Annie Stensrud -- Mankato, Minnesota's favorite nationally-known newscaster -- is back in the news again. After her early-December slurred speech newscast, the KEYC-TV weekend anchor has been off the air. But this morning she made headlines again in Mankato by being arrested for a probable cause DWI near her North Mankato home by Nicollet County authorities.
When, just weeks after a newscast that went viral due to her apparent drunk performance, you land yourself in the pages of the local newspaper for doing something (drinking and driving) which you adamantly denied in a statement released by your employer (being drunk at work), there is the makings of a pattern.
Annie Stensrud obviously has a problem. Maybe she has had a relationship turn sour and is using alcohol as a coping mechanism. Maybe there has been a death in the family which has hit her particularly hard.
Whatever the case, her original excuse of a reaction to cold medication doesn't seem to hold up given today's DWI arrest.
Maybe there's something more to the story. Check out her reporting reel/resume below and witness just how strong of a reporter she was in her days working for KAAL-TV in Austin, MN
Showing posts with label Austin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austin. Show all posts
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Monday, August 9, 2010
How a labor strike changed everything
Immigration has always been a part of our country. It's how our country was built and it's how we became known as the world's melting pot. But now immigration is viewed by many as being a negative. It's viewed as bringing crime and it's assumed by many that everyone who doesn't look like you or I is here illegally. Sure, that's the case sometimes but it isn't always. That's the subject of a Minnesota Public Radio package airing today about my old hometown -- Austin, MN -- being at a crossroads a full quarter century after the Hormel strike which gained national attention changed the landscape of the city forever.
The subject is of particular interest because I grew up in Austin. Well, more specifically a farm outside of Austin but I attended school there and lived in the city until moving in 2003. Throughout that time, those changes were taking place. I remember our very own neighbors being embroiled in the politics of teh Hormel strike. Some crossed the picket line and some stood firm. Those wounds of union men and women and the "scabs" who crossed the picket line are still a sore subject for some but the real changes in the city weren't totally visible until a few years after the strike.
The dad of a friend of mine was at least partially responsible for finding new workers willing to take the lower wages of the newly formed Quality Pork Processors (QPP). I recall advertisements touting a starting wage of a whopping $7.75/hour. These were the same jobs that, under union scale, sometimes paid double that a few years ago. That was the beginning of the immigration influx. It was (and still is) an extremely low wage for an already established but recently unemployed head of household to earn a living with so the logical recruitment target were immigrants and the logical area was south -- particularly Mexico.
There have been rumors for the past twenty years of QPP advertising on billboards in border towns in Texas and even in cities south of the border in Mexico about the high paying jobs in Austin. Supposedly a bus arrives on a weekly basis -- if not more frequently -- in Austin carrying eager, new employees for the cut and kill lines at QPP.
The new racial make-up of Austin has created a cultural divide. While the once high-paying jobs that vanished overnight left many downtown storefronts, the influx of hispanics in the city created a rebirth of sorts in the business community. Suddenly Mexican markets and restaurants sprung up. When I left in 2003 there was one authentic Mexican restaurant in town. Not so any more. The MPR story lists the number of hispanic businesses in the downtown area as nearly a dozen. They pay sales taxes and property taxes and wages, too. It's good to have businesses.
But some view the immigrants as taking over their once whites-only community.
In my last couple years living in Austin, I noticed the fondness that the new immigrants had for the community's parks. They were mostly families grilling on the weekends. Sure the crowds were large and to "old timers" the different culture is intimidating. There are plenty who view them all as bad because of the violence their culture has brought to the city. There have been stabbings and rapes and even murders. It's not a pretty fact but I think of it as a growing pain. If it weren't for the city's latest demographic make-up of 25% hispanic, the city would be a virtual ghost town. The police do their jobs in cracking down on crime but they don't racially profile because that is simply wrong.
The big sticking point is that the influx of hispanic immigrants are very adamant about clinging to their heritage, their language and their culture. That doesn't sit well with established residents.
That quoted point is something I actually agree with. My grandpa immigrated here from Denmark. He worked hard to learn the language and earn a living. He farmed for decades and provided for his large family. I don't recall my dad ever saying that his dad spoke Danish -- even inside the house or with relatives who immigrated here as well. Sure, he hung on to the language because he as well as his relatives corresponded with family members back in Denmark but that was the extent of him keeping his language. May dad can't speak one single word of Danish. My grandpa blended in.
Is it different now? Was it different a century ago? Was it shameful to be proud of your immigrant heritage in 1917? I don't have the answers but I do know that my old hometown has permanently changed and those residents need to confront the change head on, embrace the positives and work with their immigrant neighbors together to make the city better before the few bad apples effectively take over.
The subject is of particular interest because I grew up in Austin. Well, more specifically a farm outside of Austin but I attended school there and lived in the city until moving in 2003. Throughout that time, those changes were taking place. I remember our very own neighbors being embroiled in the politics of teh Hormel strike. Some crossed the picket line and some stood firm. Those wounds of union men and women and the "scabs" who crossed the picket line are still a sore subject for some but the real changes in the city weren't totally visible until a few years after the strike.
The dad of a friend of mine was at least partially responsible for finding new workers willing to take the lower wages of the newly formed Quality Pork Processors (QPP). I recall advertisements touting a starting wage of a whopping $7.75/hour. These were the same jobs that, under union scale, sometimes paid double that a few years ago. That was the beginning of the immigration influx. It was (and still is) an extremely low wage for an already established but recently unemployed head of household to earn a living with so the logical recruitment target were immigrants and the logical area was south -- particularly Mexico.
There have been rumors for the past twenty years of QPP advertising on billboards in border towns in Texas and even in cities south of the border in Mexico about the high paying jobs in Austin. Supposedly a bus arrives on a weekly basis -- if not more frequently -- in Austin carrying eager, new employees for the cut and kill lines at QPP.
The new racial make-up of Austin has created a cultural divide. While the once high-paying jobs that vanished overnight left many downtown storefronts, the influx of hispanics in the city created a rebirth of sorts in the business community. Suddenly Mexican markets and restaurants sprung up. When I left in 2003 there was one authentic Mexican restaurant in town. Not so any more. The MPR story lists the number of hispanic businesses in the downtown area as nearly a dozen. They pay sales taxes and property taxes and wages, too. It's good to have businesses.
"You know, we sound like a bunch of racists down here," said Vincent Maloney, who worked at Hormel for 38 years. "But we're not."
But some view the immigrants as taking over their once whites-only community.
"We've got eight parks in town. Small ones. Big ones," Maloney said. "The white man don't dare go out there. The Mexicans have got them all cornered. And what a mess. They get these piñatas. Beat the hell out of them."
In my last couple years living in Austin, I noticed the fondness that the new immigrants had for the community's parks. They were mostly families grilling on the weekends. Sure the crowds were large and to "old timers" the different culture is intimidating. There are plenty who view them all as bad because of the violence their culture has brought to the city. There have been stabbings and rapes and even murders. It's not a pretty fact but I think of it as a growing pain. If it weren't for the city's latest demographic make-up of 25% hispanic, the city would be a virtual ghost town. The police do their jobs in cracking down on crime but they don't racially profile because that is simply wrong.
The big sticking point is that the influx of hispanic immigrants are very adamant about clinging to their heritage, their language and their culture. That doesn't sit well with established residents.
