Deep thoughts from dead trees

Observations while reading the morning papers, listening to what Alexa has to say, with good coffee, and an old mutt.

The toxic chemicals dumped in the East Metro have shown up in the water of Lake Elmo. The city that hates growth has been on a building boom that’s turning it into North Woodbury of late. What’s the cumulative drop in property values in the last 24 hours? Do real estate agents reveal what 3M did when they’re showing homes?

Mary Franson apologizes. She’s sorry you misinterpreted her. The Alexandria state rep says you misconstrued her Facebook post about Hitler youth that just happened to coincide with the nationwide marches by young people against gun violence. It’s not the first time you’ve misconstrued her intent. Each time she has shut her accounts down. Her Facebook account is down; it’ll be back.

It was 20 years ago today the St. Peter tornado hit Gustavus, home of KGAC/KNGA, the two MPR stations in St. Peter. They still exist but before the tornado hit they were staffed. I always had a soft spot for them because the station was one of the first I visited when moving to Minnesota. But the building was damaged and, if memory serves, Gustavus wanted the small space for something else so the reporters were distributed elsewhere. They’ve done all right. Lorna Benson, who provided much of the MPR coverage of the tornado, went on to become host of All Things Considered and is now a news boss at MPR. Another reporter is a successful PR exec in higher education. A third is an author on the East Coast.

Most of the pictures you see in Catharine Richert’s story are from the Mankato Free Press because MPR didn’t have a digital news operation back then. A lot can happen in 20 years.

Why are there party busses?

Labs are still the top dog, but French bulldogs have jumped in popularity in an American Kennel Club survey which again ignores mutts, the only type of dog that is pure love.

Dark matter is missing and nobody seems to care. Circle Me, Bert disappears for a few hours and we go to DEFCON 1.

“It’s like finding a body without a skeleton,” said an astrophysicist about the discovery that could change the rules and affect experiments on earth — like one in South Dakota — that are trying to capture dark matter.

Tiangong-1, the space station knock-off from China, will fall to earth on Sunday (give or take a day). Your last chance to see it in the Twin Cities is Sunday morning at 6:11 a.m. in the south, traveling to the SE at 10 degrees above the horizon for two minutes.

It’s opening day. So a Pioneer Press writer channels Nipsey Russell.

Baseball, Ray. Invite your dad over for a game of catch…

… and throw some money at the Miracle League of Blaine.