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Skywatch: The changing of the guard

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

April evenings are a little more comfortable for stargazers, but there are tradeoffs. Later sunsets mean a later start for your stargazing. Another tradeoff is that the winter constellations, the best and brightest, in my opinion, are heading for the celestial exits. As April progresses, the mighty constellation Orion the Hunter and his gang of bright stars and constellations begin the evenings lower and lower in the western sky. Eventually, they’ll disappear entirely until late next autumn. Enjoy the best array of constellations while you can.In early April, all of Orion’s gang is still prominently displayed in the western half of the sky. Orion the Hunter is the leading player. It’s one of the few constellations that actually resembles what it’s supposed to be, and it’s pretty easy to envision it as a muscular man’s torso. Surrounding Orion are the constellations Taurus the Bull, resembling a small downward pointing arrow; Auriga the Chariot dri...

St. Paul’s hotly debated Summit Avenue bike trail approaches key hearing. Things to know.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

Paul Nelson, who gets most everywhere by bicycle, began riding down St. Paul’s historic Summit Avenue to work even before in-street bike lanes were added to the tree-lined corridor in the early 1990s. They were thought at the time to be the first bike lanes in the state, the beginning of a quiet revolution that has picked up enough momentum as to leave the pioneering infrastructure outdated.In Nelson’s view, the lanes he welcomed 30 years ago along Summit — home to the longest stretch of Victorian mansions in the nation — are yesterday’s news. It’s time, he figures, for one of St. Paul’s most celebrated residential streets to add an elevated 4.7-mile bike path on the same level as the sidewalk.A badly needed, multi-segment road reconstruction in the foreseeable future would provide St. Paul Public Works and St. Paul Parks and Recreation just the opportunity, he said, as dozens of boulevard trees will have to come down either way.“They ...

‘Once it’s gone, there’s no getting it back’: Scammers now sending victims to cryptocurrency ATMs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

Woodbury Police Detective Lynn Lawrence explains how thieves scam people using bitcoin ATMs, like this one located at a gas station in Woodbury. More than 46,000 people in the U.S. reported losing more than $1.3 billion in cryptocurrency to scams from the start of 2021 through June 2022, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)The email that arrived in a Woodbury woman’s inbox on Valentine’s Day 2022 purportedly came from Geek Squad. It said her subscription to the 24-hour in-home computer support and repair services was being renewed. Her account would be debited $1,145.“Years ago, we had a service contract with Geek Squad, so I didn’t think much about it,” the woman said. “The email said if I didn’t want to renew, I had 48 hours to cancel it, but that 48-hour period had already passed.”The woman called the phone number listed on the email — which had a fake invoice number and an official-looking logo — and told the...

Tips to avoid being crypto-scammed

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

More than 46,000 people in the U.S. reported losing more than $1.3 billion in cryptocurrency to scams from the start of 2021 through June 2022, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission.Here are some tips to avoid becoming one of them:Block unrecognized callers and texters.Don’t give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn’t expect. Honest organizations won’t call, email or text to ask for your personal information, like your Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers.If you get an email or text message from a company you do business with and you think it’s real, it’s still best not to click on any links. Instead, contact them using a website you know is trustworthy. Or look up their phone number. Don’t call a number they gave you or the number from your caller ID.Resist the pressure to act immediately. Honest businesses will give you time to make a decision. Anyone who pressures you to pay or give them your personal inform...

Literary calendar for week of April 2

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

BLACK/KELLER: Cara Black and Rebecca A. Keller in conversation moderated by Jess Lourey. In Black’s novel “Night Flight to Paris,” Kate Rees has been dragged back into the British Secret Service by her former handler for a risky mission in Paris. Keller’s “You Should Have Known” is about retired nurse Frannie Greene who moves into a senior living apartment and makes friends with a woman married to a judge Frannie believes is implicated in the death of her beloved grandmother. Lourey’s latest novel is “The Quarry Girls.” 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, Once Upon a Crime, 604 W. 26th St., Mpls.EKPHRASTIC EXTRAVAGANZA!: Poets Margaret Hasse, Tish Jones, Freya Manfred and Joyce Suphen read poems they’ve written about the art and life of Tressa Sularz, a Minneapolis basket maker and fiber artist who uses ancient techniques of wicker, plaiting, coiling and twining to make things. The reading is part of an opening of Sularz’s retro...

