No doubt now that UMN-Morris faces headwinds

Here's an email I sent to our State Senator Torrey Westrom on March 4. I did not receive a response.

 

Hello Torrey, it finally dawned on me I should contact you. I'm concerned about the welfare and future of the U of M campus in Morris. The campus has become almost defined by this thing called "DEI." Obviously this prompts concern because our Federal government from the top wants to absolutely wipe out DEI in schools. A Federal judge had to knock down one effort. So what does this bode for the Morris campus? And will the central U of M administration become fearful of what the Morris campus could do to the system as a whole, if we stick so strongly to DEI? 

My own opinion of DEI is that it's not terrible but maybe it has gotten overdone here. But my own opinion is secondary. You might want to respect my opinion because I speak for the family fund within the University of Minnesota Foundation. The Williams name is important in UMM history. I guess we're called "UMN-Morris" now. It gets confusing. 

The Morris campus appears to be under considerable stress. I recently contacted the Twin Cities campus to inquire about the possibility of having my family fund transferred so that it supports music at the Twin Cities campus instead of music at Morris. Morris people got wind of that and so I backed off. Maybe you should know that UMM music has been restructured so that the ensembles are a combo of students and COMMUNITY. And I question the appropriateness of that. UMM assets should not be used to support what amounts to a community band. We no longer have "symphonic winds" which was the student group. It has been canceled. You can verify all this. 

Anyway, if you have consumed this whole email I do thank you. I have met you on several occasions in the past and you have always been friendly. I worked for the Morris newspaper for many years. Last time I saw you it was at Good Shepherd Church in Morris. 

I think your Republican Party as a whole needs to "soften" a little. Just my opinion. Take care.

 

- Brian R. Williams, Morris MN

 

Maybe one thing is for certain after the Sunday Star Tribune came out: We won't ever see a strike by UMN-Morris employees again. How many years since the last one? At age 70 I'm having a harder time estimating such things. I might not even be close. But I remember the irritating sight of those clusters of people with their typical placards for such things. I'm not sure if any of them said "unfair." 

The Sunday Star Tribune sure sets the table in a certain way for tonight's (Monday) "welcome picnic" to usher in the new UMM school year. 

School days! My generation was told in such strong terms that it was important to go to college. I'm sure it was more important in pre-digital times when information was scarce. Scarce? Today it's a flood. And as with all sweeping changes affecting society, we take for granted the new norm. So easy to forget the "retro" ways. 

Easy to forget when we'd leave "coins" on a table as the tip for a restaurant server. We called them "waitresses" then. Might just leave a quarter! 

Information and knowledge? Boy we sure leaned on our libraries. Their importance was self-evident. Today we've come to take for granted that we're one or two "clicks" away from learning about anything, anything at all. 

The Star Tribune tells us that enrollment is stressed at our "jewel in the crown" the University of Minnesota-Morris. It's "UMN-Morris" now. Well, we still have sports teams. I miss the days when our teams played the state universities. Seemed neat when our little Morris could defeat the more well-known places like St. Cloud. 

Our chancellor likes how we're in a different conference now. She has her reasons. So this is not a rebuttal. But I'll just say I miss the days when I'd see buses with the names of state universities on the side. "Bemidji State" et al. And if we were playing the "Beavers" of Bemidji State in basketball, I'd go inside and see Dave Holman along the concourse. The late Holman was a Bemidji State alum. He was on our public school faculty. He was kind of an acquired taste to have as a friend. All would agree he was an interesting person. 

There was a problem in those days: for a certain element of the UMM student population, it wasn't enough for our Cougars to win. The students could be disrespectful toward the visiting players and fans. It brimmed with arrogance. As I have written before, I think our one-time chancellor Jack Imholte actually liked that attitude. Part of his way of "selling" UMM was to frankly suggest that our students were "smarter." Believe me I know this. 

It's fine to be proud of your institution of higher learning. UMM could justifiably be proud, I think. Oh here I go being contrarian. Today in 2025 I strongly doubt that UMM exudes that kind of sense of superiority. I think we're happy to blend in with all institutions, all of which should feel proud of what they're doing for kids. Obviously the missions differ. Shall we refrain from making value judgments about those missions? 

The private schools can present a problem. If religion enters in, that can be a big problem for me. The Cougars today have a non-conference opponent in basketball in "Oak Hills Christian" from way the heck up north in Minnesota. Sometimes I'm bothered by the sheer amount of travel undertaken by school sports teams. 

Do some cursory research on "Oak Hills Christian." It is the most anti-gay college in the U.S. And while I am discouraged by UMM's history of embracing gay rights with effusive zealousness, I'm not sure we really ought to be scheduling Oak Hills Christian. What irony in this matchup of teams: UMM and Oak Hills Christian!

Some of the teams in our UMAC Conference have always struck me as rather cult-like. At the very least mysterious. There was nothing mysterious about the state universities. 

When we played Winona State, we knew a certain local wrestling coach would take interest. That's Spencer Yohe, who I guess has been gone from here for a rather long time now. The WSU alum was a miracle-worker at tiny Hancock in the sport of wrestling. Eventually he joined the UMM staff. 

