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Skywatch: A crowned jewel is on the rise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:12 GMT

Most of us view Earth as the prettiest planet in our solar system. Look at any photo taken of it from deep space, and it’s the lovely blue marble of our solar system!  Many people, including this stargazer, put Saturn in second place in our solar system and, indeed, the best planet to gaze upon from here on Earth, even with a small telescope. Jupiter is great, but I so look forward to training my telescope on the ringed wonder of our solar system. Other planets like Jupiter, Neptune, and Uranus have ring systems, but nothing beats the ring system surrounding Saturn, the second-largest planet in our local family.Saturn has become prime time for viewing this month and will be available in our evening skies through next January. It reached its very closest approach to the Earth last Sunday, Aug. 27, when it was less than 815 million miles away, which is considered close for Saturn. This closest approach is something astronomers call opposition when Earth, in its yearly orbit around the...

Sunday Bulletin Board: Ralph, Alice, Ed, Trixie . . . and a big, ornery maid?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:12 GMT

Midcentury not-so-modernZOO LOU of St. Paul writes: “Subject: Vintage TV and the episode of ‘The Honeymooners’ that left me shaking my head and saying: ‘You’ve got to be kidding!’“As a big fan of Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in ‘The Honeymooners,’ it was a real pleasure reconnecting with this classic sitcom when the Catchy Comedy channel (226 in St. Paul) had a marathon the weekend of August 12 and 13.“One thing that always caught my attention was Ralph and Alice Kramden’s drab, barebones apartment, which made a cell at Alcatraz look like a suite at the Hilton. There was no radio, phone or TV, and the furniture consisted of a table and a few chairs. Oh yes, the tiny icebox still used real ice, and the stove looked like it came from a yard sale at the Ma and Pa Kettle farm. With all these ‘amenities,’ it’s no surprise their electric bill was once 86 cents!“Ralph, who was about as subtle as a rogue elephant, was constantly berating Alice about something, once ...

‘God sent her’: Bonnie Alton hands off Great Harvest Bread to new hand-picked owner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:12 GMT

Bonnie Alton never considered sharing space in her Great Harvest Bread Co. kitchen until she got a call one day in 2019.The woman said she was helping her favorite baker, Mai Ker Hang, find a place to create her signature fruit-filled cakes. Would Alton consider renting out her Selby Avenue bakery in the evenings to Fruitee ‘n the Cake, Hang’s pop-up bakery business?“They had looked and looked, and everyone was saying ‘No’ to them,” Alton said. “I thought about it for a little bit, and I talked to Brian, my husband, about it, and I said, ‘You know, we can do this. The kitchen just sits empty at the end of the day.’”When Hang went to tour the bakery, she found Alton working in the back. “I told myself, ‘If only this woman is my mentor, I will go a lot farther and grow a lot faster,’” Hang said. “I think God sent her to me. I am so fortunate to have met her.”Fortunate, indeed.On Friday, Hang purchased the business from Alton. She is believed to be the first Hmong owner of a Great Harv...

Isabel Saavedra-Weis: 4 lessons I learned reporting on racial reparations in St. Paul

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:12 GMT

While many activists have been talking about reparations for years, the term caught fire in 2020 during the racial uprising following George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis.In some cities, including St. Paul, the conversation about reparations caught fire in local government. In 2021, the city of St. Paul launched a trial committee focusing on reparations for American descendants of chattel slavery. This year, that committee became a permanent commission, appointing 11 people to advise the mayor and city council on how to best approach reparations in St. Paul.For the past 10 weeks, I’ve been reporting on reparations in St. Paul, both in and out of the government. My goal was not to convince anyone of anything, but rather to expose more people to the discussions happening in the city around the topic.Here are the four lessons I learned on the job:Lesson 1: Paying reparations doesn’t look like one thingBefore taking on this project, I had only really known reparations as the 40 acres an...

Minnesota’s getting $540M from opioid settlements. Here’s how east-metro cities are spending it.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:12 GMT

Cottage Grove Parks Superintendent Jim Fohrman carries a naloxone kit in the center console of his city-owned Ford Ranger pickup.Fohrman, who has worked for the city for 27 years, hasn’t had to save someone from an opioid overdose yet, “but it’s nice to know I have it in case I come across something,” he said. He’s one of about 150 city employees who have been trained this year on how to use opioid-overdose prevention medication.“I have it with me at all times,” Fohrman said. “I figure it would take about 30 to 45 seconds to rip it open and have (the syringe) ready to go. That’s really what it comes down to: You can help save someone’s life, or you can stand back and watch. I would prefer to do what I can.”Cottage Grove has been a leader in the response to the opioid crisis, and city staff are poised to do even more as settlement funds from pharmaceutical companies that made and sold opioid painkillers are paid out.The city of almost 40,000 people is one of more than a d...

