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Literary calendar for week of July 23

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:32 GMT

Bill Fletcher Jr. discusses race, class, and the crime novel, inspired by his new book “The Man Who Changed Colors” on Monday. (Courtesy of the East Side Freedom Library)BILL FLETCHER JR.: Racial justice, labor and international activist, scholar and author discusses race, class and the crime novel, based on his new novel “The Man Who Changed Colors,” about a Cape Cod newspaper reporter who questions a shipyard worker’s death, exploring the complicated relationships between Cape Verdean Americans (from the West Africa country of Cape Verde) and African-Americans, the liberation movement in Cape Verde, and fascists emigrating to the U.S. Fletcher has been involved in the labor movement for decades and is a widely known speaker and writer in print and on radio, television, and the web. He has been in leadership positions with many prominent union and labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO. His previous book is the murder mystery “The Man Who Fel...

Tickets on sale for Opus & Olives fundraiser for St. Paul libraries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:32 GMT

Tickets are on sale for Friends of the St. Paul Public Library’s 20th annual Opus & Olives fundraising gala featuring bestselling authors Scott W. Berg, Sadeqa Johnson, Jean Kwok and Don Winslow discussing their new books. The Oct. 8 event at St. Paul RiverCentre includes a cocktail reception, dinner and author presentations.About the authors:Scott W. Berg, born and raised in the Twin Cities, will introduce “The Burning of the World,” about the 1871 fire in Chicago, the biggest and most destructive disaster the U.S. had ever endured, and Kate Leary, the scapegoat whose barn caught fire.Sadeqa Johnson, a former public relations manager, is the bestselling author of five novels and recipient of the National Book Award. Her latest is “The House of Eve,” about a 15-year-old who is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college when a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation passed onto her like a...

Ramsey County lowers speed limits on 34 miles with on-street bike lanes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:32 GMT

Ramsey County is reducing vehicular speed limits on 34 miles of county roads that have on-street bike lanes.The move, approved Tuesday by a unanimous Board of Commissioners, is meant to slow auto speeds on 36 segments, representing 12 percent of all county roads. St. Paul Public Works and county traffic engineers have been studying the issue since at least April 2022.“The goals were to promote more uniformity and consistency of speed limits along corridors and increase the safety and level of comfort of those people walking, rolling or biking,” said Rose Lindsay, a spokeswoman for Ramsey County.Speed limits on most segments will be reduced by 5 mph. Posted speeds on a stretch of Larpenteur Avenue between Dale and Rice streets will be reduced by 10 mph because of frequent crashes in that area.County traffic engineers said they followed a general formula that bases speed limits on the 50th percentile speed for that roadway — the top speed reached by half the drivers ...

Skywatch: Bootes, the happy hunter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:32 GMT

It starts happening every mid-summer. Bootes, the hunting farmer, begins his close pursuit of Ursa Major, the Big Bear. These two constellations are right next to each other in the early evening west-northwestern sky and are very easy to see.Ursa Major, Latin for Big Bear, contains the most famous star pattern in the sky — the Big Dipper. The Dipper is the bear’s brightest part, outlining the great beast’s rear end and tail. The rest of the stars in the Big Bear aren’t nearly as bright, but if you have a dark northern sky, you’ll see the skinny triangle that allegedly outlines the bear’s head and the two faint lines of stars that make up the legs.(Mike Lynch)Right on the bear’s tail in the northwestern sky after evening twilight is Bootes, the hunting farmer that looks much more like a kite than a farmer. Arcturus, one of the brightest stars in the sky, is at the kite’s tail. Just follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle beyond ...

While calling for new workforce goals, public sector has retrenched from downtown St. Paul

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:32 GMT

In 2017, three years before the pandemic hit, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency signed a 10-year lease for a floor of office space within Treasure Island Center in downtown St. Paul, otherwise known as the former Macy’s building. Some 10 or 20 employees still show up regularly to the state agency’s Wabasha Street headquarters, but upwards of 90 percent of the workers no longer work from the office. As “occupied” downtown workspace goes, the floor sits largely vacant.“Thank you for calling Minnesota Housing,” says the recorded greeting on the phone line. “Currently all staff are working remotely and our offices are closed.”A similar scenario is playing out nearby at the Golden Rule building off Seventh Street, where both the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Human Services maintain satellite locations that remain underutilized in the era of remote work.By mid-2024, both field locations will close and workers ...