I described Holman as having an offbeat nature. That mantle was carried perfectly by Mr. Yohe also. Don't knock him, he beat cancer. As a newspaper writer I rather enjoyed the colorful or eccentric folks. 

Perry Ford

 

The UMM coach with whom I worked most closely was Perry Ford. Sad to say, Perry has left this life. He worked hard to keep the Cougar men's program viable when the bricks started falling off. The bricks fell off at a faster pace when poor Jim Severson came here. 

 

Two pizza slices! 

I haven't been to a UMM basketball game since I left the Morris paper. I used to have my "evening meal" of two pizza slices there. I'm sure there has been price inflation since, probably considerable. 

Donnie Eich

Let's remember the late Donnie Eich as a loyal supporter of the UMM women's basketball program. He'd sit up at the top of the bleachers and take notes on his program. He could be very frank in his views. So he said to me one day that "all a degree from UMM proves is that you can read some books and then answer some questions about them." 

 

The Fourth Estate 

So, the UMM welcome picnic is tonight (Monday) at East Side Park. UMM sets sail on this new year with turbulence. That's guaranteed by the Sunday Star Tribune article. In the state/metro section I'm told. (Willie's was sold out this morning.) 

Our chancellor sent out a rebuttal to the article. But I'd be shocked if the Strib's writers were anything but exhaustive and thorough. Maybe the chancellor is not considering the "retention" issue enough. Are enough students staying to get their full four-year degrees? I know it's been an issue in the past. 

Free education for the Native Americans! Everyone knows about this. The UMM administration (or its lawyers) must have cooked up some way to keep this going even with the U.S. Supreme Court having banned affirmative action. Oh, those lawyers. And what about DEI? Well I certainly brought up the subject in my email to State Senator Westrom. 

Is Stephen Miller aware of UMM? 

Well let's just hope for the best in this coming school year. As for the Star Tribune, they followed the press instinct of looking for a problem somewhere. As Chuck Todd has said, "the media does not go out to the airport to cover all the successful takeoffs and landings." The media sure converged on Morris at the time of the 2005 goalpost incident at UMM.

 

Pining for band 

Is the hope all gone for ever seeing a real UMM band at the graduation again? A band with essentially all students? It was the norm for so long. How wonderful if we could hear the "UMM Hymn" again, from UMM's earliest heady days. I was there, circa 1960-61. And I was present at UMM's first graduation in 1964.

UMM's first year coincided with "Camelot," the JFK administration. Unfortunately the Cold War was rearing its ugly head.

 

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

Have we no decency anymore?

What was the point? I mean, for the son of the president to post his "meme" the other day? In normal times we would expect a Trump family member to disown what Donald Trump Jr. did. 

And DJT was up on the roof of the White House for what reason? To be cute? Or, because he knew the media would do cartwheels giving attention to this? Don't you know this is a prime instinct of his? You haven't recognized that yet? 

The son of the president went on this platform called Instagram to commit his mischief. If only it had been harmless mischief. It still would not have warranted serious media attention. But we're in the age of being saturated with media. It comes at us from all directions. We can sift through this and find our favorite "podcast" in the middle of the night if we want. 

When I was a kid, KCMT TV of Alexandria would reach the end of its "broadcast day." And we'd see stock footage of Air Force planes on a carrier while the National Anthem played. Yes, always vigilant about supporting a new war. Very strange that it took a disgusting president like DJT to at least open our eyes to how the U.S. needn't commit itself to a foreign military engagement every few years. 

"Everything Trump" has dragged the nation into the gutter. And we hardly seem conscious of it. My attempts at opening people's eyes are met by incredulousness and then insults. "You're a Trump hater." I hardly care about the Trumps on a personal level because I will never have a personal relationship with any of them. The problem with DJT now is that he has the power to affect our lives. He got three million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton in 2016. He ascended to the presidency anyway. 

Oh, the time I spent watching MSNBC news shows about it all. I'd hate to realize the number of hours. Everything was laid out for us to appreciate. But the president had high-powered lawyers at the ready at every juncture. Ready to appeal (endlessly) and obfuscate to stretch things out and eventually prevail, or at least survive. 

So we're in another morning of all this, Monday in August 2025, right after our county fair. I obviously check the news because it's my nature to be aware and educated. I don't need to go to church to be told how to think and how it's essential for Trump to rule. 

I didn't attend church at all yesterday. It's discouraging because even though I attend an ELCA church which tries to be reasonable amid all that's going on, I have to live with the reality that my church of First Lutheran in Morris has fallen into very hard times, precisely because we're in the "liberal" or "progressive" ELCA. 

And I know at least one family in my church that had "Trump" signs on their yard. So the phenomenon is everywhere. This while Trump is quite out in the open wanting to establish an autocracy. He crosses lines that were carefully drawn in the past. Most significantly, the line that calls for the Federal Reserve to be left alone. Violate that dictum and the country could fall apart. And it may well be on the verge of falling apart. 

Fire an agency head who is responsible for collecting accurate data like for jobs and inflation. Make sure agency heads only deliver numbers that the president feels will make him look good. All this is happening right out in the open. 

