." I mean, totally "popular" and gregarious kids. To a fault, I might add. And maybe to an extent that this lifestyle courted risks. 

We could see there was absolutely no end to the photos and videos of the "Idaho 4" from their hedonistic college life. Risky? Maybe. Foolish? To an extent definitely yes. How about knocking off the alcohol and going to bed early? How about going to bed at 9 p.m.? You laugh? But why not? 

Anyone older than college age who was close to the notorious "food truck" - to get in the video surveillance - might be ID'd and then get attention from all the online-based sleuths. And then there was this fellow named Jeremy Reagan. You might say he got his "15 minutes of fame." He can be thankful it ended at that. All he did was cooperate for a little TV interview right after the murders. He did a perfectly reasonable interview as someone who was close by. But then you know what happened. Was this guy the guilty party or did he have some special knowledge? 

Jeremy looked to all the world like the most typical college student. Bright, lots of energy. Of course he should not have gone near any TV cameras. 

As someone who has blogged extensively on Wetterling and the Keystone Cops investigation with that, I know the sheer risk of even living close to a notorious crime site. Investigators need to know they are doing their jobs. And heavens, it's ditto for the media people like Nancy Grace. Grace is a holdover from the days of legacy media, in her case "cable TV news" when it was in its prime. 

Cable news burst to the forefront for the O.J. trial. So quaint to remember the "microcassette recorders." The new order? The new wave of things? Oh but the media is fluid. 

"Nika's Neuro Nuggets"

The Idaho 4 case brought us the really truly hard work and imagination of the "YouTube sleuths." I did wade into that pretty deeply. My, how this case stretched out. 

I had the illusion of some of these "sleuths" being "old friends" but of course I'll never meet them. Their work could be so sophisticated, it made me wonder where they gained all the skills for their video presentations. 

It was all I could do to master the "Anchor" podcast system. I'm glad I experienced that. But the system is now gone, having been replaced by something called "Riverside." I signed in for that but the system is too complicated for me. All these "editing features." I'd like to just press the "on" button and talk! Such is not how we live now. We don't just have ordinary thermostats now, we have these funky devices that can be set in advance for when your house is empty (lower temp setting). 

Lawn mowers? What kind of gas to use? "87" or "91?" When I was a kid, gas was gas. Master the basic Briggs and Stratton engine and you're set for life. Today the adaptations to new systems are unsettling. And I am fascinated to consider the following after the Idaho 4 case: How could a murder like this have ever been prosecuted in the "old days?" I mean, without the abundance of contemporary tools like DNA and video surveillance. 

There must have been a way to prosecute murders. Track down suspects, get testimony and send the thing to a jury even if it's a circumstantial case which I'm sure many were. Are people willing to trust a circumstantial case nowadays? And even if there's DNA on something, well the "defense" can say the item was "planted!" And so where does that get us? 

 

Simply weary 

I think the court out in Idaho was desperate to get the "plea bargain" done because everyone had become so cotton pickin' weary. You know how defense attorneys can muck things up 'til hell won't have it. When a "defense attorney" is getting national attention like Anne Taylor was, she just has to set an example and show how "committed" or aggressive a defense counsel can be. She was still on a fishing expedition even after a ridiculous amount of time had passed. 

Until, I think, it was just driving everyone nuts. 

Don't people realize that all these people in the justice system have other important work to do? 

But the big shiny object was the multiple murder case from a college community. Of course we want very much for justice to be done. But have we really progressed so far because of all the forensic tools? I mean, when the defense side can just try to shoot holes in everything? And get a receptive audience doing so? 

The murder victims

I think a whole book could be written about the YouTube sleuths for the Idaho 4 case. I can name many of these people from memory. Some will slip my memory. There was a "hibernation time" when everything got quiet. Slowly the sleuths faded. But they were sure ready to jump back in! 

I contacted the guy with the "Harsh Reality" YouTube site, actually a guy from Australia, to in effect "welcome him back." I wondered with him how some of the other channel hosts were doing. Like the "Southern Logic" guy. So many of these sleuths, e.g. "Nika's Neuro Nuggets!" 

