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Letters: It’s not the library they’re trying to save. It’s a building

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:19 GMT

It’s not the library. It’s a buildingThe headline in the Saturday, June 3, paper, “Suit filed to save library,” is misleading.  The Renovate 1558 group is not trying to save the library, they are trying to save the building. The library is the staff, services, materials and resources, programs, public gathering spaces and meeting and/or classrooms, as well as the community that uses them. It needs a building, but a building is only called a library because a library resides in it. The needs of a 21st Century library are very different from those that existed in the 1920s. A modern, accessible building is needed to serve the needs of its current and future users.If the building is so important to the Renovate 1558 group, perhaps they should find a comparable parcel of land in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood, buy it, and make an offer to the City and the Library Board to swap that land for the current library building.  That way the City and Library would have land on whic...

State officials warn of increase in 911 misdials

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:19 GMT

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety officials on Wednesday sought to bring attention to an increase in 911 misdials from smartphone and smartwatch emergency features.While research on the full effects have not been completed Dakota County officials reported seeing a more than 100% increase — totaling more than 1,000 additional abandoned calls — from Jan. 1 to May 31 in 2023 compared to the same time last year.Dana Wahlberg, director of the department’s Emergency Communications Network, said she thinks some of the abandoned calls are from pocket dials, emergency SOS features on smartphones and smartwatches as well as fall detection can all be accidentally activated without the owners knowledge.For android phones, after set up, emergency SOS will initiate after the power button is pressed five times. For iPhones emergency SOS initiates after the side and volume buttons are held down and a slider will appear with the option to call emergency services.After an ac...

Twin Cities residents urged to reduce the 3.3 million tons of trash they produce each year

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:19 GMT

Recycling and composting programs need to be easier and more accessible if Twin Cities residents are going to reduce the 3.3 million tons of trash they send to landfills each year.Those are two key recommendations of a draft report by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, or MPCA, aimed at reducing the solid waste the seven county metro area generates over the next two decades.If nothing changes, state officials estimate the amount of trash sent to landfills could grow by almost 20 percent by 2042. Recycling has stagnated in recent years and some communities have seen a decline in participation in curbside programs.“We are going in the wrong direction,” said Kirk Koudelka, assistant commissioner for land policy and strategic initiatives at the MPCA, who discussed the draft plan Wednesday. “These goals are ambitious. Meeting them will require deep collaboration between local governments, individuals, and businesses.”Kirk Koudelka, assistant commissioner for ...

Norman Rockwell's 'Shiner' model celebrates 70th anniversary of Saturday Evening Post cover

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:19 GMT

CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Norman Rockwell fans have something to celebrate -- the recent anniversary of one of his most iconic illustrations. NEWS10's Anya Tucker spoke with a Vermont woman who is very close to this special piece of art. Mary Whalen Leonard shares what it was like to work with the artist who told the story of America, not with words, but with a pen and paintbrush.70 years ago, Mary Whalen Leonard was the young model for Norman Rockwell’s “The Young Lady With The Shiner” featured on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on May 23rd, 1953. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Mary told Anya that she was around 11-years-old when Rockwell discussed the idea of the illustration with her by asking her a question. “He said to me, ‘Wouldn’t you like to beat up your brothers?’ I had three brothers, so that kind of filled me with a little bit of glee,” she said. It was the kind of imagery that was pure Norman Rock...

Capital Region asthma, allergy experts talk health effects of wildfire smoke

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:19 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Your sinuses were probably already struggling through the start of allergy season. Now add to the mix a blanket of ash and smoke blowing in from Canada, and local doctors are flooded with concerned calls."You add wildfires to probably one of the worst seasonal pollen—tree pollen—allergies in history, it’s really complicating things," explains Dr. Gavin Setzen, president of Albany ENT.Local experts say for allergy sufferers, your airways are already pretty sensitive."[The smoke] doesn’t really cause an allergic reaction, but if you have an allergic disease, that’s an inflammatory condition, so any little irritant is going to bother you more than it does the typical person," says Dr. Thomas Flaim of Certified Allergy & Asthma Consultants.The tiny ash particles floating in with all the smoke can also complicate matters for asthma patients with similar sensitivity. Dr. Flaim suggests closely monitoring your medication intake."Use your rescue inhaler—your alb...

