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Literary pick for week of April 30

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:36:11 GMT

Wordplay is back in person.Remember that beautiful May day in 2019 when thousands of people gathered in Minneapolis for the Loft Literary Center’s first Wordplay book festival? It was so much fun.The pandemic forced the festival to go virtual in 2020 and 2021, and it paused in 2022 while Arleta Little, the Loft’s executive and artist director, settled into her new position.Now the festival is back live from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, July 8, at locations in Minneapolis’ Mill City neighborhood. Wordplay is the largest Minnesota celebration of readers, writers and good books, with this year’s theme being Narrative Power, featuring authors whose books inspire revolution in topics ranging from racial justice and health and wellness to climate change, LGBTQ+ rights, gender equity and equality.There are 35 authors on the program, representing a wide range of genres, backgrounds and perspectives. Among them are award-winning writers like Alexander Chee, Adrian Mate...

Noah Feldman: Can Texas really put the Ten Commandments in public schools?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:36:11 GMT

Earlier this month, the Texas Senate passed a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom in the Lone Star State. It’s not that surprising in the wake of the Supreme Court’s blockbuster June 2022 decision, Kennedy v. Bremerton, which overturned all existing jurisprudence about the separation of church and state.Before that ruling, the Texas bill would’ve been an obviously unconstitutional establishment of religion, something prohibited by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Now, however, it comes under the disturbing category of “Who knows?”The Texas Senate certainly is trying to establish religion under any ordinary-language use of the term. But because the Supreme Court announced a vague new “history and tradition” test to replace the last 50 years of establishment-clause law, a court could conceivably conclude that mandating the Ten Commandments is just fine — a result that would invite a raft of new ...

‘Forever chemicals’ exacerbate water issues in Lake Elmo, development still on pause

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:36:11 GMT

A well in Cimarron Mobile Home Park was identified last week to contain PFAS, a family of “forever chemicals,” putting more pressure on Lake Elmo’s already strained water-appropriation limits.The city of Lake Elmo is in its fourth year of overpumping its water-appropriation limit, said City Administrator Kristina Handt. As another well is discovered to have PFAS contamination, Handt said the city is hesitant to add more residents to its water supply that is already over its limits and at risk of being fined by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to the tune of $40,000 per violation.Under the current permits, Lake Elmo is allowed to pump 260 million gallons of water per year, but Handt said the city reaches that threshold by mid-summer due to its population increasing by 50% since the permit was established in 2014.Lake Elmo is the fastest-growing city in the state, said state Sen. Judy Seeberger, a Democrat who represents the city. At one point, Lake Elmo wante...

Literary calendar for week of April 30

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:36:11 GMT

KRISTIN HANNAH: Bestselling author of “The Nightingale” and “The Four Winds” discusses writing in Friends of the Hennepin Library’s Pen Pals series. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4 and 11 a.m. Friday, May 5 (morning program is sold out). $45-$55. Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins. Ticket information: supporthclib.org or call 612-543-8112.LITERARY BRIDGES: Readings by Claire Wahmanholm, Lynette Reini-Grandell, Bryan Thao Worra and Marion Gomez. 2 p.m. Sunday, May 7, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.LYNN MILLER: Introduces her short story collection “The Lost Archive,” made up of 22 stories of memories of people searching the archives of their lives. In conversation with Julie Williams, White Bear Lake writer and mixed-media artist whose work includes the award-winning novel-in-poems “Escaping Tornado Season.” 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.EMMA ...

From Afghanistan to downtown St. Paul, a young reporter who fled the Taliban launches news-you-can-use for his people

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:36:11 GMT

It was 2 p.m. on a weekday when the Taliban’s national defense secretary entered the Kabul newspaper office of 8am.media with three armed guards, mincing no words: “If you write anything against us again, we’ll use the gun.”Reporter and editor Hussain Ali Haidari recalled the tension in the room, and the fear in his chest, as his country’s new leadership exerted its influence against his newsroom. It wouldn’t be the last time that the Taliban — whose fundamentalist forces took over Afghanistan’s central government in August 2021 — made an appearance in the halls of the nation’s leading weekly print journal. The then-27-year-old newsman, a former radio reporter and presidential aide, soon realized his time at the paper, and in his country, was over.“Many Afghan journalists were tortured by the Taliban. The Taliban controlled all things,” said Haidari, recalling how the press could publish “nothing against the Taliban, nothin...

