Any headwinds for the new academic year?

What lies ahead for the new school year? Nothing would spell normalcy - normality? - more than a predictable school life. 

Don't you sense a sort of "whistling past the graveyard" feeling now? The pandemic looms, as much as we'd like to blot it out or assume the worst is over. Science tells us, apparently, that the cool and dry air of fall could be bad news for what lies ahead. We are two days away from August. Thoughts get riveted on school when the calendar turns to August. 

First there is the business of the Stevens County Fair. I have been less a fan of the fair since the community supper was shifted to Tuesday. Maybe I'm confused easily, but I thought the shift represented an actual expansion of the fair. So I took my late mother out there once thinking that Wednesday would be a normal fair day. It is not. We saw "private parking" signs along the road leading to the main fair parking lot just north of the ethanol plant. 

Private parking for the Stevens County Fair? Right next to the fairgrounds? All this was related, I learned, to the special accommodations for Superior Industries. I did not appreciate being thrown into a state of confusion like this, so my enthusiasm has never been restored. Go ahead and call be intelligence-challenged, as many of you will be wont to do. 

I had an opportunity to feel more intelligent than usual on Wednesday. I had the privilege of being invited to lunch at the band room of the HFA of our wonderful UMM campus. Having grown up around UMM, my instincts are to seem like a refined person when on campus. I mean with the academic folks and not athletics. 

I actually learned years ago that if you want to get along smoothly with the UMM crowd, do not go out of your way to seem refined. Seems counter intuitive: wouldn't UMM people of the great liberal arts strain enjoy being around people who project some air of sophistication or refinement? My impulse is to always seem intelligent. Yes, my critics would say that I can only seem intelligent. 

Really the UMM crowd does not impose this expectation. They in fact want to "own" the turf of being highly intelligent and articulate. That doesn't mean they'll resent you, it just means they'll want you to be yourself. So my whole point here is really a positive one. Be yourself and fill your natural niche in the community and you'll be fine with the UMM element. I just need to internalize this. 

So I had the pleasure Wednesday of sharing lunch with Erin Christensen and Janet Ericksen of  UMM. Erin facilitates the private giving of $ to UMM. Janet has the awesome task now of filling the chancellor's shoes as interim successor to Michelle Behr. 

I suppose it would always be an awesome task. You're trying to run a smooth ship with a faculty of very accomplished and passionate people in their fields. You're coaxing people to get along to form an effective whole. 

We're progressing into August now and the chancellor has the awesome task of trying to guide our august institution into an academic year which will be closer to normal than last year. To what extent can this be envisioned? Good question, eh? I'll repeat the "whistling past the graveyard" line. The covid news of late has been concerning. New variants crop up. 

There's a vaccine hesitancy within a portion of our population, a portion that is more than negligible. And very unfortunately, there is a political dimension. The MAGA crowd is associated with vaccine hesitancy and with resistance to the various public health measures that government feels are advisable. 

We all have a natural inclination at times to resist or protest government directives. The government doesn't do this for fun. The government's job ultimately is to hold the nation together. It's not to strive for perfection, it's to survive. Yes, government's underpinning is to survive, to not be supplanted by something else. 

"Something else" appears to have been the goal of the MAGA rioters on January 6. They wanted to supplant our normal revered democracy with a limp substitution that would guarantee an outcome of Trump or his anointed successors ruling indefinitely. Ensure that the voting system makes it hard for the less desirable voters to have their say. It's being attempted all over in an overt way, and too few of us are caring enough to really push back. 

The media gets accused of bias when it presumes that MAGA spokespeople should not be accorded the same respectful attention as others. Let's be fair to the voices for autocracy? The most ardent MAGA devotees feel their chosen leader is simply entitled, the broad public be damned. So extreme is this element, it is condemning the likes of Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. It is incredible to see this schism. 

Does the word "conservative" have any meaning any more? No, because we've seen a cult take over, right here in our United States. And while it does not have the primary reins of power right now as we speak, it is assertive enough to be really scary. A substantial portion of our Stevens County residents appear to be quite fine with it, and they use their church life to underscore their commitment. 

Do Christians across the U.S. simply wish to lose the millennials? Is this a fate they wish to endorse? Many young people see through the sheer stupidity of it all. But are the forces on the other side going to be simply too strong? 

Thanks to UMM for hosting the delightful lunch on Wednesday. The highlight was a performance of a clarinet quartet of students who are around for the summer. Clarinet is the instrument of UMM symphonic winds director Simon Tillier, he of the bike-riding passion! 

The 64-dollar question is this: can we expect the regular in-person concert performances in the new academic year? We pray for this, if you don't mind me invoking religion in spite of the Trump crowd. I will try to maintain my positive view of Christianity, in spite of all that is happening, i.e. with Trump holding up a Bible upside down. God noticed that.

The prime symbol of Christian faith today?

 

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

The ship always sinks at the end

Funny how we are attracted to movies where we know the ending. Funny, too, how we have no qualms about attending a movie with terrible suffering or bloodshed. 

A movie with an obvious ending can still be entertaining if we wonder how the various characters with their issues will turn out. Movies about the Titanic have survivors but also some likeable characters that meet their end, horribly. The unpleasantness occurs with the ship hurtling downward below the surface of the water. 

People didn't just die, their bodies got badly damaged. I read about this in a book about the disaster that came out shortly after the James Cameron movie. It was quite the blockbuster movie, remember? 

The book also informed me that in the months after the sinking, seafaring folks would advise their passengers of a "seagull" in the water not far away: it was actually the body of a Titanic victim. Passengers were guided against observing further. You'll recall from the movie that the bodies were white from being frozen. 

Are you surprised we pay to see such dismal movie fare? A part of us is obviously intrigued. Likewise, we enthusiastically consumed the D-Day movie "Saving Private Ryan." Hollywood figured it was about time that a movie showed the whole bloody thing with pinpoint accuracy. But why? We could have easily surmised from earlier movies that the actual unpleasantness was greater than the likes of John Wayne would want us to see. Wayne was in the 1962 movie "The Longest Day." Strange that it was in black and white. 

I'm not sure D-Day was as successful as American history seeks to portray. It was inhuman in a way, as it gave the U.S. service boys no choice but to charge forward, as they were coming from the sea. Some of the boys drowned because of being weighted down. We won the war but at what cost? We failed to give the Russians i.e. the Red Army enough credit. The Germans feared the Red Army more than us. 

General Patton's family was set to sue when the George C. Scott movie came out. I guess the facts of the general's career pointed to a possible expose but instead, Hollywood simply gave us a movie about winning! It was the U.S. nature to simply win. Patton's survivors liked the movie. 