I try sharing cautionary notes. But even my measured and well-thought-out statements are met with crude and insulting responses. How can I even respect the Christian faith anymore? Can you tell me why I should? 

MAGA supports what Israel is doing to the Palestinians. As a person of conscience I cannot countenance that even for a moment. Many of the Palestinians are Christian, in case anyone cares. 

We may soon be seeing "indictments" for Barack Obama, James Comey and others. MAGA will passively observe, register no objection. These people fill our Stevens County churches. FLC is an outlier and FLC appears to be going extinct along with Federated Church. Yes the two churches can "pair" for a time as they are doing now. It's a prelude to dissolution. Nothing can stop DJT. 

My own personal welfare may start to be affected. Well I'm 70 years old and have had a good life. Michelle Fischbach will not respond to me. Torrey Westrom will not respond to me. I emailed Westrom with my concern about what the total anti-DEI push from the Federal government might mean for UMN-Morris. I told him I was actually a stakeholder in UMM. Then I wondered: Is Westrom even capable of reading emails? It's well-known that his vision is limited. 

Maybe you missed the news about what the son of DJT did the other day. I won't score any points for pointing this out but I'll do it anyway. The son of the president posted a "meme" of his father throwing a green dildo from the White House roof. The photoshopped image merged the roof appearance with the scene of a basketball court with women players on it. So that's where he was tossing the sex toy. 

Can someone explain to me the point of this? There was a time when such behavior would have brought howls of disapproval from all over. But in 2025? Our U.S. environment is so fundamentally different. And "Christians" are the worst offenders. 

Maybe I can privately show homage to the faith in the way that my late mother would approve. But the organized Christian faith appears to be on the verge of destroying America.

 

Addendum: Was the son of the president trying to make a statement about women's basketball as opposed to men's? Was he trying to diss the women, to poke fun at them? To suggest maybe that women should not be playing basketball at a high level? Would we have ever achieved full equality of boys and girls sports if Republicans had been in charge all along? Of course not.

Will Republicans with their considerable power at present try to diminish girls and women's sports? We have a congressperson here in western Minnesota who would not disagree with a single thing that the Trumps put forth. Not a whimper. Is that really who we are? Well I guess "yes."

 

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

Looks like WNBA will be dragged down after all

Uncertain future in WNBA?

We had to be suspicious when Caitlin Clark missed the first game of the pre-season due to injury. Who misses the first game of the pre-season? You've had an extended time to rest. 

Caitlin's body was signaling something. First it was the "quad" thing, happened twice. Her team tried telling us it was two separate and unrelated injuries. When she came back to play, I really think we were all holding our breath - all Caitlin's fans. We were apprehensive for a reason, as it turned out, because now her "groin" came into play. 

Many fans think this is a mysterious injury situation. Some conspiracy theorists began to be heard: the league realized that Caitlin was getting "beat up" so bad by opponents, she had to be withdrawn, I guess for the sake of the league's image. 

The league's image? My, the WNBA has been small-time for so long. It's sad because there have been so many outstanding players. Look at Maya Moore. Great as Moore was, her name was not a household word among people outside of the real WNBA followers. Caitlin comes along and turns into a phenomenon. Not just a playing phenomenon but a cultural one. 

We have to attribute part of this to her image and personality. She took to the "light" of stardom very well. Lindsay Whalen never had this kind of image. Janel McCarville did not excite fans based on her image. Well, athletes are entertainers. The more they can endear themselves to the fans and the population as a whole, the better. 

Caitlin simply had the gift. Oh, there I go referring to the woman in the past tense. Is it all over with Caitlin now, with her body increasingly looking so brittle? This was the WNBA's big chance to break out of obscurity. 

As I sit here today in mid-August, I'm wondering if the league is in a rapid plunge back to where it used to be. We hear talk of resentment against Caitlin within the league. Overly-aggressive defensive play against the "girl from West Des Moines." Gets described as thuggery sometimes. We are forced to ponder why this is. And I think our immediate reaction is, or ought to be, "it's not so simple." 

Jealousy just based on how talented CC is? There's one theory, but it probably springs from naivete. There is a suspicion with some justification that resentment comes from the fact that CC springs from a quite specific template. And it is not the template that characterizes the league, not at all. I think the professional commentators hate to get in this line of thinking very much if at all. Some of them do put their toe in the water, though. 

  

Just play the game 

There is so much at stake because if the league and its fans could just accept Caitlin as a talented player worthy of the usual, expected defensive attention on the court, she'd be in better shape now. She'd be out on the court which would be a boon for all the stakeholders. Shouldn't monetary gains for the league be No. 1? That is what common sense would demand. What could trump that? 

Well, CC's "template" is as a white openly heterosexual Midwest girl from a white bread background. Anglo name and all. Maybe we could equate this to Norman Rockwell? Rockwell's whole world has dissolved. We live in a rainbow culture now and this includes categories of people and/or sexual preferences. 

Let's be honest: there has been a widely-held perception of the WNBA as being a lesbians' club or hangout. Sex is at the periphery of our minds, and just look at how the recent prank or stunt of throwing a dildo out on the court has become a "thing." We all know who CC's male fiance is. 

