Stories

Guess Who

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SENATOR COLEMAN HELPS CANADIAN BAND ROCK ON IN U.S.

 

Senator Norm Coleman helps expedite The Guess Who's visas to keep them on American tour schedule

 

St. Paul, Minn.—Senator Norm Coleman announced today that The Guess Who, a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, will be able to stay on schedule and begin their year-long American tour commencing this Wednesday, November 24^th, in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

The Guess Who, famous for songs such as, "American Woman" and "These Eyes" experienced a set-back in their tour today when the band discovered its application for P2 visas, a requirement for the band to work and re-enter the U.S. throughout the tour, had not yet been processed by U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.  The American Federation of Musicians sponsored the band's visas and paid an additional fee to expedite the application, all received by U.S. officials on November 12, 2004. 

Processing of the visas normally take four to eight days, but the band was notified earlier today that they would not be receiving the visas until November 27, 2004, a delay that would have potentially hurt the band's tour schedule and contract. The band's agent, who has an entertainment company in Chanhassen, immediately contacted Senator Coleman's office to seek assistance.

"I was thrilled to be able to help the band get back on schedule," said Coleman.  "I love music and have even worked in band myself when I was younger. I know the importance and excitement of starting a new tour, and I did not want to see bureaucratic red-tape get in the way.  The Guess Who are professionals who are going on the road in order to entertain many of their fans. I was pleased to help them get over this short hurdle."

"I am truly impressed at the quick response and attention that I received from [Senator Coleman's] office," said The Guess Who agent, Randy Erwin.  "They cut through the bureaucracy and saved us from having to cancel the first concert of the tour."

The Guess Who, the band that became Canada's first international rock music superstars, began in 1962 in Winnipeg as Chad Allen & the Reflections.  The Guess Who is scheduled to stop in Minnesota this summer to play at the Taste of Minnesota.

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Andrea Wuebker

Dpty. Press Secretary

United States Senator Norm Coleman

Tel. 651-645-0323

Mob. 202-253-6717

Posted by Paul Demko at November 22, 2004 6:55 PM

 

Sal

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Posted by Paul Demko at November 15, 2004 1:27 PM

 

Buffalo Lake

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Posted by Paul Demko at September 24, 2004 2:36 PM

 

Landmark Press Release II

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For Immediate Release

May 27, 2004

Contact: Chris Conry at (612) 221-4852 or chrisconry2000@hotmail.com.

United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 789

Dan Schneidkraut at (612) 870-3483 or xgraveviolatorx@yahoo.com

Uptown/Lagoon Theater

Movie Theatre Workers Four Votes Shy of a Union Victory

United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 789 supports workers' right to choose.

On the evening of Wednesday, May 26th a majority of the workers at Landmark Theatre's three Twin Cities theatres, the Edina Cinema, Lagoon Cinema, and Uptown Theatre decided not to form a Union. Among the 36 eligible voters, turnout was very high with 33 workers showing up at the polls. The vote tally was 20 'No' and 13 'Yes'; a change of four votes from 'No' to 'Yes' would have reversed the decision.

"Obviously, we are disappointed by the outcome. However, we applaud the workers who had the courage to make this happen. They took real risks, hoping to improve their workplace and they deserve recognition for that," said Don Seaquist, President of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 789.

The election is the culmination of a campaign that began on April 14th, 2004, when the Twin Cities movie theatre workers petitioned the National Labor Relations Board requesting a union election. Throughout the last six weeks, workers continued to talk with each other and built massive community support with hundreds of movie patrons signing petitions of support. On Tuesday, May 25th supporters attended the 7:15pm screening of the popular documentary Super Size Me at the Uptown Theatre. Ticket sales more than doubled what's expected on a Tuesday night; concession sales were tripled.

"We wholeheartedly support a worker's right to decide whether or not she wants to form a union. We're glad this campaign went to a vote. We are glad people got a chance to participate in the process," explained Bernie Hesse, Director of Organizing at UFCW Local 789.

The UFCW Local 789 is part of the 1.4 million United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO. Local 789 has 7500 members and represents workers in the grocery stores, drug stores, nursing homes, meat packing plants, manufacturing facilities, laundry facilities, and the Borders Bookstore in Minneapolis' Calhoun Square.