"Everything is labeled here, making it easier for them to keep their language," she said. "At HyVee, the grocery store, they have the Spanish names for the restrooms and they have the magazines that are printed in Spanish. They just enable them to keep their language. ... I think everyone would feel more accepting if they tried to blend in."
That quoted point is something I actually agree with. My grandpa immigrated here from Denmark. He worked hard to learn the language and earn a living. He farmed for decades and provided for his large family. I don't recall my dad ever saying that his dad spoke Danish -- even inside the house or with relatives who immigrated here as well. Sure, he hung on to the language because he as well as his relatives corresponded with family members back in Denmark but that was the extent of him keeping his language. May dad can't speak one single word of Danish. My grandpa blended in.
Is it different now? Was it different a century ago? Was it shameful to be proud of your immigrant heritage in 1917? I don't have the answers but I do know that my old hometown has permanently changed and those residents need to confront the change head on, embrace the positives and work with their immigrant neighbors together to make the city better before the few bad apples effectively take over.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Rules and rivers, both are in danger
The first rule of blogging is to update said blog on a regular basis. But rules are made to be broken and I love, love, love to break rules. For instance I sometimes speed while driving - usually a whopping 5 miles per hour over the limit on wide open freeways. Yeah, I'm a real badass. I also throw jars in the recycling without washing them - but I'm feeling like less of a badass in that department after DeRusha's Good Question last night.
But back to that first rule of blogging. Being that I'm a total badass, I'm not going to apologize for the past two or three months because shit happens and while I'll say that I wish that said shit had continued indefinitely, it hasn't so here I am back at what I used to do which boils down to me boring a few readers who pass by and find this and writing the occasional, hard-hitting post which connects with a few folks.
Then it hit me, yesterday I saw a blurb somewhere about the nation's most endangered rivers or bodies of water. One name in particular stuck out at me. The Cedar River. Hell, I know the Cedar River. I grew up adjacent to Austin which the Cedar River passes through and bestows a 100 year flood on the city every 8 years or so.
To most folks, the Cedar River is nothing more than a nuisance. It cuts the city in half and, as I said, it floods incessantly. But the increased flooding, I think, is directly linked to its endangered status. Sure, it has flooded numerous times in the past but because of the increased demands on the river upstream from the city of Austin by way of farm drainage, the floods have become infinitely more frequent.
Common sense would say that something needs to be done both about the increased demands placed on the river and its flooding problems within the city of Austin. While the city has bought up hundreds of homes located in what has turned out to be a rather vast flood plain, there is still work to be done. The environment-loving hippie in me says that we need to restore wetlands along the river to slow the flow of water and catch sediment and pollutants from the farmland's runoff but the farm-boy in me says to farm every inch of soil that doesn't blow or wash away. But there is a balance and I've seen it up close on my parent's farm. Realize that some areas aren't meant to be farmed. Just because you own it doesn't mean that it's fit for traditional crop farming. Seed some filter strips along the river and its tributaries and consider cutting a few drainage tiles and letting nature have its way with the low-lying areas which seem far better-suited for ducks rather than corn.
Lastly, get out and appreciate Minnesota or at least the stunning photos from across the state showcased daily at MinnPics.
But back to that first rule of blogging. Being that I'm a total badass, I'm not going to apologize for the past two or three months because shit happens and while I'll say that I wish that said shit had continued indefinitely, it hasn't so here I am back at what I used to do which boils down to me boring a few readers who pass by and find this and writing the occasional, hard-hitting post which connects with a few folks.
Then it hit me, yesterday I saw a blurb somewhere about the nation's most endangered rivers or bodies of water. One name in particular stuck out at me. The Cedar River. Hell, I know the Cedar River. I grew up adjacent to Austin which the Cedar River passes through and bestows a 100 year flood on the city every 8 years or so.
To most folks, the Cedar River is nothing more than a nuisance. It cuts the city in half and, as I said, it floods incessantly. But the increased flooding, I think, is directly linked to its endangered status. Sure, it has flooded numerous times in the past but because of the increased demands on the river upstream from the city of Austin by way of farm drainage, the floods have become infinitely more frequent.
Common sense would say that something needs to be done both about the increased demands placed on the river and its flooding problems within the city of Austin. While the city has bought up hundreds of homes located in what has turned out to be a rather vast flood plain, there is still work to be done. The environment-loving hippie in me says that we need to restore wetlands along the river to slow the flow of water and catch sediment and pollutants from the farmland's runoff but the farm-boy in me says to farm every inch of soil that doesn't blow or wash away. But there is a balance and I've seen it up close on my parent's farm. Realize that some areas aren't meant to be farmed. Just because you own it doesn't mean that it's fit for traditional crop farming. Seed some filter strips along the river and its tributaries and consider cutting a few drainage tiles and letting nature have its way with the low-lying areas which seem far better-suited for ducks rather than corn.
Lastly, get out and appreciate Minnesota or at least the stunning photos from across the state showcased daily at MinnPics.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Is KSTP-TV actively trying to lose money?
It intrigued me that local TV station KSTP plans to launch what can only be described as a boatload of "hyperlocal" websites in the next year. One commenter on the MinnPost story nailed it squarely on the head by saying that KSTP (and the Hubbards who own the station) are two years late in trying something that has already failed across the country.
I can also attest to the "hyperlocal" idea being worthless. Without giving too much away, I proposed a hyperlocal website at my place of employment just over two years ago. Just like everything else, it was dependent on local/area advertising. My proposal, on paper, sounded like a sure thing but even as I read it just minutes ago I realized that, given the current economic environment, the sales figures would never have even come close to the rather conservative dollar amounts I had projected.
And to think that an even more conservative-minded company thinks they can successfully staff and fill multiple hyperlocal news/content websites with anything remotely captivating, much less original, is insane. My project proposal incorporated multiple existing elements and products to it and could still be easily rolled out to other communities/neighborhoods. KSTP's plans, while somewhat unclear, really make no mention of incorporating their suite of niche products to give them further exposure. Hell, I have no idea if KSTP even has any truly worthwhile niche products but I don't expect the websites to be islands of content either.
The mere mention of the KSTP sites containing press releases makes them seem even less valuable. Sure, it's legit information but publishing it in the general news flow immediately devalues any legitimate news the sites may contain. And the plans they have for expanding them to their outstate markets including Duluth-Superior and Austin-Rochester makes even less sense. Those areas are still havens for the newspapers who own those markets. Attempting to launch a competing product under the umbrella of a less-than-reputable name is suicide and KAAL-TV in Austin is considered by residents to be a laughingstock. The station, under the ownership of Hubbard, has virtually abandoned coverage of its home market in favor of the more lucrative Rochester market. That bare-bones operation barely turns a profit as it stands now and further diluting it for the sake of hyperlocal websites which the community newspapers and their websites in the area already cover quite well will ensure that the outstate KSTP hyperlocal websites are the first to be shuttered followed soon after by those in the Twin Cities.
But if KSTP is curious about my well-researched plan and wants to talk to me, I'm more than willing to listen. Let's just say I know the Austin market quite well. Call me...
And while I'm whoring myself out, check out MinnPics. It's the home of the best of the best of Minnesota photography!
I can also attest to the "hyperlocal" idea being worthless. Without giving too much away, I proposed a hyperlocal website at my place of employment just over two years ago. Just like everything else, it was dependent on local/area advertising. My proposal, on paper, sounded like a sure thing but even as I read it just minutes ago I realized that, given the current economic environment, the sales figures would never have even come close to the rather conservative dollar amounts I had projected.