And I haven't even gotten into the subject of race yet. Race still hangs over so much of America. Hasn't CC done all she can to be a sister to the non-white players on her own team and other teams? I'm not aware of any evidence suggesting otherwise. But I guess that's not the point. Players of color could well think that the fame of CC is due in no small extent to her whiteness. And is this theory valid? To be honest I think it is, unfortunately. I am commenting on the real world here. Is it fair? No it is not. 

 

Can't escape race 

Race is a specter that has hung over America since the 19th Century. You might argue that it's human nature to "like your own kind," like for white bread Upper Midwesterners to be attracted to this "girl from West Des Moines" with the name so easy to pronounce. 

I go out of my way to root for all of Caitlin's teammates. I cannot deny that I have my own little affinity for someone like Caitlin. But if the lesbian players are picking on Caitlin, assaulting her, they are no better than people like me who admit to a little subconscious preference. Make that affinity, not preference. Human beings simply cannot throw off their shackles of bias. We are the sinful creations of God. 

I frankly think Caitlin may be done in the WNBA. For a while I thought the WNBA could actually displace baseball as our preferred sport of summer. My opinion about that has dimmed considerably. A league with a lesbian image is not going to cut it. The league's legacy weakness is going to drag it down again.

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

When big league ball was formative in MN

RIP Rich Rollins. He was the original third sacker for the Minnesota Twins, was part of the '65 pennant-winning excitement. We learn of Rich's passing which was two months ago, May 2025. Rich at third, Zoilo Versalles at SS, Bernie Allen at 2B and Vic Power at 1B. Vic was a maestro with the glove and helped bring along our young infield.

   

The quiet 1950s gave way to a burst of excitement, development and change thereafter. Makes me almost wonder if the placid '50s was rather desirable. Minnesota did not have big league sports yet. And can you imagine life without it now? I was born in 1955 when the best we could do with baseball was the Minneapolis Millers. They left Nicollet Park after the 1955 season. 

You would think the red carpet would be put out for a major league team. And it seemed big league ball teased us for a rather lengthy time. We were teased with the suggestion that the Giants might come here. I have read also that the Cleveland Indians flirted with us. Minnesota history would look quite different if either of those teams had come. Willie Mays! The guy had played for the Minneapolis Millers. He might have avoided the erratic winds of Candlestick Park and come here to play at our new place. 

The new place was outside of the actual "Twin Cities" of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Seems quaint that any accommodation for the new big league team had to walk the tightrope to please St. Paul as well as Minneapolis. Can't we assume that Minneapolis is the more established "big city?" That was my impression as I was growing up. 

Yes, St. Paul had the state capitol. I don't know why St. Paul felt it had to be in the "race" with Minneapolis. Life was quite nice in both places, wasn't it? Our eventual big league team had a logo that went out of its way to promote the parity and comity of the two cities. You're probably aware: the two guys in uniform shaking hands "across the river." Yes, it's a team that represents both Minneapolis and St. Paul. 

But in reality, the Minnesota Twins represented all of Minnesota. 

Minnesotans went out of their way to plan trips to the big city environs, specifically to the outskirts in the suburb of Bloomington. The Twins made Bloomington a household name as far as cities were concerned. And I remember the first time my family made its trek from "greater Minnesota" to finally see a Twins game. I assure you that nothing could thrill a young boy more. 

I was ten years old. The Twins beat Baltimore and how lucky could I be: Harmon Killebrew hit two home runs! Al Worthington made one of his classic appearances from the bullpen. He rode in from the bullpen in a shiny red convertible! I just can't forget such things. 

 

A castle from afar 

Metropolitan Stadium looked like a castle amid the fairly barren surroundings. Amazing how we'd park amidst a "sea" of cars in the expansive lot. Better memorize where you parked. You'd note a nearby sign and use it for orientation. Long before car "fobs." Vehicles of early 1960s vintage when Detroit was king. Trade your car every four years, the CW was. Frankly we suspected "planned obsolescence." 

A boy would find it breathtaking to see the ballfield with the players warming up. There they were! Not just pictures in the newspaper or names in a boxscore! Real people! We knew they were, but we'd take a moment to feel stunned. They were total celebrities to us. I  remember noticing Rich Rollins' red hair right away. 

 

Welcome Cubans 

We saw the players of color that our owner was so good for signing, I presume not out of benevolence. Calvin Griffith was quite the practical guy and he scouted Cuba well. Someone joked that the "TC" on the Twins cap stood for "too many Cubans." I'll take that as a light-hearted comment and not mean-spirited. 

I'll remind that most boys from greater Minnesota were from "white bread" communities. Maybe Jackie Robinson and other early pioneers had to endure abuse, pretty serious at times. But in Minnesota, I can verify that my generation of the original Twins fans loved the players of color along with all the others. Never was heard a racial epithet, at least from my experience. 

The Twins' first year of 1961 was exciting enough. It had to be, because of the novelty. Met Stadium was already in its sixth year as the home for a baseball team. I have always wondered what it was like when the Millers called it home. How much more low-key (or depressing) was it? I mean, Met Stadium was built with the idea of attracting the bigs. Most definitely fulfilled its mission. It's hard to believe, really, that it took until 1961. 