Revisionist? Isn't historical revision rather ubiquitous? Hollywood gives us the kind of messages we want to consume. If the Vietnam-based movies weren't exactly patriotic, it was because Americans had concluded en masse, finally, that the war was unconscionable. We needed reinforcement. 

Even if D-Day went awry in some ways - too many casualties - one could argue we simply had to wipe out the Axis menace. Andy Rooney had been in the theater of WWII and felt much of it was a "mess," not so orderly as movies (or retired generals) might suggest. 

Long before the James Cameron movie about the Titanic, we had the major motion picture from 1953 starring Barbara Stanwyck. Let's put aside the tragedy of the story and conclude that it is an engaging movie with interesting characters. It has a "film noir" tone, common at the time. 

The main two characters are fundamentally unhappy. Stanwyck is joined by Clifton Webb. The two are an estranged couple. I found the Richard Basehart character to be the most compelling: he's a priest who has been defrocked for alcoholism. 

Many of us remember Basehart best for his role in the 1960s TV series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." The Mad Magazine satire was "Voyage to See What's on The Bottom" in which Basehart as the top commander spends his idle time playing with boats in the bathtub! 

The 1953 "Titanic" movie took liberties with many facts. Dramatic license, I guess, such as with Titanic's musical group having horns. In fact it was just strings. Such liberties are taken to make the movie more interesting. One can watch the 1953 "Titanic" and still come away with an appreciation of the historical facts. 

The ship goes down. The Allies storm the beaches of Normandy and move on. Pearl Harbor gets bombed. "King Kong" dies on top of a tall building at the end. We know all these things, the gist of the conclusion, but we flock to the movies anyway. 

The 1953 "Titanic" won the academy award for Best Original Screenplay. It was nominated for Best Art Direction. Should we care that the hairdos and outfits were typical of 1950s America and not of the year of the sinking, 1912? Crew members on the real Titanic did not wear British Navy uniforms. There was no shuffleboard on the real Titanic. Seems to fit with our conception, though. (Mad Magazine imagined commemoration of Richard Nixon's life with a "Richard M. Nixon National Weasel Refuge" and the illustration was of weasels playing shuffleboard.) 

Interesting fact about the lifeboats which I learned just recently: the lifeboats were never intended to provide escape for all the ship's passengers! Lifeboats were in fact planned as a means for ferrying passengers from the ship in distress to a rescue ship. Many on the Titanic thought the big boat would stay afloat long enough for rescue - they thought it dangerous for the women to go out on the blackness of the ocean waters. 

Will another Titanic movie ever be made? Or another D-Day movie? Or a re-telling of the King Kong story? Seems Hollywood has pulled out all stops to give us the ultimate of all three, hasn't it? I'll take "The Longest Day" as a D-Day movie, as it presents the story with basic accuracy and without the most stomach-turning violence. We can surmise the latter - I always have.

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

Cleveland "Indians" become the "Guardians"

The push to make sports team nicknames proper began with emotion and conflict. Thus it followed a familiar pattern for such things. An idea whose "time has come" has an awkward start getting established. The idea makes sense, yes. But people feel disrupted by change. 

Why should any of us really care about a sports team nickname? Why invest emotions in sports in the first place? It was rather like pulling teeth to see the University of North Dakota sports nickname get adjusted. I know of two residences in Morris which at present have signs that show the old logo. It's for the "Fighting Sioux" of course. 

Several years ago I saw an attorney acquaintance of mine go through Willie's with a jacket that had a huge "Fighting Sioux" symbol on the back. I believe this was before the name change was actually enacted. I emailed a professional colleague of that person advising that this was hardly good PR. 

One of the current residences is in town, the other out along the biking/walking trail, close to Skyview. These people are sending the message that "Fighting Sioux" is still close to their hearts. You might say they have a chip on their shoulder. Again, why is it so important to some people? They pine for tradition. 

The old UND logo offended people over a very long period of time. Many people have chosen not to talk about it much. It's easier to go with the flow and not be confrontational, some might reason. 

Gay rights enlightenment followed a similar path. Remember the times when local people might scorn our U of M-Morris because it had an elevated stance with the gay rights push? Do you even hear talk about that anymore? Probably not. That is because gay rights like the eradication of Indian logos for sports teams followed a standard pattern. Voices rise as some impropriety is noticed. This doesn't sit well with some people, either because of irrational emotions or just not wanting to disrupt the status quo. Sometimes the latter force is pretty powerful. 

It seems that the gay-bashing forces have retreated significantly. The tone of discussion grew moderate and we all just chose to move on. Hey, the world didn't end. We did get a whole new church in Morris because of the initial resistance. It's just north of town. IMHO that whole effort was dubious. 

The mainstream Christian churches of Morris appear challenged. Why would anyone want to be skeptical about them? To be specific: First Lutheran, Faith Lutheran and Federated. Federated is affiliated with the Methodists who, when I last checked, were still in conflict over gay rights. Give them time. I still consider Federated mainstream. 

The Morris area has the Apostolics along with the very conservative churches where I have the impression that politics has a big role, i.e. supporting Trump and the GOPers. 

I don't understand the gay lifestyle very much but it's not an impediment to my life. And heavens, acceptance of a new sports team nickname ought to be the easiest thing in the world. It seems hard enough to just stay interested in big-time sports these days. 

As we survey the local high school sports, let's mention Benson High School. Surprisingly, I have heard few if any ripples about the "Braves" nickname. The logo even includes a feather. On Sunday I posted about this Benson problem on my companion blog, "Morris of Course." I invite you to read with this permalink:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2021/07/benson-high-school-is-holdout-w-indian.html 

 

I remember when the late Skip Sherstad and yours truly were "shooting the bull" at the UMM P.E. Center concourse during a hoops tournament. Just for fun, we made up a school that took the Native American symbolism to extremes, to parody. It was merely in the spirit of fun. The fact we viewed it as parody just demonstrated how enlightened we were. We realized of course we'd have some explaining to do. 

Parody and irony are the kind of things that go over the head of lots of people. Oh, there I go being prejudiced against stupid people. Am I being prejudiced against Benson people? Maybe a little bit. The "Benson Braves" are a long-time rival of the Tigers. 

I have come to feel irritated by high school sports rivalries. They seem rather Neanderthal as time passes. I point my finger at wrestling based on past experience. High school boys have the serious misfortune of being drawn to football (where serious injuries are more than a mild risk) and wrestling (where pressure to lose weight is an unreasonable element). Boys can have their health affected permanently by these sports. 

Wrestling also has the negative of humiliating the losers of bouts who are on their backs, totally supine. Sometimes fans will yell "show him the lights!" Who needs this? 

I never participated in football or wrestling. There was a wrestling unit in phy ed that I hated. If I were a kid today, there are certain units in P.E. that I would just refuse to do. Go ahead and flunk me. I couldn't care less if I got expelled, except that maybe my life would have turned out better. 