Readers and writers: A cozy mystery, the lure of fish, and a tale of a female Viking’s grave

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:36:11 GMT

Murder, fishing, and old Viking bones. Here’s a varied offering of good books for spring reading on the deck (if spring ever comes).Gerry Schmitt (Jean Pieri /(Pioneer Press)“Lemon Curd Killer”: by Laura Childs (Berkley Prime Crime, $28)And the very last thing Nadine was cognizant of before she winked out for good, for all eternity, was being dragged … dragged into a place that was cold and dark and sticky.Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston, S.C., is catering an event during the old city’s Fashion Week when she steps into the cooler. Since this is Theo, it’s not surprising she finds the body of a woman, face down in a bowl of lemon curd.So begins the 25th installment of this popular cozy series by Minnesotan Gerry Schmitt, writing as Childs. This plot is a little more complicated than previous books in the series, with all kinds of suspects. Nadine, the corpse, is the sister of Theo’s sort-of friend Delaine, owner...

Registration open: Free fishing adventure for kids with special needs

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:36:11 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - C.A.S.T. for Kids invites Capital Region families with special needs children to set sail on a new adventure. Registration is open for participants and volunteers for the Striper Run at Henry Hudson Park in Selkirk on May 7.Link to Register: https://castforkids.org/event/striperrun/?fbclid=IwAR1KEQNNQhGJmLVvzgpWH2KSrgVLllwG03OtJHY5G2xlkIX4Dtlh58oM1TI

Ask Amy: A gentleman ponders gender salutations

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:36:11 GMT

Dear Amy: I have an etiquette question.Is it still acceptable to refer to men as “gentlemen” and women as “ladies?”I have read that some people may take offense to the use of those words.At baseball games that I attend, the team used to be introduced on the field by the announcer saying, “And now, ladies and gentlemen, here are your Pittsburgh Pirates!”Now, most announcers at the ballpark simply say, “And now, here are your Pittsburgh Pirates!”I would be interested to know your position on this.— Polite GentlemanDear Gentleman: I didn’t realize that I needed to have a “position” on this. (Nor is this really an etiquette question.) But let me take a swing at it.I am female, and although perhaps I can’t really claim to be a “lady,” I am not personally bothered at all by being politely referred to in this way.However, there are fellow human beings who do not identify along a binary gender line as either female or male, and one would assum...

Bridge: April 30, 2023

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:36:11 GMT

“What did you do on board 16?” Unlucky Louie asked me.Some of us had repaired to the club lounge after a duplicate. Aspiring players can benefit from discussing the deals after a session, learning from their good and poor results and digesting the comments of experienced players.“North-South played at three diamonds, plus 110,” I replied. “I opened one heart as East, South doubled, my partner bid two hearts and North tried three diamonds, passed out. We couldn’t beat it. I might have made three hearts with good guessing.”“We played at three clubs,” Louie said. “I overcalled two clubs as South; I wanted better spade support to double. When West raised to two hearts, my partner competed with three clubs. He expected me to have a six-card suit for a two-level overcall.”Against three clubs, West led the deuce of hearts, and East won and returned a low heart. Louie ruffed and drew trumps, but then he had none left. When We...

Horoscopes April 30, 2023: Kirsten Dunst, look forward to what lies ahead

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:36:11 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Dianna Agron, 37; Kirsten Dunst, 41; Kunal Nayyar, 42; Johnny Galecki, 48.Happy Birthday: Engage in the activities and pastimes that make you happy. Take charge of your life and change what is no longer working for you. By helping yourself, you’ll be setting an example for others. Trust and believe in yourself and your ability to initiate what needs to happen to feel good about yourself and look forward to what lies ahead. Your numbers are 5, 11, 23, 26, 33, 42, 49.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Anger isn’t becoming. Channel your energy into something meaningful. Take the initiative and make home improvements that will improve your living arrangements. Invest more time and money in yourself and what you have to offer. Make healthy living a priority. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Relax and enjoy friends and family. Someone you respect will offer a different perspective regarding something that interests you. Stick to a budget, and you’ll...