And in the end with this case, we really saw "Occam's Razor" at work. Yes, the simplest explanation was borne out. A lone psycho with an obsession just showed up at those kids' house ("King Road") in middle of night. Looks like there wasn't even a drug dealing angle. 

I did my own very small part in the online "sleuthing." I had my "Anchor" podcast account going at the time. I wrote a headline referring to "Jack S." who was one of two "Jacks" being bandied about as a suspect soon after the murders. With some of these early suspects, well they sure prompted interest.

All Jeremy Reagan did was an innocuous and uneventful, brief, TV interview. And then a few days later he landed on the "Ashleigh Banfield" show on NewsNation (TV). Truly amazing. 

But anyone who closely followed the Wetterling investigation here in Minnesota should not have been surprised. Pretty soon I read that the family of "Jack S." had "lawyered up." So I deleted that podcast episode. 

There was a "Jack D." also, a boyfriend or former boyfriend of "Kaylee." The four kids were the epitome of "popular" college kids. It came natural for them. I would be forcing things if I had tried living like that. Oh they were beautiful kids. The photos and videos of them are endless! Media tech has made this the norm. All the images would have been unheard of in my young years! And we take all the new things for granted, don't we? 

Now we hear about "ChatGPT" and "AI music." I'm being left behind. 

We can always count on zealous defense attorneys being around. They are a blessing but only up to a point. 

The days of "circumstantial" legal cases had foundation IMHO. A jury can decide. An innocent person can passionately step forward, not just sit there like B.K. did - a bump on a log.

 

I will reprise here the lyrics to my own original song about the "Idaho 4" case. Originally posted in December of 2022.

 

"The Idaho Four"

by Brian Williams

Respects to the Idaho Four

Alas they are with us no more

So fragile is life, we can see

So give thanks for all it can be

Their faces will stay in our heads

As if they were family or friends

But really they were common kids

The salt of the earth in our midst

They set out one evening for fun

To circulate with everyone

In college there is no restraint

So do not regard that it's late

With Xana the smile stays true

With Kaylee the glamour endures

With Madison everything's cool

And Ethan just stays in the groove

The food truck remains in the lore

As we all remember once more

The kids as they just milled around

A typical night on the town

A night that would get lost in time

Just memories all left behind

Frivolity, yes it was true

So what were they trying to prove?

They must have had time for their school

Their lives must have been like a zoo

They even had time for a dog

So Murphy was there right along

The four were all victims of fate

The worst you can have on your plate

So what on Earth came 'round the bend

The night when they all met their end?

The questions just swarm in our heads

How kids could get murdered in bed

The cops were not called right away

Now what on Earth does that convey?

The mystery deepened so fast

As everyone looked for the facts

With so many eyes on the case

Could we see the end of this chase?

The world affixes its glare

The Idaho sleuths are aware

They comb through the myriad clues

To find one that would go and prove

We wonder if they're even close

The sound and the fury just floats

Will this end up like JonBenet?

We wonder with each passing day

In Moscow the college means much

A place that the denizens love

So much of a virtuous place

At least that's the way it should rate

We'll let the police do their thing

It's justice we hope they will bring

While always we keep in our hearts

The love that we strive to impart

So Xana and Kaylee stay rich

In images shared bit by bit

With Madison right by their side

The girls are vivacious and smile

There was just one boy in the bunch

His legacy gives us a rush

The four of them will not depart

From memories close to our hearts

We must contemplate what they did

The college kids with how they lived

Too wild and stupid or worse

So much, it became a big curse

And while they are not ones to blame

They should have been living more tame

To be in the swing as adults

Would prop up their welfare so much

So is there a big wakeup call

For parents to maybe install

A better sense of how to live

To stop all the foolishness, kids?

When kids get their high school degree

Is it so essential to leave?

To leave the affection of home

Before they are ready to roam?