Ask Amy: Disinherited son’s money goes to care-giving daughter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:12 GMT

Dear Amy: Two years ago, my father-in-law called to inform his son (my husband) that he was being disinherited because, in my father-in-law’s words, “We don’t need his inheritance.”He stated that his daughter who lives with him and takes full-time care of him would receive his money.Seven years ago, we moved away from the area to be closer to our grandkids.Prior to our move we fully participated in both of my husband’s parents’ care and occasionally helped to support his sister. This was beneficial for her, as she did not have a job or a home.Admittedly, she does need his money (and we don’t), but I cannot get over the hurt of being cut out. Two years later, it still bothers me.Any advice?— Sad D-I-LDear Sad: The word “disinherited” takes on a particular meaning because it sounds as if your husband was due to inherit part of the estate, and now he is being denied because of some specific behavior on his part — or because the relationship with his father has deteriorated....

Word Game: Sept. 3, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:12 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — LEAVING (LEAVING: LEEV-ing: Failing to include or take along.)Average mark 39 wordsTime limit 50 minutesCan you find 48 or more words in LEAVING?TODAY’S WORD — LEAVING lain lane lave laving lean lien linage line ling live liven elan evil agile alien align alive angel angle anile anvil vain vale vane vang veal vegan veil vein venal venial vial vile vine ingle nail naive nave navel gain gale gave gavel genial give given glean glenTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contac...

Bridge: Sept. 3, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:12 GMT

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” — Lewis Carroll“How many times have you bid to the best contract,” a club player asked me, “while having no idea what you were doing?”He showed me today’s deal.“In a penny game, my partner and I got to 6NT. I opened two clubs and jumped to 3NT to show 25 to 27 points, balanced. He next bid four clubs. He thought that was Stayman; I thought it was the Gerber ace-asking convention, so I replied four diamonds, showing, I thought, all four aces. We still landed on our feet; he bid 6NT.”“I believe many pairs would treat a bid of four clubs as Gerber,” I said, “and four diamonds as Stayman. It’s a matter of partnership agreement. Did you make your slam?”“We ran out of luck in the play,” my friend said ruefully. “West led the queen of diamonds. I won with the ace, unblocked my A-Q of spades, led a club to dum...

Los bajos niveles de agua revelan huellas de dinosaurios que datan de 110 millones de años

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:12 GMT

(CNN) — Mientras Texas atravesaba un calor récord este verano y una creciente sequía hacía bajar los niveles de agua, un grupo de voluntarios descubrió algo algo magnífico: nuevas huellas de dinosaurios gigantes que se cree que datan de hace unos 110 millones de años.Paul Baker, gerente de la tienda del Parque Estatal Dinosaur Valley, dijo a CNN que “nunca antes había visto tantas huellas de dinosaurios”.“Es emocionante ver algo que nadie más ha visto; En cierto modo, es casi como una búsqueda del tesoro”, dijo Baker, quien ayuda a limpiar y mapear las huellas de dinosaurios en el parque. “Pensé que había visto todas las huellas de dinosaurios que existen, pero en los últimos dos años, con las sequías que hemos tenido y el arduo trabajo de nuestros voluntarios, es simplemente una vista increíble”.El Parque Estatal Dinosaur Valley, aproximadamente a una hora y media al sur de Dallas, alberga una gran cantidad de huellas de dinosaurios impresas por sauróp...

Italy makes Basketball World Cup quarterfinals for 1st time in 25 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:12 GMT

For the first time in 25 years, Italy is going to the quarterfinals of the Basketball World Cup.Stefano Tonut and Giampaolo Ricci each scored 15 points and Italy reached the World Cup quarterfinals with a 73-57 win over Puerto Rico on Sunday in Manila, the final day of second-round play at FIBA’s biggest tournament.Italy (4-1) will play either the U.S. or Lithuania in Tuesday’s quarterfinals in Manila. The Italians are assured of their best World Cup finish since placing sixth in 1998. They were ninth in 2006, 10th in 2019 and didn’t qualify in 2002, 2010 and 2014.Simone Fontecchio added 12 points and 12 rebounds for Italy, and Luigi Datome scored 11. Italy used a 15-0 run in the first quarter to take some control, wound up losing that lead in the third quarter, rallied to take a slight edge into the final period and pulled away from there.Tremont Waters scored 13 points and had nine assists for Puerto Rico (3-2), and Jordan Howard scored 11. Puerto Rico was bidding for its fi...