And to think that an even more conservative-minded company thinks they can successfully staff and fill multiple hyperlocal news/content websites with anything remotely captivating, much less original, is insane. My project proposal incorporated multiple existing elements and products to it and could still be easily rolled out to other communities/neighborhoods. KSTP's plans, while somewhat unclear, really make no mention of incorporating their suite of niche products to give them further exposure. Hell, I have no idea if KSTP even has any truly worthwhile niche products but I don't expect the websites to be islands of content either.
The mere mention of the KSTP sites containing press releases makes them seem even less valuable. Sure, it's legit information but publishing it in the general news flow immediately devalues any legitimate news the sites may contain. And the plans they have for expanding them to their outstate markets including Duluth-Superior and Austin-Rochester makes even less sense. Those areas are still havens for the newspapers who own those markets. Attempting to launch a competing product under the umbrella of a less-than-reputable name is suicide and KAAL-TV in Austin is considered by residents to be a laughingstock. The station, under the ownership of Hubbard, has virtually abandoned coverage of its home market in favor of the more lucrative Rochester market. That bare-bones operation barely turns a profit as it stands now and further diluting it for the sake of hyperlocal websites which the community newspapers and their websites in the area already cover quite well will ensure that the outstate KSTP hyperlocal websites are the first to be shuttered followed soon after by those in the Twin Cities.
But if KSTP is curious about my well-researched plan and wants to talk to me, I'm more than willing to listen. Let's just say I know the Austin market quite well. Call me...
And while I'm whoring myself out, check out MinnPics. It's the home of the best of the best of Minnesota photography!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Are malls yesterday's news?
The Twin Cities are littered with malls. Off the top of my head I can think of Rosedale, Southdale, Ridgedale, Brookdale, Burnsville Center, Mall of America, Eden Prairie Center and a whole host of lesser malls including Knollwood, Northtown Mall and newer outdoor retail complexes like those in Maple Grove and Coon Rapids. Of course there are even worse attempts at shopping malls in the Twin Cities like the former Priordale in Prior Lake which has been redeveloped nicely as a strip mall and a still delapidated but somehow alive Shakopee Town Square. Hell, most every suburb probably has something billed as a mall somewhere in the city and chances are that it is hurting.
Even in Minnesota, the trend seems to be to take it outside. A forced sense of urbanism with outdoor sidewalks and barely navigable streets is what is currently cool. It's supposed to be the rebirth of the downtown but I know better. To me it's still a shopping center because we've been trained to think what downtowns are. They feature a lack of parking but these new "downtowns" have sprawling parking lots much like the malls of old. But these new lifestyle centers, as developers call them, work. It makes sense because they seem to have damn near every name in retail one could think of.
The one in Coon Rapids is particularly troubling to me. It spans multiple blocks and while I avoided entering its tangle of so-called streets, it was a madhouse of spending - even late on a Thursday afternoon. I'm not familiar with that area of the Twin Cities but I'm betting that its construction left more than a few vacant storefronts elsewhere in town.
And if you think this is just a metro problem you are dead wrong. Back in my old hometown, good ole' drug-ridden, illegal immigrant-filled Austin, MN, the mall which at one time I'm told was actually prosperous now contains two anchor stores and probably less than a dozen smaller stores. I remember at one time the freeway-facing signage advertised over 60 stores but I don't ever remember seeing it full. Even its "food court" - containing only two restaurants - sucks. It, too, fell victim to big box development and lifestyle centers but on a smaller scale. With a K-Mart built across the street in the 1990s and a Target built across the highway later that same decade, the nails were positioned, all somebony needed to do was pound them in to the coffin.
Then came a Super Walmart a couple years ago. Even from nearly 100 miles away I could hear the pounding of those nails. The coffin was closed and it took K-Mart with it this year. Last year they lost a Cash Wise Foods grocery store. A Rainbow Foods store, circa late 1990s So, much like Brookdale Center and other now-doomed malls, hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail space stand vacant. Grass slowly growing through the cracking pavement as a couple vehicles sit parked marked for sale by the owners.
So maybe the American love affair with malls is done. They had a nice fifty year run. And maybe it's finally been realized that we, as a country, are simply over-retailed. Redundant businesses are shuttered all the time - take note of Snyders Drug Stores - they are gone but CVS is building in every other city now. Maybe its all cyclical and these malls will again be bustling in ten years as someone thinks up a new use. Or maybe the owners, failing to look forward, will end up with millions of square feet of once viable retail space on the auction block as cities deal with massive, neglected eyesores on prominent highways for all travelers to see. What to do, what to do?
Join in a discussion of the recent foreclosure sale of Brookdale Center and read up on Brookdale's checkered past.
While you're at it, check out the photos of Minnesota at MinnPics.
Even in Minnesota, the trend seems to be to take it outside. A forced sense of urbanism with outdoor sidewalks and barely navigable streets is what is currently cool. It's supposed to be the rebirth of the downtown but I know better. To me it's still a shopping center because we've been trained to think what downtowns are. They feature a lack of parking but these new "downtowns" have sprawling parking lots much like the malls of old. But these new lifestyle centers, as developers call them, work. It makes sense because they seem to have damn near every name in retail one could think of.
The one in Coon Rapids is particularly troubling to me. It spans multiple blocks and while I avoided entering its tangle of so-called streets, it was a madhouse of spending - even late on a Thursday afternoon. I'm not familiar with that area of the Twin Cities but I'm betting that its construction left more than a few vacant storefronts elsewhere in town.
And if you think this is just a metro problem you are dead wrong. Back in my old hometown, good ole' drug-ridden, illegal immigrant-filled Austin, MN, the mall which at one time I'm told was actually prosperous now contains two anchor stores and probably less than a dozen smaller stores. I remember at one time the freeway-facing signage advertised over 60 stores but I don't ever remember seeing it full. Even its "food court" - containing only two restaurants - sucks. It, too, fell victim to big box development and lifestyle centers but on a smaller scale. With a K-Mart built across the street in the 1990s and a Target built across the highway later that same decade, the nails were positioned, all somebony needed to do was pound them in to the coffin.
Then came a Super Walmart a couple years ago. Even from nearly 100 miles away I could hear the pounding of those nails. The coffin was closed and it took K-Mart with it this year. Last year they lost a Cash Wise Foods grocery store. A Rainbow Foods store, circa late 1990s So, much like Brookdale Center and other now-doomed malls, hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail space stand vacant. Grass slowly growing through the cracking pavement as a couple vehicles sit parked marked for sale by the owners.
So maybe the American love affair with malls is done. They had a nice fifty year run. And maybe it's finally been realized that we, as a country, are simply over-retailed. Redundant businesses are shuttered all the time - take note of Snyders Drug Stores - they are gone but CVS is building in every other city now. Maybe its all cyclical and these malls will again be bustling in ten years as someone thinks up a new use. Or maybe the owners, failing to look forward, will end up with millions of square feet of once viable retail space on the auction block as cities deal with massive, neglected eyesores on prominent highways for all travelers to see. What to do, what to do?
Join in a discussion of the recent foreclosure sale of Brookdale Center and read up on Brookdale's checkered past.
While you're at it, check out the photos of Minnesota at MinnPics.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The wind power whiners and bad reporting about them
The funny thing about wind turbines popping up in rural areas is the fact that farmers - those who work the land and feed America - have never raised objections to having wind turbines built around their property and especially never objected to building wind turbines on their own property. It seems to always be the folks who move from nearby cities to enjoy the rural lifestyle who bitch about everything that is rural.
