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 

No. 1 protect the vote, otherwise it's all over

(image from Washington Post)

Can all the stirrings in "Trumpworld" keep your interest, or does it just drone on too much? A Murdoch-owned newspaper had an article wondering if "infighting" might jeopardize the fortunes of MAGA officeholders. Look at how Trump assailed Thom Tillis. 

Personally I'm more concerned about how America can achieve a reversal from MAGA itself. Looking beyond all the horserace stuff day to day, I encouraged the non-MAGA crowd to focus on priorities.

Here's a comment that I posted to Yahoo! News:

 

The main thing is to protect access to the polls. We must ensure that the mid-terms are even held. If Trump senses the walls are closing in, what might he do? Let the people decide, they may well want a turnaround from MAGA, or at least a president who represents the USA with greater civility and courtesy. 

 

 "Abe" responded:

That won’t happen Brian. MAGAs will not defect from their hero and would rather go to civil war. I live in a predominantly MAGA town. The things I hear at the gym, the stores, the restaurants, the coffee shops etc. are absolutely astonishing, shocking, and nauseating. I am a minority and they couldn't care less that I could hear them. And check this out - most of the trash talking comes from MAGA women! As I’ve pointed out numerous times already: “It’ll be a long and chaotic 4 years - so hold tight, buckle up, and ride the rollercoaster ride to hell." 

 

"Isaac" responded:

LOL. Are we really going back to the "walls closing in" narrative? I'm pretty sure there are already meme compilations making fun of it. 

 

"Brandon" responded:

Trump will "postpone" elections next year under the pretense of a national emergency. 

 

"Terry" responded:

Each state is in charge of their elections. The voters will be voting in huge numbers to try to get our country back.

 

"L.J. Silver" responded:

Yes, I totally believe Trump is going to attempt to scratch the midterms. In fact, I believe it a certainty. 

 

"Knobhead" responded:

I sincerely doubt that even the Trump-corrupted Supreme Court would tolerate Trump and his Project 2025 partners in crime claiming some kind of national emergency so that Trump could declare martial law and cancel the 2026 mid-term elections. That would be too extreme even for the Conservative 6. 

 

"Mary" responded:

Civility and courtesy are sorely lacking, I don't think he cares, just alienate everyone. I wish someone would rescue us.

 

"Alan" responded:

Not just access but actual votes too. It's ironic that the party that is so quick to accuse the other of "stealing the election" is possibly guilty of just that. Look at the pending lawsuit in NY. A blue district that re-elected a Democratic senator by a landslide in the last election showed "0" votes for Harris. Tell me that isn't fishy. 

 

"David R." responded:

Maybe some of his own loyal subjects will finally see the light. 

 

"Jeff" responded:

It’s all smoke and mirrors to hide the fact that he is making a power grab and his sheep will follow. 

 

"CVC" responded:

I think Trump is not worried about any midterm elections or polls because he thinks he can make the voice of the people totally irrelevant. I hope he isn’t right. 

 

"EN" responded:

If Trump declares martial law, that might actually wake up the Republicans to impeach or enact the 25th Amendment. Everything will crash, the economy, the stock market, banks etc. I won't say Trump won't try. I don't think it will last long though. 

 

"Untechsavvy" responded:

Musk has admitted a couple of times that he can easily hack into the voting machines, and based on Harris losing by a sliver he could have done just that. I worry that voting machines are no longer safe. Not that I have a solution but maybe we need to go back to the old-fashioned way before machines. 

 

"Cenythia G" responded:

And we want a POTUS without a criminal record, and a WH and cabinet that does not pleasure in lies and hurting of others.

"Kenny" responded:

America wants a president that gets things done. Trump is working to do what he said he would do. Poor little spoiled lawmakers are getting their feelings hurt, and quitting. Good for America. We don't need the weaklings running the country. The left is mad because they're losing their taxpayer-funded cash cow. Facts will still be facts, no matter how much you cry foul. 

 

"Gus" responded:

And what Democrat do you think exhibits those qualities? Newsom? He's a joke that has destroyed an already decaying California. Harris again? Again she's an even bigger joke than Newsom. Good luck with finding a left winger with those so-called qualities. 

 

"PC" responded:

Question here: Am I wrong to imagine I remember reading that there is a section of the "big beautiful bill" that will allow DJT to suspend elections? I could have sworn there was mention of that early-on in the discussion of that bill. Anyone know whether I am making this up? 

 

"Mr. Mustard" responded:

One side of the human psyche is always available for inroads with the types who see their privilege slipping. . .

 

"Hieronymous" responded:

If anyone thinks this is an alarmist overreaction, they should read about how Hitler came to supreme power in 1930s Germany.

 

 

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