Hatchetman’s Manse — and Eric Black’s ‘Almanac’ Tell-All

Ridder’s new digs: The annual taxes on a mansion Par Ridder allegedly has purchased could pay a full year’s salary for a Star Tribune staffer, according to Brian Lambert. On May 14, Ridder reportedly bought the Lake of the Isles home owned by KARE-11 anchor Paul Magers for $2.73 million. Magers’  taxes last year were just shy of $42,000, or, as Lambert puts it, “about one year’s salary for one of those sweet old gals Ridder canned from their switchboard jobs at the Strib.”

Good-guy Gilmore? While Ridder has few fans among the Newspaper Guild at the Pioneer Press and Star Tribune, as a Strib Guild protest last month confirmed, his successor in St. Paul is getting a warmer reception from its union. Unit co-chairman Alex Friedrich said new publisher Guy Gilmore’s statement that management and the Guild should be friends is “refreshing.” He wrote, “The success of this paper rests on the talent and hard work of the rank-and-file employees here — far more than on who runs the place, as the tenure and departure of our previous publisher demonstrated.”

The real test, of course, will be how Gilmore and management fare in contract negotiations with the Guild later this month.

Black on Almanac: Strib blogger Eric Black will be the lone guest on TPT’s Almanac tonight, discussing his move to Minnesota Monitor later this month after taking a Star Tribune buyout. Tune in tonight at 7 or check out the show online.

Eskola update: On last week’s show, Almanac’s Cathy Wurzer explained why Eric Eskola, her husband and Almanac co-host, has been absent from the program, quelling rumors. “He’s exhausted,” she said. “Right now he’s taking off some time at home … to recharge his batteries. He knows we’ll welcome him back when he’s ready to return.” Good health, Eric.

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