They find a way to piss and moan about the smell of livestock manure, the dust from gravel roads, lound machinery harvesting crops and, of course, the wind turbines being built around them.
This sounds like a retired person who doesn't want to see the rural landscape changed. While I agree that I'd hate to see the family farm I grew up on converted to a strip mall or landfill, a wind turbine or four is vastly different. I grew up there and while sometimes the dust from the gravel road choked me as I played in the front yard, I got used to it. If the neighbor to the south was cleaning his hog barns, my mom would close the windows. And with the windows closed, you could only faintly hear the 400+ combined horsepower of electric motors running 100 feet away 18 hours/day for up to three weeks at a time as we harvested and dried the corn crop in the fall. Why? Because we were used to it and we adapted. We never threatened legal action or caused such a stir that a newspaper desperate for a story that few people in the Twin Cities 100 miles away could understand contacted and interviewed a few sources and wrote a story missing a few important pieces to drum up web traffic. Nope, that never happened because my family doesn't bitch and moan about progress. The Jechs of rural Elkton need to realize that they still live in the country and remember that if, once upon a time, they farmed there were probably non-farmers who bitched about what they did. The only difference is that a newspaper from 100 miles away gave the Jechs a voice. A voice that a week from now nobody will give a damn about.
MinnPics has a stance on wind turbines, too. They make for awesome photos and Minnesota has plenty of places to photograph them. Check MinnPics for plenty of other photogenic Minnesota sites.
They find a way to piss and moan about the smell of livestock manure, the dust from gravel roads, lound machinery harvesting crops and, of course, the wind turbines being built around them.
"Rudy and I are retired, and we like to sit out on our deck," (via)That is and isn't the case with this retired couple living near Elkton (east of Austin, MN) who live across the road from a farm where wind turbines were erected. The only problem with their argument about the turbines ruining their retired lifestyle is that when people object to the plans, the companies building the wind farms often times back down. Of course that part of the story, which would add some clarity to the situation, is conveniently missing. That works well for the Star-Tribune because it generates a boatload of loony comments and tens of thousands of pageviews on their website. But it also proves that they don't care about uncovering truths, they'd rather tell a "shocking" story about a supposed injustice. Never mind the fact that this retired couple, the daughter (who I don't even see fitting in to this story) who claims that her 85 year-old father is "shellshocked" due to the noise generated from the turbine - the nearest which is 900 feet away - that's nearly 1/5 mile.
This sounds like a retired person who doesn't want to see the rural landscape changed. While I agree that I'd hate to see the family farm I grew up on converted to a strip mall or landfill, a wind turbine or four is vastly different. I grew up there and while sometimes the dust from the gravel road choked me as I played in the front yard, I got used to it. If the neighbor to the south was cleaning his hog barns, my mom would close the windows. And with the windows closed, you could only faintly hear the 400+ combined horsepower of electric motors running 100 feet away 18 hours/day for up to three weeks at a time as we harvested and dried the corn crop in the fall. Why? Because we were used to it and we adapted. We never threatened legal action or caused such a stir that a newspaper desperate for a story that few people in the Twin Cities 100 miles away could understand contacted and interviewed a few sources and wrote a story missing a few important pieces to drum up web traffic. Nope, that never happened because my family doesn't bitch and moan about progress. The Jechs of rural Elkton need to realize that they still live in the country and remember that if, once upon a time, they farmed there were probably non-farmers who bitched about what they did. The only difference is that a newspaper from 100 miles away gave the Jechs a voice. A voice that a week from now nobody will give a damn about.
MinnPics has a stance on wind turbines, too. They make for awesome photos and Minnesota has plenty of places to photograph them. Check MinnPics for plenty of other photogenic Minnesota sites.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Jails vs. Schools: which one benefits society?
Back in my old hometown of Austin, MN the school levy referendum failed. It would have raised taxes $84/yr on a $100,000 home. To many, any additional money paid in taxes is too much but this is the same city that approved the construction of a $30,000,000 jail/justice center shared by the city and county. In contrast, the school levy referendum would have provided the school district with just over $1,000,000/yr. in additional operating funds.
Which of the two - schools or a jail - benefits society more in the long run? Schools prepare the next generation for jobs. Those buildings need to be stocked with equipment and teachers who are at the top of their game - they need to be of the highest quality and the best of the best. Schools serve the children of everyone and everyone who has ever reached the age of five has benefitted from schools - the majority benefitting from public schools which are taxpayer funded.
Then there are jails. They are filled with people who didn't see the value or need to abide by our city, state or nation's laws. They are arrested, booked and placed in jail. Some go to trial while many serve their time and consider it their debt to society for doing wrong. In either case, they stay in these buildings on the taxpayer's dime. I see no reason why a jail needs to provide anything beyond the most basic of necessities. The simple fact that jails have televisions anywhere inside them is nothing short of excessive to me. I don't care if the televisions are for employees, visitors, stray cats or those who are locked up - a television is a luxury and is unnecessary if you are being punished for a crime. And housing law breakers in a $30,000,000 building is so far beyond excessive that I can't even think of words for it.
Why do we feel the need to spend $30,000,000 on a building to house criminals when there are millions and millions of square feet of warehouse and commercial space sitting vacant? Is our government so spend happy that even those who many see as the bottom rung of society need a special building to live in at the expense of others? How many cities and counties require their inmates to actually work doing something while they serve their time? I know for certain that in Scott County (Minnesota) the inmates spend every waking hour indoors at the jail. To some the simple fact that they are not allowed outdoors adds to the punishment but I feel that working to pay your debt to society builds more character and could actually lead to a better place for them down the road than sitting around for days on end doing little to nothing.
Yes, inmates, prisoners, criminals - whatever you choose to call them - sit in relative luxury doing nothing while our schools who are asking for far, far less in the way of operating funds have to do without. They do without modern computers and they do without the best teachers because the best teachers realize that they can make more money in private schools.
So, which one - jails or schools - would you rather have your tax dollars spent on?
After you ponder that question, check out the equally compelling MinnPics and take a photographic journey through Minnesota.
Which of the two - schools or a jail - benefits society more in the long run? Schools prepare the next generation for jobs. Those buildings need to be stocked with equipment and teachers who are at the top of their game - they need to be of the highest quality and the best of the best. Schools serve the children of everyone and everyone who has ever reached the age of five has benefitted from schools - the majority benefitting from public schools which are taxpayer funded.
Then there are jails. They are filled with people who didn't see the value or need to abide by our city, state or nation's laws. They are arrested, booked and placed in jail. Some go to trial while many serve their time and consider it their debt to society for doing wrong. In either case, they stay in these buildings on the taxpayer's dime. I see no reason why a jail needs to provide anything beyond the most basic of necessities. The simple fact that jails have televisions anywhere inside them is nothing short of excessive to me. I don't care if the televisions are for employees, visitors, stray cats or those who are locked up - a television is a luxury and is unnecessary if you are being punished for a crime. And housing law breakers in a $30,000,000 building is so far beyond excessive that I can't even think of words for it.
Why do we feel the need to spend $30,000,000 on a building to house criminals when there are millions and millions of square feet of warehouse and commercial space sitting vacant? Is our government so spend happy that even those who many see as the bottom rung of society need a special building to live in at the expense of others? How many cities and counties require their inmates to actually work doing something while they serve their time? I know for certain that in Scott County (Minnesota) the inmates spend every waking hour indoors at the jail. To some the simple fact that they are not allowed outdoors adds to the punishment but I feel that working to pay your debt to society builds more character and could actually lead to a better place for them down the road than sitting around for days on end doing little to nothing.
