Secrets of the City

I’m going out on a limb and guessing the wonman who drowned in the Calhoun Isles canal was intoxicated. I would hate to be the individual last seen with her…or even worse the one who provided her with the booze, considering she was only 20 y/o.

And it looks like Mark Kennedy is running away from his buddy, George W. Bush. He couldn’t be more in bed with the Bush agenda if he tried. The Klobuchar campaign can save a lot of ad production money if they just run his 2004 commercial.

Strib says they identified the body

20 years old woman … hm, I’m going to agree with the intoxicated theory

This sounds good.\

Ditto on the floating body. Maybe she just fell over the edge or got hit by a car or something. Freaky part is she was there for three days before anyone noticed. I was down there at that exact time Sunday and didn’t even notice. Ewww.

Interesting phrasing in the Strib story. It says she was last seen at the north shore, sort of indicating that she may have been in Duluth or Two Harbors.

I took “north shore” to mean the north shore of Lake Calhoun or Isles. If they’d meant up Duluth-way, it would’ve been capitalized as “North Shore.”

Yeah, I talked to her mom last night. Before the north shore of the lake, I believe the young woman was last seen at her job, the Salvation Army thrift store on Nicollet.

Speaking of the MN wines — I have never been a fan of port, but last weekend at Barbette I tried the Hastings Reserve from Alexis Bailly Vinyard and really enjoyed it.

The lake or the lagoon?

jderusha- (I know you are doing your job and that you are sensitive but) Is it difficult to talk to parents and other family right after a tragedy? I would feel like and asshole.

good port is very good
bad port is forgettable

It’s awful, Reader. The only thing that made this phone call easier was the fact that the family contacted us over the weekend, trying to get the word out about their daughter being missing.

Generally, I hate contacting family. But sometimes they want to talk. It’s a way of making their loved one more than just a name in the newspaper. They get to say what they want, instead of what the police say.

Some families are really wonderful about it, others slam the door in my face. I understand both reactions. Typically, I just want a picture of the victim. Being TV, it helps to put a face to the person were talking about. If a relative wants to talk, that’s up to them. I don’t push.

Very interesting, thanks jderusha! Keep up the good, empathetic work!

Jason, not trying to be the smart ass here. (I know–another first.) but what does the research say about sticking a camera and mike in someone’s face and asking, “How did you fee when you heard your son (daughter, father, mother, brother, sister–pick one) was killed?”

Not sure we’ve ever researched that issue. We do know that people in Minnesota want their news reporters to be “polite.” So I never stick a camera in someone’s face. I always go to knock on the door, and the photographer stays in the car with the camera.

And the “how did you feel” question is a silly question. How did you find out? When did you last see (or talk to) them? What’s your favorite memory? What do you think really happened here? Those seem to be better questions to me.

On a less “stages of grief” and more “useful to me” note, I got really excited when I read about the MN Wine Trail! I just moved back to nordeast from the DC/VA area (and Virginia is loaded with great wine) and can’t wait to try out some of the local vineyards.

The website they have doesn’t do a very good job of making info usable, so I created a GoogleMaps one through CommunityWalk . If you’ve every been to one of these 7 MN vineyards, could you please check out the map and comment on ‘em? I’d love to know how the view is, if it’s a destination unto itself or if there’s other stuff around to see, how snooty it is, etc.

Anybody who’s been to one, please comment on the Three Rivers Wine Trail here! My wife and I thank you…

Oops–if the above links don’t work try this one:

http://www.communitywalk.com/map/11788#10193;Pa010744.3Z7h8-92.2cU\0

Cool map, Jerad. The wine trail is a great idea. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with some of our Minnesota wines. I have this image of Midwestern wine as being really sweet and fruity. There’s some very tasty dry reds and whites from locally grown grapes.

I hate the “How do you feel” question. There’s a story I read years ago where the world is ending and the last two people are standing on a mountain top with the waters rising around them. One is a reporter, and he puts his microphone into the face of the other survivor, saying, Well, here it is, the end of the world. How do you feel?”

The other man thinks about it for a moment, then shrugs. “You know,” he says, “I feel great.”

It’soneof thereasons can’t stand Oprah as an interviewer. The only question she knows how to ask is “How do you feel” and variations thereof. “Since you got your sex change, do you feel any different?” “How does it feel to know that your father is a crack addict?” “This new makeup willmake you feel great!”

But, then, Oprah is woth a billion dollars, andI am worth ten, so maybe I should revise my interviewingapproach.

The best Minnesota-related Wine is Cabernet made by Betty O’Shaughnessy…but it just so happens that she decided to grow & bottle it on 40+ acres on the top of Howell Mountain in Napa Valley. She’s from St. Paul, dontcha know.

hey wine lovers  heres a new site i’ve been checking out.
http://wine.woot.com/
pretty tight if you ask me. seems to be about 1/3 off actual price. goes quick.

Oh great. So the Strib now owns KITT from the Knight Ridder folks?! Gee, I wonder if anyone told Hasselhoff about the crummy deal(LOL!)

KITT: “Michael, why is Andres Gyllenhaal in front of my steering wheel?”