In September of 2003 Landmark Theatres was purchase by 2929 Entertainment Company which is co-owned by Dallas Maverick's owner, Mark Cuban. Landmark Theatres Corporation was founded in 1974 and operates 57 theatres with 204 screens in 14 states across the U.S.

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Posted by Paul Demko at May 28, 2004 3:02 PM

 

LNW! The (Anti) Tip Sheet

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I've got a pretty remarkable streak of futility going at the racetrack. In two years of betting--encompassing roughly ten visits to Canterbury Park--I've not won a single bet. If you figure I probably bet on an average of seven races during each visit, this means I've managed to wrongly predict roughly 70 races in a row.

Luckily for my (non-existent) bankroll, this gambling has largely been restricted to $2 wagers. The most I've expended on any one race is $10 on a quarterhorse after receiving a tip up in the Canterbury press box that this particularly beast ran well in the mud. (I don't recall where that doomed horse finished, but it certainly wasn't first.) A nadir of sorts was reached near the end of the 2002 season when two of the thoroughbreds I bet on failed to even finish their races.

In order to subsidize my cursed betting habit, I've long contemplated becoming a tout. Unlike most track hucksters, however, my tip sheet would announce which horse, based on my predictive incompetence, is destined to lose each race. Granted this would not guarantee tip-sheet customers a sure thing, but it would at least narrow the field of possible winners. I would sell this valuable piece of information for a buck at each meet. In addition, I would offer to refund the purchase price if--by some miracle--one of my horses actually wins. (Of course, like any good tout, I might be forced to make myself scarce if this scenario actually played out.)

To prepare for this new line of work, I've been reading Scarne's New Complete Guide to Gambling, generously given to me by Mosedale recently. It's a fascinating, boastful, absurdly authoritative guide to one of the world's oldest, grandest--and financially ruinous--pastimes. (It was originally published in 1961, but I'm reading the updated 1974 version.) Consider, to cite just one example, this little nugget:

As to the employment of FBI agents in tracking down bookies all over the country, I agree with my friend, the late J. Edgar Hoover, former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who said, "The FBI has much more important functions to accomplish than arresting gamblers all over the country."

I couldn't agree more!

As for touts, Scarne provides some sage counsel for would-be gamblers:

All touts follow the same rule: Never give a sucker an even break. What the sucker should ask himself and seldom does are these questions: Why, if this guy's selections are so good, doesn't he have a fat bankroll? Why is he trying to get money by giving me winners? Why doesn't he use his own money to bet on these surefire tips? The answer, of course, is that the tout doesn't really believe in his own selections.

The genius of my idea is that it renders all these quibbles irrelevant. Not only do I promise to bet on all my projected winners (admittedly you must take this pledge on good faith), but the buyer of my tip sheet will have been duly warned not to make the same mistake.

I'm still working out the specifics. If anyone would like to suggest a name for this endeavor, please shoot me an email. (So far I'm leaning toward "Soon to be Glue") 

For now, I will offer up, gratis, as a favor to faithful LNW! readers, my pick in this Saturday's 130th running of the Kentucky Derby. It's a highly volatile field, with a full slate of 20 horses likely and no consensus favorite. Right now, The Cliff's Edge looks to be the bookmakers' top choice. I've flirted with putting my money behind Castledale, surprise winner of the Santa Anita Derby. And I'm tempted by the massive racing neophyte Rock Hard Ten. But ultimately I've settled on Smarty Jones, winner of the Arkansas Derby. The insiders say he can't hold out for 1 1/4 miles, but I don't believe this hokum.

So you've been warned: "Soon to be Glue" says Smarty Jones will win the Derby.

(For a more informed opinion, the dean of horseracing writers, Andy Beyer, will be chatting live at the Daily Racing Form web site this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. CST.)

I'm off to New Orleans for JazzFest. No posting for a week or so.

Posted by Paul Demko at April 26, 2004 9:17 PM

 

Landmark Theaters Press Release

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For Immediate Release

April 15, 2004

Contact: Chris Conry at (651) 451-6240 or chrisconry2000@hotmail.com.

United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 789

Dan Schneidkraut at 612-870-3483 or xgraveviolatorx@yahoo.com.

Landmark Theatre's Uptown Theatre

Movie Theatre Workers file for Union election with UFCW Local 789.

Workers poised to take on Texas basketball mogul.

