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Woodbury woman is driving force behind city’s K-9 program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:39 GMT

When her husband died of a heart attack in 2014, Donna Smith Stafford knew she wanted to donate money in his memory to help the Woodbury Public Safety Department.Bruce Stafford served as a firefighter in Woodbury for 22 years, retiring as fire chief. He also was a paramedic for 35 years with HealthEast and served in the Minnesota National Guard.“When he passed away, Woodbury Public Safety was amazing to me,” Stafford said. “I mean, they cut my grass for two years. They parked a squad outside my house during the visitation and funeral to make sure my home was safe. It was always, ‘What do you need?’ They were so loving and caring to me. It’s, like, how do you say thank you?”The idea came to Stafford one day as she was sitting in her office and looking out the window.“I never know what people believe in, but it literally came to me from above,” she said. “I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and then I heard Bruce saying, ‘Dog.’”Stafford called then-Woodbury Director of Public Saf...

Rosario: Every generation has its greatest. These kids are on their way.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:39 GMT

I spent much of the past weekend thinking about my late stepfather, a New York City-raised World War II veteran. He was a blunt-speaking and sometimes surprisingly contrarian tough cookie with a soft interior reserved only for those he loved and cared for.Of the many things he told me that still resonate throughout my life, one of of them struck a chord as I read the backstories of the 16 high school winners of this year’s Optimist Club of St. Paul’s Youth Appreciation college scholarship awards.“I get but don’t care for that ‘greatest generation’ thing,” he told me one time. “There are greatest and there are idiots in every generation.”True that. And this year’s Optimist Club winners, like many of their predecessors, fall in the former category, in terms of potential.They are mostly unheralded and little-known budding gems living among us, many of them from low-income or working-class families, excelling in school and outside of it in spite of dealing with or overcoming a host of p...

St. Paul police chief’s first year: Tackling gun violence, recruiting officers, making community connections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:39 GMT

The grandmother of Monica Holley, a 14-year-old fatally shot in St. Paul, was surprised to see St. Paul’s mayor and police chief at the girl’s wake last month.“It made me feel like it was important to them to recognize the loss and to try to support the family,” Gail Wright said recently.The shooting of Monica, in which three other teens were injured, was one of the most challenging times of Axel Henry’s first year as police chief.Monica Joy Holley (Courtesy of the family)Homicides have been higher than normal for St. Paul in recent years and the trend has continued this year, though some gun violence — nonfatal shootings and reports of shots fired — is less pervasive.Henry, who rose through the St. Paul Police Department’s ranks and became police chief on Nov. 16, 2022, said last year that his top priorities were addressing gun violence, recruiting and retaining officers, and “expanding from community engagement to real community conn...

Literary calendar for weeks of Nov. 19 and Nov. 26

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:39 GMT

Because of the holiday, this calendar includes the weeks of Nov. 19 and Nov. 26.Nov. 19READINGS BY WRITERS: Hosted by Tim Nolan, with nonfiction writers Chris Middlebrook and Lynette Reini-Grandell and poets Patricia Barone and Joyce Sutphen. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21, University Club, 420 Summit Ave., St. Paul.MINNESOTA MYSTERY NIGHT: With Christine Husom, in conversation with former prosecutor and public defender Colin Nelson. Husom has written 13 novels drawing on her experience with the Wright County Sheriff’s Department. Nine of her books are in the Winnebago County Mystery series featuring Sgt. Corrine “Corky” Aleckson and Det. Elton “Smoke ” Dawes. She’s also written four sort-of-but-not exactly cozy novels in the Snowglobe Mysteries series and is a frequent contributor to mystery anthologies. Nelson, who’s written seven novels and a book of short stories, draws on his life experiences to write thrillers set in numerous exotic locale...

Readers and writers: Check out 4 new books featuring local history

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:39 GMT

It’s been a while since we’ve dipped into nonfiction. Today it’s all about history.“Eastcliff: History of a Home”: by Karen Fults Kaler (University of Minnesota Press, $29.92)(University of Minnesota Press)Eastcliff, the 20-room estate on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Paul, has been home to University of Minnesota presidents since 1961. This year, interest was revived in the stately residence, built in 1922, because it has been rented to Gov. Tim Walz and his family while the official Governor’s Residence on Summit Avenue is undergoing a $6 million renovation. Eastcliff was without a tenant when former U President Joan Gabel moved out.Kaler knows her way around the big house, having lived there from 2011 to 2019 as spouse of the university’s 16th president, Eric W. Kaler. She takes readers through the residence, donated in 1958 by the family of Edward Brooks, from the foyer to the bathrooms and back stairs, and discusses menus fo...