Girls have a much better, healthier experience in high school sports than do boys today.

So now we come to the subject of the Cleveland major league baseball team. It is in the news for scrapping its long-time nickname of "Indians." Their logo was "Chief Wahoo." Now they'll be the "Guardians." For sure fans will handle the transition just like at University of North Dakota. 

The local residents with the "Fighting Sioux" signs should be ashamed. Get in the year 2021, please.

Meet the Cleveland MLB team of today!

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

Concert at Appleton park nothing but joy

"Bob's Big Band" performs from the Riverview Park Bandstand, Appleton. (photo by Del Sarlette)

Many people enjoyed the concert Tuesday evening at Riverview Park. (photo by Paul Raymo of KLQP Radio)

What a perfect night for a concert in the park on Tuesday! Such an event might be held at our East Side Park in Morris where we have the Killoran stage. But the event of which I speak was in Appleton. 

The small towns close to Morris can outdo Morris on so many things. You might say Tuesday was exhibit 'A' for this. It was the classic concert in the park in front of a very nice turnout. The stage there is not like our Killoran stage. It is open on all four sides. It was the perfect stage for the band that assembled. 

It was a unique night of music with a surprisingly eclectic element. The "artsy" side of the concert went over as well as anything else. Like even with, would you believe, a Miles Davis number? We shouldn't pigeon-hole rural Minnesota people as not being receptive to such fare. 

Miles Davis means "Harmon mute." Nothing to do with Harmon Killebrew. It produces a distinctive sound on the trumpet. I have watched the biopic about the life of Miles Davis starring Don Cheadle. Even blogged a review. 

 

Illustrious guest

Trumpet player Doug Woolverton was true to the style and ability of Miles Davis Tuesday in Appleton. Appleton was blessed getting this fellow to come and perform. Probably not a hard sell, because the guy is from these parts. He's a graduate of Lac qui Parle Valley High School. Could someone tell me where the valley is over there? 

Dale Lien (left) and Doug Woolverton

Anyway, Mr. Woolverton graced the stage as a guest with "Bob's Big Band" named for the late Bob Sorseleil. The event was part of Appleton's Summer Concert Series. The audience was truly large and assembled with lawn chairs. 

The concert was long but had everyone engaged throughout. Kudos to the musicians for being so enthusiastic. It was infectious. 

Woolverton is a professional musician, composer and band leader. Let's salute Dale Lien, area farmer, who oversees the Summer Concert Series. Paying attention, Morris people?

The band personnel had Morris people or people with a Morris background. I shouldn't name names because I could omit someone. Oh heck I'll mention Marty Sarlette who I hadn't seen in a long time. Same with Joe Johnson. Joe's late father Clyde was an early and long-time UMM music faculty member. And my late father Ralph was the founder of the department. Their pictures are on display at the bottom level of the UMM HFA. As a bonus, a picture of my father directing is on the main floor!

Current UMMers Wes Flinn and Mike Odello were in the group. 

I was fortunate to attend because of an invite from Marty's brother Del. I was fortunate that Del initially invited two people who declined. Lucky me, I got to take it in! I have nothing but superlatives to share all around.

Let's not overlook that the park setting has an "amphitheater" design so the people further back are a little elevated, so to have a good vantage point. Appleton gets a grade of A-plus for presenting something like this.

What about Morris? We had the Killoran stage built many years ago and it has never come close to being utilized up to its possibilities. Things have gotten worse. It had some value for the summer Prairie Pioneer Days but there is no more summer Prairie Pioneer Days. The talent shows had a run but those appear to be over. It was a "fad" I guess. 

Let's give credit to the recent first-ever Makers Art Festival in Morris. Some musical talent was shared from the Killoran stage. Use of that stage has become as rare as seeing a dodo bird. One day hardly fixes things but it's a start? Maybe I'm skeptical about any follow-up. 

I have argued that high school musicians should have some sort of ensemble to play regularly in summer. Del and I were once in marching band but that epoch of Morris history is long-gone. Marching band was once a significant institution in Morris and for our youth. The band put on a show and instilled discipline in the kids. As for the music element, it wasn't that enriching because the kids played the same tune or "chart" all the time, like "Marcho Vivo" from the late 1960s. As a kid I could hear that melody way out on Northridge Drive while the band practiced. 

Director John Woell had to be careful about the loud sounds close to the hospital. I remember him talking about that. 

Woell could get by being a disciplinarian - the kids accepted it. The kids might just take a hike today. But I think a group could start something very interesting and fun for regular performances at the Killoran stage. I've shared this suggestion off and on for years but you know how Morris is. Appleton can do something 100 percent dynamic and the public loves it, but in Morris, a town of over 5000 population? People just think about going to the lake or else it's softball, I guess. 

It's the softball obsession as illustrated with the strange and awkward project east of the UMM campus. Wait until the funeral home gets its lights put up at "Holmberg Field." I suppose we'll see cars jamming up Prairie Lane over a long distance after dark. Frankly it's inexcusable. 

 

Priorities shifted

Marching band died in Morris partly because kids were getting pushed toward summer sports camps. Their coaches pushed them. Football coaches wanted their players to lift weights in the off-season, so as to be able to physically punish the athletes from other schools. Isn't music a superior alternative to this? No concussions? No banged-up knees? 

A trumpet player only has to practice enough to "stay in shape." We're talking the "embouchure." 

Girls plunged into sports starting in about 1973. So they most certainly got committed to sports camps too.

The Killoran stage has sat there for so long, utilized to a negligible extent - it's a loser. It was a waste of money, wherever the money came from. I suppose giving money just makes people feel good. 

My original concern about the stage was that it was very close to residential neighborhoods. Could be a sound annoyance issue, but that sure hasn't happened. It sits there basically like a big mausoleum now. It must cost the City of Morris $ to maintain. It's a waste unless things change. In the meantime, Appleton knows how to do this kind of thing. 

It was fun seeing Doug Moe again. He will be leaving us for Arizona. Get ready for the heat, Doug. But it's a dry heat? The weather Tuesday night for Appleton's concert in the park was perfect. Everything was perfect. The audience was ready for everything from Glenn Miller to Miles Davis. 

Woolverton was at the top of his game playing his horn. He's a high-level professional at this. His college studies were at Northern State, Aberdeen SD.

The stage at Appleton is called the Riverview Park Bandstand. We're talking the Pomme de Terre River which gets wider as it goes south as all rivers do. So it's wider than in the Morris area. The Appleton Lions served refreshments. Business sponsors were "Home-2-Home" and "Appleton Dental Care." 