Yes, inmates, prisoners, criminals - whatever you choose to call them - sit in relative luxury doing nothing while our schools who are asking for far, far less in the way of operating funds have to do without. They do without modern computers and they do without the best teachers because the best teachers realize that they can make more money in private schools.
So, which one - jails or schools - would you rather have your tax dollars spent on?
After you ponder that question, check out the equally compelling MinnPics and take a photographic journey through Minnesota.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
My hometown is going to hell
I grew up in Austin, MN. Yeah, it sounds like that first statement from an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting but with the headlines on my hometown newspaper's website it is a bit shameful to say that I'm a former Austinite.
Chief stands by department's actions
Mace was used, three were arrested at an illegal immigration rally Saturday in Austin
The Austin police chief said Monday that his officers acted appropriately Saturday when using a chemical spray and making three arrests at a downtown protest.
Austin resident and member of the National Socialist Movement Samuel Johnson organized the illegal immigration protest at the Veterans Memorial in front of the courthouse, but things escalated when a large group of counter protesters — including many from an anti-racism coalition arrived.
Woman charged for allegedly slashing boyfriend
An Austin woman has been charged with felony assault for allegedly slashing her boyfriend with a knife, punching him and biting him Saturday.
Juana Viviana Lopez, 21, is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. Along with the second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon charge, she faces a felony count of terroristic threats, as well as one lesser charge.
Austin resident pleads guilty to prostitution count
An Austin man charged with hiring a 17-year-old prostitute who later stole his shorts from a motel room pleaded guilty Monday in Mower County.
Carlos Lennin Batista-Quintana, 24, will be sentenced March 18 on one gross misdemeanor count of prostitution for hiring a 16- or 17-year-old.
**************
Okay, that last story about the prostitute is sort of funny. No, not because it's about paying for sex with a school-age teen but because the prostitute, who was doing her business at a motel known for prostitution, stole the guy's shorts. If you can't trust a hooker, who can you trust?
I promise to keep it classy at MinnPics. It's a photographic journey through Minnesota that you should really check out. And yes, I do portray Austin in a positive light there.
Chief stands by department's actions
Mace was used, three were arrested at an illegal immigration rally Saturday in Austin
The Austin police chief said Monday that his officers acted appropriately Saturday when using a chemical spray and making three arrests at a downtown protest.
Austin resident and member of the National Socialist Movement Samuel Johnson organized the illegal immigration protest at the Veterans Memorial in front of the courthouse, but things escalated when a large group of counter protesters — including many from an anti-racism coalition arrived.
Woman charged for allegedly slashing boyfriend
An Austin woman has been charged with felony assault for allegedly slashing her boyfriend with a knife, punching him and biting him Saturday.
Juana Viviana Lopez, 21, is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. Along with the second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon charge, she faces a felony count of terroristic threats, as well as one lesser charge.
Austin resident pleads guilty to prostitution count
An Austin man charged with hiring a 17-year-old prostitute who later stole his shorts from a motel room pleaded guilty Monday in Mower County.
Carlos Lennin Batista-Quintana, 24, will be sentenced March 18 on one gross misdemeanor count of prostitution for hiring a 16- or 17-year-old.
**************
Okay, that last story about the prostitute is sort of funny. No, not because it's about paying for sex with a school-age teen but because the prostitute, who was doing her business at a motel known for prostitution, stole the guy's shorts. If you can't trust a hooker, who can you trust?
I promise to keep it classy at MinnPics. It's a photographic journey through Minnesota that you should really check out. And yes, I do portray Austin in a positive light there.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Minnesota Twins interested in my HS classmate?
According to Twins writer, LaVelle E. Neal, III, the Minnesota Twins may be interested in trading for Oakland A's reliever Michael Wuertz (whom the Star-Tribune referred to as Chris in the lede). After his time with the Iowa Cubs and then the Chicago Cubs waaaay back when I was still living in Austin, I had lost track of the pitcher who graduated with me in the late 90s from Austin High School. I sort of figured that he had slipped back into the minor leagues and was sort of there to stay. It's how I assume things happen with people associated with Austin.
I think it's pretty cool that a kid that I don't really remember making a name for himself in high school (maybe he was as low key in sports as he was in school) could be headed for the home team right here in his home state. A truly nice guy pulling down just over a million dollars per year would be a nice compliment to a team who pride themselves on grooming players from within the state and would pair well with the face of the team and fellow Minnesotan, Joe Mauer.
Maybe I can even unearth the "Wuertz Watch" series of graphics I designed in 2001 for the Austin newspaper and prove just how damn legit this whole thing is - if I can find that particular stack of CDs.
And if you want to put a face to the name, maybe I can dig up a fan photo of Wuertz for MinnPics.
FOUND IT:
Wow. My work circa 2002 borders on something I'd rather not claim as my own. Ouch.
I think it's pretty cool that a kid that I don't really remember making a name for himself in high school (maybe he was as low key in sports as he was in school) could be headed for the home team right here in his home state. A truly nice guy pulling down just over a million dollars per year would be a nice compliment to a team who pride themselves on grooming players from within the state and would pair well with the face of the team and fellow Minnesotan, Joe Mauer.
Maybe I can even unearth the "Wuertz Watch" series of graphics I designed in 2001 for the Austin newspaper and prove just how damn legit this whole thing is - if I can find that particular stack of CDs.
And if you want to put a face to the name, maybe I can dig up a fan photo of Wuertz for MinnPics.
FOUND IT:
Wow. My work circa 2002 borders on something I'd rather not claim as my own. Ouch.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Online gems
Every day, millions of professionally- and self-published items hit the internet and today I stumbled across two...
The first is from my old hometown's newspaper...
A 34-year-old Austin man was arrested Sunday for allegedly attacking another man with a chair leg.
The second one comes from a Craigslist ad...
sew my stupid ugly clothes back together (minneapolis, uptown)
i wear a lot of stupid ugly clothes. i am very particular about the stupid way that i dress, so when something like a pair of pants has a hole in the crotch, i am devastated. that being said, i am pretty devastated over a few pairs of pants. usually i have my mom sew them, but she lives out in bloomington and honestly, i feel she half-asses the job because she thinks i dress like her father did in the 1970s. she has a track record of (possibly intentionally) ruining my clothes, but i like to assume it is an accident because i dont like imagining that my mom is capable of being all cunning and mean.
i also have a shirt that needs a bit of alteration and a pair of pants that could use some shortening for my gnome-like legs.
if you can aid in this task, i will pay you money or take you to a local Chuck E. Cheese where you can play skee-ball while i cry about my childhood. you don't even have to do that good job a job - just make sure they stay together.
sincerely yours,
crotchhole jackson
Location: minneapolis, uptown
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: tell me how much you want and i'll tell you how much i want to give you. we will work out a number using a sophisticated spreadsheet my roommate can design because he's a dork.
Even more gems reside at MinnPics. I am sure something good was photographed this past cool weekend and I'll share it with you today!
The first is from my old hometown's newspaper...
A 34-year-old Austin man was arrested Sunday for allegedly attacking another man with a chair leg.
