Martin County Star Newsmakers

News, Blues, and Blizzard Tales: The Mike Ennis Show

Michael Ennis

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0:00 | 17:45

Season 2 Welcome and Weather Check

Speaker 1

All right , here we go , season 2 , episode number 8 . It's kind of hard to believe that we're already 8 episodes into the new year , but here we are . This is April . I don't know where you're at , if it's nice and sunny or whatever , but here it's dreary , it's chilly , it's in the 40s and it's Minnesota . Right , that's the way things go . Anyway , hey , welcome to the show .

Speaker 1

I'm Mike Ennis , I'm your host and I'm looking forward to talking with you today . I've got a couple of things here I want to talk about

Nursing Home Budget Cuts Discussion

Speaker 1

. Number one is this story on the front page . Proposed budget recommendations could cause devastating costs to nursing homes across Minnesota , minnesota . And the story goes that Governor Walz , his budget recommendations , are cutting some big numbers From Seasons Healthcare in Tremont they would stand to lose $361,000 over the course of four years , so just a little less than $100,000 a year . Good Samaritans in Jackson , st James and Wyndham they're they're looking at about a $4 million loss , so a million bucks a year .

Speaker 1

Now I'm trying to figure this out exactly . I do not know what their operating budgets are because they won't share them with me . And um , so is a hundred grand . Is that a lot to them ? Is that just a drop in the bucket . Is that , you know , 5% or 10% ? I don't know . I don't know . I'm going to guess it's probably . Oh gee , it's probably what ? 10% , let's say . Now , I'm not saying to cut things , but at the same time I bet you we could go through and cut 10% fairly easily from anybody's budget . There's waste all over the place and I know that nobody wants to hear it , but there is waste all over . And so you know , before I say that it's a terrible idea and you know I don't want to cut things from nursing homes , that's not fair but is it from the nursing home or is it just from the administration of that nursing home ? So you got to look at those things and see . Anyway , that's the big story on the front

Les Schwab Tire Store Opening

Speaker 1

page . Also , les Schwab is opening up their new tire store in Fairmont April 16th Now .

Speaker 1

I was born in Oregon , grew up in Oregon , candy and I lived in Oregon for about 10 years . Well , maybe not quite that long . Anyway , les Schwab is everywhere . That's where they started and you know it's fun . When I saw Les Schwab coming in , I thought , wow , not that I want anybody else to go out of business , but I'm saying wow , les Schwab it's .

Speaker 1

And they come running out and I even wrote that in the story that by the time you get into the office they'll come running out and say , what are you doing today ? And you'll say , oh , I need to fix a tire , or I'm going to get a couple of new tires , or I'm looking at all the way around and they'll look and say , yeah , yeah , I can see where you've got some problems right here and whatever . And you hand them your keys . By the time you get inside they normally have your car in a bay and they have one tire off . It's just , I mean , it's always , you know I'll get in there . And then I'll say , okay , I need , I need two new tires . Or the guy will walk in and say , mike , here's what I suggest is , you need two new tires on the front , let's rotate them to the back , put the old ones on the front or whatever it is , and you're like , yeah , that sounds good , and so you go for it . So anyway , seeing them coming into the Fairmont area , that was kind of nice . It was a shot from back home , you know .

Speaker 1

Also , I was talking to the guy Tyler . Let me see what's his name again . His last name , his first name is Tyler , his last name . It's in the article oh , toomey , tyler Toomey . And I was talking to Tyler , now he lived . He came here from Idaho , from Western Idaho , and he was telling me , you know , he's used to cold weather so that wasn't a big deal . He'd been here since early March , I guess it was . And we were talking and I asked him you know , how do you like the weather ? He goes , that's no big deal . He goes . You know , winter's winter it's cold . So what about that blizzard we have ? We had back around the 9th , wasn't it March , something like that ? Yeah , I believe it was because we were trying to deliver the papers and , man , we had to shut down on Wednesday . We couldn't go out till Thursday to deliver the papers . We couldn't go out till Thursday to deliver the papers . Anyway , he said , yeah , he goes .

Speaker 1

I was out someplace and somebody and I was talking to somebody and they said man , you better get back to your motel room . This blizzard is moving in . He said , okay , big deal . So by the time I got to the motel , he said the wind was blowing so hard . I got into my room and I could not see across the parking lot and I started to laugh and he said so . I had to call everybody back home and send them pictures on my phone and show them . How you know now , this is a blizzard . With that , I said , well ,

Newspaper Highlights and Opinion Pages

Speaker 1

welcome to Minnesota . Right , you know it was a blizzard . So , anyway , he was pretty amazed by it . So welcome , though , to Les Schwab . I look forward to having them in the area .

Speaker 1

Sheila or , excuse me , lori took a pretty nice picture of a . Well , it was just a . Let me see here . It says a strange looking vegetable . Nope , just ice covered needles on an evergreen tree after the freezing rain on Sunday near Trimont . It's kind of an interesting picture .