So, the funeral home in Morris is "lighting up" the new softball field? A sum of $15,000? If you feel funerals are overpriced, now you know where some of the money is directed. Don't you feel the pandemic has de-valued the funeral experience because of the diminished in-person? Don't you increasingly wonder about the cost? 

My personal philosophy is that when a family member dies, that person is gone from this life and the main priority is a dignified disposal of the remains. My mom and dad are in heaven and hopefully they were aware of the Tuesday night event and enjoyed it. Ditto for Joe's dad. Oh, and for the late Walt Sarlette who was a big Morris music maven. 

It was a thrill or even a shock to be with a big public gathering again. Knock on wood? The current covid news is a little concerning. Fall conditions will spell increased risk with cool and dry air. Again, knock on wood.

Addendum: Legend has it that Lac qui Parle Valley got the "Valley" tacked on because of local politics. These matters used to be more sensitive than they are now. When the new combined school was being bandied over, there was concern that "Lac qui Parle" by itself might suggest Madison favoritism because Madison had hosted the combined wrestling program with that name. "Valley" was coined to ensure that something completely new was being created. 

Seems incredibly petty, right? But this is how small towns once jockeyed vs. each other. I saw a lot of this from my perch at the Morris newspaper. Remember the "Cyrus Task Force?" It ended up with far more power than the Cyrus school board intended. 

Creating a task force just means the people in real authority positions don't wish to take responsibility!

Doug Woolverton plays trumpet next to tenor sax musician from Marshall MN whose name I don't have, sorry. (Del Sarlette photo)

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

Is Ravnsborg case another "hot coffee?"

Jason Ravnsborg

Shall we give a second thought or two to the Jason Ravnsborg case out of South Dakota? Was there a rush to judgment? Such things can happen but then we can be reminded of the lawyers for O.J. Simpson. Part of the smokescreen they created - they were so good at it - was the "rush to judgment" defense. 

"We don't know all the facts" can be a haven for those wishing to cloud a prima facie judgment. It's hard to argue with the line. We neither wish to "rush to judgment" or to share analysis minus all the facts. 

Where a defendant is truly on the defensive or backed into a corner, "knowing all the facts" can end up being an endless refrain because when, truly, do we know all the facts? 

So as I consider the Ravnsborg case again on this late July day, 2021, new statements are being made seeking to at least thicken any smoke on behalf of the still-embattled South Dakota attorney general. This is a guy who can summon all the Howitzers the legal system can provide. His own savvy was his best initial defense because, as one analyst commented, he answered the interrogators with words carefully tailored so his a-- wouldn't end up in prison. 

I have watched the interrogation. Two dudes from North Dakota asked the questions in a room designed for this sort of thing. 

If anyone including myself might have reached premature judgment re. the South Dakota AG, we had good company, in that Governor Kristi Noem called for the guy's resignation some time ago. I call her "Governor Tight-Fittin' Jeans." Remember the Conway Twitty/Loretta Lynn song? Men are known to fawn over her regarding her "looks." I don't really think I am mesmerized that way. Isn't it rather sexist to even talk in these terms anymore? I'm not sure men universally agree on what's "good looking" anymore with women.
Kristi Noem? I think she's a bit skin and bones, frankly. I might prefer a little more meat on the bones. There, that's a sexist comment itself, but I'm really just trying to demonstrate a point about such analysis - the absurdity of such a broad-brush judgment as if my own perception would be important to anyone else. 

So Noem wanted Ravnsborg out quite some time ago. 

You maybe know that Ravnsborg sees himself as quite the military sort of guy. Maybe it's that discipline that maintains his steely resolve vs. the onslaught of negative attention. He was beat up royally in the popular perception for a long time. I'm not sure that's over, even though some new statements at least suggest a more gray perspective on the matter. But do they? It's far from certain. 

 

Lesson from another case

Lately I have gotten to thinking about the famous "hot coffee" case involving the Golden Arches, remember? The initial news reports even from NBC gave a slam-dunk impression that someone launched a frivolous lawsuit based on spilled hot coffee from a McDonald's drive-through. (The late Steve Cannon of WCCO Radio called these restaurants "Mac and Don's Supper Club.") 

Oh, and tort reform advocates from the right side of the political spectrum gathered like flocking birds, pounding the table about how despicable such frivolous suits were. 

Remember the lawyer Jerry Spence who had a run in the national media as the big-time lawyer with the folksy air? The folksy air may have been strategy to "work" a jury? I'll refrain from lawyer jokes for now. The guy did have a pleasing air on TV like with Larry King. 

So one time Spence made the point that once you gather a preponderance of facts about a legal case, the earlier prima facie view can sink. And the "hot coffee" case could represent exhibit 'A' of this. 

The news media had a role in screwing it all up. That's a priority of yours truly to weigh. Media has always been my thing. 

So after the hot coffee incident which involved the elderly Stella Liebech, Jane Pauley was sitting in for Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News. She got the facts wrong. Pauley hasn't disappeared but she appears to have lost most of the high profile she once had. Personally I think she had a put-on smile tailor-made for the grocery store checkout magazines. (There was a time when I would have said "women's magazines" but hoo boy.) 

Pauley reported that Liebech was driving the car when the coffee spilled. Wrong-O.

People can and do criticize the Internet but in fact it is quite a merciless meritocracy. Really it is. A careless journo really does get shot down fast and mercilessly. I would argue that was less so in the glory days of the evening network news, although that rings of being counterintuitive. There were people "let past the velvet rope" in the media back then, people who formed sort of a self-protecting fraternity. Nice and cozy if you're a member. The ideology-based media was left handing out pamphlets on street corners. 

It is easier to make inroads today and to sever, in effect, the velvet rope. 

 

By any other name. . .

Let's get back to the Jason Ravnsborg case, the South Dakota attorney general. He told the two investigative guys that his name is pronounced "Roundsberg" but the media is reluctant to go with that. Say "Roundsberg" and people won't know who you're talking about. The initial rush by the media had the name pronounced the way you'd guess based on the spelling. Looks like the media really wants to keep going with that. 

Should I care? Well if the guy says his own name is pronounced a certain way, we really ought to go with it. 

 

Sensational claim, but true?

Ravnsborg now claims that the guy he ran over and killed wanted to die. That's pretty drastic. On the surface the assertion looks untoward, n'est-ce pas? Should we indict Mr. Ravnsborg further? Should Governor Noem pile on further? Let's just say it's uncertain. Are we really seeing new "facts" coming out? We are just seeing new statements. 

The statements can seem intriguing and/or shocking, but then we must peek past the veneer to weigh possible motivations of those speaking. What a tangled web we can weave. 