The second one comes from a Craigslist ad...
sew my stupid ugly clothes back together (minneapolis, uptown)
i wear a lot of stupid ugly clothes. i am very particular about the stupid way that i dress, so when something like a pair of pants has a hole in the crotch, i am devastated. that being said, i am pretty devastated over a few pairs of pants. usually i have my mom sew them, but she lives out in bloomington and honestly, i feel she half-asses the job because she thinks i dress like her father did in the 1970s. she has a track record of (possibly intentionally) ruining my clothes, but i like to assume it is an accident because i dont like imagining that my mom is capable of being all cunning and mean.
i also have a shirt that needs a bit of alteration and a pair of pants that could use some shortening for my gnome-like legs.
if you can aid in this task, i will pay you money or take you to a local Chuck E. Cheese where you can play skee-ball while i cry about my childhood. you don't even have to do that good job a job - just make sure they stay together.
sincerely yours,
crotchhole jackson
Location: minneapolis, uptown
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: tell me how much you want and i'll tell you how much i want to give you. we will work out a number using a sophisticated spreadsheet my roommate can design because he's a dork.
Even more gems reside at MinnPics. I am sure something good was photographed this past cool weekend and I'll share it with you today!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tornado hits Austin, Minnesota
If no new is good news, I'll take it at its face value. That's how I'm thinking after hearing about the tornado that touched down in my old hometown of Austin, Minnesota last night. I actually knew nothing about it until my parents called and I saw a rather quick and sketchy report on last night's 10 PM news on KSTP.
I've seen Facebook posts from friends in Austin so I can gather that they are alright but when a tornado hits the place where you used to live, it gives you a whole new respect for the power of Mother Nature. On the other hand, last night marked the first tornado of the year in Minnesota. A late, but powerful, start to the severe weather season. Check out the photo gallery from the Austin Daily Herald.
The other Austin, Minnesota area media outlets have some decent coverage as well...
KAAL-TV story photos more photos, Rochester Post Bulletin, KIMT-TV
The main area of damage is apparently in the northern edge of the city with damage in the city's industrial park, the Winddrift Lounge, Todd Park and businesses in Mapleview.
And check MinnPics later because I'm sure I'll unearth some storm photos later in the day.
I've seen Facebook posts from friends in Austin so I can gather that they are alright but when a tornado hits the place where you used to live, it gives you a whole new respect for the power of Mother Nature. On the other hand, last night marked the first tornado of the year in Minnesota. A late, but powerful, start to the severe weather season. Check out the photo gallery from the Austin Daily Herald.
The other Austin, Minnesota area media outlets have some decent coverage as well...
KAAL-TV story photos more photos, Rochester Post Bulletin, KIMT-TV
The main area of damage is apparently in the northern edge of the city with damage in the city's industrial park, the Winddrift Lounge, Todd Park and businesses in Mapleview.
And check MinnPics later because I'm sure I'll unearth some storm photos later in the day.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
A real-life Minnesota leprechaun
The only story I clicked on the local bankrupt newspaper website happened to be about the husband of a woman I used to work with. I had never met her husband but she often told tales of his job as a grave digger. She had some hippie-esque qualities and I knew that her husband was Irish. Upon seeing his photo and quickly reading through the story of the southern Minnesota Leprechaun-looking guy whose job is making the final resting place for dozens of rural Minnesotans in my old neck of the woods each year I felt a connection.
Check out MinnPics and see what local St. Patrick's Day festivities looked like through the lens.
Check out MinnPics and see what local St. Patrick's Day festivities looked like through the lens.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Change keeps changing
Sometimes I sit and wonder what the world I live in now will look like in a year, five years, ten years.
This thought process runs through my mind because in my nearly thirty years here, I have seen plenty of changes. Hell, growing up we still had a 19 inch black and white TV in the living room and until the early 90s I had to physically get up from my seat and change the channel. Little did I know that before the end of that very decade I would be in charge of running a news website. Not just one aspect of it, the whole damned thing and not because I knew everything there was to know, it was because of my age. It was the one thing that someone of my age was supposed to know because the internet grew up with me.
Now I look back and realize that while I got the job done, I also completely sucked at it. Yeah, I made the company substantial piles of money but it was during the boom-time in our country.
Now I have a diminshed role more focused on what I know but it's still with websites. They've changed and everythign I do regarding them has changed as well. The world around me has changed too.
The city where I grew up recently had a fire burn down a pre-turn-of-the-century block of downtown businesses. Just blocks away, more businesses met the wrecking ball in favor of a parking lot and court house addition. Adjacent to that project, Great Depression-era bridges and underpasses were removed. The highway traffic they once served was moved to the freeway which now skirts the city in the 1960s.
The character of that city's downtown has changed so much that I don't even recognize it when I pass through.
Physical structures seem to be built to resist change while technology advances at a pace that makes some people's heads spin. Is there some middle ground that can be found to preserve the physical view of the past while making it functional for the future? Will the changes I've witnessed be dwarfed by those to come?
If existential questions like those above make your head hurt, check out the soothing yet intriguing photos at MinnPics. Great photos. Minnesota style.
This thought process runs through my mind because in my nearly thirty years here, I have seen plenty of changes. Hell, growing up we still had a 19 inch black and white TV in the living room and until the early 90s I had to physically get up from my seat and change the channel. Little did I know that before the end of that very decade I would be in charge of running a news website. Not just one aspect of it, the whole damned thing and not because I knew everything there was to know, it was because of my age. It was the one thing that someone of my age was supposed to know because the internet grew up with me.
Now I look back and realize that while I got the job done, I also completely sucked at it. Yeah, I made the company substantial piles of money but it was during the boom-time in our country.
Now I have a diminshed role more focused on what I know but it's still with websites. They've changed and everythign I do regarding them has changed as well. The world around me has changed too.
The city where I grew up recently had a fire burn down a pre-turn-of-the-century block of downtown businesses. Just blocks away, more businesses met the wrecking ball in favor of a parking lot and court house addition. Adjacent to that project, Great Depression-era bridges and underpasses were removed. The highway traffic they once served was moved to the freeway which now skirts the city in the 1960s.
The character of that city's downtown has changed so much that I don't even recognize it when I pass through.
Physical structures seem to be built to resist change while technology advances at a pace that makes some people's heads spin. Is there some middle ground that can be found to preserve the physical view of the past while making it functional for the future? Will the changes I've witnessed be dwarfed by those to come?
If existential questions like those above make your head hurt, check out the soothing yet intriguing photos at MinnPics. Great photos. Minnesota style.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Extreme Makeover in my parent's backyard
So, that's a bit misleading but a couple miles away from my parent's rural Austin, MN home, the zoo better known as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has been swinging hammers, knocking things down and pulling in thousands of cheering fans for the past week.
The story behind this makeover, like all others, is specifically chosen to tug at your heartstrings. The family, whom my dad has known for over 20 years, lived in a patched together but falling apart home. With plenty of poorly crafted additions, water made its way in to the home and mold soon followed. The father, who lost his job as a diesel mechanic at an Albert Lea implement dealership a couple years back, will be portrayed as triumphing over adversity. He's made a living as a mechanic while having only one arm (he lost the other at age 10). The parents, Dirk and Susan DeVries, have close ties to a religious school in nearby Hollandale and the 15 year-old son (one of three children) has a fascination with crafting stuff from duct tape.
The big attraction, though, is the excitement surrounding a bunch of Hollywood-types rolling in to town with their fancy three syllable words and big lights (my dad even sounded a bit starstruck as he said he could see the lights from five miles away Saturday night as he sat inside the cab of his combine harvesting soybeans).