 

Breaking out 

The mists of time have obscured what the Twins did in 1962. And that is unfortunate. The Twins of that year were spectacular and made a run at the dynastic New York Yankees. We went from no big league team in 1960 to placing second in the ten-team American League in 1962! Not only that, but just five games in back of the Yankees! 

The '62 Twins would be remembered better if there had been a post-season playoff format that let us in. There was one pennant-winner in each league. No one else qualified for post-season. There must have been reasons for that. I just don't know what they were. 

I guess it's also hard to understand how we didn't get big league ball until 1961. The baseball owners were of course shrewd businessmen. The West Coast had to wait a long time for big league baseball. I guess air travel had to develop to a certain point. The West Coast had the "Pacific Coast League" that historians say had a caliber very close to the bigs. You could enjoy the California climate too! The Giants flirted with Minnesota but they of course ended up in California. Then the Angels came along to put California in the American League too. The "singing cowboy" Gene Autry was behind the Angels. 

In Minnesota we avoided the trials that would have come with an "expansion team." And would Minnesotans have had the patience to support the extended losing ways of an expansion team? Look at the 1962 Mets in New York of all places - should have been marketing gold. Sad how the original Mets became a poster child for futility. It didn't have to be that bad, did it? 

Legend has it that the Mets wanted to bring in some of the familiar New York names of the 1950s. I guess the braintrust felt that was the key for drawing fans? It proved to be futile for competitiveness. I am happy that Richie Ashburn managed a .300 season in '62 with the Mets. But I doubt he took any pleasure in it.

 

Maestro with the glove

"Sweep" with the glove!

Minnesota in 1962 was collectively ecstatic about the Twins. And the player voted team MVP was none other than Vic Power! A player of color from Puerto Rico. Known for flashy glove work around first base. He often completed his catches with a showman-like "sweep" of the glove! He was considered key for helping our young infield that included Rollins, Zoilo Versalles and Bernie Allen. He was later quoted saying those young guys "made some interesting throws." We loved all of them. 

Power should have been promoted to the Yankees in the 1950s. But the Yankees were looking for a "pioneer Negro" with a less-flashy personality, I mean a real humble (subservient) personality. Elston Howard ended up being that player. I'm not knocking him. He filled the shoes. 

Minnesota would of course go on to win the pennant in 1965! Just the fifth year of the franchise here! The team of course came here from Washington D.C. 

Fans my age remember the seasons after 1965 being rather anticlimactic, depressing really. We may have won the West Division in 1969 and 1970. The enthusiasm was solid in 1969, but then in '70, after manager Billy Martin was fired, enthusiasm faded. We overreacted to the firing. Strange to reflect on. Society was going through a lot of turmoil around 1970. The Vietnam war was a very dark cloud. 

It's odd that the Twins would not win another pennant after 1965, not until 1987 with a whole new generation of players. Baltimore rose up to frustrate us. They got Frank Robinson in a trade for 1966, and what a coup that was. He won the triple crown. The Twins got older, slowed down and were not infused with sufficient younger players. 

But I sure enjoy the memories of 1962 and Vic Power along with the '65 edition. And just remember: no Twins at all before 1961! They came along in time for boomers!

I guess most important, the Cuban missile crisis did not spell doom for all of us! Play ball!

A "sea" of cars in the Met's parking lot, remember? In days before the "fobs."

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

Sordid macro picture, so let's talk local

Will we get a sense of peace here?

Now we're dragged through Jeffrey Epstein et al. Seems futile to plunge into that, based on how the "big fish" always extricates himself from trouble. He pulls strings with that relentlessly, predictably. 

I can easily predict the pattern here. So I shall not devote a post where I might suggest the end to the MAGA chapter of the U.S. story. It won't end. 

In the meantime we get a mountain of media-based speculation. Lots of headlines. Trump will emerge bigger than ever. Try getting a skeptical comment about Trump from our congressperson, Michelle Fischbach. Are you on her email communication list? 

I have typed too many words already. So let's shift to the local Morris scene. There is a need to weigh what is going on with our public library. This is the summer of the library mystery or scandal. Maybe I wouldn't write about it, if the local news media could help us out. For whatever reason it won't. That heightens suspicions. 

I have a knowledgeable acquaintance who has faith in the library director. Here's how I broached the subject with this individual in an email Friday morning:

 

Could you refresh me on where we're at with the library matter? The next meeting or whatever? Anything new from Anne's perspective? And I'm not assuming that Anne is faultless. Should I be? 

 

My friend's response:

 

You should not think that Anne had any misconduct at the library! Her appeal hearing is ongoing - the next (and hopefully last) part will be at 10 on Aug. 6. The attorney the City hired just tried to crucify Anne at the hearing about "blatant fraud." She was really nasty. The "investigator" the City hired couldn’t find 68 items from the purchase orders for the library. She never asked the staff there where some things might be! She just looked online in the MPL’s book list. After Anne came back from her suspension she went around the library and found all but one of the items and put them in a box in her office. Immediately after she said that the city manager leaned over and whispered to her minions, who took off like rockets. They scurried over to the library to see if this was true. Anne’s husband Gary followed them and filmed them from the doorway of Anne’s office. Meanwhile, Anne had rational, calm explanations for all of the disputed items on the list. Made the city manager look like a fool.

