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According to Fox9 in the Cities, Best Buy has announced these store closings in the metro area (and just beyond):
Edina, near Southdale Center
Brookdale Center
Lakeville
Rogers
Hutchinson
That leaves about 45 more to be addressed; no word yet, obviously, on Rochester.
A woman from Missouri, June Thompson, contacted me a while back to pitch a story she had written about a visit to Rochester in early February. Here it is...might be of interest to the people planning the Destination Medical Community project.
It was February 11, 2012, when we started out from the southern tip of the state of Missouri from a small town called Campbell. It is the Peach Capital of Missouri, and has a little over 2,000 people. We were embarking on our trip to the famous Mayo Clinic. This is the place where everyone has two things in common - a bag of medicine and hope. The first several miles we got used to the GPS system and managed it through the St. Louis area, which was not a big deal. As we drove on north we talked a lot and played the CDs my husband made especially for the trip. (Oldies but goodies.) We sang with many of them as we enjoyed the sights along the way. We enjoyed seeing Hannibal, Mo., the home of Mark Twain. Before we knew it, we had traveled the entire state of Missouri and we entered the beautiful state of Iowa.
It was our first time coming that far north. We had always been warned how the people up north are, and that meant, not friendly! So we were ready for that to be the case. The state of Iowa was so beautiful to see. It was rolling hills and huge two story farm homes. Growing up on a farm myself, I noticed how meticulous those farms were. (Not one lazy farmer in those homes) The land was all well taken care of and the houses and yards were in perfect condition. As we traveled along we were amazed at all the old barns and the fact they even had silos. I was snapping pictures all the way. In our part of the world, most barns have worn out and been replaced with metal ones. But in Iowa they have preserved them and kept them painted and in nice condition. It was such a peaceful journey. We left ringing telephones, problems and just erased our world to take a break as we were hoping for answers to my many health conditions.
Every time we stopped to get gas, people were very friendly and helpful to give us traveling information. The GPS had sidetracked us some through small towns because we had it programmed for the shortest route, so it took more time than we expected. But what did it matter as we saw such beautiful country? We became tired as we were in northern Iowa. We finally stopped in Centerpoint, Iowa, where we were guided to a place called Jonesy’s, which boasted of the best and largest pork tenderloin in Iowa. It was delicious! We stopped and something strange began. If we said a couple of sentences people would say, “Where are you all from?” We couldn’t figure it out. We didn’t think we sounded any different! Did we? But, in the next week we learned that happened every time we opened our mouths! I guess we are “the southern couple,” as some called us.
The Minnesota line . . . could we have finally made it this far and in one day? Yes, we were in Minnesota! That sounded so northern to us. Columbia, Mo., was as far north as I’d been and my husband had been to Des Moines, Iowa. However he had flown and missed the country views. We finally made it to our hotel. We were so tired, it was 10 degrees and the wind chill was who-knows-what. The people were so unbelievably kind and helpful. It had been that way the entire trip. And since we were in a northern state, that wasn’t supposed to happen. But it did!
The Mayo Clinic was shocking to us. We expected a hospital setting. Instead we arrived to a place that took on the look of a New York hotel. Wherever we turned, someone was there saying, “May I help you?” The entire structure was so beautiful and immediately we were struck with the incredible artwork on display every way we turned. Then without warning we heard the baby grand playing and a beautiful voice singing, “Oh, what a beautiful morning!”
We were surrounded by beauty on all sides. There were carvings, blown glass art, modern art, Steuben glassware, sculptures and much more. Everyone was polite and trying to find ways to help and make us more comfortable. There was privacy as the doctors worked us in, and the people who work in the waiting rooms seemed happy to help us. Every waiting room is loaded with free written information on health. They have thought of every way to make life better while at Mayo Clinic. All the inner workings of this place are happening with complete organization and it all goes on like clockwork. It is evident that people planned for years to achieve this marvelous place to serve others. It is awesome to just sit and observe.
The doctors ate very serious about you and give you the feeling they will not miss anything about your health. They want your input and ideas. They try to learn all about you and come to conclusions on your whole being. Dr. Hurt was my main doctor and he was super in every way. He made one feel as if he knew exactly what he was doing. We felt like we were taken care of in a kind and professional manner.
One day we had an extra hour in the late evening and walked around window shopping. A nice young man off the street went with us, and took us all the way to the bookstore where we could buy a cup of Starbucks coffee. What a gentleman he was.
We were very surprised to get the feeling, that we hated to go home. We have both lived in Campbell, Mo., all our lives, which is 60 and 61 years. We expected people with short remarks and not much friendliness. But we got just the opposite. The city of Rochester is very kind, friendly and goes out of its way to accommodate their guests. The hotel was comfortable and the days at Mayo Clinic were pleasant.
We plan a return trip in about eight months and look forward to it. We look forward to the people and how they treat their visitors. Never again will we allow people in the south to mention northerners as being unfriendly, for it is not true.
Thank you, Rochester, for all you have to offer the people who come for help, with hopes and dreams of a healthier life. You are an exciting and beautiful city.