Jamelle Bouie: When it comes to disdain for democracy, Trump has company

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:39 GMT

It makes perfect sense to treat Donald Trump as the most immediate threat to the future of American democracy. He has an ambitious plan to turn the office of the presidency into an instrument of “revenge” against his political enemies and other supposedly undesirable groups.But while we keep our eyes on Trump and his allies and enablers, it is also important not to lose sight of the fact that antidemocratic attitudes run deep within the Republican Party. In particular, there appears to be a view among many Republicans that the only vote worth respecting is a vote for the party and its interests. A vote against them is a vote that doesn’t count.This is not a new phenomenon. We saw a version of it on at least two occasions in 2018. In Florida, a nearly two-thirds majority of voters backed a state constitutional amendment to effectively end felon disenfranchisement. The voters of Florida were as clear as voters could possibly be: If you’ve served your time, you deserve your ballot.Rath...

Skywatch: Jupiter’s jumped in

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:39 GMT

The king of the planets of our solar system has entered our late autumn night sky and will continue to dominate the early evening heavens through next March. In early November, Earth and Jupiter reached their closest approach to each other. Back then, Jupiter was a little over 370 million miles away, but it’s still plenty close this week at 375 million miles. Its equatorial diameter is about 88,000 miles, dwarfing our Earth’s 7,900 miles. If Jupiter was a hollow sphere, you could fill it with over 1,000 Earths.Towards the end of evening twilight, Jupiter resembles a bright star rising in the low eastern sky. It’s available in our heavens all night as it takes a long arc across the celestial dome through the night. Jupiter is still close to what astronomers call opposition, which means the Earth is lined up between the sun and Jupiter. Because of that, Jupiter and the sun are at opposite ends of the sky, and that’s where the term opposition originates. Like a ...

Marc Champion: Where is outrage against Hamas over Gaza’s death toll?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:39 GMT

It’s something close to a law of nature that the farther people are from a conflict, the more simplistic their views about its causes and solutions. That couldn’t be more apparent now in Gaza, where Israel’s invasion is drawing howls of outrage around the world.That outrage is well-deserved. There is no question that the Israel Defense Forces could and should be doing more to avoid civilian casualties. Yet the fact that the anger of so many is directed only at Israel is disturbing, because there are two armed forces responsible for the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza. The other is Hamas.Hamas invited the Israeli invasion with the barbarism of its terrorist attack on Oct. 7, and it has been open about how it fully expected Israel to retaliate. Recent reporting by the Washington Post would, if verified, underscore that this was the purpose of its attack, dubbed operation al Aqsa Flood, and that Palestinian deaths weren’t a bug in that plan but an essential part ...

Ask Amy: Deep division leaves spouse in the middle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:39 GMT

Dear Amy: My spouse and a close friend of ours recently had a heated and deep argument. This involved philosophic and even theological differences, which had never before been revealed.This unresolved conflict left my spouse unwilling to discuss the subject any further, and our friend hurt and dismayed at the lack of willingness on my spouse’s part for a continued debate on the issue.I am feeling caught in the middle.I am trying hard to stay neutral because both people are important to me. Obviously, I am loyal and supportive to my spouse.However, over the years, I have also become a close confidant to our friend.At this point, my spouse just wants to move on. But our friend, who we see often, is obviously hurting and feeling betrayed.That said, as of late, my neutrality has started to feel forced and uncomfortable.Do I say something to my friend to try to assuage the problem, and yet be disloyal to my spouse?Or do I remain neutral and risk losing a good friend?— Trying to be ...

Bridge: Nov. 19, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:39 GMT

“You and Wendy might get along if you knew her better,” I told Cy the Cynic in the club lounge. “You should keep asking her out.”Wendy, our resident feminist, and Cy are relentless adversaries, even when – and especially when – they cut as partners in our penny game.“The last time I tried,” Cy shrugged, “she said she couldn’t go because her third cousin was coming to visit.”“That’s better than when she told you she had to check the freshness dates on the dairy products in her fridge,” I sighed.Wendy and Cy were today’s East-West, and against four spades Cy led his singleton heart. Wendy took the ace and returned the queen, and Cy ruffed declarer’s king with his four of trumps.The Cynic next led a club, and South won with the jack and led a trump. Cy took his ace and led another club, but South won and cashed the king of trumps, dropping Wendy’s queen. South then ran the diamonds, discarding his last heart, and claimed.“Thank you, partner,” Wendy growled. R...