On Wednesday, April 14th the workers at all three of Landmark Theatre's Twin Cities movie theatres filed a petition for a Union election with the National Labor Relations Board. Employees of the popular "art-house" theatres, the Edina Cinema in Edina, MN and the Lagoon Cinema and the Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis, MN, have petitioned to join the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 789 of South St. Paul, MN. If successful, these workers will create the first unionized movie theatre in the State of Minnesota.

"We love our jobs. We love movies. We like the people we work with. We just want to be able keep our jobs, pay our rent, and be appreciated for what we contribute," Lagoon Cinema worker Emily Davis explained. Landmark Theatres doesn't offer full-time positions to any of its regular local employees. Recent cutbacks in hours and unpredictable scheduling have created problems for Landmark's workers, most of whom live in the City of Minneapolis. With a $6.80/hr wage cap at the Lagoon Cinema and Uptown Theatre, many workers hold two, sometimes three jobs in order to remain self-sufficient.

Nine-year employee, Sybil Smith explains, "I'm really proud of what we're building here. Sometimes workers like us are just invisible. We appreciate our customers. We like the same movies they do. We hope they'll support us as we try to protect our jobs." Landmark's workers and the UFCW Local 789 intend to take this case to the movie-going public throughout the organizing campaign.

"The issue here is that Landmark Theatres has changed. The independent art-house theatres are getting bought out by entertainment empires," Uptown Theatre worker Dan Schneidkraut explained, "the movies they show, the way they're managed, it's changed as theatre owners have gotten farther and farther away." In September of 2003 Landmark Theatres was purchase by 2929 Entertainment Company which is co-owned by Dallas Maverick's owner, Mark Cuban. Landmark Theatres Corporation was founded in 1974 and operates 57 theatres with 204 screens in 14 states across the U.S.

The UFCW Local 789 is part of the 1.4 million United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO. Local 789 has 7500 members and represents workers in the grocery stores, drug stores, book stores, nursing homes, meat packing plants, and manufacturing and laundry facilities.

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Posted by Paul Demko at April 15, 2004 6:17 PM

 

Oxford American

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Oxford American Official Press Release
16 July 2003

Because advertising revenues did not meet its expectations, the AT HOME
MEDIA GROUP of Little Rock, Arkansas, is suspending publication of THE
OXFORD AMERICAN magazine.

This is very painful news; nonetheless, THE OA's editorial staff has chosen
to stay together to do all they can to find new investors and continue
publishing the magazine, in one incarnation or another.

The AT HOME MEDIA GROUP is providing OA founder and editor Marc Smirnoff
with a temporary office in one of their buildings, along with a temporary
salary, so that a home base can be maintained for a few months while he and
his colleagues go about charting a new future for THE OA. With the belief
that THE OA can, in fact, be made financially viable, this group will pursue
all reasonable options (including the possibility of turning THE OA into a
not-for-profit entity).

The remaining former staff includes editor Marc Smirnoff, senior editor Paul
Reyes, associate editors Carol Ann Fitzgerald and Lauren Wilcox, editorial
assistants Lindsey Millar, Caroline Myers, and David Ramsey.

One option the staff is considering is to take on ownership of the magazine
from the AT HOME MEDIA GROUP, who are intent on helping THE OA find a new
home, and who have expressed a willingness to pass ownership to them
debt-free.

Editor Marc Smirnoff has issued the following statement:

"This is obviously a sad development. I hate to see the lives of the best
editorial staff I've ever had the honor to work with disrupted. And I hate
to see the magazine disrupted, and what that disruption means to our devoted
readers and writers. Upon moving to Little Rock, THE OA has become smarter,
more daring, and more relevant than it ever was before. It has continued to
collect and excite serious readers from all over the country. I am
personally very grateful that the owners of AT HOME MEDIA GROUP took it upon
themselves to bring THE OA into Arkansas. Nonetheless, the staffers who
remain don't think the story is over yet. What's prompting us to want to
personally dedicate ourselves to guiding the business side of the magazine
is that we simply do not think a thing with so much life left in it should
die.