It is not required to bolt

To make an escape from your folks

You still can find ways to advance

With time you will join the big dance

If only the Idaho Four

Had heeded my words to their core

They might not have gone so astray

And they'd be alive to this day

I'd like to implore them with verve

How "Greek life" is crude and absurd

How it can be "Lord of the Flies"

Now why can't this just up and die?

Respects to the Idaho Four

Alas they are with us no more

So fragile is life, we can see

So give thanks for all it can be

Respects to the Idaho Four

 

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

Why not basketball in summer?

Kelsey Plum

Summer is supposed to belong to baseball. Is it still that way? I could not name one Minnesota Twins player for you. 

Big-time sports can be fluid. Baseball had such high undisputed stature in this country until entertainment media tech started changing things. The greatly increased quality of the color TV picture caused football to rapidly grow in popularity. This happened in the mid-1960s. Quite rapidly football became the really big deal. 

Minnesotans had their hearts broken - shattered - by four losses in the Super Bowl. Sad as we were, we had to admit that football had us hooked, mesmerized. TV exposure of the sport grew. College football developed greater parity to where the top-level schools could not count on thumping so many opponents. Appalachian State? Well, welcome to the club of heavy-hitters. And to NDSU too in a big way as they could challenge or beat the Gophers! Former powerhouses like Nebraska fell into the ranks of the pedestrian squads. 

Sports is fluid with how much money pours in. Baseball has more than survived. But I still could not name a single Minnesota Twins player for you. 

You know what I have become knowledgeable about? Women's basketball! To the extent that women's basketball has struggled in the past, I think a lot of it had to do with how it is played in summer. We'd have to adjust old habits and patterns. For me, no problem, because I'll state for the third time that I cannot name one Twins player. If I scratch my head I suppose I can come up with one: Byron Buxton. OK but definitely no others. 

I should note that I do not have a TV contract. And I don't care at all: I have a laptop with WiFi access to YouTube. Is there anything that YouTube cannot provide? I guess it cannot provide live Twins baseball. I remember a discussion on Fargo radio 2-3 years ago about how a lot of people there had signed up for "YouTube TV" in order to watch Twins baseball. And then you know what happened in these fluid times: the Twins left YouTube TV! 

I try to avoid such disruptions. I'll take what I can get from regular YouTube. You can tune in to play-by-play descriptions or "watch parties" for WNBA basketball. Sometimes the game is on the screen but with an obstruction in middle of screen. I do not consider that arrangement to be hopeless. I'll sometimes call that up and watch for a fairly long time. You can listen for play descriptions and analysis of course. 

And a "watch party" will involve one or two pretty entertaining people describing it all for you. Having fun in the process. And this keeps my attention! I am certain there are others like me. And this is basketball in summer. Women's pro basketball. I'm enjoying it. 

And my interest has passed a huge test with the frequent absence of Caitlin Clark thus far in the season. She is now quite brittle. There should be no surprise here. She really is pretty slightly built, and look what she has put her body through over the last few years. A hint of the seriousness came when she missed the pre-season opener. Who misses the pre-season opener? 

Then she had a "quad" injury. And then she had a second quad injury which the team said was different from her first. What? Hey Caitlin, get a second opinion on some of this. It did not end there. Now it's a groin injury. Very sad of course but I cannot  be too surprised. I don't think the fans fully realize the punishment that gets administered to these pro athletes' bodies. 

People my age will remember when so many major league baseball pitchers flamed out with sore arms. Finally, once the teams started investing more $ in their players, greater care was taken of the players' health. You might say the players were expendable before that. The great New York Yankees dynasty during my youth (and well before that) really crashed and burned after '64 because three players were not properly cared for: Roger Maris, Tom Tresh and Jim Bouton. No wonder Bouton ended up bitter and wrote "Ball Four." 

Our society's worship of baseball in past times led to little league baseball being a summer staple for our kids. Today, we learn that many large cities are removing "ball diamonds" from their parks because ballfield sports are not as popular. In fact, why do summer sports have to be played outside? A better question would be, why do spring high school sports have to be played outside? 