Ravnsborg says his victim Joe Boever was depressed and suicidal and may have thrown himself in front of Ravnsborg's vehicle as the AG drove home from a GOP fundraising event in Redfield SD. The date: September 12. There's a filing that quotes Boever's cousin Barnabas Nemec saying Boever was "an alcoholic with a brooding depressive streak." 

The most eye-popping statement from the cousin was that in December of 2019, Boever told him if he did kill himself, he would "do so by being struck by a vehicle." Is this a factual quote from the deceased? 

It's just possible there's intra-family conflict at work here, perhaps a feud, if not pre-existing then developing now. Why might that be the case? Maybe, just maybe, the cousin with the revelatory statements is not in the immediate orbit of people who would receive what would likely be a $ windfall in a lawsuit. Admittedly speculation here, but this is a high-profile case involving a high-ranking public official as alleged perpetrator. 

We are appreciating how lawyers make their money. The veracity of the cousin's statement will have to be peeled apart. If true it would appear to shine significantly new light on the case. However, Ravnsborg could still be roundly criticized for not paying more attention from the wheel of his Taurus outside of Highmore SD. Would he not have been aware of someone jumping out in front of his vehicle? The victim's glasses ended up inside Ravnsborg's car. 

For sure the late Larry King would be doing shows about this. 

Oh, Barnabus - rather an oddball name - lives in a suburb of Detroit MI, pretty detached.
Boever had separated from his wife. I don't know how traumatic that can be - I've never been married, as I am risk-averse. The filing states that Boever had sought assistance for mental issues. He was using Lorazepam for anxiety. The Daily Beast reports that a bottle was found in his pickup with 12 pills in it. "It had been filled with an order of 90 pills just a day earlier." 

Maybe the bottom line is this: Why did Ravnsborg have to be out on the Godforsaken roads of South Dakota after dark, when he had been at a Republican fundraiser? Why? Why do South Dakota Republicans need to raise money? Seems you can win election in South Dakota just by having an "R" next to your name. 

Our one-time governor of Minnesota, Rudy Perpich, got headlines by claiming South Dakota was "50th in everything." Bill Janklow gave South Dakota drivers rather a reputation with his "speeding laws be damned" attitude. And now this.

Jason Ravnsborg at left being interrogated. I have watched this video. ("law and crime" image)

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

The law can just plod with upper crust

Give a legal case enough time and it can end up in the fog-bound mud flats. We do get exasperated at how time drags with many legal cases. 

We are cut almost no slack when we get pulled over for not wearing a seat belt. The officer sniffs if you express exasperation about the immediacy of the punishment. Hey, we broke the law! People my age had a hard time adjusting to the no-nonsense approach with seat belt. It had been voluntary for ages. But cops are one-dimensional in attitude - you broke the law - so simple, right? 

So Donald Trump's voice is heard on tape as he addressed the Georgia secretary of state. Why cannot that similarly be considered a slam-dunk case? If you were an alderman candidate in Chicago and used that kind of language in addressing an election official, do you think any nuances of the law would come into play to benefit you? 

Trump does it and all we hear about is an "investigation" week after week after week, as pricey white collar attorneys roll up their sleeves and play hardball, giving the former president the precious time to start building up his stock again. He builds it up with a certain segment of Americans that seeks to eat out of his hand. Like you know, the evangelicals, the wild-eyed people who increasingly appear to be leading the U.S. down a dangerous path. 

Trump was supposed to be in legal jeopardy after he left the presidency with its protections and insulation for him. If he is in fact in trouble, it appears to be only in theory. How does this "investigation" in Georgia proceed on an average day? On Friday does it just get suspended until the following Monday? The media should ask this question and demand specifics. 

Georgia has a strong GOP presence that is going to provide cover for Trump, never mind that this man appears not to be worth the trouble. He's just one man, arguably an unbalanced one, getting worse with the passage of time, so why does the self-described "conservative" element in America continue to bend over backwards for him and his mafia-like family? Why? 

Is there no other person who could represent conservative interests in a run for the presidency? Is the GOP really that bankrupt? Lindsay Gramm fears the Republican Party may have "no future without Donald Trump." This is Alice Through the Looking Glass. Isn't the Republican Party a party of ideas? Couldn't any number of people articulate those ideas? 

Can't we all wake up and smell the coffee about this? 

The Trump movement has inflicted serious harm on Christianity. The movement with its evangelicals has wrapped itself around Trump and his weird sycophants. Rudy Giuliani? And these people demonize anyone who calls himself a "Democrat." So it's simply good vs. evil? It's that simple? 

Why are so many people on board with the cause, people everywhere, many of whom might have gotten a good education at one time? Is this a "Twilight Zone" episode where yours truly is left as part of a small minority of "normal" people while everyone else seems to go mad? 

We're next door to a state where the governor, Kristi Noem, has floated the idea of having Trump's face added to Mount Rushmore. The element that she represents is doing all it can to block the addressing of climate change in a meaningful way. Fargo radio informs us that mid-week temperatures next week will get over 100 degrees. The announcer did not say how far over 100. 

I was listening to WDAY, a Forum-owned station that always tries to run cover for the Trump crowd, and to condemn Democrats as clueless fools, often in a fun-poking way. Hey, how far over 100 degrees might the temperature get? Afraid to tell us? Afraid this might make Trump look bad? Because, after all, Trump has derided climate change theory as a "hoax." 

These people would laugh off all the green initiatives. Their new buzzword is "woke" in order to assail their perceived adversaries. 

With some of these crazed "conservatives," I have found that if you know them personally and get in a relaxed one-on-one conversation with them, they are not nearly so irritating, they can seem pretty aware and sensible. It's as if they have to put on certain airs to be accepted in a certain crowd. 

Someone needs to grab them by the shoulders and shake them. "Don't be embarrassed to support a 'liberal' idea once in a while!" Yeah, you won't get cooties. 

All these "investigations" surrounding Trump just plod as if they're little more than a feeding trough for pricey white collar lawyers. It's like a racket. Meanwhile, if you as a common citizen gets pulled over for no seat belt. . .

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

"Makers" fest spells promise for Morris summer

Morris Community Band plays outside of museum (Del Sarlette photo)

The spokesman for the jazz trio said it all on Saturday. He was delighted with the turnout at East Side Park for the new arts festival. He noted that Morris might seem challenged in summertime, as UMM students are generally gone and many people retreat to the lakes. 

"But not everyone!" he proclaimed. Amen. 

The conventional wisdom about the now-defunct summer version of Prairie Pioneer Days, the only one I ever cared about, is that it faded because too many of our community's leaders were "lake people." They retreated to their coveted lake spots. Yes, and while many of them do this, others may be economically limited or they just don't mind staying in Morris in summer. Don't underestimate the latter, seriously. Yes, seriously. 