Literary pick for July 23: Remembering Humphrey’s moment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:32 GMT

… Humphrey quailed at bringing the civil rights plank to the fall convention. Biemiller and Rauh would write it, true, but it was Humphrey who would have to stand there at the podium, in isolation, and sell racial equality to delegates who considered it snake oil, just as worthless as the Peruna that H.H. had long ago peddled door to door. And who was Humphrey, after all, to defy a president? He was the ‘”boy mayor,” as the newspapers put it. He was a “pipsqueak,” at least compared with the party elders. How could taking on Harry Truman turn out to be anything but a suicide mission? — from “Into the Bright Sunshine”Seventy-five years ago this month, Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey gave an impassioned speech to delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The 37-year-old Humphrey, well known in Minnesota but without a national reputation, galvanized the delegates with his plea for Democrats to embrace civil r...

Ask Amy: Husband’s spiritual quest leads him astray

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:32 GMT

Dear Amy: I have been with my husband for 29 years.For the most part, we are happy and compatible.However, over the last three years he has changed course on me.What I mean is that we were both Christians, until he embraced a New Age philosophy that is in no way compatible with my Christian beliefs.He stopped attending services with me, and has no interest in our church anymore.This hurts me deeply. I feel betrayed.I still love him, but this has put up a barrier between us. It has also caused trust issues on my part, due to some of the comments he has made.For instance, he says that God wants us to be happy, so we can just throw our inhibitions to the wind.Also, he sees no problem with women going out in public half-naked.According to him, God does not want us hiding our bodies.Also, he believes it is OK for a partner to cheat if he or she is unhappy, because God wants us to be happy.Related ArticlesAsk Amy | Ask Amy: Wronged wife chooses to stay — for now Ask Amy | ...

Horoscopes July 23, 2023: Woody Harrelson, the time to show off is now

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:32 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Daniel Radcliffe, 34; Krysta Rodriguez, 39; Alison Krauss, 52; Woody Harrelson, 62.Happy Birthday: You’ll have to push your way to the top if you want to make a difference. Don’t let the changes others make back you into a corner. Regroup and continue until you are happy with how your year unfolds. Step into the spotlight instead of sharing it with those trying to bump you out of the limelight. The time to show off is now. Your numbers are 5, 16, 21, 28, 32, 36, 41.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Plan to have fun, but don’t let temptation and poor behavior take over. Offer intelligent conversation, and do your best to look the part of someone who’s successful and knows how to take control. Social events, romance and personal gain are favored. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Keep a low profile and put your energy where it counts. Let your achievements, not your opinion or criticism, be your calling card. A challenge or competition wil...

Word Game: July 23, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:32 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — JUVENILES (JUVENILES: JOO-ven-iles: Young persons.)Average mark 37 wordsTime limit 50 minutesCan you find 40 or more words in JUVENILES?TODAY’S WORD — JUVENILES jive juvenile unveil veil vein venue venule vile vine vise else elusive elves enisle ensile ensue envies even evil neve nevus isle lenis lens levies lien lieu line live liven lues lune seen seine senile seven sieve sine slue snivelTo 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.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at kzs...

At least 9 die and three dozen wounded in a building collapse in Cameroon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:32 GMT

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — At least nine people were killed and nearly three dozen wounded in a building collapse, Cameroonian authorities said on Sunday.A four-story building collapsed onto a smaller one early Sunday morning in Douala, the country’s economic center and largest city, 130 miles (210 km) west of the capital, Yaounde.“The casualty figures may be higher. Rescue workers, assisted by Cameroon government troops, are still digging the wreckage to see if more bodies can be recovered,” said Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, governor of Cameroon’s Littoral region.The military’s fire brigade has been ordered to join the country’s Red Cross and other rescue services in searching for survivors trapped under the rubble.Residents living in the Ndogbon neighborhood where the incident took place said they are in shock.“We heard people screaming … and struggled to help some out of the wreckage, but could not do it with our spades and (garden) hoes,” said Gaspard Ndoppo, who lives near the ...