Judge weighs Missouri GOP dispute over estimated cost of allowing abortions

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:19 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two top Republican state officials argued Wednesday over how much it would cost Missouri to restore the right to abortion, with the state attorney general insisting that the figure should account for lost revenue that wouldn't be collected from people who otherwise would be born.The issue came up during a trial over a proposed ballot measure that would let voters decide in 2024 whether to amend the state constitution to guarantee abortion rights.Abortions were almost completely banned in Missouri following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. There are exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for cases of rape or incest.Supporters are trying to put a proposed amendment before voters next year that would protect abortion rights and pregnant women, as well as access to birth control. St. Charles County residents upset over home value assessment But the effort stalled in April because of a spat between Audit...

3 teens accused of breaking into O’Fallon home, stealing gun

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:19 GMT

O’FALLON, Mo. – Caught in the act. Three juvenile suspects are in custody, accused of breaking into an O’Fallon, Missouri, residence and stealing the homeowner’s weapon.Authorities said they are seeking charges against the teen suspects, who’re in the Juvenile Division.Officers said the 911 call made the difference.The dispatchers took the dramatic 911 call of a burglary in progress Tuesday around 5 p.m. on Mariposa Drive. A neighbor named Tom made the call.“I got on the phone right away and called 911 and told police what was going on,” he said. “We saw someone breaking into the windows.” St. Charles County residents upset over home value assessment Tom stopped his neighbor from entering the home, telling him three teens had gone inside, and that he’d already called police. He said police arrived in less than two minutes.“It absolutely could have been a worse outcome if the homeowner wouldn’t have been stopped from going inside. There’s no telling what could have happened there,”...

Woman's lawsuit claims she was thrown from stage during rap concert

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:19 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - A woman thrown off the stage during a rapper's St. Louis County show in 2019 has filed a lawsuit over injuries she suffered. The lawsuit accuses rapper NBA YoungBoy (legal name Kentrell DeSean Gaulden) and four other parties of negligence in connection with her injuries. Cayden Rutherford is seeking monetary damages upwards of $25,000 According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Rutherford attended a show involving NBA Young Boy on January 26, 2019. The show was held at a venue in the 9800 block of New Halls Ferry Road in north St. Louis County. St. Charles County residents upset over home value assessment The lawsuit states that Rutherford was either allowed, encouraged or not prevented to come on stage during the show. It claims that shortly after she made way on stage, she was "bodily thrown off the stage by a person working the show." The lawsuit notes that Rutherford hit a concrete floor and a broken cable, though did not disclose who might have th...

Denver police officer demoted, suspended for sexual comments toward 19-year-old cadet

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:19 GMT

A Denver police officer who made sexual comments toward a teenage cadet during a ride-along will serve a 30-day suspension and was demoted for behavior that was a “flagrant violation” of department policy.Richard Harvey was demoted from technician to officer after a 19-year-old cadet reported that he made sexual comments while working together during the 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Marade, according to a Department of Public Safety disciplinary letter.Harvey told her that everyone at the department had sex with each other and, after she told him she was Christian, he asked her whether she would wait until marriage to lose her virginity, according to the cadet’s interview described in the disciplinary letter.Harvey, who was 50 years old at the time of the ridealong, also told her that she was attractive enough to get any guy in the department and said he was “down to have fun,” the cadet said.The cadet, who is not named in the letter, said she didn’...

Nuggets vs. Heat: Live updates and highlights from NBA Finals Game 3

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:19 GMT

The NBA Finals is tied up at one game apiece after Miami stole Game 2 from the Nuggets on Sunday. Stick here for live updates and analysis as Denver takes on the Heat in Game 3 at Kaseya Center in Miami.Live updatesPre-game updatesThree keys (4:30 p.m.): Game 3 is upon us. Denver Post sports reporter Bennett Durando breaks down three keys for the Nuggets to win, including Michael Porter Jr. needing to make his jumpers. — Joe NguyenNuggets-Heat Game 3: Must readsAnalysis: Why the Nuggets are failing to defend Miami Heat 3-pointers in NBA Finals, and how Denver can adjust in Game 3After a win, coach Michael Malone was nonetheless critical of Denver’s perimeter defense. The Heat simply didn’t make open 3-point shots (33%). Strus was 0 for 9. On the next possession after that well-designed play, he clanked an even more open 3.  All that was missing for Miami was the confidence of seeing it go in.The Nuggets weren’t so lucky in Game 2.Cooling off the Heat is now the most urgent iss...