To the efforts to keep Target in Austin.

The Minneapolis-based retailer plans to close the Austin store Feb. 1. We like shopping locally in Albert Lea, of course, but we aren’t blind to how intertwined the economies of Albert Lea and Austin really are. The two regional centers are only 20 miles apart. We want Austin to do well because it benefits both cities, and vice versa. The people in that neighboring city feel strongly that having a Target store matters to their efforts to grow the community, particularly in light of the expected growth of jobs at the Hormel Institute.

We don’t have a scientifically researched list of reasons people drive from Albert Lea to Austin, but we wouldn’t be surprised if, outside of going to work or visiting friends, that shopping time to time at the Target store was the top reason.

People for years have wanted a Target store in Albert Lea, and a former city manager once informed the Tribune that Albert Lea was on Target’s list of expansion cities for seven years. What’s more, Albert Lea in 2007 almost was the location for a Target cold-storage warehouse, which ended up being built in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

We hope Austinians are able to persuade the corporation to keep a store in their city, but if it does close — and in all likelihood the decision is irreversible — the bright side might be more Albert Lea area residents keep their dollars in Freeborn County stores.

 

To KSTP’s report on Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges.

It’s called Pointergate, and it refers to a rush to broadcast by a KSTP reporter on a story about the Minneapolis mayor in a photograph with a black man during a get-out-the-vote drive on the north side. Both the mayor and man are pointing, but the report, citing a police union source, claims they are making gang signs.

We call it a rush to broadcast because we in our southern Minnesota market have witnessed a few TV news segments in our recent Freeborn County sheriff’s race that had questionable motives for airing. It seems sometimes that TV journalism can be like a camel’s nose. Once the nose is in the tent, the rest of the body is coming through. Similarly, once a reporter begins working on a story and has done a few hours of work, the ability to say, “This probably isn’t news,” is unlikely because they have already gathered footage, need to fill air time and are uncomfortable with tossing out two or three hours of labor; plus, there is the ever-present push to scoop the other channels.

The main criticism — nationwide criticism at that — of KSTP is that the segment seemed racist because key details were omitted. If KSTP felt it really did have a story on the mayor, it probably needed to wait another day or two to fill out the whole picture and do the story right or else not at all. We aren’t saying we at the Tribune are perfect either, because all news outlets make mistakes, but KSTP has not backed down on its report, despite being roundly criticized as racist. It is a situation that most other journalists would admit an error or at least admit some kind of unintentional unfairness.

When we mess up, we fess up. KSTP needs to fess up.

 

To Ellendale Mayor Mark Skroch.

We were glad to read that Skroch has returned to the mayor’s seat in Ellendale, having been away since 2000. He was first elected mayor in 1972. He ran for a noble reason — to make sure the incumbent mayor had opposition.

See, the incumbent mayor — whom we named in the Friday paper, so we’ll spare him the name repetition here — faces three misdemeanor charges of theft for allegedly withdrawing hundreds of dollars from the fund to sell bricks for a planned veterans memorial. He faces a jury trial in February.

While the man, of course, is innocent until proven guilty, if he is found guilty, it would be horrible news for good-old Ellendale. “Mayor found guilty” is a worse headline than “Ex-mayor found guilty.” With the ex, it means voters had the sense to keep the man out away from the city coffers. If he is found not guilty, it still is suspicious that he faced the charges in the first place. For proper public officials, the standard is high. They need follow the rules to the letter and avoid getting in trouble with the law in the first place.

We welcome Skroch back to Ellendale.