Minneapolis / St. Paul News Blog

McClatchy's chief dealmaker makes a tidy bonus

McClatchy Co. will pay Chief Executive Gary Pruitt a bonus of $950,000 for 2006, bringing his total compensation package to $2.5 million, the Associated Press reports. Local media watchers will recognize Pruitt as the architect of a series of deals that have turned the Twin Cities newspaper industry on its head in the last year: McClatchy's purchase of rival Knight-Ridder; the quick resale of Knight-Ridder's Pioneer Press to Hearst to be managed by Dean Singleton's Media News group; and finally last month's unexpected fire sale of the Star Tribune to a private equity firm.

In the wake of the first transactions, some 40 longtime PiPress newsroom staffers took buyouts; a number of employees in other departments were laid off--those who lacked union protection with precious little in the way of notice or cushion. Shoes have yet to drop at the Strib.

According to a press release from Mass Media Distribution, the "Exotica Swimwear Extreme Bikini Team" will be ice fishing on White Bear Lake, just off the Mahtomedi city beach on Park Avenue at 1:00 p.m. today. Voyeurs can watch bikini-clad vixens such as Valerie Carpender and Whitney Harchanko (pictured left) drill holes, bait hooks, and attempt to catch fish in what's forecast to be flurries and 17-degree temps. "I think people will be surprised by how strong these ladies are and I hope they inspire women everywhere to get out and participate in outdoor activities like Minnesota's great pastime of ice fishing," touts Danny C., one of the "countries [sic] most respected experts on exotic swimwear." The Exotica Swimwear Extreme Bikini Team: showing the world women can achieve anything... if they look good in a bikini.

Bao Vang will not be seeking election to the St. Paul City Council. As reported in today's Pioneer Press, she has bowed out of the Ward One race. In 2003 Vang lost by 357 votes to Debbie Montgomery. Vang told City Pages on Friday that she intended to once again challenge for the central St. Paul post, but apparently changed her mind over the weekend. Her decision leaves Melvin Carter III as the primary challenger to Montgomery.

(I can't for the life of me find a link to the story on the Pi Press web site. If anyone can locate it please post in the comments section.)

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

We remember Disneyland ride engineer Don Edgren at Corpus Obscurum.

We're happy to announce the release of our new Media Taster! The City Pages Media Taster lets you actually hear the great music you read about in City Pages—just launch, click, and listen. Simply download the Media Taster and you'll automatically receive a digital mixtape of music on a semi-regular basis (including free MP3s), legal and free of charge.

THESE DAYS

Two fungal diseases, Panama disease and black Sigatoka, are cutting a swath through banana plantations, leaving the future of the fruit in jeopardy.

Human trials of an experimental treatment for obesity derived from cannabis, which is commonly associated with stimulating hunger, are scheduled to begin in the second half of this year.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Jake Mohan is heading into his fifth year blogging about music, grocery shopping in the middle of the night, yuletide drinking games, and vomiting in taxi cabs at his eponymous blog.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Top 50 Cover Songs of All Time according to Rivalfish

Diagrams of James Bond villains' lairs [via Incoming Signals]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"The Kiss comics that have come out were licenses; they weren't truly part of the mythology. This is all of us working together. [Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley] care about every panel of every comic and how an image looks on a shirt."

— Platinum Studios chairman Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, announcing a partnership with the rock group Kiss to create a new comic-book entertainment company called the Kiss Comics Group

This week's cover feature, The New Voyageurs, by Mike Mosedale, tells the story of six Minnesotans who braved a trek down the Mekong River, through Cambodia and Vietnam, battling whirlpools and dysentery. Along for the ride was veteran City Pages photographer Michael Dvorak, who shares some amazing photos, both in the cover story and in the photo gallery, Life on the Mekong. Check out the cover story here and the gallery here, then come back to share your thoughts on this remarkable journey.

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

David Brauer subs for Britt Robson, discussing Garnett's 44-point game at Balls.

We remember pioneering female kickboxer Lilly Rodriguez at Corpus Obscurum.

Download free MP3s from local artists such as Big Quarters, Fort Wilson Riot, Malachi Constant, and more at Music To Go.

THESE DAYS

The city of Miami is planning an official celebration at the Orange Bowl whenever Cuban president Fidel Castro dies.

The Church of England is staging its first "U2-charist" communion service in the central town of Lincoln—replacing hymns with hit songs by the Irish supergroup.