Morris need not be viewed as a tumbleweed place in summer. Some of our most prominent residents may write it off that way, privately, but it's part myth.

(Advisory: don't go driving around the old Sunwood Inn.)

Things slow down, without a doubt. UMM obviously becomes less active. Morris has always had to live with an image of not offering lakes-based recreation. But should the lakes really be the raison d'etre for our summer months? There, I spelled it "raison" and not "raisin." It is not a breakfast cereal. Were I to spell a word wrong, many of my old detractors in this community would pounce on me. 

I was an adversary of the public school teachers union in the 1980s and a little beyond. Teachers behave themselves much better nowadays - I'm not even aware of any issues. They are not a "power bloc" with defensiveness and thumb-nosing. 

 

Glass half-full (at least)

Criticize me if you want but I actually have my heart in Morris in summertime. I enjoy the biking/walking trail. It's too bad a grant application got refused for extending the trail out to the golf course. Go out to the trail on any day, you'll probably befriend other people's dogs. Oh, and the people themselves! You may come upon Sharon Martin with "Goldy."

Donnie Eich and I once had a little conversation where we agreed that we were not "lake people," did not really understand the allure of the lakes. An awful lot of local people do respond to the allure. But those who don't got a hearty greeting and acknowledgement from the fellow who spoke for the jazz trio Saturday afternoon at East Side Park. 

What a miracle to see something actually happening at the Killoran stage, normally a big hulking presence at the park with no purpose for about 99.8 percent of the year, and I may be generous about the other .2. 

So, is there hope now? Most surely there is. There is truly hope for the revival of a midsummer community gathering in Morris. Truly, the Makers Art Festival for 2021 might be a precursor to a revival of the old Prairie Pioneer Days but with a new name. The "old" PPD survives in vestigial form during the fall at the fairgrounds. I haven't bothered to attend that one. 

So, the disinterest of the lake people was no doubt a factor in the old PPD fading. I might suggest one other factor. Maybe the "ribfest" was getting too dominant, getting too much attention, and you know how small town jealousies can be. I tied that event to a particular local church that I consider to be out of the mainstream. I don't know what attracts people to that church but it's a free country. 

I wish people would just choose a mainstream Protestant church, as these churches need our help and support now. 

Uh-oh, I just dissed the Catholics. Well, maybe the Catholic Church could drop its requirement of celibacy for priests. It's too bad our legal system can't get involved with that. 

I really should compliment the people who were behind ribfest because, after all, they showed the ideal enterprise toward making an event successful. This group of people is highly motivated in all that they do - I just wish they'd blend in with the rest of us better. It's a free country so that's my opinion. I could diss the Wisconsin Synod Lutherans too. I'm an equal opportunity critic I guess. 

I'm just a Norwegian Lutheran, but hey, I say "hooray" for all the Hispanics who really helped make the "Makers" fest a resounding success! What an enriching element in our community. They also support the sport of soccer which I have personally viewed on the south end of the public school campus. We'd be so much better off promoting soccer over softball. Participants get so much more exercise. 

I recently took a walk through the east end of our public school grounds and I noticed four ballfields. The best one or two of them could easily be spruced up to where they could be the equal of the new project east of the UMM campus. From the standpoint of the fan viewing experience, no field could be worse than the new Holmberg Field. You couldn't design it any worse. Amazing. 

And our school board voted just a couple weeks ago to release another $220,000 for the so-called "softball complex." They could have voted no and made much better use of the money. It's not their money anyway. It's OPM, other people's money. So much easier to spend that. 

I bumped into a very well-known Morris person Saturday, long-time acquaintance of mine, broached the softball project and he unhesitatingly said "I don't think they thought that out very well." 

I gather this is a common opinion. So why is everyone stepping aside and letting it continue? Maybe too many people are "at the lake" and not paying attention. 

The jazz trio of which I write is the "Components Jazz Trio," artistically excellent. It is led by Bill Engebretson, drummer. The Morris Community Band played in the evening outside of the Stevens County Museum. When was the last time this group played from the Killoran stage? The stage was built precisely with this type of group in mind, don't you know? 

All of Saturday was like a shock to my system: all the socializing around so many people, a total withdrawal from our weird "pandemic year." I will advise: the virus may not be done with us yet. Look out for fall when the air becomes cooler and drier, and look out for new variants. The unvaccinated share of the population could become the biggest problem, and in large part these are Republicans. They watch Fox News.

Components Jazz Trio at East Side Park (photo by Del Sarlette)

Alex McIntosh performs at the Killoran Stage (Del Sarlette photo)

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

Belatedly, heavy hitters are calling out Trump

Perhaps I can get some credit for being prescient on this? Donald Trump has all along gotten too much "slack" from people. The media did not hold him to account nearly well enough in the run-up to the 2016 election. I say "run-up" instead of campaign because run-up is a longer-term thing. 

Trump built celebrity that he could capitalize on over a long period of time. It greatly preceded the literal campaign. Secondly, slack was afforded this dangerous man by the people around him as he served in the White House. And guess what: people are starting to talk about it now. Like it's revelatory. 

The real truth is that a whole lot of people are now realizing the danger of Trump continuing to "hover" as it were. He has begun a new round of "rallies." 

Concern is sensed from Fox News, often called "Trump TV" in the past, but this network offers a canary in the coal mine by refusing to carry Trump's current rallies live. "Newsmax" is proud to promote itself now as the place to go for live coverage of the rallies. I've heard ads on Fargo radio, probably WDAY. 

WDAY continues to sound like a Trump mouthpiece much of the time. Naturally it doesn't only fawn over Trump, it suggests that Democrats have a lot of unsavory qualities and you can guess the descriptions. The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the USA. If it's as stupid as what media outlets like WDAY suggest, I guess we're all in trouble, because logically speaking we'd end up with one-party government. 

And one-party government is inherently bad, right? A recipe for corruption? Although if it's Republicans getting down and dirty with corruption, all their followers across the U.S. would probably just shrug. Anything to tamp down the Democrats! 

Is it really that simple? Can't you see that the broad American public is slowly pushing back? But if true, the many voter suppression efforts across the U.S., tailored to suit Republicans, will have a blunting effect. Look at Wisconsin. It's already in a contorted state because of the strings that the Republicans have been able to pull. 

There is a fresh headline on the "Mediaite" website this a.m. It's about George Conway's reaction to the new book by Michael Bender of the Wall Street Journal. We might expect Conway to be hard on Trump himself. There's a track record of that. But Conway is now going off on senior advisors to Trump. 

We might not be surprised that the likes of Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence and Bill Barr had reservations about Trump as the presidential term neared its close. I mean, the people surrounding our nation's president can't be that stupid, can they? The problem is this, as stated in Mediaite's article: "None had the conviction or principles to push back on Trump's baseless claims." 