More on the "Tango" issue this morning, from Rochester schools superintendent Michael Munoz...here's the news release:
Rochester Public Schools’ Response to Reconsideration of Books in Media Collections – Updated
I would like to keep the community posted about the reconsideration of the book “And Tango Makes Three”. At the School Board meeting last week, we announced that we had not followed district procedures in removing “And Tango Makes Three” from the Media Center at Gibbs Elementary School and would need to start the process over. Yesterday, I met with the parents who made the original reconsideration request. The parents have decided not to re-file their reconsideration request. We have come to a resolution on this matter. Our temporary resolution is that a parent will be present when the child checks out books from the media center. As we look into a more permanent solution to this concern, we are considering the following:
· Providing an opportunity for parents to request a list of the books in their child’s media center. The parents can review the list and determine if there are any books they do not wish their child to read.
· The parents will provide a list of any such titles to the classroom teacher or media staff whose responsibility it will be to monitor the books checked out by the child.
As always, if parents have concerns about a book in one of our media collections, I encourage them to talk first to the school’s principal. Our plan is to work together on this situation or any other situation similar to this. Again, the district intends to move forward with transparency; to use the approved policies and procedures; and to work together with schools, parents, and the community.
Sincerely,
Michael Muñoz
Superintendent of Rochester Public Schools
As I begin my laborious Four Stars research into sliders -- those petite sandwiches that are all over the place in area bars and restaurants -- I put together this back-of-the-envelope list of possibilities in Rochester. Tell me of some I missed, especially out in the area.
Wildwood
Sontes
Dooley's
Martini's
300 1st?
Redwood Room?
City Cafe -- believe they have tuna sliders here
Whiskey Creek, of all places
Twigs
Applebee's
I'm sure there are lots more...just hoping to prime your pumps.
Will the 55th Street extension be built in our lifetime, is it bad for your car to fill up when the tanker truck is at the station, and are bed bugs such a significant problem in Rochester that we need a University of Minnesota workshop on how to deal with them?
And just a tease for Saturday: Do Rochester area stores sell products containing "pink slime," and for how much longer?
We'll have a P-B Dialogues event tonight at the Rochester Public Library, 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., coffee, cookies and the usual circus. Though the issue is topical and important, we'll steal a few minutes to remember our friend and colleague, Greg Sellnow, and I have a feeling that audience members will want to as well.
I hope you can join us.
I'll post notes here tomorrow, and we'll see if news is made tonight for reporter Matt Russell to cover for Wednesday's edition.
I wasn't much aware of James Q. Wilson before his death last week, but I've read a lot about him since and have read some of his essays, including this one from 1985 about "character formation" and how it's a legitimate public policy issue.
"Character" is certainly part of the presidential campaign, as always, and this essay from nearly 30 years ago addresses issues we're still dealing with, and will likely always deal with.
What role does government have in forming character? Wilson writes:
It is easier to acknowledge the necessary involvement of govern-
ment in character formation than it is to prescribe how this respon-
sibility should be carried out. The essential first step is to acknowl-
edge that at root, in almost every area of important public concern,
we are seeking to induce persons to act virtuously, whether as school-
children, applicants for public assistance, would-be lawbreakers,
or voters and public officials. Not only is such conduct desirable in
its own right, it appears now to be necessary if large improvements
are to be made in those matters we consider problems: schooling,
welfare, crime, and public finance.
Among his other points:
What is striking about the desirable school ethos is that it so obvi-
ously resembles what almost every developmental psychologist de-
scribes as the desirable family ethos. Parents who are warm and
caring but who also use discipline in a fair and consistent manner
are those parents who, other things being equal, are least likely to
produce delinquent offspring. A decent family is one that instills a
decent character in its children; a good school is one that takes up
and continues in a constructive manner this development of character.
This doesn't seem revolutionary on the face of it, but read the essay and tell me how well you think it describes the people, families and schools you know.
David Brauer, the media columnist for website MinnPost, took note of our changes at PostBulletin.com last week. David and I had previously disagreed about whether our website had a "paywall," a barrier that requires users to pay for content. My opinion was, if we had a paywall previous to our change Thursday, my little dog Curly could have stepped over it.
With the change Thursday to a "metered" structure at PostBulletin.com, the term is more applicable. As David writes, "Now, freeloaders can get 15 free page views a month — higher than the Mankato Free Press's 10, lower than the Star Tribune's 20 — though certain content (videos, photos, section fronts, most AP stuff) won't count against the limit."
He goes on,"it's now safe for Minnesota news junkies to click through to P-B stories. You non-payers will simply have to control yourselves — or if you like what you read, let the moths fly out of your wallet."
I vote for the latter. We'll do our best to justify releasing some moths.
Here's my column last week on the topic. The rollout has gone relatively smoothly, which is to say, we had some bugs but none that ate us alive. If you've had problems with registering or any other issue, let me know and we'll figure it out.
applies
Is the AMPI plant in Rochester to be gobbled up by the University of Minnesota Rochester? A2
Dear Answer Man, we've heard a lot of rumors at work that the AMPI plant has been sold to Mayo, the University of Minnesota Rochester, the Rochester Downtown Alliance or someone...this would, of course, affect a lot of jobs in Rochester. If true, are there plans to relocate or are we looking at a major business shutting its doors? Any information on this would bring about a lot of stress relief.
As I often say, if I didn't exist, you'd have to invent me to do the important work of dispelling rumors.
This is a doozy of a rumor, and like most rumors, it's untrue, says Sarah Schmidt, communications director for Associated Milk Products Inc., based in New Ulm, which owns and operates the Rochester dairy plant.
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