Cost? Well, the manager billed the library for $9000 before the appeal came up. It will be more with the subsequent hearings. Colossal waste of the taxpayers' money. All she had to do was ask Anne! But no, she had to make a huge production out of it to try to justify the expense. I don’t think much of her. I understand she left her last job under a cloud. Wish she would leave this one!

(end of quoted passage) 

 

He hovers

I actually think the excitement with Trump and how he is dragging down the country should warrant my commentary. My opprobrium. But it seems a futile proposition. I have seen what DJT is made of for years. Opining on this has gotten me nowhere. I have lost friends, friends with whom I will never reunite. They need to be deprogrammed. 

But I am weary fighting the battle. I won't anymore. 

Let's get back to the Morris library matter. BTW our former librarian Melissa Yauk was here for the most recent East Side Park concert. I'm so thankful she never got dragged into a sheer nightmare like Anne Barber has. 

I sent a follow-up email to my background person. I asked a question as follows:

 

If Anne was able to explain everything satisfactorily, why didn't our elected people decide to just drop the whole matter, right there and then? This has got to be uncomfortable for them. It makes me wonder if there is more going on. Certainly the newspaper could have served us better through this. And Reed Anfinson always talks about how the newspaper is a "watchdog." Bullcrap. 

  

And I got another response. Remember that with the local media not doing its job, we have to look for background wherever we might find it. To quote my source person:

 

The reason that the City Council didn’t drop things is because they didn’t talk to Anne, and she wasn’t allowed back in the library until after her suspension was over. Why they didn’t talk to the staff there is beyond me. BTW the city manager doesn’t use the library at all and she doesn’t even live in Morris! She was pissed because she went to the county commissioners and demanded that they pay a bigger percentage to the Viking Library System than they do. They already pay 70% of the fee. They declined to pay more. So she had it in for the library and took it out on Anne. I’m looking forward to having it all over. Huge expense for Anne personally with attorney fees and lost wages. Ugh. 

(end of quoted passage) 

 

You know, I've wondered about this thing called the Viking Library System myself. It may have good features but are we spending too much money for it? Really do we need it at all? Have you ever gone into the library, looked at all the books along the new non-fietion shelf along with fiction, and wondered "who would read some of this stuff?" I wonder that all the time. 

Of course I'm on record wondering if we even need a big expensive public library in our unbounded age of the Internet. Maybe I'm like the boy who says the emperor has no clothes. And do we need a city library, a public school library and a UMN-Morris library? Well I'd suggest no.

I feel for Anne Barber and I'd like for her to come out of this looking honorable. And then we'll have to elect a whole new city council. 

At the macro level with Trump and Epstein, we might wonder if the whole U.S. is about to crumble. Sodom and Gomorrah, yes. The Catholic Church continues to act independent and that's because it's a true worldwide network/organization. Some other church denominations have chosen at path of disgrace.

 

Addendum: Re. the concert at East Side Park, I told my friend/resource person I was relieved that I did not see Jim and Liz Morrison there, because I know from my personal background that Jim dislikes Christian pop music more than anything in the world. Also not a fan of the Three Stooges. I'm actually negative on the Christian music thing too. But I love the Three Stooges. My favorite short is "Grips, Grunts and Groans." As time passes I appreciate "Shemp" more.

 

(Irondale image from facebook)

How about the Irondale band?

It's the best thing that happens at Big Cat Stadium all year: the Irondale marching band's visit for intensive rehearsals. They always invite the public toward the end. It's a semi-formal performance, not intended to be fully polished. It's fascinating to see how the kids develop skills for this. I shared in an email with the same person quoted elsewhere here: 

 

I'm amazed every time I watch an Irondale rehearsal. Not your grandfather's marching band. The boomers are now the grandparents and in some cases great-grandparents. The Irondale rehearsal looked like an alien scene to me. It's wonderful to see all the kids engaged like this. But I wouldn't last five minutes trying to take part. It all seems confusing and sophisticated, beyond me. When I was in high school, we just got lined up in rows and marched forward playing the same tune over and over.

 

She responded. Hey, I gave a clue with gender! Well, who cares?  

 

I really wish we could see the Irondale band’s complete performance, but I know that they have many more rehearsals after they leave here. (Name withheld) and I were also commenting on how very complicated their routine is - we could never do that now, but probably could if we were 50 years younger! My high school band did formations at halftime at the football games but I don’t remember them as being very complicated. Maybe my mind has blocked out that part! I didn’t see the Sarlettes there - were they up on top? We stayed until about 9:15. 

(end of quoted passage)

 

No I did not see the Sarlettes there. I don't see them in church very often either! 

 

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

WNBA All-Star Game should enliven late summer

You might say the WNBA All-Star Game is the marker for the slowest point of the summer. That's what we're in now, right? The time leading up to our county fair? As we all anticipate getting the wrestling French fries? 