If you're a normal human being with a normal conscience, wouldn't this failure cause you to at least lose some sleep? What's wrong with all of them? Drunk on power or being close to power? It's an old human failing naturally. Look at the circle of people who came to surround Hitler. They surely weren't stupid, were they? I think not. Their brains got corrupted with evil. 

If our president's advisors could not bring themselves to challenge Trump based on simple principle, how are they really any different? We were at risk of losing our very democracy. That is not overstatement. Yet we had powerful people wishing to indulge the president. 

How is yours truly prescient? Well my own thoughts go back further in time and are centered, naturally, on the media, my own personal focus for trying to understand so much of the reality we embrace. So just two days ago, I sent off another email to John Ziegler sharing my concern and perspective. From my email:

If Trump succeeds in coming back as autocrat, we will all regret that the media did not hold his feet to the fire more in the 2016 campaign. It will be revelatory IMHO. Examples? OK I have a couple.

- The interview where Trump adamantly claimed he had "sent investigators to Hawaii to look into Obama's birth certificate," and "it is unbelievable what they are finding." Hope you remember that - he repeated the "unbelievable" part. THE PROBLEM IS THIS: The interviewer would just passively move on. Trump's claim was incredible. But if true, would he not have come forward with a formal report with the damning evidence, which would hurt the Democratic Party? And secondly, isn't Trump notorious for not paying people? So he sent investigators, who would presumably have to be paid, to Hawaii where they found "unbelievable" stuff, and then there was no follow-up, no dramatic news conference? Nothing? Maybe we should all just assume Trump lies sometimes. But is that a healthy attitude?

- Alisyn Camerota interviewing Kellyanne Conway and asking if Trump could produce the formal letter that is sent to anyone having their taxes audited. Alisyn just thought it would be nice if Trump could confirm the audit with the simple letter. To which Kellyanne responded: "Are you accusing him of lying?" Well hell's bells, those of us in the media aren't exactly Pollyannish. You sure aren't.

Are such things a big deal? Well, I feel that if Trump was totally fabricating the Hawaii thing, knowing he was speaking to a national audience, how could his conscience be comfortable with it? Oh, he doesn't have a conscience? And wouldn't that be concerning? If he ascends to autocrat, we will regret not probing more. But Trump was such a gold mine for the media and its ratings, as opposed to another Bush vs. Clinton, a possibility I remember you broaching as cringeworthy! So the media cut a little slack? And Trump got elected? He he's hovering again now? And Mark Levin roots for the capitol rioters? Yes, "Alice Through the Looking Glass."

Keep up the good work.

- Brian R. Williams, Morris MN

 

John Ziegler

Mr. Ziegler responded by saying "Thanks Brian. Let's hope there is no Trump comeback." 

Maybe you don't know who John Ziegler is. He thinks a lot like yours truly, which may or may not impress you! He is a radio program host, documentary film writer/director and conservative journalist. Yes, conservative! I can have rapport with certain folks in that circle. Just be factual in your arguments and I'll listen to anyone. 

"Zig's" most notable work in the media has been as the evening (7-10 p.m.) host of a radio talk show called "The John Ziegler Show" on KFI a.m. 640 in Los Angeles CA. In 2007 he was ranked in the top 50 - OK he was 54th - on the "Heavy Hundred" list of most important U.S. radio talk show hosts (by "Talkers" magazine). 

At present Ziegler hosts the Sunday night radio program "The John and Leah Show" which is nationally syndicated. He's a staff columnist for Mediaite which is how I got familiar with him. I read his stuff and he just seems to have an analytical bent similar to mine. Source of pride? I personally think so. Thank you, "Zig."

 

Addendum: Why have Republicans lost their grasp of simple manners? I remember an elementary school unit here in Morris called "Manners." What's with the potty mouth so much of the time? You might be familiar with the Morris residence right next to Eastside Park that comes across as Trump Central locally. So as I recall, there's a sign there that reads "Biden, stick your unity up your (blank)." The word for "blank" does not appear there but we all know the phrase. Little kids play on park equipment right across the street. "Mom, where are we supposed to stick our unity?"

 

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

Is July 4 or 5 the real holiday in 2021?

Today (Monday) is the day after the 4th of July. Holidays are never meant to actually be celebrated on Saturday or Sunday, are they? A big part of the occasion is the day off. So that be today, Monday. But it's a mixed bag for things being open or closed. 

I was putting down a large cold Pepsi at the Willie's picnic table when I saw someone try the rear entrance door at Ace Hardware. Closed. 

I got a heads-up phone call from the meals on wheels kitchen because I had wrongly assumed they'd be closed today. So I raced down and got my much-appreciated noon meal. Seniors in need of the service should not suffer because of a holiday coming along. 

Three or four years ago there was even an op-ed in the Strib maintaining that time off for Christmas was an inconvenience. The fellow who wrote that stated directly what many of us think during Yuletide. It would be nice at times to have our "routine." Our routine can be so comforting. I confess I'm on board with that thinking. Then again, I live alone with precious few contacts to enrich my life. 

The holidays can seem bleak for people in that category. The late Glen Helberg and I talked about how holidays are depressing for unemployed people. I left my job at the Morris newspaper in the summer of 2006. I left under duress and felt I had no alternative. The manager told staff after I left that "things would be better" with me gone. A former co-worker tipped me off to that. I had a real nice relationship with several people there. The individual with whom I talked eventually left herself. She said the weekly "status meetings" were getting so stressful, it was starting to affect her weekends. 

I knew precisely what she was experiencing. We were owned out of Fargo at that time. The company presented itself as so "hip" with modern corporate strategies. It seemed loose with money. It was night-and-day different from when the Morrisons were there. Maybe I'm just a rube but I would suggest that being loose with money, along with managing from a distance has a downside. Strings were pulled not just from Fargo but from Detroit Lakes. 

The guy from Detroit Lakes came here for a meeting and said Morris needed to come up with ways to get people to come here, as in to visit here. Jim Morrison, who worked under the guy for a time - he and I referred to him as "Ol' Leadbottom" - shook his head and said Morris simply isn't like Detroit Lakes. Tourism is a mother's milk of Detroit Lakes. Morris? Well, we have our attributes, albeit subtle, but we're no Detroit Lakes when it comes to promoting tourism. 

The July 4 weekend makes us think about our attributes or shortage thereof. Attendance at my church of First Lutheran was actually stable, a little better than the week before. But the long-term trend of our church has spelled challenge. We have gone from two Sunday services to one in the summer and finally to one all year-round, and some Sundays we have a lot of empty pews even with one service. It may not be a Morris thing but it's concerning. 

Drop-offs in church attendance everywhere have been making the news. You've seen the headlines? 