The early-spring weather is never ready for the kids. And so we hear about postponements all over the place. Basketball indoors is set up perfect under perfect conditions through the end of winter and into early spring. Zero influence of weather. Everyone can plan and enjoy the activity. 

The spring season becomes so anticlimactic. I wondered about this over the many years when I wrote about sports in the Morris newspaper. To be blunt, I found spring sports to be a "downer" much of the time, sorry. 

You-know-who

The pro women's basketball league is easily demonstrating that basketball is fully practicable for summer. Caitlin Clark was the catalyst. But the growth has gone well beyond her. I can name players from around the WNBA now. I enjoy Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu to name two. 

And look at Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham of the "Fever," Caitlin's teammates. Not only are they good, they are glamorous by the standards of heterosexual males. If you are not heterosexual, then you are entitled to your own tastes. "To each their own." 

I will state emphatically that the WNBA will shoot itself in the foot if it permits players with the "butch" look. I wonder if they actually have a policy to discourage that. They might say to players "we do not care about your sexual orientation, but we want you to have the standard look of a 'woman' with reasonably long hair."

I did not like how Janelle McCarville had her hair so short. Just grow it out and be more appealing as a female. McCarville and Lindsay Whalen were quite the pair on behalf of our state of Minnesota. However, they did not really come across as endearing with their images or personalities. And Whalen flamed out as coach of the Gophers, left ignominiously  So she's now assistant with the Lynx? She can't do any harm there. Ms. Reeve is quite in charge. Whalen helps sell the team with her name. 

So let's get over this notion that summer belongs to baseball! Make way for more basketball! I'm loving it. I'm hoping that "CC" comes out of her injury funk. At the same time, I think her injury handicap is more serious than we might think. Career-ending? I would not even rule that out. The girl might be in denial about this. "Invulnerability of youth." 

Let's pray she can put the woes behind her. I guess I'm more of a Fever fan than a Lynx fan. And don't you think the WNBA would love to get Caitlin Clark in New York City or Los Angeles?

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

Big test for the SCT today!

Will our print media come through?

 

Ah, there's a million stories in the naked city. I guess some of them should be kept under wraps. Discretion is the better part of community newspaper work? Or should "the press" be undeterred, the way our local publisher suggests is the way to go? The press should be a "watchdog?" 

And of course that would mean updating the public on the occasional messy subjects. Sometimes I guess "conflict resolution" comes up short. And so we have the City of Morris with its closed council meetings and multiple sheriff's deputies assigned to be at meeting locations. A well-known retired Morris attorney rolling up his sleeves to fight for a particular party using an online forum. 

The attorney's spouse wrote the following to me:

 

I'm sure the City Manager won't address the thousands of dollars in tax funds that the citizens of Morris will have to pay for attorney fees and investigator fees. She had already charged $9000 to the library budget for the first fees due!
Anyway, we'll attend the rest of the hearing in August. 

 

But what about the venerated print media? Is it not supposed to be a beacon? According to lots of popular rhetoric it is. But where the rubber meets the road? Like right now with the kerfuffle based on the Morris Public Library? 

The library ought to always be a benign topic, wouldn't you think? It's not as if it even provides an essential service. I can't even get my receipts printed through their computer department any more. This is a big deal. Systems are "tightening up" with ID verification. 

Is the Morris paper enlightening us on the details of this quite untidy struggle involving various players with the library? The city manager is primary in this. The council has devoted considerable time in closed meetings. Deputies are deemed needed to watch over deliberations. Where would the violence come from? Is it safe for me to even be writing about it here? I'm an "unattached" journalist. Unattached to corporate interests. 

The Morris paper is of course the "Stevens County Times." 

Here's an email I sent to a friend this morning (Tuesday):

 

Del - Today is the big test for the Morris newspaper. The new issue comes out and we'll see if there's a substantial follow-up on the library matter, because of last week's meeting at the courthouse and all the intrigue. Right now I'm guessing there will be, because there has to be. I'll go downtown to library at maybe 5 p.m. and see. We'll see if there's anything to Ward's theory that there might be a "cover-up."

