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Five by 8 - 6/16/10: To dream, to dare, to jump

Posted at 6:50 AM on June 16, 2010 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Five by 8

1) Kevin Burkhart probably knows the helpless feeling that family members have when a loved one is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, as his dad was in 1999, City Pages reports. There are no happy endings with Parkinson's. So today he's going to do something about it. He's going to jump out of an airplane. 200 times. He's trying to raise $60,000 for the Parkinson's Association of Minnesota. He'll try to make his goal at Skydrive Twin Cities in Baldwin. In 2008, he jumped 100 times.

2) On the list of "headlines I'd never thought I'd see," this one certainly is high up. "Student Attacks Hell's Angel with Puppy." After his misdeed, the young man escaped on a stolen bulldozer. Here's what the story -- short as it is -- doesn't touch: What's happened to the Hell's Angels when you can outrun them on a stolen bulldozer?

A runner-up in today's headline competition: "12 year old uses World of Warcraft skills to save sister from moose attack."

3) What's the best summer job you've ever had? American Public Media's The Story has a continuing series on summer jobs and today features a Minnesotan. Joel Norton was a college kid who was also an EMT. You'll have to work at finding it (it's about halfway through the audio) on the Web site since The Story doesn't separate its segments. Joel was an EMT in St. Peter. It was either that or pack corn at Green Giant. "Corn packing wasn't my idea of a great job, so I asked what it would take to work on an ambulance there?" he said. He was 16 at the time and a career in health care was born.

Your turn. What was your best summer job (or worst)? Answer below.

4) You don't usually hear a Minnesota Supreme Court justice opining on the state of politics and policy in Minnesota. Justice Paul Anderson, an Arne Carlson appointee to the high court, told the New Ulm Rotary this week that he's not in the "no new taxes" crowd, according to the New Ulm Journal.

Anderson said that over the years the Minnesota Supreme Court has taken on a more conservative tone. Anderson, who was a campaign manager for Gov. Arne Carlson, considers himself a centrist Republican, but he said he cringed a little at a recent news article that described him as "one of the more liberal members of the court."

"I suppose I am, but that's a sign of the direction that the court has been taking."

5) No shock, perhaps. The Wall St. Journal reports the two Northwest/Delta pilots who were too busy doing -- really, who still know what? -- and missed their chance to land in Minneapolis St. Paul, have been fired.

Bonus: A letter from oil. You've been through so much together. It's afraid you're drifting apart.

TODAY'S QUESTION

Twin Cities nurses plan to vote Monday on whether to go out on strike again. Are your sympathies moving one way or the other in the nurses' labor dispute?

WHAT WE'RE DOING

Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) - First hour: The future of parks and public spaces. City and state government budgets are tight, so where does that leave parks?

Second hour: Musician Booker T. Jones says he doesn't tire of the 1962 hit he recorded with the MGs, "Green Onions." After 20 years, Jones has a new album and is performing again, including a few dates with two of the original MGs.

Midday (11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) - First hour: Minnesota's present and future energy supplies.

Second hour: A Commonwealth Club forum about electric cars. Panelists include representatives of the electric industry, Chevrolet and others.

Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) - First hour: NPR political editor Ken Rudin.

Second hour: Anthony Bourdain talks about his new book, Medium Raw.

All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) - A one-day strike is one thing, but a strike of indefinite link poses lots of financial and career risks for the 12,000 nurses locked in a labor dispute with Twin Cities hospitals. MPR's Lorna Benson will report how nurses are preparing themselves for the financial hit they could take in a multi-week strike, and what a long strike could do to the hospitals forced to operate without its regular staff of nurses.

MPR's Chris Roberts profiles Minneapolis native Robert Bergman, who labored in obscurity for 45 years as a photographer, spending his time travelling the country shooting street portraits. Then he published a book, and had his first show. Now the MIA is showing 30 of his portraits in an exhibit opening Thursday.

Comments (7)

My best summer job (by far) was Park Patrol officer in the early 1980's. The local parks closed at 10 pm, but they did not have locking gates, so several rounds were made throughout the night. The legal age of consumption was 18 in those days (in that state, anyway), so I did not have to deal with underage consumption often.

On many occasions, however, the flames of passion were instantly extinguished with the flip of a switch on a spotlight.

Posted by John O. | June 16, 2010 7:17 AM

My favorite summer job was working at a plastics factory. Not only did I meet some wonderful people, but I also learned to identify and use an allen wrench, channel locks, and pneumatic wrench. Where else would a college girl get to drive a forklift? Life skills! Bonus: I got to spend time with my dad everyday when we would carpool.

I fear that, just as factory jobs are drying up for full-timers, the days of factory jobs for teens/college kids are a thing of the past.

Posted by Krista | June 16, 2010 7:35 AM

My best summer job is the one I've had for the past several summers- working at Camp Wilderness in Park Rapids. This summer I am returning as the Fishing Director meaning I get to go fishing every day! The most fun however comes from working with amazing people and helping teach todays youth.

Posted by Ben Chorn | June 16, 2010 7:38 AM

My best summer job was working as a Unit Clerk/CNA in the Emergency Department at my local hospital. I learned so much from the nurses working there and it helped me realize that i wanted to persue a career in the healthcare industry.

Posted by Shane | June 16, 2010 8:56 AM

My best summer job was working at the Grand Canyon on the California Condor reintroduction program. Being paid to sit on the rim of the Grand Canyon and look for birds? Yes please.

Posted by MR | June 16, 2010 9:44 AM

The Kids Saving Kids Campaign and Becca Levy are still looking for a few good musicians in Minnesota. If you want to help raise awareness of drunk driving prevention with your music, visit www.ksk.stopddnow.com. You must be the age of 18 or under and have an original recorded song.

Get more information and submit your music to www.ksk.stopddnow.com

For more on Becca Levy, visit www.beccalevy.com

Save Lives with Your Talent!

Posted by Kids Saving Kids | June 16, 2010 10:19 AM

My favorite job was working as one of the Peanuts costumed characters at the Mall of America, back when it was Camp Snoopy. We would put on 20-minute shows complete with recorded audio and choreographed dances to tunes that were popular at the time ("Who Let the Dogs Out" was a Snoopy theme for a while). We also did meet-and-great sessions and parades, both inside the park and out in the community. It was always fun to see the kids come up to hug Snoopy, Charlie Brown, etc. I've been included on many families' Christmas cards, I'm sure!

Posted by Beth | June 16, 2010 12:22 PM