There is a "last bastion" for Christianity and no, it is not a good thing. What appears to be a final refuge has actually caused the problem to begin with. It has greased the skids for the decline. Most notably, young people are not continuing with the tradition of churchgoing. 

So we count on the older folks in the short-term? That's not so guaranteed either. Sometimes when I notice certain prominent congregation members absent, I'll ask and I will often get this answer: "They're visiting grandchildren." 

Isn't it something how "visiting grandchildren" trumps virtually everything? I would argue that people should attend church wherever they are. If you're in another town visiting those precious urchins, your grandchildren, attend the ELCA church there. If people are in Morris doing same, come to our church or to Faith Lutheran. But it doesn't seem to work that way. 

Grandchildren are in the pantheon of precious human beings. You don't dare question that. They come ahead of God and Jesus I guess. A deceased former neighbor of ours told us that he was seriously admonished once by a fellow resident of a senior-oriented housing unit. Admonished for what? Talking about his grandchildren too much! Yes, it was serious. 

Some of you might take note: the rest of the world does not share your obsession with your grandchildren! My former neighbor, RIP, had a grandchild who was interning under Michelle Obama! I'll confess: growing up next to that family gave me an inferiority complex. Such are the trials of life. Some kids grow up next door to bullies. Come to think of it, that happened to me too. It's all in God's plan. 

So while grandchildren have total primacy in the lives of some people, we must consider the conservative evangelical Christians for whom political priorities have primacy. Such priorities have come to define the Christian faith for them. Reverence to Donald Trump. Well, that's how they see it. And so the waves of young people keep walking away from the church. 

That's no bastion I want to be associated with.

Is a reversal possible? Never say never. Anyone who feels alienated in our Morris MN, please just come to First Lutheran any Sunday morning. You will be welcomed, and no one will care if you vote Democratic once in a while. You will see the face of Christ

 

Addendum: To repeat, are we supposed to show Independence Day reverie on July 4 or 5 this year? Reminds me of the parody movie on the "Friday the 13th" series of movies. It was called "Saturday the 14th."

 

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

School board waiting for city's $ gesture?

Dog walkers of the world observe a lot. Don't underestimate that! So a friend sent me an email after having his beloved canine out for a Tuesday night stroll. This friend was aware I had developed some special interest or skepticism about the whole softball thing on east edge of town. It's over by the UMM campus of course. 

UMM is one of three partners that are steering the course with the project. But it might not be that simple. Getting three government-based entities to work together might seem vexing. An observer might easily have expected some trouble or discord. 

My friend who sent the email regularly sees the Morris newspaper which we describe in an irreverent way as the "fishwrap." Remember the old Alfred E. Neuman posters? "Suitable for framing or wrapping fish." 

My current impression of the Morris newspaper is that it doesn't have a nose for controversy. It likes to project a calm, placid picture about things. It may have inadvertently revealed some controversy about the softball project. My friend writes: "In the school board meeting article, it was mentioned that they were waiting to hear from the city council regarding the city's share of the phase 3 funding, but on another page (in the city council article) it was mentioned that the city wasn't going to kick in any more moola." 

I might ask: "Who is 'they?' " "They were waiting to hear from the city council." Maybe "they" is meant to refer to the governing structure of the softball project. I'm not sure, because I don't think the city answers to the school board any more than I would expect the school board to answer to the city. Which just underscores the awkwardness that can come from such arrangements. 

Because the main new varsity field is named for the high school coach, does that give the public school primacy, or what? The city has no direct interest in high school sports, and I would assume the council is properly aware. The city's purpose is to accent recreation as with the skateboard park in west Morris. 

The city manager has asserted in two different kmrs-kkok web postings that the city is backing off from further contributions to the softball "complex." 

My it does get "complex," eh? 

Would that we could just get the State of Minnesota to come in and take over. Remember when our public school concert hall got built? It was breathtaking to see it for the first time. "You're not in Kansas any more." But I don't remember any sort of fundraising push for it. The money was there - no excruciating process to push it along. I would have been aware if there was. 

I would criticize the City of Morris if it got involved at all with the softball project. Just say "good luck but no thanks." 

I wonder what individuals first put forth the suggestion for this. The MACA softball coach? She can be a very persuasive person. I remember when she wrote a letter to the editor in favor of the new school referendum where she said a "yes" vote is like taking advantage of a tire sale. Sounds a little silly but I guess it was logical. 

School referendums have gone well in the most recent chapter of our town's 150-year history. I am 66 years old and remember so well from the '60s how it was like pulling teeth to get a school referendum passed. I guess the "Minnesota Miracle" under Governor Wendell Anderson relieved pressure, finally, on local property taxes. Would be nice to get a "miracle" now to finish the softball thing with no more contortions among local government. 

But alas, we're probably looking at some hair-pulling. Is it worth the distress? 

Now there's talk of a "re-design" which seems to me to be nothing more than a naked admission that the thing has to be scaled back. Would the project have gotten as many private donors with a scaled-back presentation at the start? We might be looking at an ethical issue here. And don't lie to me, please, by saying "maybe we don't need as much parking after all." Or worse yet, "we're worried about balls hitting windshields and hoods." 

I think some of these spokespeople might have had balls hit them in the head. 

My dog-walking friend expressed shock at the parking situation he saw Tuesday. "Holy moly, a plethora of cars! Many parked on both sides of that road - a little scary driving there, you don't know what little kid is going to dart from between parked cars, and not much room for meeting oncoming traffic." 

My own side note: Prairie Lane is often used by walkers and bicyclists. I often use it. These days you might have to slip in between two parked vehicles to allow room for a car to pass. It feels uncomfortable. 

"Speaking of parking," my friend continued, "I saw a lot of cars parked in that UMM lot across the street from the fields. Why can't that lot be used for softball parking all the time? The games are always in the evenings and after school is out for the summer, so it isn't being used for much else." 

And finally, "You're buddies with the big shots at the U, why don't you talk to someone." I'll demur on that. My priority with UMM is music. Who is the new choir director going to be? 

Well, re. my friend's point about the UMM parking lot, sad to say, I'm afraid many people don't wish to walk the distance from there to the east side fields, although it would seem a very short distance. 

UMM softball fans have had it so easy and convenient, using the UMM lot which is right across the street from the long-time UMM field with its brick dugouts. I see virtually no improvement for UMM softball as a result of the current efforts. UMM has had it made with its established facility. So I fail to see why UMM is even a partner in all the goings-on. 

Yes, you can learn a lot walking your dog, or walking or jogging too. Once this past spring, I gave directions to a fan who was on her way to a UMM softball game. Pleased to be of service. 

I'm relieved I did not contribute any $ to the softball project. Had I been hit-up early-on, I would have.

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