Kevin Wohlers never answered me!

I've been around a lot but I've never seen anything as mystifying as this. And there's Anne at the library as if nothing happened.

Why would anyone want to run for the city council now?

- BW

 

Think I'm isolated with my thoughts? Here's an email I got from a quite respected senior member of our community a few days ago.

 

Sorry to say, I am not privy to any info about the librarian mess. In fact, I learned more just by reading your blogs. I wish the newspaper would shed some light on this, but maybe they've been told not to.

 

"Been told not to!" 

We should feel flummoxed by this comment. Are the elected city officials muzzling themselves too? As reflected in how our mayor did not respond to a most reasonable inquiry I sent him recently? No answer at all. Maybe he wouldn't want to give me the satisfaction of knowing that I at least asked valid questions. So if I had to guess, I'd guess he would say my email was too long. 

Sometimes an issue like this demands such attention. I know in the Internet age people don't have much patience to read. So go ahead and call me a dinosaur. You may want to call me some other things too. I have a long pattern of being skeptical about today's Republican Party, and this makes me a real outlier here in the rural hinterlands. 

Perhaps a target for visceral action? 

Kevin Wohlers is in good company because Rep. Michelle Fischbach did not answer my most recent question to her either. It was about DJT commuting the prison sentence of a major defrauder of Medicare. I thought Republicans were so concerned about Medicare and Medicaid fraud. 

They appear to be passing the "big beautiful bill" now. You all should be self-motivated to find out what's really going on and to not automatically follow the Republicans. Fischbach would appear to follow the lead of DJT completely. Can you dispute that?

 

Email to the mayor

I am most happy to share with y'all the email re. the library that I sent to Mayor Wohlers. I'm sharing it by putting a permalink here to my June 27 post on "Morris of Course." That is my companion blog. I started two different blogs a long time ago when I had more access to local sports information and I did not want any one site to get "clogged" with sports! Here is the link to the post that includes my email to Mayor Wohlers: 

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2025/06/seeking-answers-from-proper-authority.html 

 

I'll share one last quoted passage from one of my own emails regarding the library. Here goes:

 

There has got to be something BIG going on with library, when you consider what the city is spending on investigation and the very sharp words by city officials/attorneys. No way is this going to turn out innocent. Can't we all assume now that Anne isn't worth the trouble any more? Good grief we're just talking about the library. If council members learn Anne is innocent or if charges are overblown, wouldn't they come down quickly on city manager? 

What a PR black eye this is for Morris. And Bob Dalager was right when he was shocked at how three LE officers were needed for the closed city council meeting. As if violence might be done. Very very odd. Good grief. 

Please try to nail down the shoeshine guy. Man, if this whole thing ends up being small potatoes, then our council should be tarred and feathered.

The matter has not been discussed further on "Anonymous." Dalager really used that for a time.

- BW 

 

"The shoeshine guy"

My occasional references to "the shoeshine guy" are kind of an inside joke with a friend. You would know the background if you watched the old "Police Squad" satirical TV series that starred Leslie Nielsen. This was when Nielsen was well into the new iteration of himself as a comic actor. 

Nielsen's police character would scout around for info on crimes going on. First on his list was to visit "Johnny the Snitch" who worked a shoeshine stand! And of course a "shoeshine guy" would overhear tons of stuff about the underbelly of life. Our current library matter I guess is in line with the underbelly. It is untidy. 

So the community newspapers of today would find it unsavory to look into? Of course the city is funded with public funds. So I'd suggest getting all this out in the open. Can you tell me why not?

 

The image below shows Leslie Nielsen as "Lt. Frank Drebin" trying to get "the real story" from "Johnny the Snitch" at the shoeshine stand. Unfortunately there is no shoeshine stand in Morris. Johnny would always feign that he knew nothing at first. Then "Drebin" would peel out some cash and hand it to Johnny whereupon Johnny, after a moment of looking right and left, would "spill" what he knew!

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