Our belief is that THE OXFORD AMERICAN is singular and therefore vital. All
you have to do is go to any newsstand to see that there is a glut of
superficial magazines being published. These magazines seem to go out of
their way to sap the human spirit. Thankfully, there is a community of
readers who insist that a quality publication from the South, one that dares
to be intelligent and soulful, contributes to the health of our culture, and
that it needs to exist. OXFORD AMERICAN readers have told us over and over
that there is room in their lives for our magazine. That means a hell of a
lot to us. So against intimidating business odds, the OA staffers who
remainin Little Rock<EVEN if we have to get other jobs in the interim in
order to contribute to this cause<ARE to the going honor faith of our good
readers by doing all that we can to take care of THE OA and see that it
boldly resumes publication.

We thank the readers and writers and believers who have gotten us this far,
and who inspire us to keep pushing ahead."

Posted by Paul Demko at July 29, 2003 5:42 PM

 

Borders Press Release

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June 20, 2003

Contact: Chris Conry at (612) 221-4852 or chrisconry2000@hotmail.com.

United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 789

Jason Evans at (612) 272-5790 or jason@supersphere.com.

Borders Books - Uptown

How do you make $150,000,000 disappear?

Employees ask Borders' CEO this question at Harry Potter release parties.

 

What: The Harry Potter Handbill

When: Friday, June 20, 2003 from 10pm to 1am.

Where: Borders Bookshop - Uptown - 3001 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, MN

Employees of the Minneapolis Uptown Borders and their community allies will be distributing leaflets to customers who attend the store's Harry Potter midnight release party. Employees will be asking Greg Josefowicz, CEO of Borders Group, Inc., why he spent $150,000,000 on a stock repurchase scheme while refusing to pay sixteen employees $9.33 an hour.

Currently negotiating a first union contract with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 789, these employees are demanding that Borders Group, Inc. pay the City of Minneapolis' living wage standard of $9.33/hr. In meetings on June 18th, attorneys for Borders Group, Inc. refused to budge on wage rates and offered employees the rates they currently get with increases set at the employer's discretion.

UFCW Local 789 President Don Seaquist explains, "The proposal was totally unacceptable. What Borders offered us was essentially the employee handbook in different language. The issue here is not one of money, but of priorities. The money is there; it's just a matter of who gets it. Should it go to the institutional shareholders or should it go to the people who do the actual work?"

On May 20th, 2003 Borders Group, Inc. authorized a $150,000,000 expenditure to allow the corporation to repurchase its own stock on the open market. This one-time repurchase scheme is a give-away to shareholders designed to drive up the company's ailing stock price. While investors, by and large, remain unimpressed by the move, its impression has been felt locally: For CEO Greg Josefowicz, mutual funds are more important than Minnesota workers.

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Posted by Paul Demko at June 20, 2003 3:35 PM

 

Other Demko Stories

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From New Times Broward/Palm Beach

Declarations of Independents
Forget strip malls, condos, and highways. Loxahatchee Groves is a place of dirt roads, wild pets, and eccentric residents.
By Paul Demko
Published March 30, 2000  

That's Condo-tainment!
The stars of South Florida's condo circuit may not be the most youthful performers, but oy can they sing
By Paul Demko
Published March 2, 2000  

The Real Sugar Bowl
That would be Glades Central versus Pahokee, a fierce high-school rivalry that's become a bigtime game
By Paul Demko
Published November 18, 1999  

No Bird Is an Island
Conservationist Paul Reillo has waged a one-man campaign to save Dominica's parrots from extinction
By Paul Demko
Published November 11, 1999  

How to Become Homeless
Develop heart problems and a fondness for drink. Have your trailer condemned and hit the street. Nothing to it.
By Paul Demko
Published October 28, 1999  

 Padre Pio's Big Adventure
A little piece of a bleeding Italian priest has traveled here to help in the healing
By Paul Demko
Published August 12, 1999  

Total ConFusion
In barely two seasons, the management has run the Miami Fusion into the ground. The fans are not pleased.
By Paul Demko
Published June 24, 1999  

One Last Shot
At age 64, pool hustler Danny DiLiberto is one of a dying breed. He's not ready, however, to hang up his stick.
By Paul Demko
Published April 8, 1999  

Dead Man Waiting
Billy Elledge brutally raped and murdered a woman in Hollywood 25 years ago. He has sat in prison since then, evidence that Florida's death penalty isn't working.
By Paul Demko
Published February 11, 1999  

Posted by Paul Demko at May 8, 2003 3:38 PM

 

John Robert Tomars Search Warrant

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Posted by Paul Demko at May 8, 2003 2:19 PM