You could hardly find a more obscure event than the WNBA All-Star Game in the days before this girl named Caitlin Clark came along. She's a young woman now, age 23. Oh to be young again. 

The value of the All-Star Game tickets went down quite a bit because of the young lady being hurt. To remind: the All-Star Game was yesterday (Saturday). Does anybody really care who wins or loses an all-star game? I felt rather annoyed by the hype leading up to the All-Star Game because I would have preferred the regular schedule keep going. To continue following the Indiana Fever or maybe the Lynx if you're Minnesotan. 

The "caracal" cat

There is one "big cat" name that I do not think has been used yet for a sports team. And that would be "caracal." The animal would seem perfectly suited. Hey, there's an idea for Benson High School when they finally have the gun put to their head for replacing their old logo/mascot. Of course Benson is waiting for the money in the meantime. Money from the state which is the "deep pockets" source. Heavens, wouldn't want to tap into local property taxes for that. 

Benson has limped along quite embarrassingly with a nickname/logo that began appearing dated a long time ago. I don't think they would have gotten away with this in the Twin Cities. The "big city" is too hip. Too hip to stick with "Braves" which as we speak is still being used by those rubes in Benson. Hey, I grew up when Benson and Morris were intense rivals, so I can engage in a little putdown talk. 

Does Benson still have that Dairy Queen as you enter the town coming from Clontarf? Does Benson have any other attributes worth mentioning? Oh heavens I can think of one immediately: their high school band director Brock Duncan. I wrote in the Morris paper many years ago that Duncan did an excellent job preparing his band to play the opposing school's "fight song" for home athletic events. 

It's one thing to play "On Wisconsin" but it's another to play the MACA song because our song is totally unique. It's my understanding that it was written by our long-ago band director Bob Schaefer. Schaefer took on legendary status in our town's historical annals because of how he built up our high school marching band. Yes it was awesome. How times change: as the '70s drew to a close it was apparent that "marching  band" would be too difficult a sell. It went from being a real institution in Morris to no longer existing. 

By the same token our Prairie Pioneer Days summer celebration in Morris went from being a truly huge deal to disappearing! Lordy. 

I told the guys at Caribou Coffee this a.m. (Sunday) that I used to consider the time between Prairie Pioneer Days and the fair to be the slowest for our community. I brought it up because one of the guys said the atmosphere at Willie's seemed slow. Yes indeed it is late July. A group of guys who are mostly associated with the Apostolic Church assembles at the Willie's Cafe on Sunday morning. And thank God we have Caribou as a source of refreshments and even some hot food. 

I will again quote my main contact person at UMN-Morris, Erin, who said "I think the town could use another restaurant." To repeat: Morris is doing fine with high-end restaurants. We don't need another one of those, you know, a place that commits highway robbery for what they charge you. 

I wax nostalgic for the "Del Monico Cafe" on main street. It was where the old Thrifty White is. When you stepped down the "ramp" there you were entering the old Del Monico space. 

So we're in the lazy days of summer and noticing a few headlines about women's pro basketball. The All-Star Game Saturday night with its 3-point shooting contest. Won by "Sabrina" with the foreign-sounding last name. I submitted a comment to Yahoo! News wondering why Sabrina is not as famous as Caitlin Clark. 

Sabrina Ionescu of the "Liberty"

Sabrina started having impact when she was in college out West. She made the most important shot in the WNBA finals last season. That happened to be against our Minnesota Lynx. It's fun that we have such a good team in Minnesota. But I have developed no special interest in the Lynx. I have to prod myself to try to get interested. No need for prodding where it comes to Caitlin Clark! 

That's the whole deal: people all over the U.S. have just felt captivated by her. Yes it seems unfair because there is so much other talent out there. "Sabrina" has the foreign-sounding last name so maybe that's an impediment for her. But "Sabrina" is a really cool first name! I can overlook her last name. And she plays for the ultimate big market team: New York City, the "Liberty." She and Breanna Stewart ("Stewie") should be household names. Hasn't happened yet. 

 

Look out, baseball 

But I do think women's pro basketball has significant potential. I think it has potential to knock Major League Baseball down a few notches. Baseball is boring. "Analytics" has tarnished the sport. Maybe there's just too much money in it. Too much money causes the game to be over-analyzed. And that makes it too predictable. 

Basketball in comparison to baseball is of course so fast-moving and with constant scoring. The drama is frequent with close games that can be decided by a shot at the end. I am eagerly awaiting the second half of the league season. Also, eagerly awaiting the wrestling French fries at the county fair! 

The "Benson Caracals?" Well, alliteration might be better, as with "Benson Bobcats." First the state has to come up with the money.

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

Library matter still on front burner

How we think of the library

Did this week's Morris newspaper have a detailed update on the Morris library conflict matter? The paper would be hugely obligated to provide this. The public library is a City of Morris service. Could we get along without it? Isn't this what happened when the place got flooded a few years back? Closed the whole summer? Maybe some people felt inconvenienced. We all got through it. 