Of course tomorrow (Tuesday to you) the hundreds of spectators, a tearful family and a caffeine (and maybe meth)-fueled Ty Pennington screams "Bus driver, move that bus" and within hours, the circus, just like the one with lions and elephants, pulls out of town and like the one with animals and clowns, all that's left is the elephant shit.
And by elephant shit, I mean the mess left behind. Think of the expenses incurred during this excitement. For an entire week, 24 hours a day, a Freeborn County Sheriff's deputy was stationed at either end of the gravel road on which the construction site was located. I'm glad to pay for that sort of overtime because ABC television deserves the ratings. There's also the matter of the demolition debris. The company in charge of hauling it away couldn't do so in the timeframe demanded by the production company. That debris, then, was dumped in a neighbor's yard for later disposal.
It's a mixed blessing, of sorts, to have a reality TV show pull in to town but I wouldn't turn it down because where else would you land a free end of September vacation to dreary and wet Niagara Falls, New York?
The story behind this makeover, like all others, is specifically chosen to tug at your heartstrings. The family, whom my dad has known for over 20 years, lived in a patched together but falling apart home. With plenty of poorly crafted additions, water made its way in to the home and mold soon followed. The father, who lost his job as a diesel mechanic at an Albert Lea implement dealership a couple years back, will be portrayed as triumphing over adversity. He's made a living as a mechanic while having only one arm (he lost the other at age 10). The parents, Dirk and Susan DeVries, have close ties to a religious school in nearby Hollandale and the 15 year-old son (one of three children) has a fascination with crafting stuff from duct tape.
The big attraction, though, is the excitement surrounding a bunch of Hollywood-types rolling in to town with their fancy three syllable words and big lights (my dad even sounded a bit starstruck as he said he could see the lights from five miles away Saturday night as he sat inside the cab of his combine harvesting soybeans).
Of course tomorrow (Tuesday to you) the hundreds of spectators, a tearful family and a caffeine (and maybe meth)-fueled Ty Pennington screams "Bus driver, move that bus" and within hours, the circus, just like the one with lions and elephants, pulls out of town and like the one with animals and clowns, all that's left is the elephant shit.
And by elephant shit, I mean the mess left behind. Think of the expenses incurred during this excitement. For an entire week, 24 hours a day, a Freeborn County Sheriff's deputy was stationed at either end of the gravel road on which the construction site was located. I'm glad to pay for that sort of overtime because ABC television deserves the ratings. There's also the matter of the demolition debris. The company in charge of hauling it away couldn't do so in the timeframe demanded by the production company. That debris, then, was dumped in a neighbor's yard for later disposal.
It's a mixed blessing, of sorts, to have a reality TV show pull in to town but I wouldn't turn it down because where else would you land a free end of September vacation to dreary and wet Niagara Falls, New York?
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Hate alive and well in my hometown
I have stayed away recently from all things political because, well, we get enough of it during an election year where one side seems hellbent on clearing out a four-year supply of mud to hurl at the opposition but feathers are being ruffled in my old hometown.
I'm all for public displays of opinion because it's free speech. I thought little of it when I first saw this story about an airplane circling three southern Minnesota county fairs (Mower, Freeborn & Steele in Austin, Albert Lea and Owatonna respectively) towing banners with the position of stemming illegal immigrants in the region.
My mind, though, was changed when I searched for the head of the organization -- Paul Westrum. Apparently he's done more than ruffle feathers across southern Minnesota. Some of his approaches border (if not cross the line) on hate speech and opinions vary on the topic of immigration from Mexico.
I won't publicly state my stance on the issue of immigration reform because I'd like the general public opinion from outsiders as most of my readers are not from southern Minnesota. What is your take on these events? What are your stances? Don't hold back but please support your stance and keep it civil -- no personal attacks.
I'm all for public displays of opinion because it's free speech. I thought little of it when I first saw this story about an airplane circling three southern Minnesota county fairs (Mower, Freeborn & Steele in Austin, Albert Lea and Owatonna respectively) towing banners with the position of stemming illegal immigrants in the region.
My mind, though, was changed when I searched for the head of the organization -- Paul Westrum. Apparently he's done more than ruffle feathers across southern Minnesota. Some of his approaches border (if not cross the line) on hate speech and opinions vary on the topic of immigration from Mexico.
I won't publicly state my stance on the issue of immigration reform because I'd like the general public opinion from outsiders as most of my readers are not from southern Minnesota. What is your take on these events? What are your stances? Don't hold back but please support your stance and keep it civil -- no personal attacks.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Is Walmart really that erotic?
How can you tell when a new Walmart store opens? Well, in Austin, Minnesota they get downright excited. Hell, they get so damn excited that they fondle themselves out in the parking lot in anticipation of the plethora of low prices just past the aged greeter. I wish I was making this up but this, folks, is where I grew up.
Be sure to visit MinnPics where the photos are exciting but not fondle yourself exciting... or are they?
Be sure to visit MinnPics where the photos are exciting but not fondle yourself exciting... or are they?
Thursday, June 12, 2008
My parent's neighborhood is cursed
If you catch even a glimpse of anything remotely related to national news, you'll see that in recent days the midwest has been pummelled with a variety of storms. Most have been in the form of flooding rains and tornadoes. Minnesota hasn't been missed by any of these storms.
Hardest hit, once again, has been southern and southeastern Minnesota and that hits home to me because the city where I grew up (near) is once again being hit hard by flood waters. Especially close to home is this story which happened exactly a mile from the farm where I grew up. To sum things up, a large drainage ditch apparently overflowed its banks, washed out the paved county road and claimed the life of a man who was unfortunate enough to attempt crossing the washout and being swept under the rushing water.
Six inches of rain falling fast on top of already saturated ground from Saturday's flooding rains tends to have what experts refer to as a "negative effect". I prefer to call it a curse, though.
I can't even begin to count how many times flooding (of lesser extent) has hit the farm where I spent many years playing with a stick as my only toy. We were a poor family and that stick, as well as my imagination, was all I had. Well, those two things and the fact that I could, on occasion, help my dad set up barricades in the neighborhood when floods happened. It was exciting to ride along to the township garage and help him load the piles of barricades into the back of that rusty 1977 red Ford F-150. It was also fearful because there was the outside chance that rust had eaten away the last remnants of bolts anchoring the box to the frame but it's still together.
Anyhow, I can imagine today that my dad is tooling around setting up barricades and watching a few acres of his corn and soybean crop drift its way toward Iowa and eventually into the nearby Cedar River. At least we won't run the risk of setting anything on fire with our annual fireworks extravaganza.
UPDATE:
The Minneapolis Star Tribune has a great video from Austin and with the aerial shots interspersed I can clearly see an apartment building where I once lived that is very much surrounded by water and many businesses I used to frequent which yesterday were fighting back the rising flood waters. Today begins the cleanup.
Hardest hit, once again, has been southern and southeastern Minnesota and that hits home to me because the city where I grew up (near) is once again being hit hard by flood waters. Especially close to home is this story which happened exactly a mile from the farm where I grew up. To sum things up, a large drainage ditch apparently overflowed its banks, washed out the paved county road and claimed the life of a man who was unfortunate enough to attempt crossing the washout and being swept under the rushing water.
Six inches of rain falling fast on top of already saturated ground from Saturday's flooding rains tends to have what experts refer to as a "negative effect". I prefer to call it a curse, though.
