Signs of Anger at Prairie Home

--Radio show host Garrison Keillor’s recent remarks about St. Paul, Minn., filled some residents with woe, so about 10 people picketed outside his home there. Keillor, the host of the public radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” and author of the 1985 best seller “Lake Wobegon Days,” is leaving St. Paul in June to move to his wife’s native Denmark. Earlier this month, Keillor told reporters: “I live in a town with a lousy newspaper. I live in a town in which I’m one of the few personalities. The governor lives here and there’s the mayor, who’s got a beard, and there’s the local weather guy. And, you know, we’re all they’ve got.” It was not known if Keillor was at home as the protesters paced for an hour, carrying signs reading “Don’t Bite the Hand” and “There’ll Be No Woe in St. Paul if Keillor Begone.” Bill Peisert, one of the organizers, said the demonstration was made in a spirit of fun.

--New Jersey has enlisted musician Phil Collins to beat the drums for its campaign against drug and alcohol abuse. Three public service announcements featuring Collins, who is the drummer and lead singer for the rock group Genesis as well as a solo performer, and another spot by Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford will be televised beginning in April, state officials said. Collins “has enormous appeal to young people, and young people are at great risk in terms of alcohol and drug abuse . . . and he has a reputation as a clean liver,” said R. Alexandra Larson, director of the Governor’s Committee on Children’s Services Planning. In one announcement, Collins tells viewers, “You’re the one that’s being smart if you just say no” to drugs and alcohol. “Just get on with something else in life. Learn how to play the drums. That’s what I did.”

--Skagway, Alaska, has committed a folly of sorts in its observance of the purchase of Alaska from Russia--an event critics at the time called “Seward’s folly.” Skagway celebrated a week early. The rest of Alaska shuts down today to commemorate Seward’s Day, the March 30, 1867, signing of the treaty that transferred Alaska to the United States. The $7.2-million purchase was arranged by Secretary of State William H. Seward. City Manager Tom Healy said the popular White Pass & Yukon Railroad calendar showed Seward’s Day as being on the 23rd. So, Skagway city offices were closed on the 23rd. Susanne Burnham, a White Pass administrator in Skagway, said the calendar mistake arose because a state official told her that Seward’s Day was celebrated the fourth Monday of March. In fact, Seward’s Day is celebrated the last Monday in March, and this March has five Mondays.