At present we have the quite uncomfortable matter of community conflict. It's rather challenging to try to sort everything out when the media has stepped aside. Abdicated its role. It's a role that the newspaper publisher always tries to argue is important. And he wants the government to help newspapers. Actually I can't think of anything worse than a symbiotic relationship between government and the media. 

And any time you accept government help, there are strings attached. Want food assistance? You'll probably have to fill out forms with personal info like your income. 

The local media started out OK on the library matter. The paper went against its normal system by having a quite prompt article on its website about the show of public support for the library director. Ah, the "now famous" photo that included Sharon Martin with her "Anne is amazing!" sign. I'm not sure how we are supposed to understand "amazing." Is Anne a magician? 

A sign like this just tells me someone has personal friends. This can be quite a strength in a small town. But in this case, our elected people appear to be holding firm with holding Anne's feet to the fire. This surely is the tone of our city manager. I have never met that individual. She answers to the council, right? I think I understand some of the basics. 

I assume that our top city leaders could have had this whole sordid matter come to an end by now, if they really wanted to. Even if it would mean accepting some missteps by a department manager. The heated controversy by itself would be a negative for the community. If the council has remained silent and chosen to allow the city manager to keep charging ahead, well they must be good with it all. 

With the newspaper not doing its job, I suppose the whole thing could end without me knowing. Maybe we'd get something like a "plea bargain." In other words, each side gives up something. 

Fortunately I do have a source on this matter who seems pretty solid. In the last few days we exchanged emails. Had the whole conflict been dropped, this individual would have related that. So I guess it is still ongoing. My query to the mayor of a couple weeks ago has not been answered. Not even a "thank you for your interest" response. Nothing. It will be hard for me to feel respect for our elected city leaders again. 

If they choose not to communicate with me, I'll have to just write based on what I can glean here and there from unofficial sources. And the newspaper isn't going to help. 

Back when Marshall Hoffman was with the radio station, I think he would have supplied valuable updates. Brett Miller with sports would have done the same. That's all gone with the wind now. It must not have been an essential service. 

So where does that leave all of us? Well I can certainly quote from the email response from my trusted friend/background person. I would prefer the newspaper do its job. That's not happening. Is the paper trying to protect someone's special interest? Did certain influential people "get to" the SCT? This isn't my first rodeo. Here's from the email, sent to me on July 10:

 

We attended the hearing for Anne with the City Council last month. About 45 people were there. This was her appeal of her suspension. It went from 3:00 to 7:15, when it had to be continued because of the CC regular meeting. It will continue on August 6 at 10am.  The city manager brought in the attorney she had hired (and tried to charge the $9000 fee to the library budget!) and the investigator she had hired who couldn't find 67 items on the invoices that Anne had ordered.

The lawyer was really nasty, like she was on TV court. She kept harping about hair dye and cat toys on the invoices and Anne was defrauding the taxpayers of Morris with personal items charged to the city. The investigator (who never talked to any of the library staff or Anne) testified about all the fraud going on when she couldn't find the items. 

Then Anne got on the stand and her attorney led her through all the charges which she calmly explained. The dye and cat toys were for craft projects and prizes, and when she had been let back into the library she went around and found all but one of the "missing" items which she put in a box in her office. 

The city manager whispered something to two of the city employees who were there and they beat it out of the council chambers double time. Anne's husband followed them and sure enough, they went right to the library to Anne's office to go through the box. They told Gary he couldn't be in the office with them, so he stood in the doorway and filmed them on his phone. They went back to the meeting and didn't say anything. 

It will be up to the city council to decide whether or not to award Anne her back pay. Then it will finally be over!!!  So much unwarranted time and expense.

(end of quoted material)

 

Addendum: I'm wondering about money for craft project expenses. The library director might legitimately authorize this. I would say it's a judgment call, nothing untoward or suspicious. But I would say that maybe the library patrons who participated in the craft projects could buy the stuff themselves? Does the library go too far afield from its traditional function of being a source of books? Is this "Viking" system worth what we pay into it? I have heard that the county has reduced its contribution to that. There may be question marks. The Viking system sounds good in theory. But what abut the cost? Might they get too bloated and self-important?

  

Addendum No. 2: I suppose this coming weekend would be "Prairie Pioneer Days" in a past time. I still miss it. I think it died because too many key community leaders wanted to get away to their "lake places" on summer weekends. 

Morris seemed to just "die" over the July 4 weekend. Everyone leaves here. Nobody comes here. Don's Cafe was closed on Saturday night which was July 5, not July 4. Restaurants are barely hanging on here, I mean the non-high end restaurants. Really I thank God for Caribou Coffee in that regard. Don't know where I'd be without it. 

My main contact person at UMN-Morris said to me "I think the town could use another restaurant." Does not seem likely to happen. In the old days we had restaurants with a genuine "bar rush" on Friday/Saturday nights! Gone with the wind. Oh, and people could smoke cigarettes in these places, turn the air blue! Just try to imagine that now.

 

Addendum No. 3: You would think the city could manage its own library without having to battle the library director's "attorney." I find it strange. The city is not helping us understand anything that is going on. Think of the time commitment for the elected councilpeople. Think of the stress when three sheriff's deputies have to be present for a closed meeting.

Anne Barber, Morris library director

 

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