I can't even begin to count how many times flooding (of lesser extent) has hit the farm where I spent many years playing with a stick as my only toy. We were a poor family and that stick, as well as my imagination, was all I had. Well, those two things and the fact that I could, on occasion, help my dad set up barricades in the neighborhood when floods happened. It was exciting to ride along to the township garage and help him load the piles of barricades into the back of that rusty 1977 red Ford F-150. It was also fearful because there was the outside chance that rust had eaten away the last remnants of bolts anchoring the box to the frame but it's still together.
Anyhow, I can imagine today that my dad is tooling around setting up barricades and watching a few acres of his corn and soybean crop drift its way toward Iowa and eventually into the nearby Cedar River. At least we won't run the risk of setting anything on fire with our annual fireworks extravaganza.
UPDATE:
The Minneapolis Star Tribune has a great video from Austin and with the aerial shots interspersed I can clearly see an apartment building where I once lived that is very much surrounded by water and many businesses I used to frequent which yesterday were fighting back the rising flood waters. Today begins the cleanup.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A sign of the times
I am a big fan of signage. Unfortunately, I don't always have my camera with me to capture them because I don't bring my backpack everywhere. Fortunately, others have taken it upon themselves to photograph some of the best signage my old hometown (Austin, MN) has to offer.
Behold... The Tranny Shop (via)
The old as hell Apollo Superette sign on Oakland Ave. W. (via)
An ancient McDonald's sign a couple blocks from Apollo (via)
And the much talked about (by me) Piggy Blues BBQ on N. Main St. in Austin, MN (via)
If you're down by Iowa, stop in (closed Sundays) and say Hi to Josh and Andrea.
Cool signs like these seem to be vanishing even though upon closer inspection Austin, Minnesota seems to be a haven for cool, historic and unique signage. What cool signs are their near where you reside? Have you seen any other McDonald's signs like the one here? Am I a total nerd for finding signs cool?
Behold... The Tranny Shop (via)
The old as hell Apollo Superette sign on Oakland Ave. W. (via)
An ancient McDonald's sign a couple blocks from Apollo (via)
And the much talked about (by me) Piggy Blues BBQ on N. Main St. in Austin, MN (via)
If you're down by Iowa, stop in (closed Sundays) and say Hi to Josh and Andrea.Cool signs like these seem to be vanishing even though upon closer inspection Austin, Minnesota seems to be a haven for cool, historic and unique signage. What cool signs are their near where you reside? Have you seen any other McDonald's signs like the one here? Am I a total nerd for finding signs cool?
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Who wants to smoke my meat?
Early last year, I was mildly obsessed about where best to find great barbecue in both the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. Frankly, it was starting to get expensive to drive nearly 100 miles south to Austin to eat with friends and a friend's barbecue restaurant. Don't get me wrong; his restaurant, Piggy Blues BBQ, is heads and tails above anything I've ever eaten. And if you ask me "Why don't you go to Famous Dave's?" I will surely respond by saying "Famous Dave's is to BBQ what Taco Bell is to Mexican food. I'd sooner eat McDonald's for a week."
It was about 13 months ago, thought, that my wife came through big time with a smoker for my birthday. Sure, others would ask for a flat-screen TV or an XBox 360 but mine is the gift that keeps on giving. In fact, it seems to give about once a month.
Saturday was one of those giving days. After testing a cut of pork I grabbed at the cesspool of all supermarkets; Cub Foods; a few months ago in the crock pot in April, I was ready for the smoker.
I'll spare you a lot of the details but I will say that I had the fire going by 11:00 AM and that the dry rub consisting simply of black pepper, chili powder and red pepper flakes stuck nicely to the mustard I slathered on to the pork.
Don't worry, the mustard's flavor vanishes and leaves the dark skin which seals in the flavor and juices. All told, I pulled the roast from the smoker around 6:30 PM after slow roasting over both traditional charcoal and wood lump charcoal at around 250 degrees while adding in a few chunks of Mesquite for smoky flavor.
I am slowly perfecting it and it's becoming a decent substitute for my friend's distant restaurant. What other summer delights should I try? Either on the smoker or the grill.
It was about 13 months ago, thought, that my wife came through big time with a smoker for my birthday. Sure, others would ask for a flat-screen TV or an XBox 360 but mine is the gift that keeps on giving. In fact, it seems to give about once a month.
Saturday was one of those giving days. After testing a cut of pork I grabbed at the cesspool of all supermarkets; Cub Foods; a few months ago in the crock pot in April, I was ready for the smoker.
I'll spare you a lot of the details but I will say that I had the fire going by 11:00 AM and that the dry rub consisting simply of black pepper, chili powder and red pepper flakes stuck nicely to the mustard I slathered on to the pork.
Don't worry, the mustard's flavor vanishes and leaves the dark skin which seals in the flavor and juices. All told, I pulled the roast from the smoker around 6:30 PM after slow roasting over both traditional charcoal and wood lump charcoal at around 250 degrees while adding in a few chunks of Mesquite for smoky flavor.
I am slowly perfecting it and it's becoming a decent substitute for my friend's distant restaurant. What other summer delights should I try? Either on the smoker or the grill.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
More proud moments for Austin, MN
It's all over the news about the extremely rare nervous system disorders being reported by employees of Austin, MN's Quality Pork Processing plant -- an offshoot of Hormel Foods. In fact, the disorder is so rare, it is occuring there at a rate of over 100 times the regular occurance rate of the disease commonly known as CIDP.
But that's not why I'm writing this. Not even close. Austin, as I've recounted many times before, seems to almost thrive on making news in the "whaaaat?" portion of websites. There was the kid who got lodged inside the glass case of the claw game at Godfather's Pizza, there was the prostitution ring practically across the street from the county fairgrounds that serviced, on occasion, upwards of 100 johns in one night and of course the guy who was found dead literally hundreds of feet from my parents' own rural property.
Today's dumb news, though, is about the city's perpetually vacating mall. I have always thought it would make a killer indoor go-cart course but today's events prove that it might be better suited for full-size cars.
The likely silver haired driver who careened through an outer wall of the mall made, if nothing else, for a good photo op. The story related to the photo baffles me.
Straight. No swerving, skidding or sliding. Sure, there's snow on the ground and the maintenance of the parking lot leaves plenty to be desired but how can you drive over 200 feet and manage to end up well over half-way through a solid brick wall? Did granny have a heart attack? Did she think she was at a drive-thru pharmacy? Did she want her drivers license to be taken away?
But that's not why I'm writing this. Not even close. Austin, as I've recounted many times before, seems to almost thrive on making news in the "whaaaat?" portion of websites. There was the kid who got lodged inside the glass case of the claw game at Godfather's Pizza, there was the prostitution ring practically across the street from the county fairgrounds that serviced, on occasion, upwards of 100 johns in one night and of course the guy who was found dead literally hundreds of feet from my parents' own rural property.
Today's dumb news, though, is about the city's perpetually vacating mall. I have always thought it would make a killer indoor go-cart course but today's events prove that it might be better suited for full-size cars.
The likely silver haired driver who careened through an outer wall of the mall made, if nothing else, for a good photo op. The story related to the photo baffles me.
"Roughly 70 yards of tire tracks in the snow heading straight to the spot"
Straight. No swerving, skidding or sliding. Sure, there's snow on the ground and the maintenance of the parking lot leaves plenty to be desired but how can you drive over 200 feet and manage to end up well over half-way through a solid brick wall? Did granny have a heart attack? Did she think she was at a drive-thru pharmacy? Did she want her drivers license to be taken away?
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