Speaker 1

It's on page one , so you've got a chance you can take a peek at that . Page two , of course , has all of our opinion pages . We have Rich Lowry . He's a regular and Rich writes and he has his title is Mayor Michelle Wu versus Immigration Enforcement .

Speaker 1

Why are they ? That's what I don't understand . I really don't understand why they're fighting ICE so badly . Maybe Europe , maybe you can't stand ice , you want illegal aliens here , but they're talking about taking people out who are rapists and murderers and child abductors . These are people we do not want in our country , right , or am I ? Have I missed something and somebody's people are fighting against this . I mean it . Just , some days I shake my head and try to figure out exactly what . Is it just because it's Trump , or do you truly hate that ? I think it's just because it's Trump . They just hate Trump so much and Elon Musk so much that , whatever they do in fact , I've even seen reports on television where they'll read something and say what do you think about that ? And they'll say , well , I hate it , blah , blah , blah , blah . It came from Trump , right . Next thing , you know , they go . Well , not really , this was written by Obama or by Clinton . They're going oh well , it's not so bad . So it proves my point , they just . You know , if you want to hate something , then hate it for the right reason . If you want to stand behind it and say I hate that , then I hate it , no matter who wrote it .

Speaker 1

You can't pick and choose in this world . A lot of people want to . They just want to . You know , stay with one party , man . I , you know I would . I anyway , I don't care for either party . To be honest , the party itself , the party itself , the party itself . There's people in the party that I like , but the party itself .

Speaker 1

I'm not a big fan of , not a big fan of , aunt Ivy . She was pretty funny . If you get a chance to read her , do so . She's on page four . It's pretty funny . Let me read it to you . All right , I will , because I like reading it .

Speaker 1

Dear Ed Ivy , I'm not sure how to ask this question , as it's a bit embarrassing . I'm glad you don't use real names . Here's my concern . I live in an apartment building and I love to sing in the shower . Well , don't we all , don't we all ? The problem is I don't sing that well , well , don't we all ? But I don't . But I didn didn't care because I was singing to myself . I recently discovered that the girl next door can hear me when I sing . We've all faced that at some time or another .

Speaker 1

I didn't know this . No big deal , you would say , right . Well , the songs I sing are love songs to her . What ? Her name is ? Roxanne , true , now , wait , you would probably say so what ? There are lots of Roxannes , true , I say . But I'm singing the song called Sheila by Tommy Rowe . Remember that one ? Here are some of the lyrics Sweet little Sheila , you know , you'll know her if you see her Blue eyes and a ponytail .

Speaker 1

Her cheeks are rosy . She looks a little nosy . Man , that little girl is fine . Okay , so he's changed the song to include Roxanne's name . Sweet little Roxanne . You know her if you see her Blue eyes and a ponytail . Her cheeks are rosy . She looks a little nosy , don't you know that Roxanne is mine ? All right , so now you probably say she'll find this cute and romantic and who knows , true , again , you know , you're very good at this .

Speaker 1

He writes , but every time I see her I run the other way . Oh sure , you would say , get over it and go up to her and say , roxanne , I hope I'm not bothering you when I sing in the shower . She'll either say , yes , you are knock it off or no , I love it Signed . What should I do , dear , what should I do ? And ivy writes sounds like I gave great advice . And ivy , I thought that was funny . Anyway , looking

Community Events and Movie Rankings

Speaker 1

forward to it .

Speaker 1

All right , community news . What's going on ? All your normal stuff . Welcome Historical Society . They're closed until spring , which is coming up , coming up real , real soon . Spring Craft and Vendor Show , 9 am to 2 pm Saturday , april the 5th , that's this Saturday , at the Knights of Columbus in Fairmont , 9.30 East 10th , that's this Saturday , at the Knights of Columbus in Fairmont , 930 East 10th . Make plans to attend Bloodmobile to make a visit April 14th . For more information , call them at 800-733-2767 . Also there's lots of library news there .

Speaker 1

Let's see Top 10 movies . Number one was Snow White Huh . Number two was the Black Bag . Haven't even heard of that one . Three was Skarsgård oh sorry . Captain America , brave New World . That's been on the top list for a long time now . Number four was Novocaine . Five was Mickey 17 . Six is Alto Knights the Alto Knights , robert De Niro . Seven was the Day the Earth Blew Up , a Looney Tunes movie . Number eight the Monkey . Nine Dog man . Ten the Last Supper . That's the chosen . Wow , they made the top ten Way to go .

Speaker 1

We went and saw that . By the way , we went on Sunday , took mom and some of the members of the church went with us and we had a nice time . We went to lunch together first and then we all went over there and watched it . In Fairmont they have some really nice seats there . They recline and turn the heat on . You know , my mom went with us . My mother is 90 , and she fell asleep . She slept through the whole thing , woke up the last five minutes . I asked her on the way home . What did you think of it ? She said , oh , I loved it . So anyway , that works . Okay , that's good for her .