Ask Amy: Conservative man ponders preaching on gender

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

Dear Amy: I am a 60-year-old conservative Catholic male.I believe that gender is determined by physiology, not psychology. I don’t believe transitioning to another gender is the answer to gender dysphoria. My views about transitioning and giving puberty-blocking drugs to youths are in line with my very conservative perspective.My best friend “Martin’s” child (born male) is transitioning to female. She’s 25. Since I value Martin’s friendship, I refer to his child as “your daughter,” and I use his daughter’s new name and refer to her with female pronouns.The only advice I have given is to get a second opinion before any surgery (which is advice I would give to everyone before any surgery).Other than that, I provide Martin with emotional support, and I keep my mouth shut about my opinions.Some of my church friends think that I should be preaching to Martin every day about the evils of being transgender. On the other hand, my liberal friends think I need to...

Two arrested in slaying of man found burning in rural Solano County

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

Two West Sacramento residents were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder in connection with the discovery of a body Monday in rural Vacaville.On Monday, callers reported a fire in a field near Elmira Road and Tulip Street, Solano County Sheriff’s officials said. Responding fire crews subsequently discovered a burned body.Investigators determined the remains were of a man who suffered severe head and facial injuries and burns over much of his body. Originally listed as a John Doe, the victim has been identified as Theodore Washington, 35, of Sacramento.Using Flock Safety cameras, detectives identified a vehicle suspected to be involved in the death. Later that night, the vehicle was located on West Capitol Avenue and stopped by West Sacramento Police. Solano deputies responded to the scene.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Redwood City police seek information after fatal hit-and-run crash involving bicyclist Crime and Public Safety | East Bay man ...

California’s tough, fast-growing, drought-tolerant golden wildflower, the poppy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

California poppies are common along Marin’s rocky slopes, bluffs and roadsides. The California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, is a tough, fast-growing, drought-tolerant, self-seeding California native wildflower. It is indigenous to western North America.In 1816, a ship from the Imperial Russian Navy arrived in San Francisco Bay. Aboard was a Russian naturalist named Adelbert von Chamisso. He wrote about the California poppy he saw in the Presidio, giving it the name Eschscholzia californica after his friend Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, a physician on the ship.Early Spanish settlers called the plant “copa del oro,” or cup of gold, after a legend that said the petals filled the soil with gold.In 1903, the California poppy became the official state flower of California. Perhaps it represented the “fields of gold” sought during the Gold Rush. It is commonly seen blooming in spring and summer along country roads and freeways, rocky slopes, maritime bluffs and dunes, making i...

Protesters demand action in probe of controversial arrest in Marin County

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

Demonstrators rally at San Rafael City Hall in support of Julio Jimenez Lopez, who they allege was the victim of police brutality last summer, during a Cesar Chavez Day rally in San Rafael on Friday, March 31, 2023. Demonstrators marched from the Marin Civic Center and Pickleweed Park calling for Marin County District Attorney Lori Frugoli to criminally charge the officers involved. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)Emilio Pineda, center, and other marchers head up D Street to a rally in support of Julio Jimenez Lopez, who demonstrators allege was the victim of police brutality last summer, during a Cesar Chavez Day rally at City Hall in San Rafael on Friday, March 31, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)Organizer Cesar Lagleva applauds a speaker during a Cesar Chavez Day rally at San Rafael City Hall in San Rafael on Friday, March 31, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)Marchers arrive at a Cesar Chavez Day rally outside San Rafael City Hall in support ...

State pursues receivership for Big Basin Water

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

BIG BASIN — After years of unreliable service, code violations and failures to respond to regional authorities in a timely manner, the California Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water says it has engaged the Office of Enforcement to begin the process of pursuing a receivership for Big Basin Water Co.According to a letter sent by the control board to the company’s private owners Jim and Shirley Moore in late February, the company has been falling short of its duty to consistently provide safe, potable water to its customers in the Santa Cruz Mountains.“BBWC (Big Basin Water Company) is not currently satisfying that obligation as it does not have the technical, managerial, and financial capacity to operate a public water system, and it is unresponsive to the rules and orders of the Division,” wrote Office of Enforcement attorney Laura Mooney in the letter.Mooney concluded the seven-page report by stating: “In our view, a receiver should be appointed to assume posses...