Did you notice that St. Olaf points people towards a StarTribune article — but not towards the easily downloadable copy of the actual Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling (pdf)?

Could it be that they do not want people reading the actual ruling?

Yes.

Why? Because the Appeals Court decision has a section at the beginning of the ruling called “Facts” that NONE of the parties dispute and which begins to lift the veil on St. Olaf ‘s true conduct with regards to the sale of WCAL.

We also note that St. Olaf refers to rulings made by Judge Borene — rulings that the Appeals Court pointedly did not affirm.

In an opinion filed Tuesday morning, the court upheld the sale of WCAL, saying the group trying to reverse it, SaveWCAL, waited too long to file suit. The decision affirms an earlier district court ruling against the group.

“We’re trying to wake up the courts and wake up the public about what donor intent means and what are the rights of donors,” said Ruth Sylte, president of SaveWCAL and a St. Olaf alum.

The three-judge panel questioned that reasoning during oral arguments Tuesday.

Both sides agree that there was never any formal documentation of a charitable trust. But Michael McNabb, attorney for SaveWCAL, argued that “the act of writing out a check payable to the station … creates the trust.”