Speaker 1

Page seven If you get a chance , I was going to say go see it . But actually episode one and two , that was what played last week and they're gone . They'll be out on TV here in about a month or so . This week it's episodes three and four and I think I heard five . I'm not sure exactly how it goes , but we're going to go check that out again . It's Thursday , friday , saturday , thursday , friday , saturday , thursday , friday , saturday and Sunday , I believe . So you get a chance , you may want to check it out . It's really really , really interesting .

Speaker 1

Where am I ? At Page seven , the pet page . I like the comic strip , just Like Cats and Dogs . This one here is let me see the cat's talking to the dog . She says we're supposed to be picking out a card out for your friend's wedding . So why are you looking in the sympathy section and no comment .

Speaker 1

Pet page this week's pet is the pet elephant . Could it be ? Could an elephant be a pet ? I don't know , but I don't want a pet . That's something that's that big . Even if he's being loving , they could smash you , you know . No , no , not me , not me .

Speaker 1

All right , page eight , comic strip page , and that is . I like two or three of them on here a lot . I like Flash Gordon . There's quite a little thing brewing there . Adam O'Lim is always kind of fun , let me see Also Tiger , he's funny , the spats are good . Anyway , we also have all the answers to all the puzzles throughout the paper . A lot of them are on 1 , 2 , 3

Special Olympics and Church News

Speaker 1

, 4 , 5 . Six of the answers are on the comic strip page . Pages 9 and 10 are all classifieds and public notices . A lot of things going on there . A whole lot of stuff going on there . Unfortunately some folks it's foreclosure seasons and man .

Speaker 1

Page 11 , the Jackson and Martin County Special Olympic Basketball Team took on the local safety officers on Saturday March 29th and I was talking to Liz who wrote the story . She said it was just a pickup game . They were just playing for fun , just to get some practice in . But she said they looked real good and so anyway , we have a picture there and a little story about it . You may want to check that out .

Speaker 1

Page 12 is the church page . Smashed potatoes , smashed potatoes . A lady wrote what's her name ? What's her name ? What's her name ? What's her name it is ? I'm looking for it . Hold on a second Shoot . Oh , benny , yeah , benny , benny Castleberry . She wrote this article and it's about how they smash potatoes , or just mash potatoes , but they changed the name . You know modern cooking , right ? Also , hey , here's something for you .

Speaker 1

First , congregational Church in Sherbourne is in need of an organist . What happened was Nancy Smith passed away about . It's almost been three weeks now and we miss Nancy like crazy . But Nancy was also our organist and pianist and so we need to was also our organist and pianist , and so we need to find a new organist and pianist . So if you are one or you know somebody , give us a call . That number is 848-3261 . That's 507-848-3261 . We would love to talk to you . It's a paid position . We'd love to talk to you and we'd love to have somebody playing piano for us again .

Speaker 1

I've rigged up a couple of things . I have some music on the computer that I use , but it's not quite the same as live music . You know Page 13 . You bring the conversation , the Sins will bring the coffee . Sins Family Celebration of Life Center . They have coffee in Trimont every . Is it weekly or monthly ? Oh , shoot , I just have a picture . And that's all I mentioned . I'm sorry . I'll have to find that out . It may be a weekly thing . Anyway , there's a bunch of people there having coffee . It must be some pretty darn good coffee , right . And then page 14 is the Thespians . They're putting on their Martin County West , they're putting on their .

Speaker 1

This murder was staged and I was talking to Lori about it . I said so what's it about ? She told me . She said it's pretty good . There's a murder that goes on on stage and you gotta , you gotta figure it out . Huh , all right , so that's what's going on there .

Speaker 1

Emily Anderson , also she's in action . She is a uh , was rarely seen standing still during her high school years and now she has moved on . So anyway , lots in the paper 14 pages and lots in the paper , same same lots in the pages , same next week . So let's talk for a second . What else

Final Updates and Podcast Invitation

Speaker 1

is going on in the area other than dreary skies ? You know dreary skies , hey , easter is just around the corner . There's going to be some Easter egg hunts coming up . We'll have information on that next week on the podcast and you can figure out where you want to go . There's in the paper . We've got three or four listings in the newspaper this coming week Also , I'm trying to think .

Speaker 1

By the way , if you are a listener and you have something interesting you want to talk about , hey , the podcast is free . You can come on and talk to me and we can have a conversation . I love it when I have it . I had one scheduled for today , but she had to back out at the last minute or something came up and she couldn't make it . So sorry , so anyway , I had to . We had to cancel , but she'll be back another time . But I'm always looking for somebody to come in and talk and we can have a nice conversation . So that is it . That is it for the paper for this week . I look forward to talking to you guys next week , all right , so until then , adios . What's cowboy word for goodbye ? See ya , bye , I don't know . Anyway , all right , that does it . Okay , see you next week . Bye .