News Cut: June 1, 2012 Archive

Dispatches from the pool

Posted at 12:17 PM on June 1, 2012 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Media, Politics

For sheer trivia and worthlessness, nothing beats the "pool report" issued to the local media when a president visits. It's usually written by one reporter selected to be the "official" dispenser of information, so as not to litter the area with the likes of reporters.

Here's the first dispatch from today's presidential visit to Minneapolis.

The President emerged from the Air Force One at around 10:50 a.m. on a glorious, sunny morning in Minneapolis. AF1 came to a stop outside an Air Force Reserve hangar. The President strode down the steps wearing a dark blue suit and black shoes. He was joined on the flight by U.S. Reps. Betty McCollum and Tim Walz, D-Minn. He was greeted by Democratic U.S. Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar along with U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn. He was also met by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.

The President had a particularly long chat with Ellison, but the pool reporter could not hear the conversation.President then jogged over and immediately began shaking hands with about 90 well-wishers, including one woman carrying an Obama portrait. The snapped pictures with cameras and camera phones as he got close.

"How is everybody doing?" the President asked? The crowd cheered."Welcome to Minnesota," one woman said."School out yet?" the President asked one school age kid.

Repeating if you just tuned in: It was a glorious morning in Minneapolis.

Full details later.

'Dark Star' dead at 66

Posted at 4:51 PM on June 1, 2012 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Media

Over the years, some tremendously distinctive radio personalities have made a living in Twin Cities radio. Today, one of them died.

Dark Star, longtime host at WCCO, was found dead in his home today, according to KFAN. He was 66. His real name was George Chapple.

"I stole every second I was ever on the air," he told the Star Tribune in 2010, after accepting a buyout offer at WCCO. "I had the time of my life. It was a lot of fun."

For Twin Cities sports fans, it wasn't unusual to go to a sporting event, then listen to Dark Star on the drive home to see if he saw the game the way you did.

His passion was the ponies. He was a fixture at Canterbury Park and started his media career around here by handicapping horses for the Pioneer Press. It's a gig he started in Los Angeles, colleague Cathy Wurzer tweeted this afternoon. He took his name from a longshot 1953 Kentucky Derby winner when he was handicapping at a newspaper in L.A., and he didn't want his brokerage bosses to know, she said.