Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Day 19927 Michael Leavett and the Clock Tower Blow Out


May 11, 2004, Tuesday

On Sunday night May 9th, a storm came through downtown St. Paul. Winds clocked as high as 70 miles an hour blew through, knocking out 2 faces of the clock on the Landmark Center. After the winds died, staff from the hotel picked up the broken pieces along with the hands of the clock.

In the St Paul Pioneer Press newspaper the next day, a picture of Steve Wigen’s, one of the Saint Paul Hotel engineers, holding the hands of the clock with the Landmark in the background ran on the front page. With its uniqueness the paper put it on the AP and the New York Times picked it up. That paper ran it on the 16th page of the A section. On that same page there was an article about, "Tougher Emission Rules Set for Big Diesel Vehicles" and quoted Michael Leavitt, administrator of the EPA.

At 7PM, Monday, that same day, he walked into the hotel and checked into the hotel, staying in the top suite, the Ordway. It location was the closest room to the clock tower. His bedroom window, sat at the same level, just 88 yards away.

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