Air America Radio announced Monday that it has reached a tentative agreement to be sold to the founder of a New York area real estate company and that its headline personality, Al Franken, would be leaving next month.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Jason Schueppert is currently working on a degree in Chemical Dependency Counseling and blogs about stinky college roommates, interrupting chickens, and one of my new favorite bands, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, at Thirsty Thursday.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Map of current emergencies around the world [via BoingBoing]

Name the band from the band members's first names pop quiz [via Attu]

Waiting for you Bears fans this weekend: The Ladies of Alary's

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Michael, I feel, needs to become a Muslim because I think it's a great protection for him from all the things that he's been attacked with, which are false."

— singer Jermaine Jackson, offering advice to his brother, the troubled King of Pop

The Sleuth, WaPo's D.C. insider blog by Mary Ann Akers, recently reported on a dumpster-diving expedition by Sen. Norm Coleman that left him sporting a giant gash on his head for last week's State of the Union address. In the post, Coleman claims his actress wife Laurie accidentally tossed an antique lamp that he was then enlisted to retrieve, whacking his head on a "piece of wood" in the process. A couple of questions come to mind about this tale: How does one inadvertantly throw away a lamp? And how does one strike their head on a piece of wood in a dumpster so hard that they "see stars?" If E. Howard Hunt hadn't died last week, I would guess he had something to do with this operation.

The Ward One city council race in St. Paul promises to be one of this year's most intriguing political contests. One-term incumbent Debbie Montgomery faces at least two contenders for the post.

Melvin Carter III officially kicked off his campaign Saturday at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center. Roughly 100 supporters packed a classroom at the center where, Carter noted, he grew up running track and taking piano lessons. In a high energy speech that evoked the history of the central St. Paul ward, along with its diversity, the 28-year-old made clear that he will be a formidable contender. "Our work is great, but our message is simple," Carter told the crowd. "As one we win."

Four years ago Montgomery, a retired St. Paul cop, outpolled a broad field of contenders to secure the post, beating Bao Vang in the general election by 357 votes. But Montgomery's tenure on the council has been marked by widespread frustration over her fickleness. More than one political observer has remarked that whomever has her ear last is likely to get her vote.

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

We remember electron microscope developer James Hillier at Corpus Obscurum.

Download free MP3s from local artists such as Askeleton, the Hopefuls, Chris Koza, M.anifest, the Plastic Constellations, and more at Music To Go.

THESE DAYS

South Buffalo congressman Brian Higgins (D-NY) walked out of a Catholic church service last Sunday after a deacon berated him during a sermon for the lawmaker's recent vote supporting stem cell research.

Researchers believe that carbon monoxide prevents the development of multiple sclerosis symptoms, such as paralysis, by stopping harmful molecules called free radicals from forming in the nervous symptom.

Citing the controversy surrounding the Dakota Fanning film Hounddog, the leader of the state Senate Republicans says he wants the government to review scripts before cameras start rolling in North Carolina.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

A group of Minneapolis residents blog about energy policy and issues relating to climate change at Energista.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

British comedian Ricky Gervais (The Office, Extras) interviews Larry David and Christopher Guest for Britain's Channel 4.

Top 25 Worst Album Covers of 2006 via Pitchfork

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"We hope all New Zealanders will recognize this meat industry milestone and mark it by enjoying lamb for dinner on Feb. 15, to celebrate 125 years of meat exports."

— Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton, declaring February 15, 2007, "National Lamb Day" in New Zealand

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

2008 GOP hopefuls suffer a setback when sides chose shirts and skins at American Idle.

We remember former Minneapolis Millerette Betty Trezza at Corpus Obscurum.

THESE DAYS

Many Canadian citizens applying for a passport have been informed their chance to remain a citizen expired years ago because of an obscure provision in the Citizenship Act, a little-known law that applied between 1947 and 1977, that states if you lived outside Canada on your 24th birthday and failed to sign the right form, you automatically lost your citizenship.

Authorities at Tarleton State University in Texas said they plan to investigate a Martin Luther King Jr. Day party that mocked black stereotypes by featuring fried chicken, malt liquor, and faux gang apparel.

Hugh Hefner insists Ozzy spawn Kelly Osbourne will never appear in Playboy, because her body would need too much airbrushing.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Former North Dakota farm boy Jeremy lives in Eagan and blogs about jury duty, Jack Bauer's bathroom schedule, and robot vacuum cleaners at Afterglide.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Swimwear for the fundamentalist Christian

Lloyd's of London's 2007 Political and Economic Risk Map [PDF]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"The world is much safer today because of it."

— Vice President Dick Cheney, to CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Wednesday, January 24, on the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam Hussein